HE GETTY CENTER LIBRARY 4 fi-H Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/paintingnorthitaly01crow A HISTOEY OP PAINTING IN NORTH ITALY, VENICE, PADUA, VICENZA, VERONA, FERRARA, MILAN, FRIULI, BRESCIA, FROM THE FOURTEENTH TO THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. DRAWN UP FROM FRESH MATERIALS AFTER RECENT RESEARCHES IN THE ARCHIVES OF ITALY; AND FROM PERSONAL INSPECTION OF THE WORKS OF ART SCATTERED THROUGHOUT EUROPE. By J. A. CEOWE & G. B. CAVALCASELLE, AUTHORS OF ' HISTORY OF PAINTING IN ITALY,' 'THE EARLY FLEMISH PAINTERS.' IN TWO VOLUMES. — Vol I. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1871. Tne right of Translation is reserved. BY THE SAME AUTHORS. A HISTOEY OF PAINTING IN ITALY, from the 2nd to the 14th Century. Drawn np from fresh materials, after recent researches in the Archives of Italy, and from personal inspection of the Works of Art scattered throughout Europe. With Illustrations. 3 vols. 8vo. 63s. " Those volumes form almost a complete work, and one very greatly to be admired for the good scholarship and excellent taste with which it has been prepared. It is valuable alike for the richness of its biographical material, and for the carefulness and abundance of its analytical accounl of the great paintings of the period. In a judicious, philosophical wa3^ it associates painting with painting, artist with artist, and school with school, illustrating and drawing illustration from all by showing their connection with the general history and the social and political tendencies of their own times." — Examine)-. "The work of Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcasclle is by far the richest mine of information upon Italian painting that has been opened to us for many a long day. We are disposed to think that the authors have, if we may prejudge their completed work by the half which has now been published, satisfactorily made out their claim to the title of the 'New Vasari.'" — Saturday Review. II. LIVES OF THE EAELY FLEMISH PAINTERS. With Notices of their Works. New and Revised Edition, with Illustrations. Post 8vo. " Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle have performed the task they have undertaken carefully and elaborately. They give first an interesting account of the early efforts of Belgian art The Authors have been assisted in their researches by the labours of those who have recently devoted attention to Flemish art. The Belgian government has assisted in the same direction by opening sources of information denied to Michiels. By using these materials, and by visiting and comparing the works of the great masters spread through Europe, the Authors have produced by tar the best connected narrative of the history of Belgian art that exists. The glances that this narrative gives us of the condition of the artists in the great age of paintinc are very interesting."— Daily News. fHLQETTY CENTER LIBRARY TO HER IMPERIAL AND ROYAL HIGHNESS, VICTORIA, CROWN PRINCESS OF GERMANY AND PRUSSIA; PRINCESS ROYAL OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND; PAINTER AND CRITIC. u ARE MOST RESPECTFULLY AND HUMBLY DEDICATED, - BY THE AUTHORS. VOL. I. EREATA AND CORRIGENDA. Page for rei id 2 note line O* Al Ld-Iiy clU 111 . • • ■ . kJ. ^aiiLClv ii cell • 42 .. 13 .. 1470 1473. izd note ?> 97 • UCLLlLrtiDCll V. 1 97 1 9 vpti'f ni'An 1 77 " o . . Si Pirn 5i 1 on Q . . • J. (.1-1111(1 T H till". 9Q7 >> 1 1 . ■ 1 1504 OA A l c ±'± note " 1 1 . • 563 362 „ 3 >> 4 .. Lorenzo Canozzi . . . . Filippo da Verona. 367 „ 1 5 . in Padua. 418 12 .. Dr. Bernasconi at Padua . . Dr. B. at Verona. 449 .. » 20 .. S. Zeno Maggiore (Duomo) . . S. Zeno Maggiore. 459 note 3 1 .. . Pal. Colonna, under of G. da Fabriar 465 .. >> 2 S. Zeno , Duomo. 472 .. » 9 .. . Duomo. 472 .. 6 .. S. Zeno . Duomo. 480 note 29 S. Zeno . Duomo. 492 „ ?> 26 .. S. Zeno , Duomo. 528 „ » 6 .. . Dresden. Page 87. The Madonna with Saints, described in the Demidoff collection, now belongs to the National Gallery. Page 212. In Mr. Layard's picture by Carpaccio there is no servant feeding birds. On a ledge is a large goldfinch. Page 129. The adoration of the Magi belonging to Mr. Layard is stated to hare been originally in a church called S. Bortolo at Vicenza. / PREFACE. The two volumes now laid before the public com- prise the history of Venetian and Lombard art to the beginning of the sixteenth century. We have endeavoured to present the subject in such a manner as to trace the currents by which the main stream of progress in North Italian painting was affected. The reader will observe how closely each school is connected with its neighbours ; he will have little trouble in noting how Tuscan style was introduced amongst the Paduans by Donatello, how the Paduan style extended through Mantegna to Venice and other northern cities. A curious and important change is then wrought by the intro- duction of oil medium. Antonello's appearance produces a revolution in technical treatment and pic- torial feeling. The period, which we may call that of the colourists, begins ; it begins under Bellini and vi PREFACE. continues with his pupils ; it gives rise to a contest of rival influences, first in Venice, then in the provinces. The Mantegnesque succumbs, and the Bellinesque expands to the Titianesque, the Grior- gionesque, and the Palmesque. In dealing with such a subject as this, it is obvious that writer, as well as reader, has to go over ground of varying picturesqueness, the grand road being always more interesting than the byways; but the reader, it may be hoped, will not be repelled from the one because he decidedly prefers the other. CONTENTS of Vol. I. CHAPTER J. Early Venetians of the 15th century — Jacobello, Donato, Giambono, and others Page 1 to 17 CHAPTER II. The Muranese — Giovanni, Antonio, Bartolommeo, and Quiricio da Murano 17 to 38 CHAPTER III. Bartolommeo Vivarini 39 to 51 CHAPTER IV. Luigi Vivarini and his school 52 to 72 CHAPTER V. Painters under the influence of the Vivarini and Mantegna, Jacopo da Valentia, Andrea da Murano and the Crivelli 73 to 99 CHAPTER VI. Jacopo Bellini : His life and his relations with Gentile da Fabriano and Mantegna 100 to 116 CHAPTER VII. Gentile Bellini 117 to 138 viii CONTENTS OF VOL. I. CHAPTBE VIII. Giovanni Bellini Page 139 to 194 CHAPTER IX. Carpaccio and other pupils of Gentile Bellini, e.g., Bastiani, Mansueti, Diana, and Marziale Page 195 to 231 CHAPTER X. Cima da Conegliano, Catena, Basaiti, Previtali, and others . . 232 to 293 CHAPTER XI. Squarcione, Mantegna, and the painters of the Eremitani Chapel at Padua 294 to 319 CHAPTER XII. Andrea Mantegna during his stay at Padua 320 to 341 CHAPTER XIII. The Squarcionesques and Mantegnesques of Padua, and other north Italian cities 342 to 376 CHAPTER XIV. Mantegna's career as painter to the Marquis of Mantua .. .. 377 to 419 CHAPTER XV. The Vicentines Verlas, Speranza, Montagna, Buonconsiglio, and Fogo- lino 420 to 448 CHAPTER XVI. The Veronese school of the 15th century : Pisano, Liberale, Falconetto, Bonsignori, Caroto, the Morone, Girolamo dai Libri, Morando, Torbido, and others 449 to 512 CONTENTS OF VOL. I. ix CHAPTEE XVII. The Ferrarese under Mantegnesque influence : Galasso, Tura, Cossa, Grandi — The later school of Costa Page 513 to 555 CHAPTEE XVIII. Francesco Francia and his follower, Viti 556 to 583 CHAPTEE XIX. Painters of Parma and the Romagna 584 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Page 1. Virgin, Child, and Saints, by Giovanni and Antonio da Murano ; in the Academy of Arts at Venice 28 2. The Virgin, Child, and Saints, by B. Vivarini ; in the Naples Museum 41 3. The Virgin, Child, and Saints ? by Luigi Vivarini ; in the Academy at Venice : 54 4. The Virgin, Child, and Saints, by Carlo Crivelli ; at Dudley House 90 5. The Crucifixion, by Jacopo Bellini ; once in the Cathedral of Verona 110 6. Portrait of Sultan Mehemet, by Gentile Bellini ; in possession of the Right Hon. Austen H. Layard 126 7. Miracle of the Cross, by Gentile Bellini ; in the Academy of Arts at Venice 132 8. Virgin, Child, and Saints, by Giovanni Bellini ; in the Academy of Arts at Venice 163 9. Bacchanal, by Giovanni Bellini and Titian ; in the collection of the Duke of Northumberland 192 10. Reception of an English Embassy, by Carpaccio ; in the Academy of Venice 201 11. Presentation in the Temple, by Carpaccio; in the Academy of Venice .. 207 12. A Miracle of the Cross, by Mansueti; in the Academy of Venice .. 220 13. The Incredulity of St. Thomas, by Cima da Conegliano; at the Venice Academy 242 14. Christ on the Mount, by Basaiti; in the Academy of Venice .. .. 263 15. Marriage of St. Catherine, by Previtali ; in S. Giobbe at Venice . . 275 16. Coronation of St. Catherine of Alexandria, by Bissolo; in the Academy of Venice 289 17. Perspective of the Chapel of the Eremitani at Padua .. .. 307 18. St. James on the road to Martyrdom, by A. Mantegna ; in the at Padua 328 19. Mutius Soevola before Porsenna, a fresco by Montagnana; once in the Town Hall of Belluno 362 20. The Marquis of Gonzaga and his Family, by A. Mantegna ; in the Castello of Mantua 391 21. Triumph of Julius C&sar, by A. Mantegna ; at Hampton Court .. 404 xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Page 22. Triumph of Julius Cjesar, by A. Mantegna ; at Hampton Court . . 404 23. The Triumph of Scipio, by A. Mantegna; in the collection of G. Vivian, Esq 411 24. Virgin, Child, and Saints, by Bartolommeo Montagna ; in the Brera at Milan 430 25. Madonna with Saints, a fresco by F. Morone; near the Ponte delle Navi at Verona 492 26. Christ deposed from the Cross, by Girolamo dai Libri; in the Church of Malsesine 494 27. Virgin, Child, and Saints, by Cossa ; in the Gallery of Bologna . . 523 28. The Court of Isabella d'Este, by Lorenzo Costa ; at the Louvre . . 548 29. The Nativity, by Francesco Francia ; in the Gallery of Bologna .. 562 THE VENETIANS. CHAPTER I. JAOOBELLO — DONATO. Two or three distinct currents may be traced in the art of Venice at the beginning of the 15 th century. During a previous age, the tendency of painters was to preserve the oldest types, the most venerable formulas, and the most antiquated handling. The Giottesque ele- ment displayed its excellence in vain within the churches and chapels of the neighbouring Padua. It passed through Venice and scarcely left a sign. 1 1 Amongst the older examples, w hich decorate Venetian churches, one or two escaped notice at the time of writing the II d vol. of the History of Painting 1 ; ex gr. the wall painting of a lunette originally belonging to the tomb of the Doge Francesco Dandolo (1338 circa) in the cloister of the Frari, and a mosaic forming part of the monu- ment erected to the Doge Michele Morosini in 1382, in the choir of San Giovanni e Paolo. The first of these, transferred to the sacristy of the Salute is a Madonna, (on gold ground) at whose sides the Doge and his lady kneel attended by their patron Saints (Francis and Elizabeth). Byzantine angels VOL. I. [ hover above the scene. The style, so far as one can judge from a very distant view, might remind us of that peculiar to the Pievan di St. Agnese. It is essentially Venetian; but there is a slender- ness in the figures, whichi recalls the mosaic of San Gio. e Paolo. The subject here is a crucifixion. At the sides of the cross, the Virgin shows the Saviour to the Doge who kneels, recommended by S l Michael, whilst the Dogaress prays on her knees to the right, attended by a Saint and accompanied by S l John Evangelist. Above the arched recess in which the cruci- fixion lies are the arms of the Doge and two prophets. This is 1 2 THE VENETIANS. Chap. I. The cause lay deep in the hearts and customs of the Venetian people, who preferred the barbaric splendour of the Orientals to the sober but refined taste of the Tuscans. The main current which had been fed by Lorenzo, Semitecolo, and Guariento, was now fed by Jacobello del Fiore, Negroponte and Donato, a race of artists whose skill by no means equalled that of cotempo- rary Tuscan craftsmen. But by their side, and per- haps because del Fiore had shown so little real power, the state employed two strangers, Gentile da Fabriano, and Pisano. These strangers introduced a new feeling into Venice; and this new feeling became characteristic of a school which arose in the island of Murano. A third division was created by the efforts of Jacopo Bel- lini, a pupil of the Umbrian Gentile, but taught within the walls of Florence, and thus prepared for a great and important part. It was to happen that these three currents should flow for a moment in a parallel direction, that they should then commingle, and finally unite to form the school of Gentile and Giovanni Bellini. During this process the old Veneto-Byzantine style was elbowed out of the world in silence and without regret. The Muranese grew up to a moderate and by no means disagreeable originality which soon glided into imitation of the Man- tegnesque and Bellinesque. — The Bellinis absorbed all the principles of artistic progress within the city of their birth ; and deserved for this reason to be called the fathers of Venetian art. Jacobello del Fiore 1 , who inherited the method of the earlier Venetians, practised between 1400 and 1439, the only mosaic of the 14 th cen- tury in Venice, which bears a Giot- tesque character. It is executed with a skill not unworthy of the Gaddi and might be assigned to Agnolo, it' we could prove his presence here. 1 Jacobello del Fiore is not to be confounded with Jacobello di Bonomo, whose Madonna and six Saints is still on one of the altars in the church of Sant 1 Arcangelo in Rimini. This altarpiece is mo- numental in shape. In the centre, Chap. I. JACOBELLO DEL FIORE. B during which period he strove to perpetuate what Vasari has called "the Greek manner". 1 His pictures were charac- the Virgin and child (the former in a blue mantle strewed with golden flowers, the latter in a golden tunic) with two diminutive patrons kneeling at the foot of her throne. To the right, full-length, S ts Peter, Michael, (weighing the souls) and John Baptist; left, Paul, Cath. of Alexandria and Francis, all under trefoil niches above which there are scollop niches coloured in blue and gold. Above the cen- tral piece, Christ crucified be- tween the Virgin and Evange- list, and at the sides of the cru- cifixion, the Virgin and S l Elisa- beth. Above the six scollop niches are six half-lengths, repre- senting (from 1. to r.) S ts Anthony, Chiara, Lucy, Ursula, Agnes, and Louis of France. The principal figures are half life-size, all on gold ground. On the hexagonal pedestal of the Virgin's throne, the words: "MCCCLXXXV Jacho- belus de Bonomo venetus pinxit hoc opus." The figures are slender in frame and neck; their large heads inclined usually to one side, the masks, pinched and dry, the hands thin, the fingers pointed and the nails not always in their places. The draperies fall spirally with a round eye of fold. The tenuous outlines are black when they mark the outer, red when they mark the inner forms. The medium is distemper, the colours sharp in contrasts. We know of Jacobello del Fiore that he made a will in 1439, in which he be- queaths property to a considerable amount to his wife and to an adopted son. He wills, however that, should, his wife be pregnant at Ids death, the offspring is to share with the adopted son. Were Jacobello " del Fiore identical with Jachobelus de Bonomo, the will would be that of a man past seventy ; and it is difficult to con- ! ceive that a man of seventy should draw up a testament of the kind described. The style of Jacobello del Fiore is very characteristic in the paintings of the public palace and Academy at Venice and not exactly in unison with that of the picture 'at Rimini. If any additional picture should be assignable to this Jacobello di Bonomo, we might name an altar- piece in San Francesco (earlier in San Bonaventura) of Pesaro, where a statue* of S c Elizabeth stands in a niche between the painted S ts Jerome, James, Peter, Paul, Anthony abb., and Nicholas of Bari (gold ground, half-life). The slender figures and easy dra- peries might point to the same artist, but the soft rosy tone of flesh and harmonious contrasts in the dresses and a great carefulness of finish, recall the Umbrian Gen- tile da Fabriano, and tell of an education varying from that in the Madonna of Sant 1 Arcangelo. We can but say that this is a Venetian work of the time of Ja- cobello di Bonomo, in a city men- tioned by Lanzi as containing examples of the art of Jacobello, or as he calls him Jacometto del Fiore. (Lanzi ub. sup. vol. II. p. 86). Two Saints, Paul and Peter, both reading, duly catalogued as of the early Venetian school in the Museum of Berlin (temperas No. 1161), might naturally fall into the class we are now no- ticing. Jacobello must likewise not be confounded with Giacometto, a later Venetian, whose skill in re- presenting animals has been greatly admired and often described. See the Anonimo (ed. Morelli) and some moderns, who identify Gia- cometto with Jaeopo de Barbaris (see also postea). 1 Vas. VI. p. 91. 1* . 4 THE VENETIANS. Chap. I. terized by incorrectness of drawing and harshness of colour; by coarse or tasteless combinations of sharp tints and gilt embossments. He was a painfully earnest but conventional follower of Guariento, unacquainted with the tender softness of Gentile, da Fabriano, but excusable for his attachment to traditional errors, because the public gave him support and enabled him to accumulate wealth. 1 His father, Francesco del Fiore, had earned a high position amongst the members of his guild at the close of the 14 ,h century. An incident of considerable im- portance brought him into notice in 1376, the corpora- tion of painters having then been erected into a religious company. At the time of this reform Francesco, or as he is called a Sier Franceschin de Fior" was gastoldo or president of the guild and conducted the negotiations with the chapter of San Filippo e Jacopo at Venice. 2 His name was honorably remembered by Jacobello when he built a monument over the family grave at San Gio- vanni e Paolo in 1433 3 . We might succeed in tracing the transmission of "the Greek manner 77 from Francesco to Jacobello, but that we are unable to find the few examples described by the industry of Lanzi and Moschini. 4 We might gain 1 We are inclined to reject Dr. Waagen's opinion that Jacobello is the pupil of Gentile da Fabriano. Trea su res II. 127. 2 See the extract from the Matricola under date April 22. 1376, in a letter from Tommaso Temanza to Conte Francesco Al- garotti; Venice, March 3. 1761, in Bottari and Ticozzi, "Lettere sulla pittura" 12°. Milan 1822. Vol. 5. p. 498. ! The stone, with an inscription as follows, is now in the cloister of the Seminario at Venice to the right as you enter: "Fert psculpta virum magne virtutis ymago urbe satu veneta Dedit ars pictoia siimuz Fraciscu de Flore vocat patrez Jacobelli HuTs (hujus) et uxois Lucie me bra quiescunt hie Extrema suos here- des fata recodet MCCCCXXXIII die XXI Juli." But see Jacobello's allusion to his tomb at San Giovanni e Paolo in his will, postea. 4 Lanzi says, a diptych was purchased at Venice "by the Che- valier Strange," which bore Fran- cesco's name and the date 1412. Lanzi, ub. sup. II. 86. Mos- chini, Guida di Murano. 8°. Venice, 1808, p. 18, speaks of an altarpiece by Francesco, in possession of Signor Molin. / Chap. I. JACOBELLO DEL FIORE. 5 some knowledge of Jacobello's capacity as far back as 1401, if the early pieces which long remained in churches at Pesaro and its vicinity had been preserved ; but these have been lost or dispersed, and we learn to know the painter in later years. 1 Jacobello was elected presi- dent of his guild in 141 5, 2 and kept his lofty station there till 1436 f but the position he held was due we think to the administrator; not the artist. The winged lion of S l Mark, which he executed in 1415, though it might deserve a better place than it has in the Ducal palace at Venice, is but a humble and unsatisfactory creation. If the animal with his nimbus and outstretched 1 Lanzi apparently saw, he cer- tainly describes: 1°. an altarpiece of 1401 in -San Cassiano of Pesaro. 2°. an altarpiece with the date of 1409; — both bearing 1 the signature: "Jacometto de Flor." (Lanzi. II. 86.) The second of these is no doubt the same of which we find in Ricci ("'Artisti della Marca. I. 205 and 225) that it represented the Virgin of Mercy between S ts James and Anthony. It was in- scribed: "MCCCCVII. (?) a di X. de Marzo maestro Jacometto del Flor depenxe," and adorned the church of Monte Granaro near Pesaro, whence it has disappeared. Some observations may find a place here, in consideration of the fact that the foregoing- pictures are unknown to the present writers. In the first place we must assume that Jacobello and Jacometto are identical, for Giacomo and Jacobo are the same name. There are conflicting' opinions as to the character of these painting's. Lanzi sees no difference between them and those signed: "Jacobellus de Flore" or "Jachomello de Fior," at Venice, or between them and the coronation of Ceneda. Signor Vallardi in his catalogue (Vallardi collection cat. Milan, 1830, p. 68.) describes an adoration of the Magi in his own possession, inscribed: "1420, Jachomello de Flor me pense." This adoration changed hands at the Vallardi sale leaving no clue to its present possessor; the name is similar to that on authentic pieces by Jacobello; but Vallardi writes of his picture that it has a Florentine stamp like that of the pictures at Pesaro, signed with the name of Jacometto de Flor. His opinion is therefore exactly contrary to Lanzi's. If he is right, there were two painters of a very similar name, one a Venetian, the other a Florentine. We consider the identity of name and of time, to be favourable to Lanzi, just as we give a weight to Lanzi's opinion, which cannot be con- ceded to Vallardi. Hence we re- ject for the present, the notion that Vallardi's Jachomello is a Florentine. 2 Zanetti. ub. sup. note to p. 18. 3 The Matricular register of the guild of Venice contains an account of a quarrel between the yastoldo of the painters " Jacomel de Fior," and the mirror makers in 1136, because Jacobello insisted on for- cing the latter to have their frames painted by members of his corpo- ration. Temanza to Algarotti. ub. sup. Bottari and Ticozzi. Vol. 5. p. 496. 6 THE VENETIANS. Chap. I. wings, has a touch of grandeur, it is that the subject was easily handled by local artists. The lion had long been held in honour at Venice as the symbol of S l Mark. A model of one with Kunic verses upon his loins had been taken at an early period from the Piraeus, and placed on a pillar of the Piazza. The poorest painter might from habit give him an air of majesty and strength, and so it was in some sort with Jacobello; 1 but if we test del Fiore's powers as a limner of human figures in an allegory of justice between two archangels which he was commissioned to paint in 1421 for the tribunal of the "Proprio," we shall see that he challenges our cri- ticism by incorrectness of drawing, tastelessness of em- bossed ornament, and tawdriness of drapery. He seems to have been utterly incompetent to reproduce nature either in its external outlines its modelling or its light and. shade. 2 But these symbolic lions or allegorical re- presentations may not have been serious efforts of Jaco- bello's art. A certain amount of neglect might be allowed ' Venice Ducal Palace. This lion (on canvass) stands near a foreground of red-coloured rocks will) his paw on an open hook. In the distance to the right, water and ;t repainted sky. The figure is above life-size, injured, even in the outlines by the repainting of the original tempera. It was till lately in the Sala dell 1 Avogaria, ;ii Venice; (Ricci ub. sup. I. 224, who misread the date) and is in- scribed: "MCCCCXV, die primo Maii. Jacobellus de Flore pinxit." ("Fiore" in Ricci.) A similar lion with a doge kneeling in front was painted by Jacobello in the tribunal "del la Biastema," (Boschini, Le Ricche Miniere, 12°. Venice 1674. Sest. di S. Marco, p. 49.) but it has dis- appeared. 2 Venice, signed "Jacobbellus de Flore pinsit 1421." On a scroll above Justice's head, a sentence ending with the words: "Blanda piis exequar angelicos monitus sacrata 21 verba inimica malis tu- rn idis q superba." The crown on the figure's head, the sun on its breast, the red and gold embroi- deries are all embossed. Two lion's heads form the arms of the seat. The green tunic and ornament are renewed. S l Michael (1.) threatens the dragon and holds the balance. His shoulder-knots and knee-pans are gilt stucco, as well as the diadem and nimbus. The blue ground is new. Nothing can be more unnatural than the strained pose except it be the incorrectly drawn foot. The right hand is new. S l Gabriel much injured by restoring with embossments too; green sleeve, red skirt and blue ground, new. The whole executed in liquid dis- temper with line hatching. Chap. J. JACOHELLO DEL FIORE. 7 to cheap reproductions of subjects exhibited in every locality where justice was administered. Jacobello could perhaps display respectable talents in sacred pictures intended to adorn the walls or the altars of churches; but no expectation of this kind would be answered in his case. A coronation of the Virgin ordered in 1430 for the cathedral of Ceneda, a series of frescos covering the sides of a church annexed to the hospital of San Lorenzo at Serravalle, a Virgin of Mercy in the Academy of arts at*Venice, afford copious evidence of the fact «that del Fiore was at every period of his career and under all circumstances below the mark. It would be super- fluous indeed to say more than that in the coronation of Ceneda, we recognize a prodigious piece of cabinet-work with which we had become acquainted in Guariento's works, the very counterpart of which exists in a fresco concealed by the Doge's throne and the Paradise of Tin- toretto in the Hall of the great Council at Venice. 1 The figures which fill this lumbering chair look out upon us in all the flare of sharply tinted vestments, of gilt and raised crowns or maces. Angels, seraphs, and cherubs of rainbow hues float about in front of seats in which the prophets rest; children are perched on the projections; the evangelists are half ensconced iu open- ings beneath the floor, the wise virgins with kindred spirits sit on the foreground to one side, whilst Bishop Correr of Ceneda kneels with four attendant friars on the other. There is no shading or modelling: the figures are all outline, with the spaces filled by coarse and thick distemper; and the drawing is beneath criticism. 2 The scenes from the lives of S l Lawrence and S l Stephen in the church of the hospital at Serravalle, injured as they have ' The coronation by Guariento still exists in a state of great im- perfection, having been injured by the fire of 1577. But a good idea of it may be formed from the en- graving in the Marciana library, dated 1566. 2 Ceneda Duomo. The outlines of this large altarpieee are very | coarse; the ornaments of the 8 THE VENETIANS. Chap. I. been by time and smoke, are but another variety of the same style/ and the Virgin of Mercy of 1436 at the Academy presents to us in its worst form the shapeless bluntness of face and figure, which may distinguish puppets, but not human beings. 2 Such being the works, which it has pleased the "clever, but superficial, Lanzi" to describe as remarkable for "grace and dignity," we need but note the exist - ence of others or chronicle the loss of such pieces as throne, the mitres of the angels, eroziers, crowns, and nimbs are all in high relief. There is too much restoring to warrant a word as regards the colour. The figures being life-size, the panels are very large. The whole piece was split into two when removed from the high altar of the cathedral to the second room in the sacristy. The old frame was thrown away on the occasion though it contained as we are informed the inscrip- tion: "Anno. 1430. adi X. fit-ever Christopholo da Ferrara intaio.'" This maker is not unknown to us, His frame decorates a coronation in San Pantaleone of Venice by Gio. and Antonio da Murano. His name on the frame misleads Fede- rici, who (in Memorie Trevigiane, ub. sup. vol. I. p. 201.) speaks of the picture as a work of Cristo- foro del Fiore. But Federici adds that the date was 1438, obviously an error, for we read in a MS. by Carlo Lotti written in 1785: " Cattedralem ecclam exornavit altari magnifice . . . cui tabulam ab eximio illius tempore pictore Jacobello de Flore addidit, in qua paradisus representatur . . . tem- pore Antonii Corarii." Bishop Correr held the see of Ceneda from 1410 till his death in 1430. 1 Serravalle Hospital. This chapel was used as a barrack and is much blackened, It is divided into two parts by an arch in the vaulting of which there are twelve figures of Saints. The ceilings contain the Evangelists and the Doctors. Moving round to the left after entering the precinct, you first see the martyrdom of S ts Law- rence and Blaise, then a muti- lated crucifixion, next, scenes from the life of S. Lawrence, his distri- bution of bread, appearance before the king, and baptism of neophytes, then incidents from the legend of Stephen, his cure of the cobbler who wounded his hand with an awl. The drawing and painting are both related in an absolute manner to those in the Ceneda altarpiece. The figures are coarse and repulsive in mask; 'the detail everywhere incorrect. The flesh is reddish with the high lights streaked on in white. 2 Venice Academy No. 22. The Virgin seems taken from a pack of cards, the anatomy is false; the shape wooden. Draperies are in- volved and fall spirally. The flesh is red, and green in the shaded parts; of course the crowns and borders are embossed. S l John Bapt. and another Saint are at each side of the Virgin. The piece is signed, 1436: "Jachomello de Fior," the i perhaps a mutila- tion of an 1. It is this Madonna which Lanzi knew when in the Manfrini gall. (Lanzi, II. 86.) Chap. I. JACOBELLO DEL FIORE. 9 the death of Peter Martyr, taken down from San Gio- vanni e Paolo to make room for the celebrated canvas of Titian, and the " apostles" in the school of the Carita at Venice. 1 1 The fact that Jacobello had done a Peter Martyr in San Gio. e Paolo is stated in Sansovino (Venezia Descritta, edition of Mar- tinione 4°. Venice 1668. p. 65.) and in Ridolfi, (Le Maraviglie deir arte 8°. 1835, Padua. Vol. I. p. 48.) The apostles at the Carita are stated by the Anonimo (Ed. Morelli, p. 87.) to have been on panel in distemper and above life-size, and to have been com- pleted, "l'anno 1418, 13. Febbraro." They are mentioned by Boschini. (Le R. Min. Seat. Dorso Duro. p. 36,) by Sansovino. (Ven. Desc. p. 282,) by Zanetti, p. 17, and Ridolfi, (Le* Maraviglie, I. 47.) Mo- schini (Guida di Venezia, 12°. 1815. H. 181.) charges Ridolfi and Bo- schini, upon good grounds, with confounding a Virgin, which the latter mentions in the same breath as these apostles, with the Ma- donna and Saints by Joannes Alemannus and Antonio de Mu- riano now in the Venice Academy. He might have added to his list Zanetti who makes a similar blunder. We had hoped to find these apostles in the magazines of the Venice Academy, but they are not there. In 1858 there were two figures of apostles taken from Venice to Bassano and exhibited for sale there under the name of Jacobello; the style was undoubt- edly lus, and it is probable that the apostles have been dispersed and may be found in galleries abroad. Amongst existing pictures we are enabled still to notice the following : Venice. Museo Correr. No. 7. Half-length Virgin with the in- fant at the breast, wood, gold ground. Damage done to the sur- face precludes an opinion as regards colour, but the outlines and move- ment recall Francescuccio Ghissi. Venice. Galleria Manfrini. No. 67. Wood. Virgin and child, so re- painted as to defy criticism, but with the remains of an inscription : "143 . . . (? 4 or 6) adi 26 Mazo Jachomello de . . or pense," but as to this signature, ? Same collec- tion. No. 104. Wood. S l Chiara, reminiscent of the style of one of the older Muranese, rather than of that of Jacobello. Venice. Sant' Alvise. Kneeling portrait of the priest Philippus, curate of San Girolamo, much in- jured by fire and subsequent re- storing, with remnant of inscrip- tion as follows: "Jacob . . . . lo re me " no opinion justifiable. See for notices at considerable length, Cicogna. Iscriz. Venet. Vol. VI. pp. 532, 823—24. The portrait was long supposed to be that of Pietro Gambacorta of Pisa. It is engraved in Zanotto, Pinacoteca Veneta. Fasc. 8. The painting is on panel and possibly a fragment originally in the church of San Gi- rolamo at Venice. Bergamo Gal. Carrara. No. 17. Wood, tempera inscribed: "Jacho- mello de Fior f." Virgin adoring the child on her lap, and six angels in air; in the upper angles, the Virgin and angel annunciate; in six compartments at sides, nati- vity, noli me tangere, resurrec- tion, entombment, descent from cross and crucifixion. There is no lack of restoring to this picture and its inscription, but the figures exaggerate the defects of Jacobello. Venice. San Gervasio e Protasio. S. Grisogonus on horseback with a banner, wood, entirely repainted; recalls not only Jacobello, but Antonio da Negroponte and even Giambono. Berlin Mas. No. 1155. S. Michael and the dragon, wood, without embossments. The draw- 10 THE VENETIANS. Chap. I. If the latter had been preserved; we should possess probably the most careful and finished production of Jacobello's pencil. He was attached to the school of the Carita by the interests of purse and of religion. He was registered amongst its members, and he willed that he should be buried in their dress and without pomp in the tomb at San Giovanni e Paolo, which he had prepared for himself and for his family. 1 I lis will was made at the close of 1439. It left the greater part of his property to bis wife Lucy and to his adopted son Hercules. There was a proviso, however, that should the former be pregnant at his death, the post- humous child should divide equally with Hercules; and this proviso chiefly, has led us to reject the common belief that Jacobello del Fiore is identical with an early painter called Jacobello di Bonomo. 2 We learn with precision from the will that Jacobello was possessed of wealth in money, in relics, in books, and in tene- ments, that he had a slave and other servants; we find in fact that though a bad painter he was a charitable, benevolent, and good man. 3 ing is an improvement on Jaco- bello, the colour likewise, which is better fused. The attitudes are freer. This is more a Muranese piece than one by Del Fiore. Two pictures which we have not seen are a S* Louis and S l Jerom, once in the hands of Mr. Barker in London, (Waagen Treasures, II. L2-7.) and four saints, James the Elder, George, Dominick, and Ni- cholas, Late gallery of Mr. Bromley. Waagen Tr., III. 377.) Lost or mi slaid are also altarpieces of the nuns of Corpus Domini at Venice (Vas. VI. 91. Sansov. Venice desc. 173. Ridolfi. Le Maravi. [. 18), altarpiece with S ts Chris- topher, Sebastian, and Roch, in the Gesuati at Venice. (Boschini. Le Ric. Min. S. Dorso Duro. p. 19.) Ridolfi erroneously assigns to Jacobello the Virgin and child by Negroponte in San Francesco della Vigna at Venice. (Le Mara- viglie. I. 48.) 1 See note 3 to p. 4. 2 See note to p. 2. 3 1439, 2. 8 bre . . . "Ego Jacobel- lus de Flore pictor de confinio S. Moysis . . . constituo et esse volo meos fideles commissarios Luciam dilectam uxorem meam. . . . Erculem filium meum adoptivum Eligo corporis mei sepulcrum apud mo- nasterium sanctorum Johannis et Pauli ubi meus tumulus est fabrica- tus. Item poni volo cadaverem meum in feretro mee scole S. Mariaj de Caritate batutorum, indutum tantummodo cappa dicte scole Dimitto omnes et singulos meos reliquias sanctorum cum suis or- namentis scole batutorum S. M. de Caritate in que ego sum .... omnes et singulos meos libros .... dimitto Chap. I. NEGROPONTE. 11 Jacobello's comrades or successors in artistic practise were, as we have seen, Negroponte, Donato, and Giambono. Of the first there is little to be said except that his colossal Virgin in adoration at San Francesco della Vigna of Venice was taken by Ridolfi for the work of del Fiore. 1 It has a peculiar stamp revealing the connection of its author with the followers of Squarcione, Zoppo and Gregorio Schiavone. It is painted with the hard dry tempera of that school, and is superabundantly decorated with the low embossments and plastic ornaments, which rarely fail to accompany Paduan pictures. It is all but a solitary example of the master. 2 A nam sclavam meam liberam et francham al> omni vinculo servi- tutis Dimitto Catherinam servam meam in manibus antedictse Lucie ux. m. . . . et Erculi . . . quia in eorum arbitrio reliquo tenendam francandam et maritandam. Dimitto . . Erculi omnia et singula desig- namenta et colores, ceteraque ad artem pictoriam pertinentes si se in dicta arte voluerit exercere, aliter vendantur . . . Dimitto frat. domi- nico de Flore et fratri Jolianni Bono de Muriano ordinis predicat- orum ducatos octo auri annuatim .... omnes et singulas meas domus quod possideo in civit. Venetij tarn in contrata S. Agnetis quam in contrata S. Crucis vendi debere Si forte ad mortem meam ipsa (Lucia) esset gravida et pareret, deputetur ad equalem portionem cum Ercule .... Residuum om- nium bonor. mob. et immob. pre- sent, et futur. . . . dimitto ante- dictis Lucie . . . et Erculi." This will in the Archivio Notarile of Venice was copied as far back ;is 1857 by Michele Caffi. The fore- going is but an excerpt giving, however, all that interests the public of this day. 1 Ridolfi, le Maraviglie. I. p. 48. Sansovino does not fall into this error; but he and Boschini, both commit another, saying that the author is Fra Francesco da Negro- ponte. The words inscribed on the lower step of the throne are: "Frater Antonius da Negropon pinxit." (Yenezia desc. p. 50. and Bosch. Le R. Min. Sest. di Castello. 43.) According to Boschini and Ridolfi the picture was painted for the Cap. Morosini. The Virgin sits in a throne enlivened with reliefs of children and carved or- nament. Classic heads are pinned to the front of the rounded foot- board of the throne. There are birds and roses about, which re- mind us of Stefano da Verona, a vase, candelabra, and festoons of fruit and flowers; seraphs com- plete the upper part. The arched canvass at top with an Eternal in it is a modern addition. The faces are all unpleasant like those of Zoppo ; but the head of the Virgin is of a pretty oval. The temper;! is dry, finely hatched originally, and now much retouched in the flesh. Two angels attend at the feet of Christ who lies with a cross in his hand on the Virgin's lap. 2 In San Francesco del la Vigna there are three life-size figures of S ts Jerom, Bernardino, and Louis (wood) on an altar in fehe sacristy. They arc assigned to Jacobello by Ridolfi, Mar. 1. 48.) to Negroponte by Moschi.1 ( ruidadi Venez. ed. L815 12 THE VENETIANS. Chap. I. The name of Donate- is illustrated by creations of two kinds, those which date from the first half of the 15 th century, and those which betray an artist of the close of that century. Of the latter kind, and therefore foreign to the period of which we now treat, is a Pieta 1 at the Venice Academy, copied from that of Giovanni Bellini in the Museum of Berlin, and a Crucifixion, 2 both of which might indicate that there was once a person of the name of Donato, who studied in the school, or imi- tated the manner, of Giovanni Bellini. The colleague and follower of Jacobello, who walks in the path of fourteenth century art is Donato, whose memory is pre- served in historical descriptions of works dating from I. 44 — 61.), but they are by a better hand than either. The figures are slender; the execution and orna- mentation of drapery in the manner of the Muranese. The tempera has j a raw and crystalline appearance due to restoring. The gold grounds are repainted in green, with oil. It is probable that these are pro- ductions of one of the Vivarini. More in the fashion of Negro- ponte is a panel in the Oratory della Disciplina at Legnago (gold gr. split vertically in two places). The Virgin is enthroned and adores the child laid out in her lap. She receives golden rays from the dove and from the Eternal above her. Several angels hold vases and scrolls. The subject is similar to that in the altarpiece of San Fran- cesco della Vigna. The surface is extensively altered by repainting. 1 Venice Academy, No. 426, (can- vass, oil half-lengths) Christ sup- ported on the tomb by the Virgin and Evangelist. The best preserved parts, — i.e. the hand and head of the Saviour, and part of the head of the Evangelist, are painted in with a fatty semi-transparent im- pasto, in a style revealing a fol- lower of Gio. Bellini, from whose Pieta at Berlin (Museum Catal e . No. 4) the subject is exactly copied. — Another copy by a poorer and more modern hand, is also assigned to Donato Veneziano in the gallery of Padua. (No. 426.) It is fuzzy j and thick in surface, done at one painting, with dark shadows. 2 Venice Acad. No. 528. origi- nally in San Nicolo dei Frari (de- molished church) and assigned to Donato by Boschini (Le K. Min. Sest. S. Polo. 56). Zanotto has en- graved it, (Pinacot. dell. Acad. Ven. Fas. 23.) He follows Mos- chini (Guida II. 507) in doubting that the author is Donato, pupil or follower of Jacobello. The ex- ecution is better here than in the Pieta, but the hand might be the same. The flesh tones are low in key, and remind us of the period illustrated by Palma Vecchio. Boschini cites further as by Donato, a S l Francis receiving the Stigmata in San Nicolo (Le R. Min. Sest. de S. Polo p. 57), but the piece is not to be traced, and "Christ going to Calvary," in the church of the island of San Giorgio in Alga (Sest. della Croce, 63), is also missing. The Manfrini gallery has a S l Jerome No. 106) catalogued under the name of Donato. The saint is in the desert. A coarse thing, un- like any of the foregoing. / Chap. I. DONATO. 13 1438 to 1460/ of whom, however, there remains but one canvas, a winged lion between S ts Jerom and Augustin in the magazine of the public palace at Venice. In this solitary production of the year 1459, the majestic ani- mal is presented to us almost exactly in the attitude previously chosen by Jacobello, colossal in size, not without grandeur, but flanked by two greatly injured figures of saints betraying the painter's imperfect con- ception of the human shape. 2 Michele Giambono humbly treads in the path of Jaco- bello, treating mosaics with more skill than painting, but even in the latter, disclosing an improvement in technical handling, due to the study of Gentile da Fabriano, or as we should rather be inclined to suppose, of Pisano. 3 A conventional swell in his outline reveals the common fountain at which he and Jacopo Bellini drew their earliest instruction. But Giambono never freed himself from the grotesque rugosity peculiar to the Veneto-Byzantines ; he did not draw with more correctness than Jacobello, and 1 "Battesimo su Tartar g-rande a .santa Marina (Venice) di mano. d. D. Veniz. Tann. 1438." Sansov. Ven. Desc. p. 41, "una Madonna nel Kefettorio di Sant 1 Elena. Tanno 1452." (ib. 212; and Ridolfi; Marav. I. 49), a Virgin between S ts James, Jerom, Victorius, and Nicholas in San Samuello. (Sansov. Ven. desc. p. 115.) All of these are g-one. 2 Venice, Ducal Palace. This lion was in the Tribunal of the Avogaria. It is inscribed: "Donat~ Vetus depi .... a ..." and we are told (Ridolfi Marav. I. 49.) bore the date of 1459. The tem- pera is repainted in oil, but there are traces of the original work in the head of S l Jerom and the em- broideries of the dress of S l Au- gustin. Behind the lion a castle on an eminence, water, islands, ;tii(l a boat, two scutcheons in front (mentioned in Bosch. R. Min. Sest. di S. Marco, p. 50.). Another piece of this kind, originally in tlio Magistrato de 1 Cattaveri is also preserved in the magazine of the Ducal Palace. It is a canvass with the arms of the republic and S ts Peter and Nicholas as supporters at the sides. The style is that of Jacobello and Giambono, and very closely resembles Donato's, but the piece has been altered by repainting and a date (1504) seems added by another hand, who put in two new bits of work at the outer sides. 3 We shall be able to connect the name of Giambono with a fixed date in the 15 th century. There is a record in the archives of the notaries of Udine, which in sub- stance is a contract between the town of S. Daniele, Michele q. Gio- vanni Boni, painter and Paolo Amadei, sculptor of Venice, for an altarpiece of carved wood to be placed in the church of San Michele at San Daniele. This contract is dated Dec. 28. 1441. 14 THE VENETIANS. Chap. I. if his draperies are east with the comparative simplicity of a previous century, they are still heavy and overladen. ( )f the mosaics and pictures, which Giambono had the sense to sign with his name, the earliest is probably the " Redeemer between S l Bernardino and other saints," at the Venice Academy, a damaged altarpiece produced be- tween 1450 and 1470 or some years after S l Bernardino was canonized. 1 The archaic forms, the large head with protuberances indicated by lines, the imperfect bony ex- tremities, all tell of the education of the 14 lh century, but the stucco ornaments are lower in relief, and the coigns of the nimbs are finer than before. 2 We are reminded here of nothing so much as of the fresco attri- buted to Vincenzo di Stefano on the monument erected in 1432 at Sant' Anastasia of Verona to the memory of Cortesia Serego, the general of Antonio Scaliger. In the waggon roof of the Madonna de' Mascoli at San Marco of Venice, Giambono signs his name on one of two very large and bright mosaics. To the left we have the nativity in a lodge of very florid architecture, with the presentation in the temple as a makeweight, to the right the visitation and the death of the Virgin. The mosaics are framed in ornament tastefully imitated from the older Oriental. That which contains the visitation and death of the Virgin suggests a renewal or a different hand from Giambono's ; but the nativity and presentation are composed with reasonable skill according to the 1 St. Bernardino died in i444; he was "beatified" in 1450, canon- ized in 1458; but as to these last dates authorities differ. Important, under these circumstances, is the following passage in the Annali Veneti ot'Malipiero (Arch. Stor. ub. sup. part II nd of Tom. VII. 8 n . Flor. 1844. p. 658.): "Quest 1 anno (1470) s na eomenza a solenizar el di de San Bernardin da Siena, a instantia del Dose I). Cristofol Moro, al quale ditto I!, predisse che'l sarave Dose." 2 Venice Acad. No. 3. originally in the Scuola del Crocifisso alia Giudecca (suppressed). The work is engraved in Zanotto (Pinacot. delF Acad. Fasc. 44.) The Saviour as the good shepherd erect on a pedestal; and, like the four saints, in a painted niche, the upper area of which has been enlarged by modern hands. The grounds are regilt, so that they in part impinge on the original outlines. The flesh tints are injured. On the pedestal of the Saviour we read: "Michael Gabono pixit." Chap. I. GIAMBONO. 15 traditional pattern, and the space is well divided and balanced. There is more simplicity of action, more purity of outline, a better cast of drapery than in contempo- rary paintings of the Venetian school, and there is at once more truth in the proportions and more animation in the action than heretofore. The colouring too is harmonious and brilliant. 1 It is, however, in a small and highly finished Virgin and child belonging to the Conte Riva of Padua, that we most surely trace the influence of Pisano on Giam- bono. Here as in the Madonna de 1 Mascoli we read his name without a date, but we have before us a flat and slightly shaded enlargement of a miniature with figures in unnatural movements, not approaching to perfection in drawing whether of body, of limb, or of face, clad in tortuous and copious folds of dress, iind tawdry from the use of golden arabesques, and borders 5 and we note with certainty, a family likeness between this and the usual productions of Pisano's Veronese disciples. 2 We thus gain an insight into the changes which super- vened when the Venetians were affected by Umbrian art. It might have been desirable to add some infor- 1 Venice, San Marco. The chapel was built in 1430, as may be seen from the inscription quoted in Za- notto, (Pinac. dell. Acad. Fasc. 44.) The mosaics are supposed by Za- notto (ibi) to have been finished between 1460 and 1490; by Selva- tico (Guida di Venez. without date, p. 38) in 1490. The border run- ning along the centre line of the waggon-roof contains a Virgin and child, and the prophets Isaiah and David in three medallions. In the lunette facing the door are the angel and Virgin annunciate at the sides of a bulFs-eye window. On a scroll at the toot of the Virgin of the presentation one reads: "Mi- chael Zanbono venetus fecit." The mosaic of the death of the Virgin lias undergone some restoring. 2 Conte Riva, via San Biagio at Padua. The ground of the panel I is gilt, and touched with arabesques of a lake colour. A bird is perched on the Virgin's knee. One may remark how small the mouth and chin are, how angular the outline of the eye, how thick the tips of the fingers. On the lower border of the panel one reads: "Michael Johannis Bono venetus pinxit." The Berlin Museum Catalogue I gives to Giambono (No. 1154) an assumption of the Magdalen, in I which the saint, covered with di- shevelled hair, is taken to heaven ; by six little angels (wood-tempera). A nun patroness kneels on the fore ground of a hilly landscape (left). The softness of the tempera, the comparatively true nature and ren- 16 THE VENETIANS. Chap. I. mation respecting Giacomo or Girolamo Morazone of whom Vasari says that he was the competitor of Jaco- bello, but as his picture in Sant' Elena at Venice k is mis- laid/ and there is no present clue to his style, it is best to neglect Morazone, 2 and to turn our glance towards the island of Murano, where Giovanni and Antonio first ex- hibited their industry and talent. dering of the figures proclaim the author to be not Giambono but Antonio of Murano. The subject, however, is that which Sansov. (Venez. desc. p. 20) assigns at Santa Maria in Gerusalemme of Venice to Giambono. Sansovino also speaks of Giambono as the author of re- liefs carved in the chapel of the Mascoli at San Marco. (Sansov. Ven. desc. 98) There is no doubt that a sculptor of the name of Zuan Boni existed in Venice in 1438 — 1442, (see records in Gua- landi's Memorie Serie VI.), but the question still remains uncertain whether he and Giambono are one person. The two altarpieces men- tioned by Sansovino (Ven. desc. 175) at Sant 1 Alvise of Venice are missing. 1 This picture is described by Zanetti (Pitt. Ven. 491—2.) as representing the assumption of the Virgin, the Baptist, S l Benedict, S l Helen, and S 1 Elizabeth. It is mentioned by Vas. VI. 91. An in- scription preserved by Zanetti proves that the jpicture w T as exe- ( ii ted in 1441, but see Cicogna [scriz. Venet. Vol. III. p. 354 and 518), and for notices of the Mora- zone family the same. (Iscriz Venet. vol. I. pp. 49 and 83.) 2 In Santa Maria de 1 Frari at Venice, a monument with heavy and grotesque bas-reliefs in terra cotta of the resurrection, limbo, and virtues, contains the body of the beatified monk Pacifico. "In hoc sepulcro depositum fuit corpus pacifici ordinis fratrum minor ano din M°. CCCCXXXVII die XXI Julij." Above the arch of the re- cess, the Virgin receives the annun- ciate angel, and awaits the dove sent down by, the Eternal. At the left side S l Francis receives the Stigmata, and another Franciscan stands in a niche with a book. The vaulting of the recess is de- corated with ornaments and angels. The paintings are in distemper on the wall, of coarse and opaque tone. The manner apes that of Jacobello, the forms being as defective as his usually are, but exaggerated in a manner reminiscent of Giambono. The reliefs are apparently by the same artist as the wall painting. May not this be the work of Mo- razone, if he be really the rival of Jacobello ? Chap. II. THE MURANESE. 17 CHAPTER II. THE MURANESE. Murano is only parted from Venice by a channel of insignificant breadth; yet from the earliest date of the settlement of the islands it preserved a separate existence. For a considerable period it was very populous, and was a favorite resort of the wealthier citizens, who retired from their counting-houses to the seclusion of its villas and gardens. Its importance in the 15 lh century was due to the perfection of glass manufactures, which flou- rished under the searching supervision of the Council of Ten ; and there is no more remarkable instance of the jealousy with which the interests of a specific class were guarded than that afforded by the government re- gulations in respect of this very manufacture. It was enacted that no person who was free of the guild should leave Murano on pain of death; and the severity of this law was only mitigated by a concession that the girls of Murano should be entitled to marry, without incurring the penalties of a mis-alliance, into the noblest families of Venice. 1 Remnants of mosaics, of wall paintings, and of altar- pieces in this and the neighbouring islands prove the existence of artists in very remote times, 2 but Murano 1 "Venezia e le sue Lagune." Ve- nice, 1847, 4°, vol. I, part i. pp. 75, 113, 181, and I. part 2. p. 70. 2 One of the earliest works to VOL. I. be noticed in the island is a mo- saic, on gold ground, in several courses, inside and above the portal I of the cathedral of Torcello. At 2 1 8 THE VENETIANS. Chap. II. did not boast of a good school before the first half of the 15 th century; and we must reject as unfounded the The highest point, in the gable, Christ crucified, between two half- lengths; beneath this, Christ with a double cross helping Adam out of limbus, whilst Satan grovels at his feet; to the left, the fathers; to the right, a saint; and at the extremes on each side, an angel symbolizing the Eastern and West- ern churches. The limbus is quaintly suggested by two openings, in which three half-lengths stand (a large piece on the right broken away). Beneath, Christ in glory between Joseph and Mary; the symbols of the Evangelists, Seraphim, and the twelve (of these the heads are gone). Lower down, the altar and cross that mark the seat of judgment at- tended by guards of seraphim, Adam and Eve kneeling in front of them ; to the left S. Peter guarding the entrance to Paradise, at which an angel stands sentinel ; the Virgin and John Baptist, Christ with a child in his arms and five children near him at the foot of a palm, all in a meadow strewed with flowers; to the right, angels sounding the judgment; and hell, the fire of which is fed by a stream running out from beneath the feet of the Redeemer. In a lunette above the portal, the Virgin, half-length. This is a rudely executed mosaic of the 12 th century, obscure in its exposition of the subjects, and overcharged in the action of the figures; coarser than i he painting of S l Angelo in Formis at Capua. Another mosaic of the same class and period is in a la- teral chapel of the same cathedral; it represents four angels and the lamb in a meandering ornament. Of a more obviously local cha- racter is a life-size S l Donato in his mitre with a crozier and book be- t ween the kneeling Podesta of Mu- rano, Donato Memo, and his wife; the saint, long, lean, colossal, and "tt tip-toe, the patron diminutive, the whole mapped out in primitive colours after the oldest Siennese or Umbrian fashion, the cheeks rouged, the ornaments in stucco. This was originally a votive piece behind the high altar of San Donato of Mu- rano, but is provisionally in the convent of the sisters of Santa Do- rothea. It bears this inscription : "Corando MCCCX indicion VIII. in tepo delo nobile homo miser Donato Memo honorado podesta dc Muran facta fo questa Ancona de miser San Donato." We know T of one record in which a Muranese artist is mentioned ; a will in which the painter Bartolommeo, who died 1325, bequeathed some houses to the church of San Stefano of Mn- rano. The will was copied in the Archivio Notarile of Venice, and communicated to us by Don Vin- cenzo Zanetti, a priest of Murano. But this Bartolommeo may be the same noticed in a former volume of this work as a companion of Cha- tarinus in the production of an altarpiece at the Corpus Domini of Venice. (See antea II. 268—9.) In the church of San Donato the apsis mosaic is an assumption of the Virgin, with the four Evan- gelists beneath : the principal person- age a colossal figure standing on a cube showing ^the palms; at the shoulder MP-OV ; a triple inscrip- tion round the figure refers to the assumption (Latin). Below the figure and pedestal a border in the style distinguishing the mosaics of the 12 th century. The character is Siculo-Byzantine, of the same school as the older mosaics of the church of S l Mark; colours brilliant; frame of Virgin long and lean, the dress Byzantine. Beneath the border is a fresco of the 15 lh century, as- signed to the Vivarinesque school, representing the Evangelists seated; but much repainting deprives us of the menus of distinguish- Chap. II. THE MURANESE. 19 modern theory, which strives to give it a more vener- able age. 1 Favoured by the extension of the population and the consequent increase of churches and convents ? the .Muranese first discovered a field for their industry within their own boundaries. But they soon extended their practise to Venice when it appeared that they had solid grounds for asserting their superiority over men unable to free themselves from antiquated habits. The reasons of this superiority lay in their timely assimila- tion of elements hitherto unknown to the art of their locality; and it is a just tribute to the memory of Gio- vanni and Antonio da Murano, the earliest masters of any note in these parts ; to say that they cleverly ab- sorbed the principles which were taught in Venice by Gentile da Fabriano and Pisano. It would be too much to say that they began to innovate in such a fashion as to startle their cotemporaries or posterity. Their conception and arrangement of subjects were not without quaintness; they did not surrender the old custom of accessories and gilt stucco; they did not add much to previous experience as regards contrast by light and shade, or fitness and variety of expression, but they remedied in a great measure the coarse incorrectness and glaring contrasts of tone peculiar to Guariento; they threw a tenderer spirit into their creations, and they ing the hand which produced them. In the same edifice originally, 1 We have fallen into the error of stating that Quiricius of Murano was the oldest painter of this school. but now in the convent of Santa j See " The Early Flemish painters," Dorothea, is a death of the Virgin art. Antonello da Messina. Another between S ts Stephen, Louis, John I baptist, James (?), Donato and Law- rence, with a lower course consist- ing of twelve half-lengths of saints, some of which (four) though much injured seem repainted at the time of the Vivarini, and the rest (also injured) are of the same age as the remainder of the altarpiece, i.e. the common error is to suppose that a Vivarini named Luigi painted at Murano in 1414. See postea, and also Moschini, Guida di Mu- rano p. IS, and Annot. Vas. VI. 120, who believe in this imagin- ary Muranese, and Lanzi, II. 82, who docs not. See also postea, the life of Andrea da Murano, a tgc of Semitecolo, and even Jaco- painter of the 16 th , who has by a bello — in every sense Venetian rather fraud been transferred to tin; 15 th than Muranese. [ century. 2* 20 THE VENETIANS. Chap. II. gave a new softness to their figures. If we inquire when and where they gained the knowledge which enabled them to take a stride ahead of their country- men; if we consult the dim page of history for an out- line, were it but a faint one, of their lives, we are met by difficulties of two kinds. We have to contend with an absolute poverty of records on the one hand, and to guard against incorrect readings or forged inscriptions on the other. Had Venetian historians been content to accept the evidence of pictures, which prove that Gio- vanni da Murano, and Giovanni Alamannus are one person; had they been willing to smother the jealousy which tends to diminish the services done to Italian art by one not born on Italian soil, they would have been more honest and more just. It is undoubtedly a fact that Giovanni and * Antonio, whose partnership existed in 1440 and lapsed after 1447, first signed " Johannes et Antonius de Muriano," whilst they inscribed later productions with "Johannes Alamannus and Antonio da Muriano." Venetian pride attempted to assert that two associations had been formed, the first between Giovanni and Antonio, both Italians, the second between Giovanni, a German, and Antonio, an Italian, and that the style of the pieces produced under each of these associations Avas different. 1 An effort was then made to prove the existence of the Italian Giovanni, and for this purpose an ingenious fraud was perpetrated by certain dealers, who dismembered an altarpiece purchased from San Stefano at Venice, and sold the fragments to a wealthy collector, called Ascanio Molin. On these fragments they forged the name of an entire tribe of Muranese, " Johan- nes Vivarini" amongst the number, and thus created not only a rival to Giovanni Alamannus, but a new and imaginary member of a family known at a later period 1 M o s c h i n i. G u i d a di M u r a n o, note to p. 18. Vas. annot. VI. 121. Zanotto, Pinacot. Veneta, Fasc. 26. Zanetti, Pitt. Venez. p. 15, was the first to hold these opinions. Chap. II. THE MUKANESE. 21 as that of the Vivarini. 1 The imposture was so trans- parent that Lanzi denounced it. 2 The panels were either destroyed or deprived of their signatures; yet there are men who still maintain that the names were not imaginary. 3 It is needless to say that the style of Giovanni and Antonio is the same as that of Giovanni Alamannus and Antonio. At what time the partnership of these artists began is altogether unknown. One or both associates had clearly been at the school or in the pay of Gentile da Fabriano. It is unknown, likewise, whether they resided exclusively in the island of Murano; but the numerous altarpieces which are accessible to us were done for churches at Venice, and the glory of the Virgin and of Christ at the Academy was painted for one of these in 1440. 1 1 These inscriptions were made public by Moschini (Guida di Mu- rano, p. 18, 19). He describes a cen- tral Virgin and child which bore the initials B. V. (Bartolommeo Vivarini). S l Augustin was signed "Aloysius Vivarinus;" S l Jeroni with a book was inscribed on one of the leaves : " Antonius Vivarinus ;" 8. James held a staff, and on this staff the words: "Joannes Vivarinus." The forgery was detected at once by Pietro Brandolese and the Ca- valier Gio. da Lazzara. See Lanzi II. 82, note. 2 Brandolesi wrote a pamphlet, en- titled, "Dubbi sull 1 esistenza del pittore Giovanni Vivarini da Mu- rano, 8", Padua, 1807," and proves conclusively that no such person as Gio. Vivarini could have existed. The Abbe' Mauro Boni, whose name seems connected with the forgeries which imposed on Signer Molin is denounced as a falsificator of MS. on a very extensive scale. (See Archivio Storico II. serie terza, torn. IV. p. II.. 1866, pp. 156,7). His ac- complices, the Minghetti, are also exposed; but, as regards the latter, Zanotto (Pinac. dell 1 Accad. Ven. Fasc. XXXVI. notes to Luigi Vi- varini Seniore) had already made some very damaging charges. % 3 Rizzi (I. N.) in "Elogio Acade- mico," read before the members of the Academy of Arts at Venice, in 1816, p. 35. Moschini Guida di Murano, note to p. 18. Zanotto Pinac. Veneta fasc. 26. We shall see that the word "Innocentes" on the obverse of an altarpiece in the cappella San Terasio at San Zacca- ria of Venice has been mis-read "Johannes 11 by Zanotto (Pin. Venet. fasc. 26), who thus attributes to Giovanni of Murano (or Vivarini) as distinguished from Giovanni Alemannus, an important work. At the same time Zanotto (ibi) de- clares that he has seen pieces by Giovanni Alemannus alone at the Scuola de 1 Calzolai in Venice (which subsequently were taken to the magazine of the domain at Vienna), in which quite a different style is apparent than that of the Johannes of San Terasio. But the compa- rison becomes worthless when we know that the Johannes of the Cappella San Terasio is unreal. 4 Academy of Venice, No. X, and engraved by Zanotto in Pinacot. dell Acad. Venet. fasc. No. 48, wood 22 THE VENETIANS. Chap. II. Two things are characteristic in this mutilated and colourless piece. The group of the Eternal with his hands on the shoulders of Christ and of Mary, is a counterpart of that by Gentile da Fabriano in the Br era collection. The arrangement of the subject generally is simply realistic and in some things as quaintly grotesque as we might expect from Jacobello. We see nowhere except in the Venetian school a paradise in which angels and seraphs, prophets, patriarchs or apostles, saints or martyrs are ranged in tiers at the sides of a pulpit on pillars. We must go back to Cimabue to discover the four doctors beneath the Virgin's chair. In Venice alone we find S r Gregory, S 1 Augustin, S l Jerom, and S 1 Nicholas sharing the honours of the throne with the four Evangelists and their symbols, and the angels bear- ing the emblems of the passion. As for the throne itself, it would not be Venetian of this age, but for its heavy carving and gilding; nor should we fancy that we were lingering in the land of Guariento or Semitecolo, if the nimbs and mitres, and borders, and crosiers were not of gilt stucco. Add to this a certain shortness and helplessness in the figures, a painful rudeness in the extremities, as well as in the definition of detail; and the impression of the work is all but complete. The redeeming features in it are those which prove the in- fluence of the Umbrian, and perhaps the German, educa- tion in the painters. There is none of the exaggeration of action, none of the sharpness of contrast in tones, of tempera, mutilated in the upper part; the highest region, with the angels and "powers" being re- painted in oil, and a pinnacle by Basaiti added on. The inscription in a banderol on the foreground is: " Joanes et Antonius de Muriano f. MCCCCXXXX." The beaded facing of the spirally-cut stool on which the Evangelists stand is embroi- dered in open work, and the colour- ing is throughout spoiled by re- storing. We are only informed that this panel was presented to the Academy by Ascanio Molin. It is probably the same described by old guides as having been once in San Barnaba of Venice (Sanso- vino Ven. desc. p. 246). It was at a later period in Santa Maria de Miracoli, a convent founded after 1480. (See Annali Veneti, by Ma- lipiero in Archivio Storico, Part II. vol. VII. p. 672-X Chap. II. THE MUKANESE. 23 the earlier period; there is more regularity of proportion in the human frame, and more care in the fashion of its outline; the cast of drapery is more simple. But above all, the soft fusion and gloss of the flesh, though un- relieved by light and s'hade, are a happy innova- tion. It was due no doubt to this reaction that the practise of Giovanni and Antonio extended, that they were commissioned to furnish an apotheosis of S l Jerom in 1441 to San Stefano, 1 three monumental altarpieces for the sisterhood of San Zaccaria in 1443, and a repeti- tion of the coronation with more copious embossments, for the chapel of the Holy Nail at San Pantaleone of Venice in 1444. We are still in doubt, whether the first of these is not the dismembered piece upon which so many in- scriptions were forged for the benefit of Signor Ascanio Molin. 2 To describe the latter would be mere iteration. 3 At San Zaccaria, a chapel dedicated to S 1 Terasio was to be restored to its pristine splendour by the renewal of three altars rich in the carving and decoration of their wood-work and statues, and precious for the finish of 1 Venice, San Stefano. The sub- ! ject is described by Ridolfi (Marav. j I. 50.) as a S* Jerom full-length j between other figures in compart- ments with a small Virgin and child in a pinnacle. The picture is 'mentioned by Boscliini, (Le R. Min. Sest. di S. Marco. 90.) and by Sansovino (Ven. descr. p. 129.), j who says: " La palla di S. Hiero- nymo di Giovanni et Antonio Vi- varini die furono l'anno 1441 et Fintaglio fu fatto da Gasparo Mo- ranzone." (It is here that we find Antonio for the first time called Vlvarini. He never signed any | picture so.) 2 Brandolesi, Dubbi ub. sup. p. 0, laments its loss. He might have lamented likewise the loss of a companion altarpiece, mentioned by all the writers above quoted, a S 1 Monica witli scenes from her life in San Stefano. Ridolfi, Bosch ini, and Sansovino ub. s u p. 3 Venice San Pantaleone. Wood, rounded at top. Similar in size and subject to the coronation No. 8 in Venice Academy, but perfect in the upper 'part where we see angels red, white, and blue, with maces, censers, shields, and scales, and inscribed "Principales Potes- tatcs, virtutes ..." The rests of the throne instead of being plain clustered pillars as at the Academy, are twisted, but here also much injury has been done by restoring. On the banderol, one reads : " Xpofol de Ferrara itaio. Zuane et Antonio dc Muran. pense 1444:;" the date and other parts of the inscription much rubbed. The same artists painted the doors of the organ in San Pantaleone, which are lost; Ridolfi, Marav. I. 51, 24 THE VENETIANS. Chap. II, their pictures. The most imposing of these altars is that which bears the name of the abbess, Helena Foscari, and the prioress, Marina Donato. It was intended to inclose a relic of the cross, and was fancifully cut into gables with pinnacles, beneath which half- length statues of saints were coloured in imitation of nature. Two carved images of S l Marina and S l Helen, two painted panels with S l Moses and S l Elizabeth are the flanking ornaments of the receptacle for the relics. The obverse is a double course of fourteen saints in niches, at the sides of which two children with the palms of martyrs are inscribed: "Iocentes;" whilst high up the Redeemer is depicted bleeding for the sins of the world. 1 The second altar, erected at the expense of the nun Margarita Donato, is also rich in flaming pinnacles, but less numerously furnished with statues. S l Sabina on a pedestal between S* Jerom and another saint, forms the principal compartment, above which stands a half-length of an angel between S l Margaret and a female martyr. 1 Venice, San Zaccaria. The front of this altar in its present con- dition is engraved in Zanotto Pinac.-Venet. fasc. 26. In the text Zanotto speaks only of the central Virgin and child as having- been added by restorers in 1839, and he expresses a belief that the addition is by Antonio. The truth is that the Virgin and child, 8 l Martin to the left, and S l Blaise to the right, were all added in 1839, as Cicogna very truly states (Cicogna Iscriz. Venez. Tom. IV. p. 692, and Tom. II. 144 — 5.), upon which occasion the signature, which is in Mos- chini as follows: "Lodovicus de For ... ies . . . et Johanes et Antoius de c . . eru " (Gui. diVen. ed. 1815, I. Ill), was renewed so: " Lodovicus de For . . . incixit ct Johannes, et Anthonius de Mur. pinxerunt MCCCCXLIIII." The date is therefore imaginary. At the same time the obverse was restored, and the word "Iocentes," read by Cicogna (as it was after- wards read by Zanotto and Kizzi [falsely]) "Johannes." The Virgin added to the front, as well as the two saints at her sides, are not in the style of the Muranese. The style is that of Pievan di S. Agnese or Lorenzo, the tempera rough, with hot flesh-lights and blue-grey shadows, colours of dresses sharply contrasted, detail of inner form crude; masks and foreheads large and protuberant. S l Mark next to the S 1 Martin is by Giov. and An- tonio, his blue mantle repainted. The S l Elizabeth is also by Gio. and Anton., and fairly preserved. The inscriptions beneath and above the saints, as well as that on the lower border of the picture, are not of interest. They may be read in Cicogna or Zanotto ub. sup. Chap II. THE MURANESE. 25 The third, duo to the piety of the nun Agnesina Giusti- niani, is a course of three bas-reliefs, illustrating the re- surrection of Christ, the Virgin and the Marys, and Christ at the sepulchre, the whole completed by attendant figures on panel of S ,s Gaius, Nereus, Achilleus, and another saint. Were it not for the wilfulness which so often spoils the fruits of the ingenuity of past ages, we should still have these masterpieces in their primitive state, somewhat shorn of their ginger, perhaps, a little bleached or changed in their colour, but valuable as perfect monuments. This condition they do not possess altogether, because the principal altar was taken to pieces and reset in 1839, on which occasion the relic press was closed by the intro- duction of a Virgin and child between St. Martin and St. Blaise, finished for some other purpose by Pievan di Sant' Agnese,the obverse being altered on the same occasion by the introduction of a new course of subjects in niches, bearing all the marks of the style of Agnolo Gaddi. 1 We still observe with interest in the altar of Margarita Donato how Giovanni and Antonio improved their stylo in the period which intervened between 1440 and 1443. 2 1 The subjects have been noticed in Hist, of Ital. Painting, I. 475. They are flanked at each side by the "innocents" already noticed. Beneath the Saviour, whose blood is received into a cup by an angel, there is a large figure of S l Zach- ariah between S ts Stephen, Thomas and Gregory, Theodore, Leo and Sabina. The next lower course comprises two angels in prayer, and six saints. The short but slender and hastily executed figures most recall the later works of | Antonio of Murano, when he painted I alone, the drawing and outlines i being mechanical and poor enough. But the attractiveness of the whole face is perhaps diminished by the fact that it is all in monochrome. 2 Venice, San Zaccaria. The sub- | jects of these altars have been de- scribed in the text in a few words. That of Margarita Donato is in- scribed: "Johannes et Antonius do Muriano pinxerunt, 1443 (1415, in error, apud Moschini, Guida di Ven. ed. 1815. 118), ms October . The figures are on gold ground, but the panels are all more or less damaged or rubbed down; exposing in the latter case the original tem- pera preparation, which was stip- pled up to a high condition of fusion by soft touches. A modern varnish is doing great injury by contracting and cracking the sur- face. The head and other parts of the saint to the right in the upper course and of S 1 Jerom, are ruined and repainted ; the blues are all new, and the angels about the 26 THE VENETIANS. Chap. II. Careful study had given them fresh mastery and enabled them to represent form with greater calm and more re- gularity of proportions. They corrected the excessive shortness of their figures by decreasing the breadth of the frame, and rounding the parts in the heads, but they passed to an almost excessive softness in the rendering of external outline and in the fusion of their tempera. They were diligent and jealous of their reputation in the more prominent portions of their work, leaving the minor ones, or those less likely to be freely exposed, to the humbler hands of their assistants. But the decorations of the chapel of San Terasio do not derive their whole value from the labours of the painter. The sculptures in every instance have an importance not second to that of the pictures themselves, and we shall be forced to admit that the bas-reliefs preferred by the piety of Agnesina Giustiniani are superior to the panels ordered by her sister nuns. There is a certain attraction in the animated boldness of these carved and coloured pieces 5 their character and power point to an artist of a high class. But Lodovico, who signs the largest of the altars, is otherwise unknown, whilst Christopher of Ferrara, or Moranzone, the habitual frame-makers of Jacobello and the Muranese, strike us as being workers in a lower field. It may appear on future investigation that we are here in presence of some Friulan, a pupil of the great schools of Tolmezzo and Udine, which combined the German habits of carving and colouring with a spirit truly Italian in the shape and expression of their figures. 1 These schools were to furnish Venice with some of the greatest names in its artistic calendar, names before which S l Sabina, as well as the youthful October . . . . " The four saint in the lower course to the | saints in panel are spo iled by re- right are rubbed down. The angel n ewal. in the centre of the second course is well preserved. 1 \y e are the more inclined to The altar of Agnesina Giusti- this supposition, as the signature niani is inscribed: '^'Jovanes et f the chief altar runs so: "Lodo- Antonio d Murano pixernt, 1443, vicus de For . . . incixit," &c. Chap. II. THE MUKANESE. 27 those of Giovanni Alamannus, and Antonio of Murano may be said to pale; yet tinged inevitably with some of that German blood, which so greatly troubles the critics of early Venetian art. It is not till 1445 that we discover Giovanni d' Alemania coupled with Antonio da Murano on any altarpiece; and we are asked to believe that the latter, having lost his first asso- ciate, now voluntarily admitted the superiority of a second one, a foreigner whom he allowed to appear as his senior. In the absence of this work, which represented S l George and S l Stephen, and formed the organ-shutter at San Giorgio Maggiore 1 , we have that of 1446 at the Carita, now preserved in the Academy, and inscribed: "1446 Johannes Alamannus, Antonius de Muriano, p." 2 It does not differ in style from the productions of the earlier association with which we are acquainted. On the con- trary, we revert in it to the shorter mould of form con- spicuous in examples previous to those of San Terasio. We have the same languor of type and of character, the same blending, the same roundness of face and calmness of 1 This picture is first mentioned, in San Giorgio Maggiore, by Za- netti (Pitt. Venez. p. 15), who gives the inscription as follows: "1445. Johannes de Alemania, et Anto- nius de Muriano, pin." Its loss is noted by Cicogna (Iscriz. Venez. IV. 315, 343, 347,~ 2G0.), who quotes as follows a chronicle of this mo- nastery of San Giorgio: "Alise duse imagines S l Steph. et St. Georg. ibi quae olim vetus organum claudebant, opus sunt Antonii de Muriano et Joannis de Alemania ut ibi subscripti." 2 No. 23. Acad, of Venice: in the catalogue of which, as well as in Zanotto (Guida di Venezia, 8°, Ven. 1863, p. 503), the date is falsely given as 1496. The place for which it was originally done, viz. Scuola della Carita, is now the Academy; so that it is one of the few pieces which did not re- quire to be transferred to a new- locality. It is mentioned by the Anon , (p. 87), who assigns it to "Antonello da Murano " by Sanso- vino (Ven. desc. p. 282), who gives it to "Antonio Vivarini da Mu- rano," by Zanetti (Pitt. Venez. p. 17), who calls it the "best of Ja- cobello's," and by Ridolfi (Mara v. I. 47), who makes the same mis- take. The picture is on canvas, the figures life-size; the two angels to the right repainted, as is like- wise the green dress of the angel nearest the Virgin to the left. Nos. 581 and 583, a Virgin and angel annunciate, done for the chiesa della Carita, and now at the Academy, are called by the names of Giovanni and Antonio (by Ridolfi, Marav. I. 50); but these pieces are too much altered by modern repainting to warrant an opinion. 28 THE VENETIANS. Chap. II. air, the same profusion of ornament and embroidery in erowns and borders, and the usual absence of relief by light and shade. The subject is the not uncommon one of the Virgin enthroned in a court under a baldaquin supported by four angels and attended by the four doctors, erect on a raised pedestal. We are still reminded of the Umbrian, but we now attribute to the German origin of Giovanni the partiality for copious ornament, and the pale smoothness of tempera, so remarkable in all the Muranese productions hitherto noticed; 1 and we find nothing to change in the opinion of Selvatico, when he declares, "that Giovanni and Antonio took much from the manner of cotemporary Germans without losing the merit of originality, transfusing into their creations the admirable serenity of colour, and into their proportions and manner the softness which were principal gifts in Gentile da Fabriano." 2 Far from exhausting the catalogue of Giovanni and Antonio's works, we have but indicated some of those that are best known and authenticated by signatures and dates. There is a beautifully preserved fragment of a Virgin and child in the oratory of San Filippo at Padua, which may be called the fairest creation of its time, so kindly have the Muranese made the rounded mould of her face, so calm her attitude, so pleasant the graceful flow of her draperies. 3 We are compensated by its 1 We may here mention a pic- ture by our artists mentioned by Sansovino (Ven. Desc. p. 254), who says it existed in San Cosmo e Damiano at Venice, was painted in 1446, and had a frame carved by Christoforo Ferrarese. 2 Selvatico (P.) Storia estetico- critica, 8°, Venice, 1856, II. pp. 463—4. 3 Padua, San Filippo, wood, life- size; tempera; noticed by Brando- lcse (" Pittura di Padova," ub. sup. p. 143) as the work of an unknown painter, but very clearly by our artist. The crown and nimbus of the Virgin are slightly raised; the throne is embellished with foliated ornament, and the base of it em- broidered with open work, through which roses are seen. The arabes- que cut base of yellow marble rests on a flowery meadow. One of the prettiest features is the grace- ful fall of drapery from the Vir- gin's head over the shoulders of the child, and then again through the Virgin's fingers. The flesh is softly enamelled in a transparent Chap. IT. THE MURANESE. 29 existence for the loss of the nativity executed for San Francesco of Padua in 1447. 1 Life-size portions of an altarpiece, a Virgin and child and two saints, were not long since divided between the atelier of the late Signor Molteni at Milan and the collection of the late Sir Charles Eastlake. 2 Another monumental work of the same hands and of this time is consigned to the " unknown" in the Brera collection at Milan, and is perhaps the nearest approach made by Giovanni and Antonio to the devout tenderness of the Florentines, Lorenzo Monaco, or Angelico. 3 An equally interesting and well-kept spe- cimen is the S* Ursula between S f Peter and S f Paul, originally in San Pietro, and now in private hands at and well-fused flesh-tint of a warm tinge, shaded off with greenish grey. There is evidently neither the old deep green preparation here, nor the deep brown shadow. The whole is toned up by light rosy glazes. 1 "La terza pah: a man manca (in Shu Francesco of Padua) fu de mailt > de Antonio e Zuan Alvise da Murano e contiene cinque figure in cinque nicchie" (Anon. 11). But "Zuan Alvise " is an error; and the signature is given by Zanetti (Pitt. Venez. p. 15) and by Brandolese (Pitture de Padova, 249) as follows : "MCCCCXLVII. Cristofalo de Fer- rara itaia Anton. de Muran e Zoane Alamanus, p." The subject, ac- cording to the latter authority: "Virgin adoring the infant Christ between the ox and the ass, and S l Joseph in the distance; at the sides four saints." The picture was still noticed in its place in 1807 by Braudolesi (Dubbi. ub. suit, p. 6). 2 Both pieces, wood tempera, life-size; the Virgin enthroned with the child erect on her lap, injured and requiring restoring (Sig. Mol- teni), S ts Jerom and Peter on one pedestal, much repainted, but in the manner of the Virgin at San Filippo of Padua (late Sir C. East- lake, now National Gallery, No. 7G8.) Perhaps these are two parts of a lost altarpiece once at San Moise' in Venice (Boschini Le R. Min. Sest. S. Marco, 80). 3 Milan Brera, No. 114, wood tempera, on gold ground; figures one-fourth of life-size; catalogued "Ecole Florentine, 11 but clearly by Giovanni and Antonio. There is so much softness and tenderness as greatly to recall the Umbrian school, and especially Gentile. The execution is careful, the outline of much tenuity, the colour clear and bright, and highly fused; the Virgin, at whose feet an abbot kneels, is a little plump; but the saints at the sides are slender and a little dry, which may be due especially to the collaboration of Antonio, whose pictures, when he no longer worked with Giovanni, show this slenderness. There are six full- length saints at the Virgin's sides, amongst them S ts John the Bap- tist and Benedict. In an upper course, the centre of which is Christ between the Virgin and S l John, there are half-lengths of S t9 Peter, Gregory, Monica, Paul, Ambrose, and Catherine. 30 Chap. II. Brescia. 1 We lose sight after this of Giovanni d' Ale- mania, and find Antonio the partner of his brother Bar- to lommeo of Murano. Till this moment the Venetians had followed an impulse given to them by the Umbrians and Germans. The time had come when North Italy was to feel the weight of a far stronger and more masculine power. Donatello, who had visited Padua, and fascinated every artist in the school of old Squarcione, now made his appearance in Venice; wherever he came he was followed by a crowd of admirers, who recognized in him the boldest reformer of Italian art; he was praised till he sickened of praise and fled from it, 2 but his admirers were honest and ardent, and for a time a doubt might have been indulged, whether Venice would not prefer the charms of classicism to those of colour. Amongst the followers of the classic revival, Bartolommeo of Murano may be considered the earliest. He had been bred, we may suppose, in the workshop of his brother, and had acquired all that could be taught there. He had perhaps been sent adrift upon the Continent to serve some years as a wandering com- panion, and then returned invigorated by change and varied study. He now became a partner with Antonio, and helped him to produce the finest altarpiece that had yet been wrought in their school. The Madonna of the Carthusians of Bologna, which first gave Bartolommeo occasion to test his powers, was commissioned in the name of the pontiff Nicholas V. and intended to commem- orate the services of Cardinal Albergati. It was begun and finished in Venice in 1450; and is justly considered 1 Now in the house of the rector slender, but of pleasant proportion; of the Seminario at Brescia, wood, the heads fairly rounded, the extre- two-thirds of life-size, tempera on mities somewhat imperfectly drawn; gold ground; centre, S l Ursula the colour as before; the orna- erect with a banner in each hand, ments, however, not embossed, the staves of which are also held Some slight scratches excepted (in by the virgins at her sides. S l Peter two heads of the centre panel), the left, S l Paul right. This picture is work is well preserved, also nameless. The figures are 2 Vasari, III. 258. Chap. II. THE MURANESE. 31 one of the most tasteful combinations of architectural carving and panel-painting that this period produced in Northern Italy. 1 Without inaugurating a change in the old custom of setting saints in courses as attendants to the Virgin and Redeemer, it embodies partially the altered condition of artistic feeling in Venice. Without the breadth or shortness of those which Bartolommeo drew later, the figures are marked by slenderness, overweight of head, and incorrect extremities. They illustrate for this reason Antonio's individuality; but the masks of three or four saints, and the broken folds of certain dresses would alone reveal the cooperation of Bartolommeo. The tender resignation and soft outlines of the suffering Christ between angels in the upper course, or of the adoring Virgin in the lower course are characteristic of Antonio; but the child asleep on the lap of its mother and resting its cheek on its hand, betrays the classical tendency of the younger artist. We see the first attempt to combine old impersonations of resigned devotion with the select pro- portions of antique nude, and the contrast is the more striking because the adaptation is incongruous and in- complete. But whilst we watch Venetian art thus taking a new direction, we also see its love for colour developed, and a symptom of coming change is displayed in the bright rich tones of the dresses. 1 Now No. 205 in the gallery of book, and crozier; S ts Jerom, John Bologna, wood tempera, engraved Baptist, and Nicholas of Bari (full- in Rosinfs work, PI. LXL, inscr.: length). Upper course, centre pro- " Anno Domini MCCCCL. Hoc opus jection, Christ "that has suffered, 11 inceptum fuit et perfectum Venetiis between two angels, and half- ab Antonio et Bartholomeo fratri- j lengths in niches of S ls Peter, Greg, bus de Murano, Nicolao V. Pont. Augustin and Paul. There are Max. oh monumentum R. P. D. 11 pinnacles, five of which are capped Nicolai Card. tit. Sanctse Crucis." with statuettes. We see in the S ts The picture is described in the Peter, Gregory, Jerom, and Nicho- sacristy of the Certosa of Bologna las the types' with which Barto by Luigi Crespi, in a letter to Bot- lommeo makes us familiar at a later tari, dated Sept. 23, 1772, in Bot- time. The colour is, as usual, rosy tari and Ticozzi ub sup. VII. p. 204. and very much blended; but the Centre, the Virgin enthroned ador- drapery has a more broken line Lng the infant asleep on her lap, than that of Giovanni and An in side niches, a bishop with mitre, tonio. THE VENETIANS. Chap. II. Whether it now happened that Antonio began to age, and for that reason to decline in power, or whether it occurred to Bartolommeo that he might do better than continue to unite his rising fortunes with those of the fraternal atelier; it is very clear from the work that now issued from the association that elements of decay were rapidly gathering. Hardly a year later than the master- piece of Bologna, Antonio and Bartolommeo completed a glorification of S l Peter for the monastery of San Fran- cesco at Padua, in which neither of them apparently did more than superintend the labour of their assistants. 1 Now and then they rose to a higher level, of which we may find examples in a couple of saints at Santa Maria della Salute of Venice, 2 or in fragments of altarpieces at Pausola 3 and Bergamo, 4 but the tendency at least of Antonio was to sink, as we remark, in a feebly executed annunciation at San Giobbe of Venice; 5 and before 14G4 1 Now in the Communal Gallery of Padua, having been dismem- bered and so lost its old frame. The picture is probably that ori- ginally on the high altar at San Francesco (Anon. 12), but removed to a room off the choir at the close of the last century. (Brandolese Dubbi, p. 7, and Pitture di Pa- do va, p. 249.) It was inscribed: "MCCCCLI. Antonius et Bartholo- meus fratres de Murano pinxerunt hoc opus." It was a monumental pile like that of Bologna with S l Peter in cathedra in the centre (the Anon, says S l Francis), S ts Christopher with the infant Christ (part of the head of the latter is gone), Pa ul, John Baptist, and Arch- angel Michael. In upper course, centre projection, Christ crucified between the Virgin and Evangelist, S ls Mary Magdalen, Francis, Sco- lastica, and a bishop in half-lengths at the sides. The tone is rosy, washy, and flat; the drapery neg- glectcd; the work careless, as in the obverse of the first altar in San Terasio at Venice. 2 In the sacristy of this church there are two rounds, in each of them a bishop, Crispin and Nicho- las. These are, doubtless, frag- ments. They bespeak the hand of Antonio and Bartolommeo, as it appears to us in Bologna; the dra- peries being a little cornered, and the colour bright and clear; wood tempera. 3 These are four panels half life- size in the sacristy of the church of San Pietro e Paolo. Two half- lengths under scollop niches are S ts Cath. and Mary Magd. Four full-lengths in couples are S ls Paul, George, Nicholas and Peter. There is something approaching the Man- tegnesque in the force of char, of the figures. The manner, however, is that of Antonio and Bartolom- meo. 1 Bergamo, Carrara Lochis gall. Nos. 309, St. Paul; 310, S. Jerom, full-length, wood tempera, under life-size; much injured, but clearly by Antonio in the above manner. 5 Venice, San Giobbe. Three arched panels in the sacristy. In Chap. II. THE MURANESE. 33 when alone and unassisted he finished a S l Anthony and saints for a church at Pesaro ; Bartolommeo had left the old and rickety partnership and begun life at his own risk. 1 If, however ; Antonio attracts us but little at last by the lank and conventional figures with which he filled the altarpiece of Pesaro, he interests us more when we consider other productions, in which he cleverly imi- tates Gentile da Fabriano. There is a predella in six parts with scenes from the life of the Virgin/ 2 arid an adoration of the kings in the Museum of Berlin, in which we trace the composition, the atti- tudes and costumes of the Umbrian, combined with the soft and monotonous expression, the peculiar fusion of pale flesh tone, and the copious embossments of the earliest works in San Pantaleone and San Zac- caria. 3 the centre, the angel and Virgin annunciate, with the Eternal in a gold sky above a court and trees (the head of Virgin injured). At the sides, S ts Michael and Anthony (piece wanting in lower part of the former), tempera; two-thirds of life- size. The figures are like those of the altarpiece at Padua, the exe- cution poor, outlines hasty, colour flat, a work of the atelier, assigned by Zanetti (Pitt. p.. 29) to Luigi Vivarini. 1 The altarpiece once in Sant 1 Antonio Abbate of Pesaro (Lanzi, II. 83), is now in the gallery of ►San Giovanni Laterano at Rome. Centre, a coloured statue of S l Anthony the abbot. Sides, full- lengths on panel of S ts Sebastian, Christopher, Venanzio, and Vito, figures one-third of life-size (a piece wanting at the feet of the two last-named saints). Upper course, "Ecce Homo, 1 ' between S ts Jerom, Peter, Paul, and Benedict. Beneath the central figure, and apparently repainted on the old lines, the words: "1464, Antonius VOL. I. I de Murao, pinxit." The figures are excessively lean and long, the feet and hands are incorrect, yet the outlines are still careful to excess, the heads are' of the usual oval, but there is an angular ac- cent in the drawing of the features. The painting is hatched in the shadows. It tells us that it was one of Antonio's last, yet we shall see a trace of the master familiar to lis in the pictures of Bartolom- meo, ex. gr. in the Ecce Homo and S l Paul. Wood tempera, gold ground. 2 Berlin Museum, No. 1058. This predella is catalogued in the " School of Gentile da Fabriano." It com- prises a coronation of the Virgin, in the spirit of that by Gentile at the Brera of Milan (No. 75, but see Hist, of Italian Painting, vol. III. p. 97), and those of the Mura- I nese at the Academy, and at San Pantaleone of Venice. It is anti- quated in style, and might be one of the earliest creations of Antonio. 3 Berlin Museum, No. 5, origi- nally in the Palazzo Zen, then in 3 34 THE VENETIANS. Chap. II. Of Antonio's or Giovanni's pupils or assistants we know but little, which is surprising when we remember the great quantity of pictures issued in a few years from the Muranese atelier-, but a natural presumption would J end us to bring into this class Quiricius of Murano, whose obscure career has been a source of varied con- jecture amongst critics and historians. That such a person has existed there is not the slightest reason to doubt; that he produced extremely little is certain. But our comparative ignorance of him, and the paucity of his remains, arc almost proofs of his dependence-, and these proofs are greatly strengthened by one of the few altarpieces that can surely be attributed to his hand. Amongst the treasures of Rovigo, at the close of the last century, Francesco Bartoli had had occasion to notice a the Craglietto collection at Venice (see vol. III. p. 99), catalogued here under the name of Antonio and Bartolommeo Vivarini ; subject, the adoration of the kings. The group iu front of the penthouse representing the Virgin, child, and kneeling king, is a repetition of a similar one in Gentile's picture of the same subject in the Acad, of Arts at Florence (No. 32, Gal.des gr. tab.). The tempera and execution are Antonio's, and we remark the par- tiality to embossed ornament, the soft fusion of rosy flesh-tints, and the monotonous repetition of the same features in every face. Wood, small figures, 3f. 7 high by 5f. 7 1 /,. We may dwell for a moment further upon the following: Berlin Museum, No. 1143, wood tempera, ascribed jointly to Antonio and Bartolommeo Vivarini. Altar- piece in six parts, the upper cen- tral one of which — a Christ in the tomb between two angels — is softly coloured, and has generally the air of Antonio's manner before he sank to the altarpiece of 1451 at Padua. The rest is by Luigi, not Bartol. Vivarini, but see postea. Osimo, Frati Minori Osser- yanti, composite altarpiece, wood tempera. Principal course, full- length coronation of the Virgin between a bishop, S ts F rancis, Peter, and Anthony. Upper course (of which the centre is missing), S ls Mary Magdalen, Jerom, John Bap- tist, and Catherine; a hasty and poor production of the partnership between Antonio and Bartolommeo, light in tone, and without shadow; the stature of the figures curt, and the draperies broken after the man- ner of the later of the two Mura- nese. Figures, two-thirds of life- size. Turin, Municipal Gallery. Wood tempera, fragment in bad condi- tion, and much repainted, repre- senting a coronation of the Virgin that may once have represented the manner of Antonio and Bartolom- meo. Venice, San Giovanni in Bra- gora, S l Andrew between S ts Jerom and Martin, called Antonio Viva- rini by Sansovino (Ven. Des£. 3G), and Zanotto (Guida di Venez. 119), called Carpaccio, by other critics; really by Bissolo. See, postea. Genoa, Santa Maria di Castello, annunciation and saints, composite altarpiece attributed to Antonio, but see Antonio da Pavia, postea. Chap. If. THE MURANESE. 85 S l Lucy by an unknown painter in the house of the Campanari family. He was struck by the signature and date which it bore, and copied it exactly: "Cpus Quiri- cius de Joanes Veneciis, M° 4c62. ;M In course of time the rich collection of the Campanari was dispersed ; but the S l Lucy was not allowed to pass through many hands, and is still preserved in the palace of the present Cardinal Silvestri at Rovigo. The saint stands in a niche in an affected attitude holding a cup and palm. Her tunic is embroidered with flowers ; her green-hued mantle is strewed with golden arabesques, a large stamped nim- bus surrounds a head covered with a portentous crown. Two puffy angels in violent action flutter at her ears, and a diminutive patroness kneels at her feet. Three panels at each side of the principal one contain incidents from the legend of S l Lucy. 2 The signature is in a "cartello" at the base of the niche. It tells at once, if we accept the name " Joanes " as that of Giovanni d'Ale- mania, that Quiricius is the pupil of the senior partner in the Muranese workshop. The treatment entirely confirms that supposition, being soft and nerveless, as one might expect from a subordinate, but highly -finished, flat, and clear, and technically such as might be found in a pic- ture by an assistant to Giovanni and Antonio. The slender waist and long neck, the thin fingers, are not less characteristic than the kindly and regularly-shaped head. We are reminded essentially of the execution of the Muranese by the lightness and finished blend- ing of the tempera, as well as by the striking absence of light and shade. More reminiscent of a later art 1 "Le Pitture Sculture eel Ar- chitecture della Citta di Rovigo,' 1 &c. &c, di Francesco Bartoli, Yen. 1793, p. 183. 2 Rovigo, Palazzo Silvestri. Be- ginning in the upper course to the right, and finishing in the lower course to the left, we have, No. 1, Si Lucy and her mother Eutychia, before the apparition of S 1 Agatha, who hears S l Lucy's prayer for the restoration of Eutychia to health. No. 2, S l . Lucy before the king enthroned. No. .'!, S l Lucy im- moveable though drawn by a string of oxen. No. 4, S' Lucy anointed w ith oil by the executioner. No. 5, s 1 Lucy receives the Mow from the executioner. No. 6, communion of S l Lucy. 3* 36 THE VENETIANS. would be the fine broken outline which imitates that of Orirelli without having its force or purpose. The small compositions at the sides no longer betray a symptom of the antiquated squareness and stiffness of the older period; but are free and animated in their way. We might but for the signature have guessed this to be an early Bartolommeo; and it is possible that some of the least favoured panels ascribed to the latter are really due to the industry of Quiricio. A Virgin adoring the child on her knees, lately in the studio of Signor Paolo Fabris at Venice might naturally fall into this category, 1 as well as a couple of panels in the Venice Academy 2 and the Correr collection ; :i and we might perhaps venture to assign a similar origin to an enthroned Virgin with four scenes from her life, in possession of Lord Elcho, 4 and a crucifixion with numerous episodes at its sides in the Academy of Arts at Vienna; 5 all 1 Venice, Signor Fabris. Small panel, tempera, on gold ground. Two angels support the crown on the Virgin's head, her frame emit- ting rays. The child lies on a white cloth in the Virgin's lap; — a light-toned piece, of slightly- coloured surface, damaged so that one sees the grey in the prepara- tion of the shadows. The angels, not unlike those of the Rovigo pic- ture, have their eyes scooped out. The masks of Virgin and angels, their attitude and execution, recall Quiricio, as we see him in the fore- going picture. 2 Venice Acad. No. 402, Virgin and child between four Dominican saints, signed with a suspicious in- scription, "b. Vivarini f." Small panel, tempera, injured and abraded. Tlie art looks like that of Bartol- lommeo enfeebled. Same gallery, No. 387, assigned to Bartolommeo, arched panel on gold ground, re- newed entirely, and nothing left of the original but the outlines; sub- ject, the Virgin of Mercy between S ts Louis, Chiara, and two Domi- nican monks. The figures are long and slender, and are more in the character of the carefully wrought, but feeble ones, of Quiricio. 3 Venice, Correr Gallery, No. 25, under the name of Bartolommeo, wood, tempera. The Virgin en- throned, and adoring the child on her lap, between S ts Jerom and Augustin. A feeble creation, re- minding us of Quiricio; the tem- pera fused and light, but without any force. 4 London, Lord Elcho. A f irgin and child, with two angels sup- porting the crown over her head, a nun kneeling at her feet. Sides in two courses. Angel and Virgin annunciate, nativity, and Virgin holding the dead Christ on her lap. Small panels rubbed down. Figures and soft tempera in the style of Quiricio, but with something, too, of Bartolommeo. 5 Vienna, Academy, No. 359. Centre, the crucified Saviour with the Magdalen at the foot, the Vir- gin and Evangelist at the sides of the cross. In a double course at Chap. II. THE MUKANESE. 37 these, independent of a couple of pieces in the Venice Academy which bear fragments of the name of Quiri- cius, 1 or of others noticed by historians, which it has not been possible to trace. But to conclude with Antonio, we shall find, if we credit Sansovino, that he lived till 1470 ; having in that year decorated certain portions of the church of Sant' Appollinare at Venice, with pictures which already showed signs . of decay in the sixteenth century. 2 the sides, No. 1, the last supper (half repainted). 2. Christ washes the feet of the apostles. 3. Christ gives the communion. 4. Christ on the mount. 5. The capture. 6. Christ before Caiaphas. 7. Pilate washes his hands. 8. Christ carries his cross. 9. Christ crucified. 10. Deposition from the cross. 11. Re- surrection. 12. Ascension. All these panels are arched, and in the span- drils there are twelve little figures of saints. No. 7 is half repainted. In No. 12 the heads are in part renewed. The grounds are all re- gilt. This is a small altarpiece that may l>e assigned, though not with- out reserve, to the Muranese atelier at the period under notice. It is called "old Paduan," but the style is that of the school of Antonio. The Saviour in the central cruci- fixion, is lean and long, but not un-noble. The same may be said of six angels about the cross, and the subjects are not without interest as compositions in the spirit of the old time. 1 Venice Academy, No. 397, wood tempera. Subjects, the Virgin ador- ing the infant lying on a white cushion before her. (The blue man- tle and part of the child new.) On t he face of the parapet on which j the child lies, are the words ".uiri- tus, Murano," either entirely mo- dern or repainted on old lines. In spite of the inscription one is led to ask is the author Quiricio or Bartolommeo, especially as the forms are in the heavier mould peculiar to the latter. The most important part of the inscription, were it genuine, would be the word "Mu- rano. 11 In the same manner as the foregoing we have at the Academy of Venice, No. 380, an Ecce Homo, on panel, less injured, and simi- larly reminiscent of Bartolommeo, showing, if we assume the author to be Quiricio, that he followed the fortunes of the Muranese atelier even after the death of Antonio. It is remarkable that the missing examples of Quiricio all indicate that he was of Murano. Ex. gr. V e n i c e, M u r a no, church of Santa Chiara, afterwards in the Sasso collection at Venice, and engraved in Dagincourt. Saviour enthroned in benediction, pointing with his left hand to the lance-wound, a kneeling nun in front of him. Two angels above with a banderol, in scribed at foot: "Quiricius de Mu- rano f." (Moschini, Guida di Mu- rano, p. 15, and Lanzi, II. 81). Venice Casa Zanchi, contrada di SanMartino. Virgin and child, and a female saint, inscr. " opus Qui- ricij. de Murano" (Moschini, Guida di Murano, p. 15). Venice, church of Sant* Alvise, picture signed "Quiricius f. 11 (ib. ib. p. 1(5). San Bernardo of Murano. Virgin and saints injured but signed: "Qui- ricius f." (il). ib. note to p. 18.) 2 Sansovino says (Ven. Desc. p. 185), and Kidolfi copies him (Ma- rav. I. 51): " Antonio Vivarino del 1470 vi lascio (in S. Appollinare) diverse opera di sua mano, ma con- 38 THE VENETIANS. Chap. II. He was buried, according to Ridolfi, in that very church. 1 smmati da gli 111111/'' There is no other mention of Antonio except as regards ;i Virgin, child, and saints in Santa Marta of Venice, respecting which Sansovino says, that it was painted by Antonio and Bartolommeo (Ven. Desc. p. 269), whilst Ridolfi (Marav. I. 51) names as authors Giovanni and Antonio, in which opinion he is followed by Zanetti (Pitt. Venez. p. 16). San- sovino assigns to Antonio an altar- piece in a chapel at Santa Maria de 1 Frari, without naming the sub- ject. It is possible that he mistook the name. There are several pieces by Bartolommeo and Luigi Vivarini at the Frari, none by Antonio. (San- sov. Ven. Desc. p. 188—9.) 1 Ridolfi, Marav. I. 51. The date he liives for the death of Antonio (1440) is obviously a misprint; but it is commented upon as an error by Zanetti (Pitt. Ven. p. 15.) Chap. III. B A RT O L (J 1\1 M E O V I V A III NI . 39 CHAPTER III. BARTOLOMMEO VIVARINI. It has been said that Bartolommeo of Murano withdrew at an early period from partnership with Antonio, and sought to found an independent fortune. The cause of this resolution may be discerned in the decline of Antonio's talents, but was dictated, no doubt, also by patrons tired of applauding the defects of Jacobello, Donato, or Giambono. Yet in 1459, at which time Bartolommeo produced the figure of S l John Capis- trano now preserved at the Louvre, 1 he had not risen above a respectable mediocrity, nor is it clear that he was then entitled to claim any decided superiority. We are struck, indeed, as we look at this piece, by its vapid grey colour and dry outline, by a superfluity of shadowless twilight, and an imperfect attempt to suggest the anatomy of form; we may admit a more correct realization of the idea of true proportion. But Bartolom- meo was soon to give proofs of greater power. He had already assumed the name of Vivarini, 2 which was 1 Louvre, Muse'e Napoleon III. No. 112, wood, tempera, m. 1*86 by O SS. Split in the middle, and not uninjured by repairs and var- nishes. The figure, all but life- size, in a grey frock, holds a banner in its right, a book in its left hand. The ground is black; on a low wall to the left, one reads : " Beatus Johes de Capist. . . . obiit 1156; on a strip of paper fastened to the basement on which the saint stands, is the inscrip. : "Opus Bartolomei Vivarini de Murano, 1459." 2 The first occasion upon which Bartolommeo appears bearing the name of Vivarini is in the picture above described, and dated 1459. In earlier works he calls himsel Bartolommeo of Murano. His brof 10 THE VENETIANS, Chap. III. to become celebrated for all time, and he took care that nothing should occur to obscure it. In an adoring- Madonna attended by four saints which he painted in 1464 for the church of the Certosa in the island of Sant' Andrea at Venice, 1 he repeats a subject and attitudes already familiar to those who have seen the altarpiecc of 1450 at Bologna. The tendency to imitate statuary in the child who sleeps on the Virgin's lap; a recurrence to old and traditional types, an overweight of broken and angular folds in the dresses, and a partiality to lean- ness in the form of the saints in niches at the sides, characterize a work conceived in the old monumental shape*, but the figures are improved in stature and in attitude, the drapery has more meaning, and the extremi- ties are better drawn; whilst the light and highly-fused flesh-tone is relieved by a deeper and better-defined shadow. The style is in fact a counterpart of that in the Virgin and child of our National Gallery, 2 so remarkable for ther Antonio never signed himself so, and is not known to have borne the name of Vivarini, though writers like Sansovino give that name re- troactively to him and to the whole family, not excluding Giovanni d'Alemania. See Ven. Descrit. ed. Mart. ub. sup. pp. 129 and 246, and ib. p. 36, where Antonio and Luigi Vivarini are called "brothers;" fur- ther ib. 185, 188, 269, and 282. See also Boschini (Le Eicche Miniere, Sest. di Dorso Duro, p. 51), who calls Antonio, once, Vivarini. 1 No. 1, Venice Academy, wood, tempera, m. 2*0 by 3'16; all the figures in niches, and relieved on gold ground; the whole piece in- jured by rubbing down and repaint- ing, and lustrous from new var- nish; inscribed on the base of the Virgin's throne with the words: "Opus Bartolomei Vivarini de Mu- rano MCCCCLXIIII." The inscrip- tion as it stands is repainted, but Boschini already notes (Eic. Min. Sest. della Croce," p. 49) that the piece was done in 1464, and stood in the cappella Morosini, or chapter- house of Sant 1 Andrea. Zanetti saw it in the same place, and also gives the inscription in full (Pittura Ve- nez. ub. sup. p. 24). The subject is the Virgin enthroned (blue mantle new), adoring with joined hands the infant, who sleeps recumbent on her lap. In the side niches S l Bartholomew (blue tunic and red mantle renewed), S l John Baptist, S l Anthony of Padua, and S l Peter. See the engraving in Zanotto Pinac. dell 1 Acad. Ven. Fasc. 42. and note the fine heads of the Virgin and S l Anthony as compared with the j more antiquated mask of the S l Bartholomew. 2 No. 284, National Gal. wood, tem- pera, 3-1 by 2-1, inscr. "OPVS BAE- TOMEI V\AEINI DE MfEANO," long in the Contarini gallery and later in the collection of Conte Corniani degl' Algarotti at Venice (see Eizzi's paper in Atti delP Academia di Venezia, pp. 43, 51, Chap. III. BA UTOLOMMEO VIVARINI. the marble pallor and careful blending of its flesh, and the lively contrasts which it offers to the rich tints of the dresses. From this time forward Bartolommeo began to identify himself more completely with the classicism of the Pa- duan school. He painted an adoring Virgin in the mould of previous ones for a church at Bari in 1465/ in which he betrays the influence of the Squarcionesques, abandon- ing the system of monumental niches for an equally monumental arrangement of marble throne and steps , enriched with" statues of angels and carved ornament, and hung with festoons after the fashion of Mantegna; but whilst he thus commingles Venetian and Paduan elements, he preserves his own distinct character in the conception, the proportion, and detail of his attendant saints. He gives a firmer and more decided accent to his drawing without losing all his old angularity, and he maintains all those habits of a colourist which render his works distinguishable. We can no more mistake the colossal Virgin, the recumbent child, the heavy headed and thickset saints, than be deceived in the light flesh and rich dresses, or in the patient and minute detail of the damaskings, or the grasses and roses of the fore- ground. It was not till later that Bartolommeo became Paduan in the method of his colouring; and one example alone, 61, 62). The colour is transparent Batolomei A&Rini de Murano 1465. 11 enough to show the underground { Subject, the Virgin adoring" the gesso. We remark the small- child lying" asleep on her lap : ness and thinness of the features in | her form wrapped in a mantle of comparison with the round long gold brocade. At the sides four face, excessive multiplication of an- | saints, one of whom is S l Nicolas, gular folds in the drapery, and long, in air behind the marble throne, lean, coarsely-ending fingers. The half-lengths, issuing from clouds, of mode of rendering flesh-wrinkles S ts Anthony of Padua, Peter Mar gives a drummy tension to the skin tyr, Catherine, of Alexandria, and of the face. Subject, the Virgin Mary Magdalen. The child, though and child between half-lengths of heavy, is more naturally at rest S ts Paul and Jerom. j than the very similar ones of 13o- 1 Naples Museum, wood, tern- logna (1450) and Sant' Andrea (1464). pera, half life-size, inscribed on the Sec the engraving in Rosini, Tav lower step of the throne: "Opus LXVIL 42 THE VENETIANS. Chap. 111. the tripartite altarpiece at Santa Maria Formosa of Venice, dated 1473, shows that whilst greatly improving in gentleness and chasteness of style, as well as in the appropriate rendering of form, he had assumed amongst other peculiarities of Mantegna, the dry system of tem- pera, together with a yellower light and a browner shading, hatched as we see it later in Crivelli. 1 Had nothing occurred to change the current of artistic thought at Venice at the close of the 15 lh century, it is possible that the Mantegnesque element might have con- tinued to prevail, for Bartolommeo Vivarini was not alone in the path of Paduan imitation. The arrival, how- ever, of Antonello da Messina at Venice about 1470, altered the taste and practice of the Venetians very materially; and the first man who was affected by this intrusion was Bartolommeo. He was forcibly struck by the advantages which oil colour must offer; and though he was still unacquainted with the manipulation of the medium, and treated it as he had been accustomed to treat that of tempera, he was the first after Antonello who painted at Venice in the new method. Two altarpieces of great interest mark this period of Bartolomrneo's career. One is that of which a fragment remains in the transept, and two parts in the sacristy, of San Giovanni e Paolo, the other is the S 1 Mark between four saints in Santa Maria dc' Frari at Venice. It is difficult to undervalue the importance of the S 1 Augustin, the S l Dominick, or S 1 Lawrence, in San Giovanni e Paolo, illustrating as they do the very finest period of 1 Venice, Santa Maria Formosa. The three panels (small, arched, wood, tempera) are let into a marble a liar. They represent (centre) Vir- gin of Mercy (head injured) at- tended by four angels, two of whom, like those of Crivelli, hold the crown above her head; (left) the meeting- of Joachim and Anna (sky and the mantle of S. Anna repainted in oil) finally (right) the Nativity of the Virgin (mantle restored and darkened). On the central panel: "Bartholomeus Vivarinus de Mu- riano pinxit MCCCCLXX^I/ , Yet Boschini (Le Ric. Min. Sest. di Castello, p. 32), Sansovino (Ven. Desc. p. 40), Ridolfi (Le Marav. I. 51), and Zanetti (Pittura Ven. p. 25), all give the date as 1475; whilst Moschini, (Guidadi Venez. ed. 1815, I. 189), says 1-187. Chap. III. B ARTO LOMMEO VIVARINI. 43 Bartolommeo's career. We observe him renouncing the adventitious display of gilt relief, restoring the details of ornament to a judicious simplicity, and cultivating a most imposing and dignified Mantegnesque realism ; and this is more peculiarly remarkable in the S* Augustin, who sits majestically enthroned in a white tunic and red mantle, exposing to our gaze a grave and thoughtful face, reminding us with its copious beard, of an old apostle model, instinct with a new and more natural life. It is a strong masculine figure of fine proportions, drawn with spirit, clothed in drapery of a broken but not ill- chosen fold, and relieved by distinct light and shade, with flesh of a fine hale complexion. It cannot have been otherwise than that in the production of this and the two smaller saints which embody the same qualities, Bartolommeo should have been strongly imbued with the stern grandeur of the works of the Paduan school*, and we must believe that he studied the very best creations of Mantegna. 1 We shall be confirmed in this opinion 1 Venice, San Gio. e Paolo. This seems to be the only work of B. Vivarini which Vasari mentions, but he describes it incorrectly. (Vas. VI. p. 102.) In its original state it was an altarpiece in three courses; the lowest being S l Augustin be- tween S ts Mark and John the Bap- tist; the second, above it, a Virgin and child between S l Dominick and S l Lawrence; the third, a set of four medallions, in each of which was a saint. It is described mi- nutely by Boschini (Le Ric. Min. Sest. di Castelio, p. 54); but the date (1422) which he gives is false; the inscription is still visible on a <\u t olio at the feet of St. Augustin, ;md runs: "Bartholonueus Vivarinus deMuriano pinxit MCCCCLXXIII. ,, The S* Augustin (life-size) is on a seat, at the back of which is a violet curtain; the arms adorned with lions. He holds a crozier in his hand. The original gold ground is covered over with green, and [ the gold damasking of the red cloak is injured by restoring. The S ts Dominick and Lawrence in the second sacristy were lately in the cappella della Santissima Trinita, and have been assigned to Cima. They are properly given by Zanotto (Guida di Venezia, p. 292) to B. Vivarini, and declared to be, as they really are, part of the altar- piece under notice. These two saints are two-thirds of life-size, on gold ground, daubed over with blue re- paint. S l Dominick with book and lily (wood), S l Lawrence with the book and gridiron, both lino and fairly preserved. See Zanotto, Pi- nacoteca Veneta, Pasc. 18, for an engraving of the S l Augustin. San sovino (Ven. Desc. p. 65), who as- signs the S. A. to Luigi Vivarini, Zanetti (Pitt. Ven. p. 24), who says it is in oil. In the year 1473, or thereabout (Ridolfi, Le Marav. I. 52), B. Viv. is said to have furnished the car- 44 THE VENETIANS . Chat. III. by the S 1 Mark at the Frari, in which no less of talent is displayed than may be found in the S 1 Augustin, whilst it exhibits even more perfection of light and shade, and mastery in the representation of form, greater rotundity of modelling, and energy of execution. 1 One toons for the transept- window in San Gio. e Paolo at Venice. This window is in many courses. Below there are four compartments with trefoil lunettes. The two outside compartments contain S l George (new) and S l Theodore, the lu- nettes half-lengths of a friar and S ts Dominick, Peter Martyr, and Thomas Aquinas. In four roses and four medallions immediately above, are the four doctors and the sym- | bols of the four Evangelists. Above these again, four windows with S l Paul, the Virgin and child, S ts John Bapt. and Peter. In three roses and four medallions higher up, are Christ, Moses, and Elias, the angel and Virgin annunciate, and the sun and moon. On a cor- ner of the lower window to the left one reads: "Hieronimus Mo- cettus faciebat; 1 ' and in a border below the whole window, the words: "Sublime opus Vivarf renovatuni, anno 1814," &c, an inscription sub- stituted for an older one as fol- lows: " f r. Mar tin o Matte o restaura- tum, anno MDCCII." Moschini cites an ins. (Mosch. Guida di Ven. I. 142) which states the windows were done in 1510 by the Muranese Gio. Ant. Laudis, on the drawing of Barto. Vivarini. The statement of Ridolfi is gene- ral as to painting on glass, not applying, as regards the date, abso- lutely to the glass windows in ques- tion. All authorities agree that the cartoons of the latter are by Bart. Vivarini, though the name is not on the work itself. The only name we have certainly is that of Giro- lamo Mocetto, who may well have used Bartolommeo's design. The date 1510 in Moschinrs ins. is not contrary to the fact that Mocetto should have taken part in the work in question, as Mocetto was living in 1510. Laudis would be the glass- maker at Murano, Mocetto painting the glass on the original design of Bartol. Vivarini. The present condition is this : at several periods the work has been renewed, and hence the difficulty of judging of it. AVhat w T e see is that the figures in the oldest (the upper) part are short and vulgar, with a style and drawing of the stamp of the old Muranese school. The rest is more or less modern, even in the lower part. Where the name of Mocetto exists, the man- ner is more recent. Ridolfi mentions glass windows in San Pietro Mar tire of Murano, done on the cartoons of B. V., but they do not now exist. (See Le Marav. I. 52.) 1 Venice, Frari. This altarpiece is in the left transept of the Frari, having been in the chapel of the Cornaro family (Boschini Le R. Min. Sest. di S. Polo, p. 39). It is signed at the feet of the S l Mark with the words: "Opus Bartholo- mew Vivarinum de Muriano. 1474." S l Mark sits in benediction with the left hand on the book in a throne over which festoons are i hung. Four angels are at the sides and front of his throne, the two foremost playing a mandolin and j viol. To the left stand, in a niche, S l John Baptist, and S l Jerom; to the right, S l Paul and S l Nicholas (wood, figures a little under life- size, grounds blue). The whole piece is greatly set off by its beau- tiful old frame. Mantegnesque are the masks of the saints, the angels, and the festoons. The colour is powerful, of olive tone, and bur- nished by time, a quality that we Chap. III. i 5 A If T ( ) L MM K VIVA R IN I . 45 might say indeed in presence of this picture that Bar- lolommeo Vivarini was more Mantegnesque than the Veronese followers of Andrea Mantegna; and it is difficult to ex- press more strongly the effect produced on the style of the Venetian by the art of the Paduan. But the person- ages whom Bartolommeo thus depicts are not coloured in the spare dry tempera which characterizes the great Lombardo- Venetian painter. A change in mediums is very obvious ; and the olive tinge of the flesh, or its full shadows, as well as the high surface of the dark portions in drapery, are a proof that the Vivarini atelier was now well acquainted with the innovations introduced by An- tonello da Messina. At this point, however, we begin to perceive that Bartolommeo has become over confident. It is no longer the author of the S l Augustin or of the S 1 Mark who spends his undivided attention and exhausts his indivi- dual skill on altarpieces. It is the atelier of Vivarini, not the hand of Vivarini himself, which produces; and for this cause the stamp of the shop is impressed on works of varied talent and unequal value. The year 1477 witnesses the completion of a S 1 Ambrose between four saints, now in the Belvedere at Vienna. 1 There is an agreeable freedom in the attitudes, no lack of dignity in the faces; but we miss the austere grandeur that previously attracted us; and the treatment is that of a may hope to see respected. If any- thing', the draperies are too mi- nutely detailed to give complete satisfaction. 1 Vienna, B el v e d e r e, Ital. sch. room II. No. 58, wood, 5f. by 7f. 9, with a renewed inscr. : "Bartholo- meus Vivarinus de Muriano pinxit 147 . . . S Ambr. Viviani Cast 1 , Sanf . . . Vic. S Petrus Mantis cri econe . . . Jacobus do Faencie incisit." The grounds are all gold, the end of the date covered at present by the pediment of the dividing pillar, but said to be 1477, by Dr. Waagen (Kunst Denkmaler in Wien, 8", Vienna, I860, p. 47). In the centre S l Ambrose sits in a. chair, behind which is a red hanging - . At his feet ten members of a brotherhood | kneeling'. In compartments at sides, S ts Louis, Peter, Paul, and Sebas- | tian full length. The frame is new, or an old one restored. The figures are leaner and longer than usual, the drapery somewhat sharply cor- nered. The figures are two-thirds of the life-size. 46 THE VENETIANS. Chap. III. coarse and dry distemper. In 1478, a Virgin and child between two saints was finished for San Giovanni in Bragora of Venice; but far from perceiving the coopera- tion of Bartolommeo, whose name is written on a pedestal, we gaze in some astonishment at a puffy infant Christ recalling the school of Verrocchio ; on a broad grinning S l Andrew with coarse feet and hands and vulgar face; or on a lean S 1 John with ill-drawn limbs; and the question naturally arises: is it Vivarini who gives us this caricature of the Mantegnesque manner, and shadows his dull distemper flesh with such dark and earthy tints ; or is it not an assistant like Andrea of Murano, who, wi% his rough and sloppy hand, takes the place of the master? 1 But from this time forward Bartolommeo never rose again to the standard of his own best works. He may occasionally remind us of them in a Virgin and S l Roch at Sant' Eufemia, 2 or in a Virgin and child between four saints at the Frari, of Venice, 3 which he executed 1 Venice, San Gio. in Bragora, wood, arched on gold gr. figures .-ill but life-size. The picture hangs to the right as you enter the high portal. It is signed on a cartello at the Virgin's feet: "Bartholo- mews Vivarinus de Muriano pinxit 1478." The scenes from the life of S l Helen, and three half-lengths of the Saviour between S l John Evangelist and Mark form a sort of predella to this piece; but the former were once part of a pic- ture by Cima in this very church, and the latter (which are in the style of Luigi Viv.) belong to another altar also in San Giov. in Bragora. See Moschini (Guida di Venez. I. 82) for the error of assigning the three panels of the'Savionr, S' John, and S 1 Mark to B. Vivari.. 2 Venice, Sant 1 Eufemia. This is a fragment of an altarpie.ee. The subject originally comprised S 1 Roch with S> Sebastian and S l Louis, on gold ground at the sides (Zanctti, Pitt. Venez. p. 26). Now the only panel left is that of S l Roch raising his mantle to show the plague-boil, and accompanied by an angel, whilst the Virgin holds the infant Saviour in benediction in the sky. The cartello at the saints" feet is now bare of all but four letters of Vivarini\s name, but Moschini (Guida di Venez. II. 852) gives the inscription as "Bartolo- meus Vivarinus pinxit, 1480." This is a panel deprived of its old frame, enlarged at the sides, and injured in several places (the blue sky new and some parts laid bare). The figures are almost life-size, in good movement, of regular features, but forms are given with broken out- lines, and the medium is coarse and dry as before. Six cherubs in the sky are modern additions. A dupli- cate of this picture is said to have existed in San Vitale at Venice. (Ridolfi, Le Marav. I. 51). 3 Venice, Frari. This altarpiece Chap. III. BARTOLOMMEO VIVARINI. 47 in 1480 and 1482; but in most of the pieces which he turned out in rapid succession till 1499, there are obvious marks of declining powers, haste, or neglect. It would be useless for this reason to do more than notice the date of their production, and the place in which they may be found. In 1485 Bartolommeo painted S 1 George and the Dragon, now in the Berlin Museum, 1 and perhaps also the Virgin and child of the same collection*, 2 in 1486 the Virgin and child; 3 in 1488 the Madonna between saints 4 in the Carrara Lochis Gallery at Bergamo. We may attribute now hangs in the transept near the sacristy. In the centre, the Virgin and child; to the right, S ts Peter and Paul; left, S* Andrew and S l Nicholas of Bari; above, the suf- fering Redeemer in an arched panel, at each side of which is a carved figure of an angel. On the lower border of the whole piece, two escutcheons and two medallions containing S l Francis receiving the stigmata, and S l Sebastian. The faults of Bartolommeo are here exhibited in their full expansion; the tempera is dull and melan- choly, the drawing neglected, the heads are broad, and in some cases grotesquely vulgar. On the step of the Virgin's stool are the words: "Bartholomeus Vivarinus de Muriano pinxit, 1482." The Virgin's blue mantle is entirely repainted in oil; and generally, the dullness of the original tone is increased by restoring. 1 Berlin Museum, No. 11G0, wood, 4f. 2 by 2:2, inscr. : "Factum Vene- tiis per Bartholomeum Vivarinum de Muriano pinxit 1485;" repre- sents the saint on horseback en- gaged with the dragon and the female saint in the distance to the left. The tempera as in the imme- diately foregoing examples, but well preserved. : - Berlin Museum, No. 1 1 77, wood, 2f. 1 by L-6y 2 , half-length Virgin holding the child erect on a pa- rapet; distance sky (repainted). The mask of the Virgin is of a Bellinesque oval, and a pleasing sadness overspreads the face; the child, however, is heavy and fleshy. The touch of the landscape is mi- nute and careful as CriveUTs. The surface of the panel is not free from partial abrasion and restor- ing. 3 Bergamo, Carrara Lochis Gal- lery, No. 218, wood, small, in- scribed: "i486, factum Venetiis per Bartholomeum Vivarinum de Muriano." The Carrara and Lochis Gallery have been joined into one on becoming public property. The Virgin here holds the child seated on a cushion on a parapet, an agreeable little work, not without restoring; and in this sense not inspiring absolute confidence as regards the signature. 4 Bergamo, Carrara Lochis, Nos. 298, Virgin adoring the infant re- cumbent on her knee; 300, S 1 Peter; 299, S l Michael, wood, half life-size, gold ground, inscribed (on 298): "factum Venetiis per Bar- tholomeum Vivarinum de Muriano pinxit 1488." The treatmenl is hasty, distemper of thin substance showing the underground, but sharply contrasted in tints. This and the cornered outlines, as well as the false anatomy, betray the labour of assistants. 48 THE VENETIANS. Chap. III. to the same period the Virgin and child belonging to Count Agosti at Belluno. 1 1490 is the date of a S* Bar- bara and S 1 Mary Magdalen originally in the church of San Geminiano, but now in the Academy at Venice; 2 it is the year in which a large monumental altarpiece re- presenting the Virgin and child, and Christ as the pilgrim between saints, was delivered to a village church near Bergamo. 3 For 1491 we have the S l Martin between S l John Baptist and S l Sebastian, now in the Carrara Lochis Gallery; 4 and for 1499 the death of the Virgin, commissioned for the Certosa of Padua, and sold in the last century to one of our countrymen under the name 1 Belluno, wood, inscribed on a card fast, to a parapet "... mens de Mariano pi 148." Be- hind the parapet, the half-length Virgin with the infant in her arms, and to the left an open window with a landscape; ;i pleasing group imperfectly rendered . 2 Venice Acad., No. 14, S l Bar- bum; No. 9, S l M. Magdalen, wood, arched, on gold ground, m. 3*4 by 0*90, both from the demolished church of San Gemi- niano ( Sec Boschini, Le Ric. Min. Sest. di San Marco, p. 78; Ridolfi, Le Mara v. I. 52, Zanetti, Pitt. Venez. p. 26). They have been tacked on to two saints by Luigi Yivarini; on No. 14 one reads: "Bartholomews Vivarinus de Mu- rano pinxit 1490." The figures arc line ones in B. V.'s last man- ner, of life-size, fairly proportioned, free in movement, but abruptly thrown off with angular outlines and hastily coloured in a flat and semi-lucid body of tone. (One sees the ground through the half- tints.) :? Bergamo, altarpiece in two courses, wood, two-thirds of life-size. Upper course, half-lengths, on gold ground, Virgin and child, Belli- nesque in feeling, with something of Cima in it, and gentler than usual; S< Ursula, a little Manteg- ! nesque; S. Catherine, graceful and more Venetian ; S l Mary Magdalen and S l Appollonia. Lower course, arched at top, Christ erect with | the staff and scollop, and a book : at his sides; S l John the Baptist with the host; S l John Evangelist with the book; S l Peter with the keys; S l Bartholomew with the knife; inscribed on the marble pe- destal of the Saviour: "Opus fac- tum Venetiis per Bartholomeum Vivarinum de Muriano, 1490." The forms on this altarpiece are ill- proportioned and worse drawn; the colour is rough and hasty, and not harmoniously contrasted, yet the faces and movements are not without character and power. We may suppose again that Bartolom- meo's design is worked out by assistants. The present owner can- not be traced. The picture was bought by the dealer Vito Enei of Rome, belonged afterwards to the banker Valentinis at Rome, and was in the trade quite lately. 1 Bergamo, Carrara Lochis, small panel with figures one-third of life- size, of S l Martin dividing his cloak, and the saint above-named; , a very careless production of the shop, inscribed: "Opus factum Ve- j netiis per Bartholomeum Vivari- num, 1491." Chap. III. BARTOLOMMEO VIVARTNI. 49 of Giotto. 1 Finally we may group together a S l Cathe- rine and two saints, the property of Signor Federico Frizzoni, at Bellagio, on the Lake of Como, 2 and a few doubtful pieces in the Academy and the Correr Gallery at Venice, in private collections at S* Petersburg and London. 3 1 See the emphatic praise of this picture in the catalogue of the late Northwick collection, where (under No. 799) it is still assigned to Giotto. The figures are almost life-size, representing the Virgin on her death-bed, surrounded by the apostles, and received in the form of a child by the Saviour in heaven. At the sides are S ts Lawrence and Stephen; in the distance a hilly landscape. Wood, six feet by seven. Now inscribed on a cartello; Giott . . turn .... Venethsi pe. hit . . olomeum vive in oi Mu . iano 1 . . . but originally, as described by Moschini (Guida di Murano, p, 124). Hoc opus factum fuitYenetiis per Bartholomeum A T iva- rinum de Muriano 1499. The antiquated and unpleasant look of this piece, which was ex- hibited at Manchester, shows that it must have been done in Bar- tolommeo's last days. The tone is of a disagreeable brown olive. We have a complete description of the subject, in Mogchini's Guide of Murano, as above quoted, together with an assurance that the panel, restored by Gio. Maria Sasso at Venice, when the Certosa of Padua was suppressed, was sold in 1775 to " il ministro Inglese. 11 2 Bellagio, wood, arched, on gold ground, half-lengths, half , life-size. The saint to the right is unknown, that to the left the Baptist. S l Catherine is crowned and bears the palm. 3 Some of these have been no- ticed already ; seeantea p. 36 : ex. gr : VOL. I. Venice Acad. No. 402, Virgin, child and four saints. Same gal- lery, No. 387, Virgin of Mercy and four saints; No. 397, Virgin adoring the sleeping child. Correr Gallery, No. 25, Virgin and child between S l Jerom and S l Augustin. London, Lord Elcho, Virgin, child, annunciation, nativity and cruci- fixion. Let us glance in addition at the following: Correr Gall.No.24 Trinity 1 >etw . half-lengths of S l Augustin and S l Dominiek, wood, arched, tempera on gold ground, figures one-fourth life-size; and same gallery, No. 23. half-length Virgin and child (wood, tempera on gold ground), also ca- talogued B. V. These pieces are similar in execution to others in the Venice Academy (ex. gr. Nos. 449, 450, 451, 452, 453, 454, 455, 17, 18, 19, 20), all of which are classed in the school of Luigi Vi- varini. It is difficult at present to name the assistant who worked at all these panels, but certain it is they lack the force of the master (Luigi). Of Bartolommeo there is no question. Correr G a 1 1 e r y , No. 26, Virgin and child, w r ood, inscribed on a cartello fast to a parapet, "Bar- tolom. Vivari. de Murano;" unsatis- factory as regards the inscription; without the genuine stamp of Bar- tolommeo, and like the work of some follower of Luigi Vivarini. Venice, church of the Sa lute. Sacristy. Virgin and child assigned to B. V. but see postea. Jacopo da Valentia. V e n i c e A c ademy, Nos. I 0, 1 5. K' J«,hn Baptist and S 1 Matthew, originally in San Pietro Martire of Murano. See Luigi Vivarini postea. 4 50 THE VENETIANS. Chap. III. We close the page on Bartolommeo Vivarini without being able to give the precise date of his death. rhese saints arc falsely assigned to 15. V. by Boschini (L. R. Min. Sest. della Croce, p. 23.) Venice Acad. No. 21, origi- nally in the convent de 1 Miracoli, arched panel, assigned to Barto- lommeo, but more in the style of Luigi Vivarini. Venice, San Stefano, sa- cristy, originally in San Samu- elle; S l . Nicholas of Bari, and S' Lawrence, half life-size panels (the nimbus and head of S l Law- rence new), much injured and re- painted, but probably by Barto- lommeo Viv. Bassano Mus. Christ seated in benediction, and holding the orb; centre of some altar-piece, wood; figure one-third of life; in the style of Bartolommeo's decline, much, retouched and otherwise in- jured, with a fragment of an in- scription on a cartello as follows: " iva . . . . " Same gal- lery, panel in the character of An- tonio and Bartolommeo Vivarini, representing Christ dead on the Virgin's knees, between S l Andrew and S l Nicholas. Venice, San Giovanni in Br agora, head of the Saviour (Boschini Le R. Min. Sest. di Cas- tello, p. 21.) but see postea, Lnigi Vivarini. Same church, cap- pella de 1 Navageri, a cross sup- ported by Constantine and Helen, with a predella and three scenes in it, from the legend of S* Helen, See antea, note to p. 46, and postea, Cima da Conegliano (See Sansovino, Venez. Desc. p. 36. Boschini Le Ric. Min. S. di Cas- tello, p. 20; Ridolfi, Le Marav. I, p. 100; Zanetti, Pitt. Venez. p. 27.) It will be seen that the three scenes of the predella alone remain, and that they are by Cima. Venice, Santa Maria de 1 Frari, cap pel la de 1 Milanesi, S l Ambrose and saints. See Luigi Vivarini and Basaiti, postea. Venice, San Gio. e Paolo. Altarpiece of S l Vincent Ferrerius, assigned to B. Viv. by Boschini (Le R. Min. Sest. di Castello, 03). See postea, Carpaccio. Pesaro. Sant 1 Antonio. The picture in this church, assigned by the annot. of Vas. VI. 126, to B. Viv. has been noticed antea as by Antonio of Murano. It is now at San Gio. Laterano at Rome. R-bme, San Marco. Figure of S l Mark in episcopals (wood, all but' life-size), a disagreeable piece assigned to the school of Peru- gino (see History of Ital. Painting, vol. III. p. 191), but really by some one ofVivarini's school, whose work is hard and stiff like Crivelli's, and opaque in tone. S l Petersburg, Count Paul Stroganoff. Virgin and child, can- vas, with a new inscription: "Bart. Vivar. f. 1490." Treatment, tem- pera, really Jacopo da Valencia, but greatly restored and precluding any sure opinion. Berlin Mus. No. 1152, a saint in episcopals. (See postea Luigi Vivarini.) Amongst the pictures which re- main at present unaccounted for are the following: Venice, Signer G. B. Fais, Virgin and child in- scribed: "Bartholomaeus Vivarinus de Muriano pinxit 1473." (Ridolfi, Le Marav. I. 52.) Venice ex Craglietto collection. Virgin and child between S ts Jerom, Ag- nes and kneeling Lucy; Augustin, Augusta and kneeling Catherine. Two angels hold a crown over the Virgin's head; above, the Eternal and two angels; inscribed with name and the date of 1475. (Rizzi, ub. sup. in "Discorsi letti nell' Accadem. de 1 belle arti in Venez." Ven. 1817, p. 49.) Bari, church of San Niccolo. Virgin and child inscribed: "factum Venetiis per Bartolomeum Vivarinum de Muriano 1476." (Schulz, Denk- Chap. III. BAUTOLOMMEO VIVARINI. 51 maler, ub. sup.) Venice, Magi- strate del Monte Novissimo. Figure of Justice. (Boschini, Le R. Min. Sest. di S. Polo p. 23, and Zanetti Pitt. Venice p. 27.) Venice, San Giovanni in Bra- gora, the resurrection, said to have been dated 1498, with a predella representing" Christ between S ts John and Mark; but for this pre- della see antea note to p. 4G. (Mo- schini, Guida di Venezia I. 82. Ri- dolti, Le Marav. I. 51. Zanetti, Pitt. Venez. 20. Sansov. Vvnry,. Descr. p. 10, who speaks of it as by Luigi Vivarini, and Lanzi, II. 84; see also Boschini Le R. Min. Sest. di Castello. p. 21.) 4 * THE VENETIANS. CHAPTER IV. LUIGI V I V A R I N L The great and interesting struggle which took place at Venice towards the close of the 15 th century between the family of the Vivarini and that of the Bellini was never chronicled by historians, though it can be proved by circumstantial evidence. The Muranese began with very considerable advantages when they measured them- selves with no more dangerous antagonists than the del Fiores and other followers of the antiquated craft; but when the Mantegnesque element began to assert itself through the exertions of JBartolommeo Vivarini, it also found very able adherents in the atelier of the Bellini. For a time the competition on that field was very active, and Bartolommeo ran almost a neck-and-neck race with his adversaries. He had to contend with men of very eminent talent who had en- joyed great opportunities, who were bound to Mantegna by relationship; and who no doubt gained some prestige from his connexion with powerful and wealthy patrons, yet Bartolommeo held his own bravely, and honourably kept up his name and his celebrity. When Antonello da Messina appeared at Venice, a new spur was given to the old but unextinguished rivalry. The Bellini soon perceived the necessity for adopting the medium so fascinating by its brilliancy and gloss, and so flattering by its richness, to the eyes of the Venetian public. Bartolommeo was not behind them in the belief Chap. IV. LUIGI VIVARINI. 53 that the path to fame lay in the adoption of oil paint- ing but whether it was that he had been too long fami- liar with the old system, or that he had not the chances nor the cleverness of the Bellinis for acquiring the knack of practising in a new method, he soon receded from the place which he had occupied, and gave his opponents an easy victory. Had he continued to progress as he pro- mised to do in 1473 and 1474, Venice would have be- held a still more remarkable spectacle than that which actually presented itself, the spectacle of two families devoted to art, and running, if one may use the expres- sion, a dead heat in their efforts to attain an ideal of perfection. Bartolommeo, however, once headed after 1474, never attempted to recover the ground which he had lost, but sank gradually into obscurity, and, as we have seen, died almost unperceived. The contest which he was thus unable to continue was resumed with no inconsiderable prospect of success, by his kinsman Luigi Vivarini, of whose birth we know nothing; and of whose education we can only surmise that it was made under the auspices of Antonio of Murano, or of Bartolommeo. At first, we may readily suppose Luigi followed with docility the instructions of his immediate superiors; for his style was marked for many years with the Muranese stamp; it is our misfortune to possess no certain example of his manner in the earlier period of his career. Whilst Gio- vanni Bellini was entrusted in 1464 with a commission to adorn the school of San Girolamo at Venice with sub- jects from the life of S l Jerom, Luigi and Carpaccio were engaged to compete in the same enterprise, and for a long time the pictures of the three masters were to be seen in juxtaposition. Since these were dispersed and lost, we are reduced tolconjecture as to Vivarini's powers at that time; but we are allowed to infer from a com- posite altarpiece in the Berlin Museum, representing the descent of the Holy Spirit, and four couples of saints, that about 1470 he was not free from a certain dryness 54 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IV. and immobility. 1 His steady rise to independence is illustrated in an adoration of Christ, dated 1476, in the sacristy of the church of Montehorentino. In the pose of the Virgin, praying with joined hands over the infant, or in the recumbent attitude of the Saviour asleep on her lap and cross-legged on a cushion, we have a reminiscence of a similar in- cident in the sacred subjects of Antonio and Bartolom- meo; whilst the saints in array at the sides, each of them confined to a niche in the carved fret- work of the frame, betray a still rigid adherence to rules of a respectable antiquity, but there is much at the same time to remind us of the progress of the age in the mould, the character, and movement of the several figures. We glance at the bending head of the Virgin and find in it a gentleness akin to Cima's or Bellini's, a yielding melancholy in its finely chiselled lineaments; we look with pleasure on the slender and well propor- tioned shape and follow attentively the graceful flow of 1 Berlin Museum, No. 1113, under the joint names of Antonio and Bartolommeo Vivarini. We have already noticed this picture (antea p. 16), the lower course of which is assigned to Bartolommeo, whilst the upper is given to Antonio. Of the upper course the only portion that can be taken for Antonio's work is the suffering Christ be- tween angels; the four saints, Je- rom, John Bapt. George and Paul being by the same hand as the lower course. The centre of the latter, representing the descent of the Holy Spirit, is poorly exe- cuted, hard and inanimate, and the figures are stiff and ill- draped. The saints in both courses are greatly reminiscent in face and freedom of movement of those in Luigi's altarpiece dated 1180, ori- ginally painted for San Franceso of Treviso, now No. 561 in the Acad, of Venice; the treatment is that which we observe in Luigi's two panels of the Baptist and S l Matthew, now Nos. 15 and 10 in the Venice Acad. But there are means of comparison in the Berlin Gallery itself. Nos. 38 and 1165 are two very tine creations of Luigi's last period. Nos. 1160 and 1177 are characteristic pieces by Bartolommeo; a comparison of these will show that Bartolommeo cannot be the author of any por- tion of No. 1113. It is possible that Luigi may have done the piece under notice as an aid in Bartol- lommeo's atelier, and that the Descent of the Holy Spirit should be partly by their joint assistant Jacopo da Valentia, whose style partook successively of those of Bartolommeo, Cima, and Gio. Bel- lini. No. 1152, Berlin Museum half-length of a bishop, as- signed to Bartolommeo, suggests the same remarks as No. 1113; it is treated with an opaque olive medium. 7 Chap. IV. LUIGI VIVA K INI. 55 its outline. We recognize in the Saviour, on the other hand, an imitation of earlier Muranese models, or of the antique, with something of a newer life and more flexible forms ; we pardon the contrast between the affectation of the infant's pose and the tender quietness of the Virgin, because the result is not an absolute disharmony. One feature pecu- liarly characterizes the attendant saints; they are all thin and tall, yet not so much so as to deprive them of a lofty elegance of carriage. S' Francis holds the cross and reads his book with calm feeling in his features. S 1 Peter stands on the yellow marble floor, with his keys and gospel, in the consciousness of energetic strength; and there is in the attitude and draperies of this and the neighbouring S l Paul, a sculptural weight and appropriate cast, which would in themselves direct our attention to the influence exercised upon the early Venetians by Donatello and Mantegna. In the drawing of the nude we observe that Luigi enjoys all the fruits of the experience of his time; in the use of ornament the utmost simplicity is maintained; light and shade are in correct balance, and the rudiments of the new method introduced by Antonello of Messina are observable in the free handling of colours fairly blended and embrowned by age. 1 It would seem in truth as if the starting point of Luigi Vivarini's career as an artist should be fixed at the moment when Barto- lommeo attained the highest range of perfection of which he was capable, and that the course which Bartolommeo had been induced to pursue with regard to his brother Antonio was now taken by Luigi in his relation to Bartolommeo. With the consciousness, perhaps, that on him rested the duty of preserving the fame of the Mura- nese atelier, he started on his own path, a friend to 1 Montefiorentino. The figures j mantle, from which some colour has are half the size of life, on wood, fallen. On the frame of the central in niches framed in carved work panel :" 1475 (the last cipher a little (gold ground), fairly preserved, with i doubtful), Ludovicus Vivarinus the exception of the Virgin's blue | Mnriancnsis, p." 56 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IV. the nobler properties of the Mantegnesque style and an admirer of the system peculiar to Antonello, and in the gradual extension of his practice he crept up to the imi- tation of the Bellinesque ; remaining at the outset beneath Mantegna in power, and at the close below the Bellini in sentiment and grace. There were many qualities in which Luigi soon ri- valled Giovanni Bellini; these were the use and applica- tion of correct aerial and linear perspective, the proper distribution of figures illustrating a given theme, and the outward manifestation of varying thought by the atti- tude, the features, and look of personages. It would be more than injustice to deny these qualities to the Virgin and saints which Luigi painted in 1480 for San Francesco of Treviso. Here it was that he most com- pletely separated himself from the formalities of the old period, and retempered his art at the fertile spring of pure nature. In this altarpicce, which we now admire at the Academy of Venice, we see the Virgin on a marble throne shrouded as it were from common gaze by green hangings that part a corner of an edifice. She looks out upon her little court of worshippers, and seems to say of the naked babe that stands on her knee : a Ecce Agnus Dei." Her face, in its gentle and regular character, is expressive as her motion, as her gesture; the child is no longer the common one of the Vivarini, but has assumed a novel significance and a more natural air; it is her child, infantine yet not without gravity. The saints who adore the majesty of Christ form part of the action in a most unaffected way ; S 1 Anne, in prayer, is enthusiastically devout ; S' Joachim, awe-struck ; S* Francis is composed, and shows the stigmata; S' Anthony displays the energy of his faith by the pressure of the book upon his breast. A more humble monastic austerity is exhibited in S l Bernardino and S 1 Buonaventura, who stand at each flank of the foreground. A good and highly successful effect is produced by this treatment; but this is enhanced by the clever arrangement of light Chap. IV. LUIGI V1VARINI. 57 and shade, and a true chord of harmony. The light, concentrated on the centre of the throne, plays power- fully on the face and frame of the Virgin and child, diffuses itself more placidly over the groups at the sides, and dies off' in the gloom of the apartment behind, so that aerial perspective helps to keep up an illusion of distance already realized in part by the correct vanish- ing of the lines of the throne and its pedestal. The colours are distributed with contrasts that are not free from sharpness; the shadows are cast a little hardly, there is an olive tone in the flesh and symptoms of diffi- cult manipulation in the half translucid nature of the vehicle ; and we are thus guided to a great deficiency in Luigi Vivarini as contradistinguished from his cotem- porary Bellini, his lack of skill in the treatment of the new medium, and his ignorance of the science of glazings. In every other respect a most judicious balance is preserved; the nude, the hands, feet, and limbs, are neither too coarse nor too lean. The drapery, if a little straight and cornered, is still simple.' More taste for colour, more delicacy of selection, greater versatility, st few nothings were wanting to annihilate the difference between Luigi and his rivals; the question that would now arise being whether Luigi could by toil and care acquire these nothings, some of which might be supplied even in the absence of natural gifts. Upon looking over the sequence of the works which he now created, we stumble upon some which do not 1 Venice Academy, No. 561, wood, figures under life-size; inscribed, on a "cartello" upon the brown marble step of the throne: "Alvixe Vivarin p. MCCCCLXXX." The surface has been somewhat rubbed down by cleansing"; the result being a deterioration much more fatal to a Venetian work than to any other, because the Venetians always produce harmony by juxtaposition and selection of colours rather than by correctness of forms. The brown pivial of S l Buonaventura is re- touched. The flesh is laid in with less body of colour than the hang- ings and dresses; the vehicle is hard and crystalline, with traces of viscosity. The altarpiece was at San Francesco of Treviso, altar of Santa Maria del Pra at the date of Federici's work (Memorie Tre- vig. I. 214 — 15), and see also Lanzi EE. 84, and Kidolfi, Marav. I. 50. 58 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IV. help us to an answer to this question ; such as the Baptist and S' Matthew of the Venice Academy/ the Christ carrying his cross at San Giovanni e Paolo, celebrated on account of the futile and ridiculous controversy that has arisen out of a partial abrasion of a forged signature, but useless as a landmark in the history of Venetian art, because of the condition to which it has been brought by retouching, 2 the ruined Virgin, child, and saints of 1 Nos. 10 and 15, Venice Aca- demy, under the name of Alvise Vivarini Seniore, and originally in San Pietro Martire of Murano. Moschini (Guida di Venezia, II. 487—8.) pretends that the style of these figures is different from that of others by Luigi Vivarini, hence that there must have been two Luigis; but this is an error of judgment. Both figures are much injured. No. 10, S* Matthew (wood, 'life-size), is almost entirely re- painted (lake-coloured mantle, green tunic, ground and nimbus); in oil. No. 15, S l John Baptist (wood, life- size) has been similarly treated; the latter figure is long, lean, of austere face, and well-proportioned. If we judge of the date of these pieces by the treatment of the parts that are not daubed over, we shall decide in favour of the years 1480 — 85, the handling being that of Luigi Vivarini about that period. Boschini (Le Ric. Min. Sest. della Croce, p. 23) describes these figures in San Pietro of Mu- rano, and erroneously assigns them to Bartolommeo. See also, in Za- notto, Pinac. del Accad. Venet. Fasc. XXXVI. the two pieces en- graved. 2 Venice, San Gio. e Paolo, can- vas, above the entrance door of the sacristy. Subject: Christ carry- ing his cross; the figure about three-quarters of life-size. A large strip has been added all round, and painted up to the tone of the central part. On this additional strip to the right is a cartello on which one reads: "Lodovicus Vi- varin Murianensis p. MCCCCXrvV' The figure is throughout retouched in oil, but the character and the movement indicate the close of the 15 th and rise of the 16 th century, not the opening of the 15 th , as we are asked to believe. Why Ridolfi (Marav. I. 50) and Zanotti (Pitt. Venez. 13) should accept the date of 1414 as genuine, knowing, as they must have done, the art of that period (ex. gr. that of Jaco- bello and Donato), it is difficult to explain, except on the score of haste. It is more surprising that Zanotto, ignoring Lanzi (II. 82), and neglecting Moschini (Guida di Venez. I. 165 — 6,) both of them convinced that the date of 1414 is wrong, should persist (Pinac. dell' Accad. Ven. Fasc. XXXVI.) in per- petuating the error. The date as it stands at present is clearly not genuine, and does not even posi- tively indicate the year 1414. The picture is truly by Luigi, as Bos- chini (Le Ric. Min. Sest. di Cas- tello, p. 57), affirms, and probably dates from about the year 1480, at which time L. was already in- fluenced to a certain extent by the Bellinesque manner. The art ex- hibited is at all events more ma- ture than that of Luigi in the altarpiece of Montefiorentino. Sansovino, who also assigns this Christ to Luigi Vivarini, with- out giving a date, adds that the same artist painted the chapel in San Gio. e Paolo of Andrea Stor- nado, procurator of S l Mark, who Chap. IV. LTJIGI VIVAKINI. 59 1485 exhibited in the Naples Museum/ and the S 1 Chiara under Bartolommeo's name in the Academy at Venice. 2 Yet, between 1480 and 1490, Luigi Vivarini had become convinced that he was capable of holding his own in the race for fame which he was running with the Bellini; and he challenged them in a daring manner. Both Gentile and Giovanni Bellini had been employed for a considerable time in the Sala del Gran Consiglio at Venice, in restoring old masterpieces or setting up new ones in their stead. Luigi Vivarini probably hoped that the practice which he had gained would sug- gest to the authorities the necessity of allowing hiui to compete in the town hall; he had waited in vain for some distinction of this kind. He took , courage one day and offered his services in the following letter: "July, I4SS. a To the Most Serene, the Prince, and the Most Excellent Signoria. "I am Alvise Vivarini of Murano a faithful servant of your Serenity and of this most illustrious State; and I have been long anxious to exercise my skill before your sublimity, and prove that continued study and labour on my part have not been useless. I there- died in 1478; thus giving us a clue to the time when the Christ carrying 1 his cross was done (Ven. Desc. p. 65). The paintings of the Stornado chapel are missing. The same author assigns to Luigi the S' Augustin by BartolOmmeo (ib. ib.), find see antea. 1 No. 197, Naples Museum, wood, inscribed: "Alvise Vivarini, p. Ve- netia, 1485." In the centre, the Virgin enthroned (her 1)1 ue mantle repainted in oil) between S l Fran- cis and 8 l Bernardino. The sur- face is so rubbed and daubed over, that the original state of this piece can scarcely be imagined. The figures, however, are on the model of those previously described with the addition of a certain stiffness due to retouching in oil. It is indeed impossible to judge from the work what progress Luigi had made in the manipulation of the new mediums. 2 No. 21, Venice Academy, ori- ginally in the convent of the Ma- donna de' Miracoli, assigned now to Bartolommeo (see antea), wood, almost life-size. The art here ex- i hibited is that of Luigi, who I displays the same power as in I 1480—5. 60 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IV. fore offer as a humble subject, in honour and praise of this celebrated city, to devote myself without return of payment or reward, to the duty of producing a canvas in the 'Sala del Gran Conseio/ according to the method at present in use by the two brothers Bellinii ; and I ask no more for the said canvas than that I should be allowed the expenses of the cloth and colours, as well as the wages of the journeymen, in the manner that has been granted to the said Bellinii. When I have done, I shall leave to your Serenity, of his goodness, to give me in his wisdom the price which shall be adjudged to be the just, honest, and appropriate return for the labour; which I shall be enabled, I trust, to con- tinue to the universal satisfaction of your Serenity and of all this excellent Government, to the grace of which I most humbly recommend myself." This prolix epistle proves one or two very important points. First of all it shows that the brothers Bellini were both employed in the Sala del Gran Consiglio on original decorations ; and next of all, that these were exe- cuted on canvas according to some peculiar system; that this system was that introduced by Antonello da Messina we may venture to assume. Finally that Luigi Vivarini considered himself competent to paint on canvas in this method, is stated by himself. The prayer of Luigi was heard almost immediately; he was authorized by an order in council issued on the 29 lh of July, 1488, to receive the canvas he required ; he was furnished with the necessary journeymen and colours, and he was told to fit his picture for the place hitherto occupied by the fresco of Pisano. 1 We have seen that from the beginning of the 14 Ul to the rise of the 15 th century, the Hall of the grand council at Venice had been adorned by successive generations 1 See the original letter and answer, as discovered by the pa- tient search of Mr. Rawdon Brown, in Selvatico, " Storia estetico- critica, II. 466. 1 ' Chap. IV. LUIGI VIVARINI. 61 of craftsmen. The simple monochromes with which the walls had been covered before 1350, had been replaced by coloured subjects entrusted to Guariento, Gentile da Fabriano and Pisano; but the dampness of the Venetian climate and the saline gases of its canals had been very destructive to the creations of these masters ; and formal de- liberations took place in 1474, to determine how the hall should be restored. 1 The revolution which had been made by the introduction of oil-painting probably attracted great attention, and we can scarcely doubt but that from that moment a new fashion prevailed, so that the walls were divided into panelled frames fitted to receive pictures on canvas. The question arose also, who was to be employed to furnish these canvases 5 and it is not unlikely that the contending claims of Antonello of Mes- sina, the Vivarini, and the Bellini were discussed. The choice of the council fell upon Gentile Bellini, 2 who was only instructed at first to renew the "Naval Encounter between the Doge and Otho the son of Emperor Barba- rossa," a fresco by Gentile da Fabriano which had fallen to the ground, 3 but as every year that expired revealed some new damage done by age or by accident to the old ornaments of the hall, the necessity for a large and generous expenditure in a work of national impor- tance was admitted, and almost all the artists of any name whose services were within reach, were engaged and tried in rotation. Most unfortunately for the history of Venetian art, the fire which consumed the great hall of council in 1577 1 See the annals of Malipiero, in Archiv. Stor. VII. 2, Plor. 1844, p. 663, and Sansov., Pitt. Ven. p.325. 2 Illustrazione did Palazzo Ducale di Venezia, by Marehese Pietro Selvatico, and Professore Cesare Foucard, Milan, 1859; secondo rapporto, p. 81. Gentile was ap- pointed on the 21 st Sept. 1474, see postea. 3 See "Annali Veneti," by Ma- lipiero, in Arch. Stor. lib. sup. VII. 2. p. 663. Malipiero adds that great murmurs arose when the arms of the Doge Contarini were removed from the hall on account of these repairs; and the Council of Ten ordered these and other escutcheons to be replaced. 02 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IV. destroyed the only things which would enable us to test the powers of Luigi Vivarini in the treatment of histo- rical compositions, and we have but the authority of records and the testimony of chroniclers for the assurance that Luigi executed two subjects, that of Otho promising to mediate between Venice and Barbarossa, and that of Bar- barossa receiving his son ; in both of which he displayed considerable skill as a master of portrait and of perspec- tive. 1 That in the eyes of cotemporaries he was second to the Bellinis, we may infer from his salary, which is computed in 1492 at the rate of sixty ducats a year, 2 whilst that of Gio. Bellini, to the same amount was swelled by the addition of special emoluments; but it was no doubt consoling to Luigi's pride that after he had offered his services and proved his capabilities, he was permanently enlisted as an artist in the employ of the government. The contracts made with masters at this period of the Venetian rule evidently allowed a considerable latitude as to the amount of labour personally required for the completion of any commissions. Indulgences were granted as regards time; and permission was tacitly given to Vivarini, as it was to the Bellini, to accept private orders. It would be difficult to explain in any other way the dilatory progress of the pictures undertaken for the State, and the rapid succession of altarpieces for private patrons. We still admire in the Belvedere of Vienna an adoring Virgin, fruit of Vivarini's labours in 1489, and two similar pieces at San Giovanni in Bragora and the church del Kedentore at Venice; we 1 Vasari (V. 8), Sansovino (Ven. Dese. 325-332). Of the latter subject only, Sansovino says that it was substituted for that origi- nally done by Pisano; and he adds that Vivarinfs work was ul- timately entrusted to Gio. Bellini to finish. 2 Gaye (II. 70, 71) publishes a record of 1495, from which we learn that Alvise Vivarini began, in May, 1492, to draw five ducats a month as "depentor in Gran Conseio." What his salary was previous to that date cannot be stated, nor is there any certain record of Alvise's employment in the town-hall at a later period. Chap. IV. LUIGI V1VARINI. 63 possess a bust of the Redeemer and a resurrection or- dered for San Giovanni in Bragora in 1493 and 1498, a fine portrait dated 1497 in a gentleman's house, and a "Christ in benediction' 7 completed in 1498 at the Brera, of Milan; large altarpieces in Luigi's latest style, are pre- served in the museum of Berlin. Of all traits revealed by these productions, the most significant is this, that whilst Luigi aspired to rival, he condescended to imitate, Gio- vanni Bellini. Of the three adoring Virgins which have been men- tioned, one bears the painter's name and the date of its completion ; the others are assigned to Bellini ; yet no one who has seen the first can deny the identity of the two last. At Vienna, Bellinesque spirit is more apparent in the child asleep at full length on the Virgin's lap than in the two infant angels who are seated on the steps of the throne and play the viol; but Bellini would have given more feeling and expression to the faces; he would have avoided the somewhat formal roundness of the heads ; and, being familiar with oil medium, he would have been less parsimonious of colour and less chary of contrast by light and shade; his touch would have been tenderer, and he would have preferred a softer accentuation of outlines. 1 At San Giovanni in Bragora, the Virgin alone with the babe in a room, is almost a repetition of that of Vienna. 2 In the chiesa del Redentore, variety 1 Vienna, Belvedere, It. school, room I. No. 36, small panel, in- scribed on a cartello at the base of the picture: " Alvisius Vivarinns de Mariano p. MCCCCLXXXVIIII. ,, The ground behind the throne is regilt, the Virgin's hands arc in- jured by repainting, and the flesh of the child is bleached and abraded. The colour is so spare in the nude parts that the white ground ap- pears through it. The shadows of the dresses are higher in sur- face than the rest of the picture. This piece was no doubt the centre of an altarpiece; it was purchased in Istria in 1802. 1 Venice, San Gio. in Bragora This picture was once in San Se verino at Venice. It now hangs to the right in the first chapel of San Giovanni in Bragora. The Virgin is seated on a long stone scat (blue mantle new). The room is lighted at the hack by two arched windows, through which one sees sky and lakes. The figures are about one-third of life. Assigned by Zanotto (Guida, p. 220) to Bellini. G4 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IV. is due to the altered position of the two angels who, in- stead of playing on the steps of the throne, are seated on a low wall in the foreground. In other respects the picture is a counterpart of that of 1489. Nothing can be more evident than that Vivarini endeavours to emulate Bellini's freshness of conception gentleness of type, stu- died simplicity and mastery of hand. But though he shows progress as a draughtsman in nude and in drapery, he is still unable to cope on even terms with his competitor and he falls almost naturally to the second place. Charm- ing as the Virgin's soft expression may be, natural as are the calm of the sleeping child, and the busy eagerness of the playing angels, beauty and grace would have been more surely imparted to them by Bellini. Their propor- tions, the mould of their shape in head and limb would have been more attractive, and they would have had more life and playfulness; the draperies would have been less tortuous or broken, the tints more skilfully contrasted and more brilliant. Vivarini is nowhere so completely cast into the shade as when he struggles with the diffi- culties of oil medium. Complete mastery of the -technica would have been most advantageous to him, because he had not the instinct of a colourist; but from first to last his manipulation was defective. The vehicle which he employed was apparently tenacious and fibrous, and when he spread the local tone over the surface of his picture he had great trouble to model the lights into half tones and darks. During this process he sacrificed the trans- parence of his shadow to the necessity of increasing its depth, or he gave up depth for the sake of trans- parence. Failing to obtain the effect of sharpness by pastose touches, he was forced to define form too fre- quently by coarse lines of a dark and liquid substance; and the rawness thus produced was only mitigated by a general scumble resulting in blindness, opacity and sombre- ness of key. 1 1 Venice, chiesa del Redentore. I glass as a work of Giovanni Bel- This picture is preserved under | lini. Behind the throne a green Chap. IV. LUIGI VIVARINI. 65 In the course of subsequent years a few of the most obvious errors of treatment were corrected by Luigi, but neither his industry nor his zeal were of much further avail in the struggle for the first place amongst the ar- tists of Venice. The Redeemer in benediction, a bust of 1493 at San Giovanni in Bragora ; is softly expressive and well proportioned, but carried out with no additional tech- nical acquirements'. The life-size portrait dated 1497, in Casa Bonomi at Milan is boldly outlined and in fair relief, but hard and sharp, and wanting in the last polish which Bellini or Antonello would have given to it. 2 The bearded Saviour of 1498 at the Brera is disagreeably harsh in lines whether of face or of drapery, and too abrupt in contrasts of light and shade. 3 Much freedom and ease hanging is thrown over a line; it intercepts the view of the sky. On the hanging, a bird is perched. On the parapet are apples, pears, I and cherries. The figures are half the size of life, and the whole I piece (wood, oil) is engraved in | Zanotto (Pinacot. Venet. Fasc. 5). j The surface has been made opaque by repeated varnishing. 1 Venice, San Gio. in Bragora. This bust of the Saviour is united to a S l Veronica meeting the Sa- viour, by Andrea Schiavone. It is called a Rocco Marcone by Zanotto (Guida p. 219), but Boschini pro- perly assigns it to L. Vivarini, and describes it as having been the ornament of the shrine of San Giovanni Elemosinario. The fol- lowing proves the painter to have been Luigi, and gives us the date of the execution: "Nel catasto di chiesa vi e la seguente nota : anno 1493 al Vivarini per la testa sopra il monumento di S. Zuanne L. 12." (Memoria sulla chiesa di San Gio. in Bragora 8°. Ven. 1848, pp. 8 and 27.) See also Boschini (Le Ric. Min. Sest. di Castello, p. 21). The face is seen in full front, re- VOL. I. lieved on a dark ground, one hand a little cramped in benediction; the colour is a little rosy and slightly shaded; the flesh and dress are higher in surface in proportion as they are less in light. The general tone is slightly darkened (wood). 2 Milan, Casa Bonomi. Portrait of a man a little under life-size, three-quarters, to the left, in a blue dress and black cap (wood, dark ground). The mouth is slightly retouched. The general tone in flesh a dull red yellow; on a para- pet against which the figure leans, showing a well-drawn left-hand, are the words: "Alovisius Vivari- nus de Muriano, f. 1497." 3 Milan, Brera, No. 238 (wood, oil, on a dark ground, with gold rays). The beard short, the hair falling in locks, in one hand (re- painted) the cross, the right in benediction. On the parapet the words: "Alvisius Vivarinus de Mu- riano pin. MCCCCLXXXXVIII." The colour is dulled by abrasion and retouching. Zanetti notices this picture, but gives it a false date (Pitt. Venet. p. 31). 5 G6 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IV. are thrown into the dancing movement of the Christ in resurrection completed for San Giovanni in Bragora during the year 1498; a breeze flutters through the cloak, which flaps and clings to the legs, but the shape is very long, and the attitude mannered; and the statuesque simplicity of the Montefiorentino altarpiece is replaced by affected classicism. But here, if anywhere, some ad- vance in technical handling is apparent in the pastose touch of the flesh, and in the nice blending of tones ; and correct anatomy gives additional life to the sub- ject. 1 The three largest and most important works that Luigi Vivarini produced are the latest in date that we possess. One is a life-size Virgin and child enthroned between four saints, in the Berlin Museum, another is the Virgin and child amongst saints and angels in the same gallery, and a third the apotheosis of S l Ambrose at the Frari of Venice which Vivarini left incomplete at his death. The first of these belonged to the church in the island of San Cristoforo of Murano. The Virgin sits enthroned in a portico, the pillars and soffits of which are finely picked out in particoloured marbles. Her languid atti- tude is very natural, whilst her head has the round 1 Venice, San Gio. in Bragora. Panel, all but life-size, sealed into the pilaster to the left of the high altar. The Redeemer, almost life- size, in benediction, with the ban- ner, stands on the cover of the sepulchre in a landscape at dawn. Parts of two figures of soldiers appear looking up to him behind and to the left. On the side of the tomb, a white scroll without letters. But Boschini says: (Ric. Min. Sest. di 1 Castello, p. 20), the piece was done in 1498. This is confirmed in Memorie sulla chiesa di San Gio. in Bragora, ub. sup. p. 27, where the following may be found: "1498, Maestro Alvise Vi- varini deve haver per dipintura della palla del Corpo di Christo, 1. 40." From another entry in the same record it appears that the panel under notice was the centre of an altarpiece with sides, or "portelle" (ib. ib.). See also Sanso- vino (Ven. Descr. p. 36.) The pre- della by Luigi, representing half- lengths of Christ, S ts John Baptist, and Mark, is now beneath the altarpiece of Barto. Vivarini, dated 1478, in this very church. See the print in outline of this resur- rection in Zanotto, Pinac. Venet. Fasc. 21. Note that Zanetti (Pitt. Venet. p. 26) and Lanzi (ii. 84) both err in assigning this panel to Bartolommeo. Chap. IV. LTJIGI VIVARINI. 67 mould peculiar to the Vivarini, and suggests a melan- choly resignation. The saints in attendance are well posed and united together by the expression of some common thought. They are clothed in dresses of broken fold, a S l Sebastian to the right being bound in a posture, afterwards imitated and exaggerated by Paris Bordone. Here again the impression is that of a Belli- nesque creation, brought down to a low and dark tinge, but by no means discordant in its harmonies 1 . The second altarpiece in a similar style, but more copiously furnished with saints and with two boy angels at the foot of the throne, was probably executed in 1501 for the Battuti of Belluno, who are said to have paid a hundred ducats for it. It is ill preserved but cleverly arranged, and very earnest in the dignified air and natu- ral action of the figures ; it would, indeed, but for the injury it has received, be the grandest thing that Luigi Vivarini ever produced 2 . 1 Berlin Museum, No. 1165, wood, oil. In the distance between the pillars of a chapel, sky; to the left, the Baptist and S l Jerom; to the right, S* Augustin and S l Sebas- tian, the latter much injured. Many parts are retouched, to which cause, as well as to a coloured varnish, we may attribute the inky nature of the shadows. Boschini describes the piece exactly at San Cristo- foro of Murano (Ric. Min. Sest. della Croce, p. 20), and Zanetti mentions it also (Pitt. Venet. 29). 2 Berlin Museum, No. 38, wood, figures life-size. On a cartello at the foot of the throne are the words : "Alvvise Vivarin." The saints at the side of the throne are, left, S ts George, Peter, and Catherine of Alexandria; right, Mary Magdalen, Jerom, and Sebastian. The marbles of the chapel are variegated as in the previous example, and the dome is adorned with mosaic, the whole panel much injured by restoring. I The Virgin's head is altered in its outline, and the eyeballs are repainted in black. The contours of the fwo female saints are also new, and the hand of S l Jerom spoiled; all the shadows are changed by time and retouching. We learn from the books of the Council of Belluno (favoured by Signor Giu- seppeBucchi), the following: "Nella soppressa chiesa di S. M. dei Battuti eravi al secondo altare la palla di Alvise Vivarini rappresentante la Vergine col Bamb ed i SS. Pietro, Girolamo, Sebastianoedaltri Santi." Lanzi adds that the picture cost one hundred ducats and the paint- er's expenses (II. 84); and the Annot. of Vas. (V. 9.) say the date was 1501, and that after the sup- pression of the Battuti the panel was in possession of Count Ma- rino Pagani of Belluno. The exact coincidence of the subject suggests [ that the Berlin picture is that described in the foregoing quota- tions. 5* 68 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IV. The apotheosis of S l Ambrose in the Cappella Milanesi at the Frari is usually assigned to Bartolommeo. It was really commenced by Luigi, as many of its parts very clearly prove; and was finished after the master's death by Basaiti; all that Luigi was able to com- plete was the design of the whole altar, founded, as we are told by an inscription, in 1503, the coronation of the Virgin in the lunette, the S t Ambrose with his com- panions S ts George and Vitale, a canonized bishop and monk. It is a great pity that Vivarini did not live to perfect the remainder, which bears marks of the hard even hand of his pupil Basaiti. He had already given great effect to the composition by the fine sweep of cor- rect perspective lines in the vaulted edifice inclosing the scene, by the bold, and ^ven hasty touch of his usual olive tone relieved by dark bituminous shadows and by the clever grouping of the saints about the throne. 1 With Luigi's death, of which we have unfortunately no precise notice, the rivalry of the Muranese atelier with that of the Bellini came to an end. Giovanni Bellini, we are told, gave the last strokes to the canvas which had been left unfinished in the Hall of Council at Venice, and from that time he reigned supreme as the best artist of the republic. 1 Venice, Frari. The altar of the Milanesi, for which this pic- ture was commissioned, dates from 1503, as is proved by the follow- ing inscription on its marble base : "Colegii mediolanen. sere divicultui. instit. MDIII." The picture is probably of the same year. It is inscribed: "Quod Vivarine, tua fatale sorte nequisti, Marcus Ba- situs nobile prompsit opus. 1 ' Yet Boschini (Ric. Min. Sest. di S. Polo. p. 40) says it is by Carpaccio, falling into the error of Vasari (VI. 96), in which he is followed by Ridolfi (Le Marav. I. 64), and not corrected by Zanetti (Pitt. Ven. p. 34). Sansovino (Ven. Desc. p. 188) is also amusingly mistaken when he says, "La palla fu comin- ciata da Guarino Pittor Milanese e finita da Marco Basaito." The latest error is that of Zanotto (Guida p. 467), who attributes the work to Bartolommeo Vivarini. Kugler (ed. 1855, Murray, part II. 234), does not make this mistake. The lower part of the picture is injured ... It is on panel, in a fine old frame of the period. Chap. IV. LUIGI VIVARINI. In various collections of the North of Italy and of other countries ; there are pictures which remind us of Luigi's great and untiring industry. Of these we may enumerate, a Virgin annunciate in the Academy of Venice, 1 a couple of saints in the Malaspina collection at Pavia, 2 a solitary female in the Academy of Arts at Vienna, 3 and a Virgin adoring the infant, belonging to Mr. O. Mundler in Paris. 4 Of slighter importance are a S l Anthony of Padua, in the Correr Gallery, 5 a Virgin and child in the Manfrini palace at Venice, 6 a Virgin and child in San Francesco at Piove, 7 a coro- nation of the Virgin in the Costabili collection at 1 Venice Acad. No. 76, catalogued "School of Bonifazio," but part of an annunciation originally by Luigi Vivarini, or some one closely imitating him, and now heavily repainted. The fragment under notice was originally in the Ufficio dei 1 Sopra Consoli. The Virgin is represented kneeling. 2 Pavia, Malaspina Gallery. Not numbered. Half-lengths of S l Fran- cis and S l John the Baptist in front of a green hanging (much injured, and regilt in the ground (wood). Accompanying these are two similar panels representing S ts Paul and Francis, S l Jerom and S l Buona ventura, but though much damaged, they have not the true stamp of the Venetian school. 3 Vienna, Academy of Arts, No. 368, wood. Standing figure of a female saint with a martyr's palm, half life-size, not unlike the S l Chiara of the Venice Academy (No. 21) previously noticed. i Paris, Mr. Mundler, wood. The Virgin adores the child, which J holds a bird. This piece has un- j dergone some restoring, but the | character of the painting is that of Luigi Vivarini. 5 Venice, Correr Gallery, No. 22, wood. Kneepiece representing S l Anthony of Padua with his book and lily; of slight importance, but by Luigi. 6 Venice, Palazzo Manfrini, wood, inscribed: "Alvixe Vivarin p." but spoiled and entirely deprived of its original freshness. It once be- longed (Rizzi ub. sub. pp. 81, 82) to Signor N. H. Correr, of S. Gio- vanni Decollato. 7 Piove, San Francesco. The Virgin (half-lengths and half life- size) holds the child erect on a parapet. The child plays with a coral necklace. Through a window (left) sky with a landscape, and a bridge on a stream. There are spots all over the picture, and pieces have been scaled off the Virgin's blue mantle. The colours are dried up by time, but the pic- ture has not been '.restored — wood. But for the injury it has received this would be a fine example of the master. 70 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IV. Ferrara/ and four saints in the Galleria Zambeccari at Bologna. 2 We doubt the authenticity of a series assigned to "Alvise Vivarini seniore" in the Academy of Venice, akin to another in the same Museum properly classed as belonging to the school of the Vivarini. 3 Similar doubts are justified as regards four panels representing angels in San Donato of Murano, 4 and a couple of life-size figures of S ls Gervaso and Prot'asio in San Trovaso near Treviso. 5 1 Ferrara Gall. Costabili, wood, under life-size; originally in pos- session of Conte Zini at Bologna; three angels are above the prin- cipal group. This is a fragment in the mixed style of Barto. and Luigi, but probably an early work of the latter, as might be inferred from the peculiar mould of the heads, though the sharp cornered folds of the drapery recalls Bartolommeo's picture of 1473 at Santa Maria Formosa of Venice. 2 Bologna, Galleria Zambeccari. Four panels representing saints, half life-size, in the style of Bar- tolommeo and Luigi, but much blackened. These have recently been sold. 3 Venice Academy. The latter are numbered as follows : No. 390, (bequeathed by Ascanio Molin), Virgin and child (the blue mantle and gold ground entirely, the red tunic partly, renewed; the flesh part retouched), wood, arched at top; further, and of similar size, No. 449, a male saint; 450, S* Francis: 451, S l Jerom (red dress new); 453, S l John the Baptist (gold ground); 454, a young martyr with a palm and sword (repainted) ; No. 455, a saint in episcopals (re- painted head). All these panels, except the central one, are known to have been in San Pietro Martire of Murano. They are all properly catalogued in the school of the Vivarini. They are really of the school of Luigi. The other series, once in the church of the Carita (Zanetti Pitt. Venet. p. 30, and Moschini Guida di Venez. II. 488, 489), is numbered as follows: No. 17, S l Sebastian erect in a land- scape (gold sky, wood, arched at top); No. 18, S l Anthony the Abbot; No. 19, S l John the Baptist; fro. 20, S l Lawrence (all wood, arched); the gold grounds in every case renewed, of a hard dry tempera. The figures are regularly propor- tioned, dry, slender, but done with a certain ease of hand. It is the same art as in the series just pre- viously noticed, and we believe these eleven panels to be the pro- duce of one hand, and by an artist in Luigi's school. 4 These four panels were origi- nally in the convent of the Angeli at Murano (Boschini, Le Ric. Min. Sest. della Croce, p. 27), and are probably byPennachi, whose paint- ings at the Angeli still exist (see postea). 5 This church is about three miles from Treviso, and the pic- ture, representing the saints erect in a landscape with gilt nimbs, hangs in the choir behind the high altar. The name is false, as far as can be judged in the overpainted condition of the piece. Chap. IV. LUIGI VIVARINI. 71 We might add a long catalogue of pieces mentioned by historians and guide-books which are now missing, or have been charged with wrong names. 1 1 As missing 1 we catalogue the following-: Venice, San Basilio. Organ-doors by Luigi Viv. (Bosch. Le Ric. Min, Sest. di Dorso Duro, p. 17, Zanetti, Pitt. Ven. p. 14). The church is suppressed. San Cristoforo of Murano, altar- piece of S ts Jerom, Peter and Paul (Boschini Le Ric. Min. Sest. della Croce, p. 20). C hies a della Croce, Baptism of Christ (Bosch. Le Ric. Min. Sest. della Croce, p. 4). But Zanetti (Pitt. Venet. p. 30) assigns this piece to the earlier members of the Vivarini family. San Daniele. Two panels, with female saints (Bosch. Le. R. Min. Sest. di Castello, p. 5, and Zanetti, Pitt. Venet. p. 28), but see Venice Acad. No. 21, and Vienna Acad. No. 368. San Donato of Mu- rano. Half-round of the Virgin, angels, S l John, S l Augustin, and a portrait (Zanetti, Pitt. Ven. p. 29), but the subject corresponds to that of a lunette by Lazzaro Sebastiani (see postea). Frari, Scuola di San Carlo e Sant' Ambrosio de' Milanesi, Virgin, child, S ts John Baptist, Ambrose, and two saints in armour (Bosch. Le Ric. Min. Sest. di S. Polo, p. 46). Zanetti (Pitt. Venet. pp. 30, 31) doubts whether the author be Luigi, and suggests Bartolommeo Viv. San Giorgio Maggiore, "Palla della Madonna' 1 (Sansov. Ven. Desc. p. 219). San Giorgio in Alga (Isola), |This church no longer exists.] La tavola di S. Pietro e di S. Paolo, con quell' altra di S. Marco fu lavorata da i Vivarini (Sansov. Ven. Desc. p. 240). "Nella stessa tavola (altar- piece of Christ at the column) vi sono altri comparti, cioe di sopra il Padre Eterno, piii a basso Maria e S. Giovanni et alcuni angeli con misterii della passione, opera del Vivarini." (Boschini Le Ric. Min. Sest. della Croce, p. 62.) San Giovanni Evangelist a, annunciation, (Boschini Le R. M. Sest. di S. Polo, p. 35.) Scuola di San Giovanni Baptist a, Murano. Inside and above the portal an altarpiece in nine parts, representing the baptism of Christ, with S ts Mark, Jerom, and other saints at the sides (Boschini Le Ric. Min. Sest. della Croce, p. 37). San Girolamo, Scuola, S l Jerom and the lion, engraved in Dagin- court, plate CLXII. and mentioned by all the authors including Lanzi. Also the altarpiece in live parts, with S ts John Baptist and Augus- tin between the Virgin and angel annunciate, and above, the Pieta (Bosch. Le R. M. Sest. di Can. Reg. 44, and Zanetti, Pitt. Ven. 14). Likewise in the same locality the upper frieze and an Eternal in the ceiling. San Lorenzo. Panels belonging to the shrine of S l Leone Bembo, supposed to be at Dignano in Istria (Ricci Mem. ub. sup. I. 226, and Cicogna, Inscr. Venez, Vol. II., p. 412), and see in those authors doubts as to the authority for calling these panels works of Vivarini, or even, as some think, of Crivelli. San Maffeo, Mazzorbo. The patron saint and others, schoolpiece (Bosch. Le Ric. Min. Sest. della Croce, p. 40). (This church has been long since razed.) San Marco. Chapel near that of Sant' Isidoro. (Bosch. Le Ric. Min. Sest. di S. Marco, p. 5.) Santa Maria Giobenigo. The young Saviour between S l Francis and a saint in episcopals. (Bosch. Le Ric. Min. Sest. di S. Marco, p. 82; Zanetti, Pitt. Venet. 30.) San Michiel, Murano. The Eternal, dead Christ, and saints (Bosch. Le Ric. Min. Sest. della Croce, p. 41). Palazzo Ducal e. Magistrato dell' Catta- 72 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IV. vero — several devotional pieces. (Bosch. Le Ric. Min. Sest. di S. Marco, p. 48, and Zanetti, Pitt. Ven. p. 30.) San Kocco. Sides of the shrine of S l Rocco, small incidents. (Bosch. Le Ric. Min. Sest. di S l Polo, p. 49; Zanetti, Pitt. Ven. p. 30.) S e r v i t i (church suppressed), six saints, Le. four Evangelists, and two servitors. (Bosch. Le Ric. Min. Sest. di Can. Reg. 46.) Under wrong names we find the following: San Cristoforo, Murano (temporarily at San Pietro Martire), Virgin, child, S l George, S l John Baptist, and two saints in episco- pals, a boy angel playing an instru- ment. The manner is that of a follower of Luigi Vivarini, see postea. (Bosch. Le Ric. Min. Sest. della Croce,p.20); Zanetti, Pit. Ven. p. 29.) San Giovanni Criso- stomo. Organ-doors. (Bosch. Le Ric. Min. Sest. di Can. Reg. p. 3, and Zanetti, Pitt. Ven. p. 29.) These are by Mansueti (see postea). San Gregorio. Coronation of the Virgin. (Bosch. Le Ric. Min. Sest. di Dorso Duro, p. 31. This piece* is now in San Gio. e Paolo, and has been assigned by Zanotto (Pinac. Ven. Fasc. 18) to Carpac- cio (but see postea, Cima and Car- paccio). San Secondo. The Re- deemer between S l Jerom and S* Secondo. (Bosch. Le Ric. M. Sest. della Croce, p. 63.); has been since at the Santo Spirito, and latterly at the Gesuati, and is by Giovanni Buonconsigli (see postea). Chap. V. JACOPO DA VALENTIA. 73 CHAPTER V. JACOPO DA VALENTIA, ANDREA DA MURANO. AND THE CRIVELLI. It was not the fortune of the Vivarini to send forth disciples great in their influence on the art of their coun- try. With the exception of Crivelli, who is respected as the representative of a well-defined style, history is all but silent as to the scholars of Luigi and Bartolom- meo; and if here and there a name is recorded, it is merely as authenticating rare but unimportant pictures. Amongst the humble craftsmen who, in this fashion, claim notice at our hands, we should mention Jacopo da Valentia; who was known in the Trevisan province as Valentina. 1 Bred, as we observe, in the Muranese atelier, he frequently reproduced the masks of Bartolommeo, and the figures of Luigi. He was devoid of feeling as a colourist, and emulated the hard dullness of Palmez- zano, or Filippo of Verona. We meet with his panels in Venice, at Belluno, Serravalle, and Ceneda. His ear- liest work is dated 1485 — a half length of the Virgin and child in the house of the Pagani family at Belluno, bearing the full stamp of the Vivarini atelier, but dry and ill drawn 2 . Great neatness and minuteness of out- 1 Lanzi (II. 93) calls him Valen- tina, and says lie is a native of Serravalle; he errs in calling- him a pupil" of Squarcione. Crico (Let- tere sulle belle arte Trivigiane, 8 n , Treviso, 1833, pp. 2U and 271) says he was known at Serrav;tll near Fermo ; with a vast altarpiece of large preten- sions. He then produced several pieces at Ascoli, Camerino and Fermo, and in the course of twenty-two years there was hardly a town or a village between Potenza and Tronto, in which he did not leave traces of his presence. During the whole of that time, even to the end of his days, he never abandoned the system of tempera in which he had been taught, and he never changed the ground principles of his manner. His hard metallic types of form, his landscapes were as con- sistently maintained as were his primary tints and his ornaments of leaves, of fruit, and of vegetables. His figures were from the first withered and lean, they were fre- quently lame and unnatural in movement. A bitter ugli- ness pervaded faces in which melancholy repose was less habitual than grimace, but as age and experience enabled him to progress, he modelled these ill-favoured beings into most tragic and impassioned representations, surprising the spectator by the life which he concentrated into their action and expression. He thus attained to a realistic force which is only second to that of Mantegna. He sometimes tried to be graceful, but rarely succeeded in the attempt; for what to him seemed grace was mere af- fectation. Of the draughtsman's skill he had but just the necessary share, and he gave no absolute perfection to any part of the human frame, whether it were the joint- ing, which occasionally lacks the power of articulation; the hand, which is thin and pointed ; the foot, which is flat and clumsy; or the drapery, which is stiff, cutting and broken. But, as a tempera painter, he is admittedly a master of great energy. His medium, which was always liquid and pure, was of such a durable substance, that, when brought up by varnish to a warm brown tone, it never altered; and there is no artist of the century whose panels have more surely resisted the ravages of time. The monotony which is usual to him, is due to the habit of hatching with lines in the manner of an engraver; but as he advanced, the flatness and absence of contrasts in 86 THE VENETIANS. Chap. V. light and shade were frequently corrected; and there are some pieces in which a fair relief is produced. As he clung to old technical modes of execution, so he held with- out flinching to the system of embossed ornament. In this he was Venetian, just as in his fondness for anti- quated masks and accidental minutiae in stones and back- grounds he was Paduan. On the whole a striking, ori- ginal genius; unpleasant and now and then grotesque, but never without strength, and always in earnest. In the altarpiece of Massa our attention is divided be- tween the Virgin, child and saints of the principal course, the Ecce Homo and annunciation of the pinnacles, and the scenes from Christ's passion in the predella. Some of the types are strikingly reminiscent of those pre- served by the earlier Squarcionesques ; whilst the annun- ciate Virgin recalls Alunno and the Umbrians. Again, the agony on the Mount in the predella recalls a well known composition by Mantegna. 1 From this diversity we judge that Crivelli had not completely 1 Massa. This altarpiece hangs j in detached pieces in the sacristy of San Silvestro of Massa. It used to be in the bell-room, where, Iioav- ever, it received damage from the ropes. The infant stands on the Virgin's lap in the principal panel, her throne being adorned, as usual, with apples and quinces. The figures are half life-size, on gold ground; at the base, the inscription: "Ka- rolus Crivellus Venetus pinsit hoc opus MCCCCLXVIII." This sig- nature has been misread by Kicci (Mem. I. 207), who omits the V, and makes the picture date from 1463. At the sides are a Squar- cionesque S l John Baptist, of dry and bony limb; a S l Lawrence, with a spot worn in the lower part of his dress ; S l Sylvester, with embossed mitre and stole; and S l Francis receiving the stig- mata (foot injured, and left hand corner of ground abraded). In the pinnacles, the angel and Virgin annunciate are graceful enough, whilst the Redeemer is of poor and affected shape: In the predella, Christ on the mount; the cruci- fixion, with a very defective Christ ; .the flagellation (injured by scaling), and the resurrection (ditto). All the panels except the predella are on gold ground, and on the last mentioned, one can see the canvas stretched on the panel beneath the gesso. We are reminded of Marco Zoppo chiefly by the Virgin and the short-necked child. Between this and the altarpiece of 1473, is one not seen by the authors of this work, but described as having been sold in 1863, at the sale of the collection of G. H. Marland, Esq. in London; being a Virgin and child in rear of a ledge, on which are two pears with flies, inscribed: "Carolus Crivellus Ve- netus pinsit 1472." Chap. V. CARLO CRIVELLI. 87 settled into his style. He does not as yet reconcile us to unattractive or ill conceived form by infusing passion into it. He is quiet, minute, diligent, but unequal. It may be remarked/ indeed, on examination of the chrono- logy of his works that Crivelli very gradually progressed. •The altarpiece of the chapel of the Sacrament in the Duomo at Ascoli, completed as late as 1473, only shows increased vehemence in figures. The Pieta in its upper course, now produced for the first time, but often repeated afterwards, is forcibly presented, though greatly disfigured by ill se- lected nature and by grimace; nor is this disagreeable impression mitigated by the gorgeous beauty of the frame, which is one of the most magnificent in the Muranese fashion that can be seen in these parts. 1 But later, and particularly in 1476, when the great monumental picture of San Domenico of Ascoli was finished, Crivelli had risen almost to the full expanse of his talent; he had freed himself from some usual exaggerations, and substi- tuted for Paduan roughness, the tender features of an Umbrian. 2 It is rare, in fact, to find in Crivelli more delicate affectation in a Virgin, more suitable action in an infant, more appropriate attitudes in saints, more strength of tempera than are to be found in this masterpiece. 3 1 Ascoli. Virgin and child be- tween S ts Peter, John the Baptist, Emidius, and Paul. In the upper course, the Pieta, i.e., the Saviour bewailed, the Virgin, Magdalen, and Evangelist, between half-lengths of S ts Catherine of Alexandria, Jerom, George, and Ursula; below, Christ bet ween the twelve apostles, in little niches (but two apostles are now missing). Beneath the Virgin one reads: ''Opus Karoli Crivelli Veneti, 1473" (wood, gold ground). The character is if pos- sible more paltry here than in the panels of 1468, but the style is similar. A large piece of the frame on the right is broken off. 2 Ex gr. Bernardino of Perugia. 3 Florence. There are at present but nine pieces of this altarpiece, which passed (we believe) from San Domenico into the hands of Cardinal Zelada (Lanzi II. 87), thence into the Rinuccini collec- tion, and finally into the Demidoff palace at Florence. Eicci describes its disappearance from one of the chapels in San Domenico of Ascoli (Mem. I. 211). The central Virgin engraved in Dagincourt (plate CXXXVIII.) is inscribed: "Opus Karoli Crivelli Veneti, 1476." At the Virgin's sides, S ts John Baptist, Peter, Dominick, and Catherine (wood, half life-size); below, in couples, S ls Francis, Andrew, Thos. Aquinas, and Helen; above, two 88 THE VENETIANS. Chap. V. That he was not always up to this mark, we may discern if we look at the solitary S l Bernardino of 1477 at the Louvre/ or at the Virgin, child, and saints of 1481, in the gallery of San Giovanni Laterano at Home; 2 but we find an excuse for the master in the necessity under which he laboured of employing his assistant Vittorio Crivelli, as he did perhaps in the last-mentioned Madonna, and in the two equally vast subjects belonging to the Car- melites of Sant 7 Elpidio. :i The most striking contrasts in Crivelli are those produced by coupling excessive dain- tiness and stern severity. He will carry out daintiness with great consistency in the air of a head, the expres- sion of a face, the motion of a hand, and the line tex- ture of a cloth. Sternness and force he seeks to render in the attitude, as well as in the features. Sometimes saints. These panels are all well preserved, as far as can be judged from a rapid examination, power- fully coloured, and all from Cri- velli\s own hand. The Virgin alone seems to have been once in posses- sion of one Signor Grossi at Rome. (Ricci. Mem. I. 211.) 1 Musee Napoleon, III. No. 113, formerly in the church della San- tissima Annunziata at Ascoli; then in the gallery of Cardinal Fesch; a bony, lean representation of the saint, unrelieved by shadow, but of warm flesh tone, adored by two kneeling patrons. *A peach and a cucumber are fastened to the yel- low hangings on the background. Signed on a cartello at bottom: " Opus Caroli Crivelli Veneti, 1477 " (wood, split in the right hand corner). Engraved in Dagincourt, pi. CLXII. as Jacobo della Marca, which is an error, as the name hangs in the picture. See also Ricci (I. 213). In the same mu- seum, classed under "School," are Nos. 117, Virgin and child, pro- bably by Vittorio; 118, similar; 119, still more like Vittorio; 120 and 121, a mixture of Crivelli and I an Umbrian; 115, dated 1488; and 116, still more Umbrian. 2 Gallery of San Gio. Laterano. Virgin and child, the latter hold- ing a mirror and flying a bird, between S ts Gregory, John the Baptist, and two other saints, in- scribed: "1481, die ultima July ;" wood, in the old frame, of a sharp glowing colour, false in drawing, and probably by assistants of Carlo. 3 Prati Zoccolanti at Sant 1 El- pidio; visitation between S ts John and Francis; above, the crucifixion between the Virgin and Evangelist (wood). Coronation of the Virgin between S ts Buonaventura, John the Baptist, Francis, and Louis of France; above, Christ, the Virgin, and St. John between S ts Anthony, Vincent, Mary Magdalen (injured), and Bernardino of Sienna; below, circumcision, nativity of John, visitation, nativity of Christ, S l John in the desert, and S l John ! and the apostles, all in a Mura- nese frame; in a defective manner inspired from that of Antonio Viv. and probably by Vittorio Crivelli. See Ricci (Mem. I. 210). Chap. V. CARLO CKlVELLI. 89 the contrasts are abundant in proximity, some- times but one of the extremes is presented; the extreme of daintiness is apparent in a Virgin and child of 1482, at San Giovanni Laterano in Rome ; where we are easily reminded of the dawn of Siennese art under Lippo Mem- mi, Loca Tome, Turino Vanni, or the first Gubbians. 1 An immediate contrast is afforded by the fine altarpiece of the Brera, also commissioned in 1482 for San Dome- nico of Camerino. But here the Umbrian delicacy of the Virgin, and the tenderness of the child, are more nearly related to nature than in earlier productions, whilst the standing saints in couples at the sides are depicted with varied shades of thought and expression, with a full share of characteristic energy and propriety of action. It is perhaps here that Crivelli most nearly succeeded in accurate as Avell as careful drawing, and in glowing golden tone; we are nowhere more forcibly struck by the ability of an artist who clings to tempera with a despe- rate fondness at a time when all painters were trying oils, and who in a remote corner of the March of Ancona perfected his method with almost as much success as Filippo Lippi or Angelico half a century before. But these are not the sole qualities revealed in Crivelli by the works of 1482. We must concede to him a perfectly judicious feeling as regards the correct placing of his saints in their relation to each other. 2 1 Rome, San Gio. Laterano. The infant standing on the Virgin's lap holds a pear by the stem ; from the pinnacles of the throne hang a festoon of plums, pears, and apples. Two little figures of friars kneel to the left. Below, the words: " Opus Caroli Veneti 1482." (Wood, lig. life-size.) 2 Brera, No. 78. (Wood, two- thirds of life, on gold ground.) Vir- gin and child between S ts Peter, Dominick, Peter Martyr, and Gemi- niano, with the ornaments all in high relief, very richly decorated. Fine contrast, between the stern S l Peter, and the gentle Domi- nick, the praying Peter Martyr and the young and resolute S l Ge- miniano, inscribed: "Opus Caroli Crivelli Veneti 148II." This is the picture which according to Ricci, (Mem. I. 206, 225—0) is dated 1412. We miss a similar piece dated, as alleged 1411, but probably 1481, once in San Gregorio Magno of Ascoli, Orsini in Kicci ub. .sup. (Mem. I. 206, and 225.) 90 THE VENETIANS Chap. V. Illustrative of Crivelli's coarser and more vehement mood, we have the dead Christ in his tomb between the Virgin, Magdalen and an angel, dated 1485 in the Pianciatichi collection at Florence, 1 Avhilst for 1486 we have the annunciation of the National Gallery, with its more pleasing figures and a lively background, like those enriched by the fancy of Gentile da Fabriano, Pisano, and Giambono. 2 But during the period which preceded Crivelli's elevation to the order of knighthood, he furnished a vast number of pictures to his patrons, in which he signed his name without caring to state when they were done. These may be distinguished from later ones by the usual omis- sion of the word "miles" in the signature, and are so numerous that the best only can be registered in this place. The Virgin presenting the infant to the adoration of S l Peter and other saints, in Dudley House, is one of the panels in which Crivelli combines delicacy with severity, and most cleverly balances the movements of his figures. :i Christ supported in his tomb by seraphs, at the National Gallery, is one of those pieces in which the master has much of the force of Mantegna united to ex- 1 Florence, Pianciatichi collec- tion. (Wood, one-third of life-size on gold ground.) The Magdalen shrieks, the Virgin mouths, the angel with an ugly fore-shortened head. Colour reddish and not free from retouching, inscribed: "Opus Caroli Crivelli Veneti 1485. 2 No. 739, National Gallery ori- ginally in the church of the San- tissima Annunziata at Ascoli; sub- sequently at Milan, purchased by Mr. Labouchere, and presented by him to our national collection, inscribed: "Opus Karoli Crivelli, Veneti, 1486" (see Ric. Mem. I. 213, 228); and the inscription on the pillars of the colonnade near the Virgin. The latter, to the right, is curved, with arms across, over her desk, whilst the angel kneels in the court attended by S l Emidius, patron of Ascoli. In the foreground, a cucumber and a melon. In the air, a circle of cherub's heads. On the wall of the house, right, birds at liberty and in a cage; and a peacock. There arc figures in the distance, left. Beneath, three escutcheons (wood). 3 London, Dudley House, wood, figures under life-size. This pic- ture was originally in SanDomenico of Fermo. (Ricci ub sup. Mem. I. 214.) S* Peter receives the keys from the infant Christ, in presence of S l Louis, two saints in episco- pals, and three in monkish dress, inscribed: "Opus Caroli Crivelli Veneti. 1 ' See the engraving in Rosini, pi. LXIV. North Italy. Vol. I. p. 90. THE VIRGIN, CHILD, AND SAINTS ; an altarpiece by Carlo Crivelli, at Dudley House. Chap. V. CARLO CRIVELLI. 91 cellent feeling and a fair knowledge of anatomy. 1 The Beato Ferretti of the same collection is most careful, and shines in a bright enamel impasto. 2 No gallery has better examples of Crivelli than that of London. Next to these in importance are the numerous specimens pos- sessed by the Earl of Dudley, some of which remind us of the painter's early Venetian time, 3 whilst others emu- late in vigour the great creations of Mantegna. Of the latter description none deserve so much attention as the dead Saviour between the Virgin, the Magdalen, and Evangelist, engraved with Mantegna's name, and remark- able alike for passion, for glow of colour, and relief of chiaroscuro. 4 Almost equally fine is the small and dra- matic lunette Pieta in the museum of the Vatican at Rome, in which Crivelli almost reveals a personal contact with Alunno, 5 and the jS 1 Jerom and S l Augustin in 1 National Gall. No. 602, wood, gold ground, originally in the Mi- norite convent of Montefiore near Fermo, inscribed: "Carolus Cri- vellus Venetus pinsit," purchased in Rome of Signor Vallati, in 1859; and probably the same no- ticed by Ricci (Mem. I. 209) in the hands of Professor Minardi. Note the strange cramp of the Saviour's right hand. 2 National Gallery, No. 668. The figure kneels to a vision of the Virgin in an almond-shaped glory; to the right, a landscape of rocks, a temple, water, ducks; and above, a festoon of fruits — bought of Mr. Barker in London (wood, one-third life-size, well preserved). 3 London, Dudley House, altar- piece with the Virgin and child in the centre, S ts Peter and Paul to the right, and ,S ,S Anthony and George on horseback to the left; and above these, saints in lunettes, S K Catherine, Jerom, Lucy, and another; wood, once in the church del Porto at Pernio (Ricci, Mem. 1. 209), and long exhibited at the Egyptian Hall. This small picture is reminiscent of the Muranese period in Crivellfs art, very care- fully wrought, with slender figures, but rather flat. In the same col- lection, and also exhibited at the Egyptian Hall, two panels with saints, parts of pilasters appa- rently. 2 London, Dudley House. This seems a fragment in form of a lunette, catalogued in the Bisenzo collection at Rome,' and engraved as Mantegna (see Comm. alia vita di A. Mantegna in Vas. lib. sup. V. p. 201). Wood, gold ground. Another smaller lunette, with Christ supported in the tomb by the Vir- gin, Magdalen, and Evangelist, is in the same gallery; two figures are in prayer in front of the pic- ture (wood). 5 Rome, Gallery of the Vatican. Christ is foreshortened looking to the left. The left arm is sup- ported by the Evangelist, the right by the Virgin. The Magdalen on the left embraces the Saviour's right arm; near her a vase, ba- lanced on the opposite side by a candelabra; behind, a red hanging THE VENETIANS. Chap. V. the Brera at Milan. 1 No small or simple subject like that of the Virgin and child more nearly combines strength, gentleness, and grace than that in the sacristy of San Francesco at Ancona, a gem of finish, which has preserved all the brilliancy of its tone and a silvery hue almost rare in the works of Crivelli. 2 Tenderness is more marked in another specimen of the same kind belonging to Mr. Baring in London; 3 whilst a third, at Lady Mal- mesbury's, may be considered more cramped and af- fected, and nearer to the Paduan fashion. 4 We pass over and a blue heaven full of cherubs, inscribed: "Opus Caroli Crivelli Veneti 11 (wood, not 2ft. long). This is a low-toned, carefully-drawn piece, with some of the spirit of Alunno in it; very dramatic, espe- cially in the crying 1 St. John; hatched up to a good chiaroscuro in the dark passages. At Rome under Crivelli's name in Palazzo Borghese is an arched panel of Christ on the cross be- tween the standing S l Christopher and the kneeling S l Jerom (Room I. No. 44). The figures are tem- pera; the landscape renewed in oil; originally perhaps a work of Fiorenzo di Lorenzo (wood). 1 Brera, No. 79, wood, all but life-size on gold ground. Fine contrast of light and shade, but the lion of S* Jerom is ill drawn. In the same Museum, No. 124, wood, half-life, a crucified Saviour between the Virgin and Evange- list in a landscape on gold ground ; the Saviour short and vulgarly built; a poor work, once in the Duomo Vecchio of Camerino. (Ric. Mem. I. 210.) Same Museum, Nos. 87, 89, with half lengths 1°, of S ts Anthony, Jerom, Andrew, 2, James, Bernar- dino, Pellegrino, parts of a feeble predella by Crivelli, probably those described as belonging at one time to Signor Salvatori at Fermo (Ric. Mem. I. 227), wood. 2 In a cupboard of the sacristy at San Francesco of Ancona. In front of a violet hanging, over which a festoon of cucumbers and lemons is hung, the Virgin watches the child half raised on a ledge with a bird fastened to a string in one hand and a yolk of egg in the other. At the sides of the hanging, a landscape with figures, small panel, six inches by eight and a half, inscribed: "Opus Caroli Crivelli Veneti. 11 The touch is as minute as that of a Fleming; the Virgin's movement a little affected; but her forms are simply rendered, with the exception, perhaps, of a cramped left hand; her glance tender. 3 London, Baring collection. Si- milar to the foregoing, with a red hanging, at the sides of which a landscape, inscribed : ' ' Opus Karoli Crivelli, Veneti, 11 wood, Avell pre- served. In the Baring collection, too, a patterned panel of the re- surrection not unlike two (of dif- ferent pattern) with the angel and Virgin annunciate, now Nos. 24 and 25 in the Staedel Gallery at Frank- fort. Further, in the Baring col- lection, a square small panel with S l Bernardino and a female saint. 4 London, Lady Malmesbury. Here the Virgin has the child in her arms, whilst he plays with an apple. The head of the Virgin pleasing, inscribed: "Opus Caroli Crivelli Veneti. 11 This panel is a little grey, and has been slightly flayed and retouched (in the mantle), wood, small. Cap. V. CARLO CRIVELLI. 93 the Madonna of the Lochis Carrara Museum at Bergamo. 1 that of the Esterhazy collection lately at Pesth, 2 and the Magdalen in the museum of Berlin. 3 The grant of a knighthood to Crivelli in 1490 by Prince Ferdinand of Capua, is one of the few incidents which break the monotony of the painter's uneventful career. That he was entitled to this distinction, no one will deny, yet he owed it perhaps mainly to an accident. Ascoli, in which Crivelli usually resided, was not free from the tur- bulent spirit common to most cities under pontifical government at the close of the 15 th century; nor was it probably without daily excuse for turbulence. In 1489 a question of boundaries, or an intrigue set on foot by the Neapolitan court brought on an insurrection, in which the papal legate and his garrison were expelled and made room for the Arragoncse faction. The "fidelity and de- votion of the town" were repaid by a distribution of cheap favours, amongst which that extended to Crivelli is con- spicuous. 4 There is every reason to believe that he con- sidered his elevation to this new honour as one of the most important events of his life; for in a picture which he executed immediately after for the family chapel of the Odoni in San Francesco of Matelica, he painted S' Sebastian in the unusual garb of a knight, and solemnly described himself as " Crivellus Venetus, miles." From that moment indeed he never allowed any of his patrons to forget his new title, and he goes even so far as to assume in one picture, the rank of "eques auratus". This very pardonable exhibition of satisfaction did not in the 1 Lochis Carrara Gallery, at Bergamo, No. 194, wood, small. The Virgin wears a crown, the child plays with an apple ; behind a red hanging, a landscape; the Virgin's gold mantle abraded; in- scribed: "Opus Karoli Crivelli Veneti." On the ledge, fruits. 2 Virgin enthroned, full length ; small arched panel, on gold ground, signed: "Opus Caroli Crivelli Ve- neti. 11 3 Berlin Mus. No. 115G, wood, inscribed: "Opus Karoli Crivelli Veneti. 11 A fine full-length, half life-size, recalling the altarpiece of the Demidoff collection at Florence. 4 There is an extract from Cri- velli's patent in Ricci (Mem. ub. sub. I. 228). 94 THE VENETIANS. Chap. V. least affect the patient and industrious exercise of his pro- fession as an artist. The altarpiece of the Odoni of Ma- telica, which now forms part of the English National col- lection, represents the enthroned Virgin between S ls Jerom and Sebastian in the usual style, with less perfection of handling than the "dead Christ between two angels," and with less grace than the Madonna of Ancona, but with unmistakeable conscientiousness and force; and it may be said of the predella, which represents S l Jerom in the wilderness, the martyrdom of S l Sebas- tian and other scenes, that Crivelli never concentrated so much power on any small composition, remind- ing us, in the S l Jerom, of Jacopo Bellini's idea of this incident, and in the Martyrdom, of the boldness which Alunno seems to derive about this very time from the study of Signorelli. In the nativity, which is also represented in this predella, some figures, that of S l Joseph for instance, have almost the stern vigour of Man- tegna or of Diirer, whilst the Virgin rivals in tenderness of expression the Virgins of Memling. In every part a delicacy of finish and touch akin to that in the very earliest creation at Verona. 1 Equally clever and more pleasant is the Virgin and child at the Brera, in which strong tone and agreeable contours are remarkably united to a copious multiplication of accessories. 2 There 1 National Gallery. No. 724. The scene of the principal panel is laid in a court, S l Sebastian holding" an arrow in his hand, whilst a how lies at his feet. On the bor- der the words: "Carolus Crivellus Venetus miles pinxit." S l Jerom, in the predella, kneels in a land- scape, in the distance of which is a stream and a town, the lioness with her cub is in a distant cave. In the next predella scene the Virgin kneels before the child, whose head is nearest to the spec- tator. The background is a land- scape of fine lines, in which the angel appears to the shepherds. Next comes the martyrdom of S l ►Sebastian; at the base of the pilas- ters of the frame, S l Catherine and S l George and the Drag-on (wood). 2 Brera. No. 128. Wood, all but life-size, inscribed on the step of the throne: "Karolus Crivellus Ve- netus eques Auratus pinxit." The Virgin sits with the child on her knee in front of the usual curtain, and beneath a garland (gold ground); on the marble floor a burning candle. This piece was originally in San Domenico of Camerino. (Kicci. Mem. I. 20G.) Chap. V. CARLO CRIVELLI. 95 is not less force in the Madonna with saints of J 491 at Grosvenor House, which, if it sins more in one sense than another, does so in the affected air imparted to the mother of Christ. 1 We can scarcely err in attributing the combination of energy and smorphia, which all these works embody, to an intimacy between Crivelli and Alunno, both of them now artists of the same region though separated from each other by the chain of the Appennine. Qualities not dissimilar from those we have noticed might be found in the "Conception" of 1492, belonging to Mr. Barker in London, a panel unfortunately bleached and abraded. 2 In no previous example did Crivelli exhibit more mastery than in the lunette Pieta above the " Coronation 77 of 1493 in the Oggioni collection at Milan. If in the prin- cipal episode a considerable surcharge of details is appa- rent, and an unpleasant impression is made by the repulsive masks of the angels, the dead Christ with the Virgin, the Magdalen and S l John are the very finest of their class amongst the productions of Crivelli, not only as regards distribution and action, but in respect of form and glowing colour. This was the very best, as it was the last, work of a disagreeable, but most talented painter. 3 1 This picture is No. 174 in the Grosvenor Gallery, (wood) inscr. " Opus Caroli Crivelli Veneti miles 1491" (not 1495, as errone- ously stated in the National Gal- lery Catalogue). At the feet of S l Francis is a kneeling' nun. The S l Sebastian is the Lest figure here, hound at the hi]), bent forward and in the spirit which we after- wards find peculiar to Bartolommeo Montagna. (Bought at Rome.) 2 London, Mr. Barker. Probably the same described by Rrcci (Mem. I. 215) at San Francesco of Per- gola. The subject is the Virgin crowned by angels and other figures, all but life-size (wood) inscribed: Caroli Crivelli Veneti militis pinsit I (sic) 1492." The colour is cold and grey. In the same proprietor's hands two panels with three half-lengths apiece, 1°, S ts Louis Jerom, and Pe- ter; 2°, S l Paul, a bishop and a friar, and also four panels of a predella, each containing a saint; two of these representing S l Ca- therine and S l Mary Magdalen ; the others, a saint with a lily and book, and a friar. All these are in Crivelli's character (wood, small). 3 Milan, Oggioni Gallery. This picture comes from San Francesco of Fabriano Ricci. (Mem. I. 214), who mentions a similar subject by Crivelli at San Francesco of Atri in the old kingdom of Naples. The 96 THE VENETIANS. Chaf. V. We shall not dwell at any length on the creations of Crivelli's relative Vittorio. It is sufficient to say that he is an imitator of his greater prototype, and that his altarpieces were usually commissioned for places within the district to which we have been confined. The earliest and most complete is that of 1481, in the house of Cavalier Vinci at Fermo, rudely executed, reminiscent of Carlo Crivelli and Matteo of Sienna; 1 the latest are those picture in the Oggioni Gallery is inscribed: "Carolus Crivellus Ve- netus miles MCCCCLXXXXIII, tpe fr. Jacobi de Fabro et fr. angele . . . erra comitu guardianus com- pleta fait." The Eternal is in the back of the throne on which the coronation takes place, his head in a circle of cherubs. A curtain behind is held by six angels; left, a saint with a banner, the Baptist and S l Catherine; right, a bishop, S l Francis and S l Sebastian (wood, life-size). Further we have: Br era, not numbered. Virgin adoring the child, possibly part of an altarpiece once at Ripatransone (Ricci. Mem. I. 208). Monte Santo Pietran- geli; altarpiece, apparently by Pa- gan i (see History of Italian Paint- ing, Vol. III. 357). Missing or not seen, Ripatransone, Santa Be- nigna, 1°, the Virgin, 2°, S l Law- rence, wood '.(Rieci. Mem. I. 208). Monte Br an done, Collegiata. Triptych, Virgin and saints (ib. ib. 208). Castel Fidardo. Madonna, tav. (Colucci in Ricci. I. 211, 227). Macerata, signed picture at the church of the Osservanti (Lanzi, II. 87). Ascol i, Duomo, Camere Canonical i, crucified Saviour and Magdalen, originally in San Pietro di Castello, inscribed: "Questa ta- vola affatto le donne de lemosine 1487, Carol. Crivelli Venet." (Ricci. Mem. I. 213, 228). Fermo. Minori Osservanti , tavola del 1487 (ib. ib. 214) another tavola retouched (ib. ib. ib.) and San D omen ico. Vir- gin between two saints (ib. ib. ib.), but see Grosvenor Gallery. Torre di Pal ma, near Fermo. Sanf Agostino. Virgin between four saints, with predella containing four little figures in rounds (ib. ib. 209). Ascoli Casa Lenti. Virgin and child inscribed: "Opus Karoli Crivelli Veneti," (ib. ib. 227) j but see Lochis Carrara Gallery antea p. 93, or Lady Malmesbury. Ascoli, Cappella del Palazzo del Governo. Annunciation inscribed : " Opus Karoli Crivelli Veneti." (ib. ib. p. 227.) Corinaldo, Mino-' rites, tavola (ib. ib. 209). Force, San Francesco. Virgin with sig- nature, (ib ib. ib.) Faenza, San Francesco tavola ; since sold (ib. ib. 228). 1 Ricci cites certain MS. in sup- port of a statement that Carlo Crivelli and his brother Ridolfo (?) were employed in 1487 by the Vinci family at Fermo. But there are no pictures by any Crivelli with the christian name of Ridolfo; whilst the picture, still preserved in the family of Vinci, is autho- ritatively stated to have borne the following inscription : -'Opus Victo- ris Crivell. Venet. MCCCCLXXXI." Of this piece the arched centre (wood, figures, two-thirds of life) re- presents the Virgin enthroned with the child in her lap in benediction, between four angels, of which two play instruments in the foreground. In four side panels we have the Baptist, at whose feet a small figure kneels in prayer. S* Buona- ventura with the tree, in which is a miniature Christ, S l Francis Chap. V. VITTORIO CRIVELLI. 97 of 1489 and 1490 at Monte San Martino. 1 During the ten years within those dates, we may suppose Vittorio to have completed others, such as the Madonna belonging to Signer Michel Angelo Gualandi at Bologna, 2 the ador- ation of Christ in the Minorite convent of Falerone, 3 and in San Francesco of Sernano, 4 the Virgin of the girdle in the Compagnia della Concessione at Massa ; 5 and the receiving the stigmata, and S* Louis of France. Twelve predella panels, comprise, amongst other subjects, the Pieta and resurrec- tion, the rest being figures ot saints. The above inscription is behind the panel, and said to be a copy of the original one on the old frame. The style is that which we find in Vittorio\s signed altar- pieces. 1 Alia Matrice di Monte San Martino, on the high altar, centre, the Virgin and child between the archangels Gabriel and Michael; sides, S ts Martin and Anthony the Abbot ; centre pinnacle, Christ cru- cified between the Virgin and Evangelist, and the Magdalen at foot of the cross; wood, inscribed: "Opus Victoris C.RI YLLI VENETI, MCCCCLXXXX"; coarse and rudely executed. Another altar- piece on the right hand altar of this church is by the same hand, though not signed (wood, half life- size)); subject, Virgin adoring the child, between S ts Nicholas of Bari, Michael (not unlike Carlo Crivelli's own figure) Baptist and Blaise. Upper course, Pieta between S ls John Evangelist, Martin, Roch and Catherine. Predella, half-length Christ between the twelve apostles. Monte San Martino, chiesa di Santa Maria del Pozzo. This is another rudely-treated altarpiece, inscribed: "Opus Victoris Crivelli Vene.i 1489," wood ; subject, the Virgin enthroned, and the child giving the keys to S l Peter, who stands in the compartment to the left, near S l Paul. Upper course, Christ with the cross and other symbols of the Passion between half-lengths of S ts Michael and Martin; in a triangular gable at top, a cloth of S l Veronica. 2 Bologna. Half-length of the Virgin seated on a ledge, and playing with a bullfinch. On the ledge, a book and cherries, and the inscription: "Opus Victoris Cri- velli Veneti." Over the red hang- ing in rear, a double festoon; — a landscape at the sides (wood). The borders are in high relief; the shape is lean and paltry; the hands are small and poor. 3 Falerone. Small arched panel, with the infant on the ground in front, the Virgin erect in rear, and with hands joined in prayer be- tween two angels (2f. 4 by 4 - 9). This is perhaps one of Vittorio's .best; of a clear enamelled colour, and fairly treated ; the panel indeed seems the original, copied by Stephano di San Ginesio (see Hist, of Italian Painting, III. 114). 4 Sernano. Similar in most re- spects to the foregoing, but poorer. Here the angels kneel, and there are heads of cherubs about the Virgin's golden crown. (Wood, gold ground, same size as at Fal- lerone.) 5 Massa. Virgin and child be- tween two kneeling angels (wood, gold ground); in the foreground, kneeling males of the brotherhood, headed by S l Sy lvester and others, right, behind, s ls Francis and Law- rence. The Virgin has dropped her girdle into the hands of the protecting saints. A fair work of Vittorio, with a good clear enamel of colour. VOL. I. 7 98 THE VENETIANS. Chap. V, Virgin with saints at Marano, near Fermo. 1 There are other specimens of his manner in the Brera, 2 and in the Kensington Museum. 3 In Carlo Crivelli's school, the only pupil whose name is at all known, is Pietro Alemanno, a most affected and imperfect imitator of his master, alike devoid of power as a draughtsman and as a colourist. His figures are remarkable for the slenderness and flatness, as well as for the careful finish of miniatures; and his style may be described as a mixture of that of Crivelli and Girolamo da Camerino. Several of his works in churches at Ascoli bear signatures. One has the date of 1488, another that of 1489. 4 1 Marano. Virgin adoring the child between S ts Basso and Sebas- tian, wood, in three arched com- partments. Coarse, feeble, and mannered. 2 Brera, No. 30, not in catalogue, wood, nativity; same in character as Nos. 81 and 85, in each of which are four half-lengths of saints. Oggioni Gallery, Milan. Four arched panels, with a Virgin adoring the child, and three saints, one of whom is Francis, the other Matthew, all half size of life, and parts of the same piece. 3 Kensington Museum. Virgin and child between S ts Nicholas and Anthony the Abbot; above, Christ supported in the tomb by three angels; below, S ts Peter and Jerom (wood, gold ground). Further, two half-lengths of S l Jerom and S l Catherine from the Solages col- lection. Not seen. Corasai, altarpiece. Castel Fulignano, church of San Ciriaco. Altarpiece in five parts. Penna San Giovanni; but after- wards Fesch Gallery at Rome: S l Bartholomew. (Ricci Mem. I. 218, 229, and Lanzi, II. 87.) 1 One of the earliest productions of this artist is a Virgin and child between S ts Catherine, John the Baptist, and another saint in the church of Montefalcone in the province of Fermo. In an upper course of pinnacles, the Saviour between the Virgin and Evange- list and four half-lengths of S l Anthony, S l James, S l Jerom, and S* Bernardino (wood, one-third life- size). This is a flat and unrelieved distemper with long slender figures. Next come the following: Monte Rubiano, Sant 1 Agostino. Three parts of an altarpiece much injured (Ricci. Mem. I. 219). Ascoli, Santa Maria della Carita, altarpiece of five arched panels. Virgin and child between S ts Michael, Jerom, Blaise, and Nicholas of Tolentino, inscribed: "Opus Petri Alamani 1489 (wood, half life-size), feebly soft in character, well preserved, and the best production of this artist. Ascoli. Seminario, but pre- viously in Santa Croce. Virgin and child between S l Stephen and three other saints in episcopals. Here Alamannus follows Crivelli more closely than before. In the same place, a panel (gold ground) of S* Lucy with the eyes on a plate (scaled). Ascoli, Santa Margherita dell' Ospitale and Uffi- cio delF Ingegnere provinciale. In the latter place, the Virgin and child, in the former, the pinnacles, representing a Pieta between S ts Chap. V. PIETRO ALEMANNO 99 Sebastian and Roch (wood), poor piece with long, lean, and affected figures. Ascoli, San Giacomo Apostolo. The Virgin adores the infant on her knee, between S ts Stephen, James, John Evangelist, and. Sebastian. Predella, S ts An- drew, Lucy, and two apostles; in- scribed : " Petrus Alamannus pinsit,' ' (wood) a coarse unrelieved piece. Ascoli, Chiesa dell 1 Angelo Custode. Virgin and child be- tween S ts Leonardo, carrying the stocks, and Mary Magdalen, a com- mon ill drawn set of panels, with arabesque gold grounds (wood) in- scribed: "Opus Petri Alamani," and in a passage, but belonging to this altarpiece, three rectangular panels with S ts Nicholas of Bari, John Baptist, and Lucy. Ascoli. Palazzo del Comune. Figure on a throne in one of the upper rooms (wall painting) with the de- vice: "udi la parte et Tocchio a la razione deriza a se; ma voli in li- bertade mantente in caritate et unione (of the school)." London, Mr. Barker's collection. Vir- gin enthroned with the child on her lap, inscribed: "Petrus Ala- manus civis Assulanus pinxit." Collection of the late Mr. Bromley. Virgin with the child on her lap and two adoring angels at the side, inscribed: "Opus Petri Alamani discipulus Maestri Karoli Crivelli Veneti 1488." 100 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VI. CHAPTER VI. JACOPO BELLINI. It is a remarkable coincidence that the chiefs of two rival artistic families in Venice should have been com- panions in the school of Gentile da Fabriano. Giovanni, Antonio of Murano, and Jacopo Bellini were taught in the same atelier, but Antonio and Giovanni, shortly after their master's departure, founded a house of their own, whereas Jacopo Bellini preferred to follow his teacher abroad. 1 Experience, the common fruit of travel, more than compensated Bellini for the time he had lost in taking the freedom of his guild, and when he settled down to art in Venice, he had no reason to fear the com-' petition of any of his countrymen. 2 It is unfortunate that the date of Bellini's birth should be unknown, for there are many points connected with his early life requiring elucidation; but we may assume that he was born about the beginning of the 15 lh cen- tury, and served under Gentile da Fabriano at Venice. He was probably of age in 1422, when he set forth as his master's "famulus" and abode in Florence. 3 Florence at that time was a great city governed by 1 Jacopo Bellini's exact name is Jacopo di Piero. He is so called in documents cited a little further. From the same source we learn that he was known at Florence under the title of Jacopo diVenetia." 2 Truly does Vasari say of him (V. p. 1) . . "ritrovandosi in quella citta (Venice) senza aver concor- rente che lo pareggiasse." 3 See notes postea. Chap. VI. JACOPO BELLINI. 101 guilds-, and it is characteristic of the jealousy with which these guilds observed the intrusion of strangers, that Gentile da Fabriano was subjected to vexation and annoyance almost immediately on his arrival. Of this persecution we should know but little, had it not on one occasion led to a breach of the peace; the particulars of which were consigned to the archives of the tribunal of Florence. From the depositions we obtain most authentic intelligence of the relationship in which Gentile da Fabriano and Jacopo Bellini stood to each other. 1 It appears that Jacopo was working in the shop of his employer on the 11 th of June 1423, when Bernardo di Ser Silvestri, son of a notary of the district, was observed in company of some others, throwing stones into the painter's room. Alarmed for the safety of his frames and panels, Gentile sent out his assistant to warn off the intruders. From Avords Jacopo quickly came to blows: 2 a pugilistic encounter ensued, in which Bernardo was worsted, and Bellini, having cleared the field of the enemy, went home and thought no more of the matter. He subsequently had cause to apprehend the conse- quences of a private revenge, and though, as he after- wards affirmed, he did not believe himself amenable to a criminal prosecution, he left Gentile, and "took service on board of the galleys of the Florentine state." His adversary had no sooner ascertained this fact than he made the most cruel use of it. He went before Romano di Berto, a judge of the city, and charged Jacopo with having assaulted him with a stick with 1 The substance of these is con- densed into a petition presented by Jacopo to the great council at Florence, dated April 3, 1425, and preserved in the Florentine ar- chives under the mark : " Dai Con- sigli Maggiori Provision!, Reg". No. 116, Class II. Dis. II. No. 117." The length of this petition, drawn up in middle-age Latin, precludes its publication; we are indebted for it to the kindness of Signor Gaetano Milanesi. 2 " Iratusprefatus Bernardus multa verba iniuriosa et derisoria protulit contra eum (Jacopo) in vi tans ipsum ad faciendum secum ad pusillos. Qui Jacobus tante iniurie impatiens respondit. Quod sic: Et ita vicis- sim ad pugnas . . . ." Petition ub. sup. 102 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VI. intent to do him grievous bodily harm. A public summons was issued to the accused in August to appear; and on his failing to do so, he was sentenced without a hear- ing (Sept. 2) to pay a fine of 450 lire of small florins. 1 A year elapsed, and Jacopo unsuspiciously returned to Florence; but he had not been more than a few days there, when (Oct. 24. 1424) he was arrested for contempt and sent to the Stinche. During his confinement he came to a compromise with Bernardo (Nov. 28) for twenty-five small florins, 2 and was then allowed to purge himself of the sentence by a public act of penance. This act of penance has been described at length in the records from which the story of Jacopo's tribulations is derived. He was takerj out of the prison of the Stinche on the 8 th of April 1425, and marched bareheaded under guard to the Baptistery of San Giovanni. Proclamation was there made by sound of trumpet that Jacopo had come to do penance for contempt of th« laws of the republic, and that in con- sequence of his penitence he was henceforth to be free. The formalities of this disagreeable ceremony having been gone through, Jacopo was set at liberty. From this moment our uncertainty respecting him begins. It is expressly stated that throughout the criminal pro- ceedings Gentile da Fabriano took no pains to relieve the distress of his assistant, who had fallen into trouble solely on his account; yet Jacopo christened his son in Gentile's name, and when he produced a crucifixion at Verona, was proud to declare, that he had been Gentile's pupil. There is documentary proof - that Fabri- ano was at Rome in 1426; 3 but we cannot say whether Jacopo accompanied him thither, or whether amicable relations were subsequently renewed between the two men. 1 Acts of the notary Romano di Berto of Gubbio for 1423, in the Florentine Archive, and sen- tence in ib. 2 Dated 1424, Nov. 28, Com. Vas. IV. 165—6. 3 Notizia di alcuui MS. dell 1 Archiv. Secreto Vaticano," by G. Amati, in Archivio Stor. Ital. serie III. parte I. Firenze, 1866, pp. 166 —236. Chap. VI. JACOPO BELLINI. 103 We do not know the date of Bellini's portrait of Gentile ; nor is it proved when Jacopo married. The birth of his sons is not even registered. One thing alone is certain. Jacopo Bellini had a sketch-book, in which he collected drawings from nature and from the antique, and thoughts on sacred subjects. One of the drawings from life re- presents S l Bernardino preaching from an open air pulpit; done at Venice before 1427 probably. 1 It is not unlikely, therefore, that Jacopo retired from Southern Italy in 1426. He is known to have been at Venice at least in 1430; for he notes the fact with his own hand in the sketch- book. 2 Earlier than this our knowledge of his art does not go, nor indeed is he a painter whose career is illus- trated by numerous authentic works 3 . In want of these we turn gratefully to the pages of the book now treasured in the British Museum. Whichever may be true of two theories representing 1 Bernardino of Sienna preached throughout Lombardy, Venice, and Romagna, between the years 1420 and 1427, when he was accused of heresy. See Bernabeo\s life of him, and other relations of the same kind in the Bollandists. According 1 to Donesmondi, Istoria Ecc. di Mantova, Mant. 1613, S* Bernar- dino came to preach at Mantua on the invitation of Paola Malatesta in 1420. 2 The inscription on, the book reads as follows: "De mano di me Jacobo Bellino Veneto, 1430, in Venetia." The volume, a most precious one, was bequeathed to Giovanni Bellini, by his brother Gentile. (See Gentile's will, postea.) It passed into the collection of Gabriel Vendramin in t4ie 16 th cen- tury (Anon. p. 81), then into that of the Soranzo, and successively into the hands of Bishop Marco Correr, Count Bonomo Corniani, and Gian Mario Sasso. At the latter 1 s death, it came into the possession of the priest Girolamo Mantovani, whose heir sold it for [ 400 napoleons to the British Mu- seum. See Cicogna Iscriz. Venet. I (church of S. Giobbe) vol. VI. p. j 711 and 756. 3 There is a fragment of a tem- pera on canvas in the depot of the Correr Museum at Venice, in which a bust of a bishop is re- presented holding the crozier and book in an opening formed by pillars and friezes, and with a landscape distance. The figure is all but life-size; the crozier and ornament gilt, the frieze on the right hand in monochrome, and of a fanciful antique pattern. On the book, and in his left hand, one reads: "Ja-opo Bellini, f. 1430," a signature only recovered of late by the removal of some overpaint- ing. Though of an old date, this signature is open to suspicion; especially as the painting, which is obviously a part of a large altar- piece, is not treated technically, as a picture of 1430 would bo, no.r in the style of Jacopo, but rather in the manner of Jacopo's sons, or some other later Venetian. 104 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VI. the drawings as the produce of Jacopo's industry before or after 1430, and however much may be said for one or other of these theories, there can be but one opinion of the importance which these sketches possess. 1 They introduce us to the arcana of Jacopo's workshop, and reveal his innermost secrets. Nothing in nature was beneath his attention. He studied alike the still and animal life that surrounded him, the landscapes or buildings that met his eye, the remnants of old sculpture that he admired. In the midst of these he gives us various conceptions of pro- fane and sacred incidents, slightly and hastily arranged in some instances ; then repeated with improvements, and finally brought to perfection as compositions of an original character. He devotes three different pages to the story of David and Goliath, with special studies for the Philis- tine and for David. 2 He gracefully puts together the figures of the mothers, the king, and the executioner in a judg- ment of Solomon, adding interest to the scene by the pre- sence of spectators on foot and horseback, and a dwarf holding a leopard in a leash. Elsewhere, Judith exposes the head of Holophernes to the curiosity of the people. The greatest number of illustrations are derived from the New Testament; and it is remarkable with what monu- mental grandeur the artist connects scriptural episodes, showing himself the forerunner of Titian in the presenta- tion, of Giovanni Bellini and the school in the entombment. His annunciation is without novelty; his nativities are mere ideas ; but the adoration of the magi, of which there are three examples, is in the spirit of Gentile da Fabriano and Antonio Vivarini, richly varied in costume, 1 The book is an oblong, com- prising ninety-nine pages of coarse- grained paper, 17 inches by 13, in which the drawings are done with pencil, tinted with green earth n water-colours, and frequently retouched with pen and ink; but even these last touches are often obliterated, and the sketches are in many parts in bad preserva- tion. 2 One sees in the Goliath a com- bination of the old immobility with regular features, derived apparently from a Roman marble. The David is a nude of exaggerated length in limb, intended as a preparation for subsequent draping. Chap. VI. JACOPO BELLINI. 105 in detail of accessories, and in animals, treated with greater breadth and with an art of higher power than that of men uninfluenced from their youth by the atmos- phere of Florence. After the presentation of Christ in the temple, we have the Virgin and S l Joseph seeking the Saviour, the flight into Egypt, and the baptism of Christ, the two last almost literal reproductions of time-honoured forms-, 1 then Christ in the limbus, one of the few sketches of which a finished picture is ex- tant, Christ on the mount, 2 the marriage of Cana, the resurrection of Lazarus, Christ on the road to Jeru- salem, "the flagellation;" and finally, the crucifixion, on which much thought was evidently bestowed. Bellini's first intention is only to depict the Saviour in agony on the cross. In one place he is bewailed by the prostrate Magdalen, by the Virgin and S 1 John in a wide stony landscape, with which we become more particularly acquainted in the works of Mantegna and Crivelli; 3 fur- ther on the scene is laid in the court of a castle, where, in addition to Mary and John, there are soldiers and monks in adoration. 4 The sublime tragedy of the Cruci- fixion tasks his energies still more. On one page we see it planned with great symmetry; the Sa- viour in the centre, the thieves at the sides, the escort and mob in rear, and on the spacious foreground, a solitary group of the Virgin fainting in the arms of her companions ; but this distribution is obviously considered too formal, and that Avhich Bellini at last prefers is a side-view of the three crosses with mounted sentinels in front to the right and the dicers on the left, the fainting Virgin being carried into the distance. 5 1 Though childish as a compo- sition, this drawing is remarkable for the good proportions and fair type of the Saviour — a type which was repeated by Gio. Bellini. 2 This subject was also treated in the form here presented by Bellini, Mantegna, and his pupils. See postea. 3 No. 11. 4 No. 87. r> We might mention in addition several sacred incidents: such as the archangel overcoming Satan ; 106 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VI. Though not quite so multiplied, the subjects taken from the hagiology are very numerous and of high interest. A favorite theme is that of S l George en- gaging the dragon; where earnest movement in the action of the saint is marred by awkward immobility in the horse; another is S l Jerom in the desert. The martyrdom of S l Sebastian is twice repeated, the first thought being the preparation, S l Sebastian youthful and calm as he awaits death, the archers halting for orders ; the second, the execution, where the saint is old and expresses pain, and the soldiers are in the act of shooting. Here the groups are disposed so symmetrically as to suggest that less importance was attached to the arrangement than to separate figures, especially as that of the saint in both cases is much larger than the rest. But the interest of these pages in the sketch-book increases when we compare Bellini's treatment with that of Mantegna in the chapel of the Eremitani at Padua. Both masters were under the influence of Florentine example, and engrafted something of the classicism of Donatello on the old Paduan and Venetian stock; and it is remarkable to find that in the earlier part of the 15 lh century Jacopo Bellini was imbued with prin- ciples, applied at a later period with greater genius and talent by his son-in-law. But the similarity of spirit in the two men w r as not restricted to one particular phase, which might be explained as regards Bellini, by his knowledge of the Tuscans and their works, and as regards Mantegna by his early contact with Donatello at Padua. Both men took especial pleasure in remains of old sculpture; and not the least captivating of Jacopo's sketches are those in which he represents tombs and fountains adorned with reliefs and statues, or those in the Trinity; the resurrection; the burial of the Virgin; Christ in glory; the Virgin giving her girdle to S l Thomas. There are also Adam and Eve in paradise, and the temptation; the triumph of death ; the vision of S l Hubert ; the conversion of S l Paul; S l Martin sharing his cloak; & Francis re- ceiving the stigmata. / Chap. VI. JACOPO BELLINI. 107 which he treats the fable of the Centaurs and Lapithae, the battle of the Amazons, the triumph of Bacchus, or the feats of Hercules. As we turn from these again to studies of lions, horses, apes, cats, dogs, or eagles, of street and peasant life, such as a vintage, a blacksmith's shop, a public square, knights on foot and on horseback, or hawking parties, we are struck by the variety of his taste, and the breadth of his experience; and we are enabled to appreciate the feeling which prompted Gentile to mention this precious volume in his will and make it an heirloom in his family. 1 The time had not yet come when artists proved themselves masters of all the secrets of anatomy and of position. Years were to elapse before an acknowledged ideal could be accepted by the unanimous verdict of crafts- men. When Bellini therefore succeeded in drawing figures in motion, it was chiefly from every day life that he took them. On these occasions he frequently and feli- citously caught the natural turn and gait of men and animals*, and proved himself a draughtsman of quick hand and clear perception. In more imaginative inci- dents, his study of sculptural remains enabled him to rise above the low realism of daily life, and his bacchanals or combats are fanciful and animated, and not Avithout grace. He may be said indeed to have originated a class of pictures, perfected by the genius of his son and of Titian. But it was not possible that he could rise much above the level of the bygone century, and we see him hold a middle course between the conventionalism of the Italo-Byzantines and the naturalism or classicism of the rising schools. His types of form or of face are not faultless; his anatomy cannot be called searching, but he gives fair proportions at least to the head though spoil- ing the face by old fashioned muscular prominences, and an exaggerated stare. He mingles in a curious cento the models of Roman statuary and those of the oldest reli- See the will, postea. 108 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VI. gious period. He draws naked figures ; which he subsequently clothes, either in the costume of his day or in a surcharge of floating drapery of meandering line. His nudes are therefore truer to nature than the personages that are clad. The limbs are usually too large for the torso, and the hands and feet are vexatiously coarse. In the outline, proportion, and character of a Christ on the cross, he seems mindful of the examples furnished by Giotto and Angelico ; and he holds a nobler rank than Altichiero or Avanzi, but the high forehead, corrugations, small chin, and open eye, betray the descendant of the Venetians. Nowhere is the character of the man more fully exhibited than in the martyrdom of S l Sebastian. Many pieces, in Avhich he represents armed kings and saints or animals, remind us of Fabriano or Pisano. In the martyrdom of S l Sebastian he recalls Semitecolo, and prepares us for the coming of Mantegna. He is more calm, more true than the former, and seems to ascend the path trod at last with such security and force by the latter. Not a trace is to be found in Bellini of Florentine architecture; his houses, palaces, and churches being of North Italy and especially of Venice. His landscapes are those which Mantegna repro- duced, showing sweeps of arid hilly country with rocks cropping out of the vegetation in layers, broken fore- grounds of sand and pebbles, and leafless trees. Of perspective he did not master the exact rules, but he evidently heard of the science and intuitively tried to apply its principles ; and we see that in pictures and sketches he attempts foreshortenings as bold, if not as successful, as those of Uccelli. 1 As a colourist Jacopo Bellini may have been a worthy representative of the Venetian school. No modern writer is competent to be a critic in this respect. There are but two panels of the early time that serve as illustrations of the painter's manner, and both are greatly injured. See, for instance, the crucifixion, at p. 77 of the sketch-book. Chap. VI. JACOPO BELLINI. 109 The first is a small half-length of the Virgin and child in the collection of the Counts Tadini at Lovere on the Lake of Iseo; the second; also a half-length, represent- ing the same subject in the academy of Venice. At Lovere, the Virgin has a broad oval face with a drooping eyelid; the child, a round curly head, modelled upon those of Gentile da Fabriano. The panel testifies to Jacopo's great carefulness in the definition of outline, and in the fusion of warm flesh-tone ; but it proves in addition, that a great stride had been made in art, and that Bellini from the very first displayed a truer consciousness of natural form than his rivals Jacobello and the Muranese. 1 A softer and more kindly solemnity dwells in the full face and regular features of the Virgin at Venice, and the easy movement of the frame, as well as the light fall of the drapery, are such as might inspire the clever and accomplished Giovanni 2 . Though Jacopo Bellini, was engaged during his life-time upon several large and 1 Lovere. This is an arched panel representing the Virgin crowned, holding the naked infant in benediction in front of a para- pet. The nimbs are slightly em- bossed; round the child's neck a coral necklace. The whole sur- face is injured by scaling, the hands of the Virgin are spoiled, and the blues have become black. The mantle, now of a dull red, was originally pointed with gold. The background (new) is blue. On the base of the parapet are the words: " JachobusBelinus." (Wood, 3ft. by 2.) The panel is described by Moschini (Guida di Venez. pp. 497 — 8) as having been in a monas- tery at Venice, and Passavant (Kunstblatt, 1840, No. 53) says this monastery was that of Corpus Domini. The technical treatment seems to have been that of Gen- tile da Fabriano; tempera stippled up from a greenish ground. 2 WiiiYr Acad. No. 443. Wood, half life, in its old frame. The Virgin sits in a glory of cherubs' heads, on which the lights are picked out in gold hatching. The Virgin holds the child in benedic- tion, seated on a red cushion laid on a stone parapet. A book rests on the latter; and on the front face one reads: " Opus Jacobi Bel- lini Veneti." The nimbs are co- loured and relieved in gold. The Virgin's blue mantle and child's red coat are touched with yellow and gold lights. The flesh and other parts are blackened by time. The broad upper eyelid is cast down, and forms a long waving opening in the old fashion. This is the picture engraved in Rosini, and noticed by Lanzi (II. 85) as having been in the hands of Giovanni Mario Sasso, who possibly got it from the Magistrato del Monte Novissimo at Venice. Yet we note thai Zanotto (Guida di Venez. p. 536) says it was originally in the Scuola di San Giov. Evang 3 at Venice. 110 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VI. important works at Venice, and it is possible, as we believe, still to point out wall-paintings executed by him there, he is better known in connection with frescos at Verona, than by those of his native city. The large crucified Saviour on canvas in the archiepiscopal palace at Verona, is a complete illustration of the artist's style. 1 Byzan- tine in head, vulgar in face, open mouthed, but of a nobler shape and more simple outline than are to be found in his cotemporaries of Upper Italy, it reveals the existence in him of Tuscan principles of high art, far more important in their influence on the Northerns, than the German element apparent in the later Giovanni of Murano. More remarkable still, as a proof of Jacopo's skill in 1436, would have been the crucifixion on the wall of the chapel of San Niccolo in the duomo of Verona, a masterpiece destroyed by an archbishop in 1759. 2 Fortunately Paolo Caliari had had leisure to engrave the subject, and thus preserve the chief features of the original, and a cotemporary if not Jacopo himself, made a copy of it, which is now preserved in the 1 Verona Vescovado. The general] characteristics of Jacopo's style, | in the text, supra, exactly apply here. The figure is above life- size, short in torso, but of fair outline, and not exaggerated in the anatomy. The feet rest on. a pro- jection, beneath which blood flows into a human skull. Above the latter, a cartello with the words: " Opus Jacobi Bellini." The colours of the tempera have lost freshness, and have become dull and opaque from excessive varnishing ; they are of a sad yellow. The repainted ground impinges here and there on the outlines. Persico (Descriz. di Verona, 8° Veron. 1820, part I. p. 46) notices this work, which was afterwards described by Gaye in Kunstblatt, 1840, No. 35. 2 Ricci gives us the inscription of this fresco, copied by Francesco Bartoli, as follows: "Mille quad- ragintas (should obviously be " quad- ringen . .")sex et triginte per annos Jacobus hie pinxit tenui quantum attigit artem ingenio Bellinus. Unum (?) prseceptor, et ille Gen- tilis Veneto fama celeberrimus orbe, quo Fabriana viro praestanti urbs patria gaudet." (Mem. vol. I. pp. 163, 173.) Vasari speaks of Jacopo's painting in the cappella San Nic- colo at Verona in the life of Libe- rale (IX. 166), and the painting is noticed by dal Pozzo (Pitt. Veron. fol. 1618, p. 23, who notes the date of 1435), and by the author of the Ricreazione Pitt, di Verona (12m° Veron. 1620, p. 7). Persico (ub. sup. page 37) tells us this fresco was destroyed at the above date by the Archbishop Guido Memo. North Italy. vol. I. p. no. THE CRUCIFIXION ; by Jacopo Bellini, once in the Cathedral of Verona. Chap. VI. JACOPO BELLINI. Ill Casa Albrizzi at Venice. 1 From both these sources we discover that the composition was rich in its filling, and superior to anything that had been done before in this part of Italy as regards nude form, and appropriate movement. The artist produced figures and undertook foreshortenings, that with the help of strict scientific rules were to become models for further study. The Christ and thieves were repeated by most northern painters up to the close of the 15 th century, by men of talent, such as Antonello of Messina, Carpaccio and Mantegna; and the latter did not hesitate to adapt the horses and riders to his predella at Verona, 2 and his martyrdom of S l James in the Eremitani at Padua. With Jacopo Bellini's own drawings we may compare the engraving and the picture in the Casa Albrizzi, and we shall find that the arrangement is slightly modified from that in the book at the British Museum. From the first we see that Bellini has taken the fore- ground group of the fainting Virgin 5 from the second, the figures on the cross and the attendant crowd; the three horsemen in a symmetrical row, which mar the sketch, being altered to suit a .purer standard of taste. It is much to be lamented, that the canvas, as it stands, should be so injured and dimmed as to have lost much of its original appearance. It is painted in tempera on a very thin cloth, with nimbs, ornaments and trumpets embossed, as they were in the original fresco, and in a style so much impressed with the spirit of the master, that one might almost assign to it the character of a small replica. Curious, but con- firmatory of historical statement, is -the existence of a date and signature on this replica, exactly corresponding to that noticed by Bartoli on the fresco, of which it was the counterpart, and serving to fix the date of Jacopo's stay at Verona. 1 Kosini engraves the engraving I 1840, p. 35) describes it minutely, of Caliari, and Gaye (Kunstblatt, j 2 Now at the Louvre, No. 249. 112 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VI. But this is not an isolated instance of the manner in which Jacopo or his school applied to panel the designs contained in the sketch-book. There is a small Christ in the limbus at the Communal Gallery of Padua ; in which one of these designs is repeated, with but slight altera- tions. The Saviour to the right rescuing Adam and his companions from their pain, is similar in both places, whilst in the finished piece the accompaniments of flying demons, and the distance are judiciously simplified. It must, however, be said that the art exhibited here is more Byzantine than that of the crucifixion, and though it is clear that the panel is done after the drawing, we notice more openly than before the struggle of the artist between old traditions and new principles. Perhaps Bellini entrusted this work, which is a tempera greatly injured and dimmed by varnishes, to his assistants, and thus gave it an air of feebleness, which he might have avoided by finishing it in person. 1 That Jacopo Bellini returned from Verona to Venice after 1436, is not proved by historical data; 2 but had he not done so, we should be unable to determine when he completed works described by Vasari, Sansovino, and Iiidolfi, as adorning for a time the brotherhood of San Giovanni Evangelista. From the detailed descriptions of the latter it would appear, that the subjects were derived from the history of the Virgin and of Christ, and that they were at least eighteen in number. They perished early, or they were withdrawn to make room for more modern ones of the Bellinesque school; and we may regret their loss the more, as the list of illustrated 1 Galleria del Comune at Padua. No. 28. Piece of a predella, much injured, especially in the part oc- cupied by Adam and his compa- nions. 2 Old guides assign to Jacopo Bellini a Virgin, child, and saints in the church of San Gio. Battista of Quinto near Verona, and a fresco of the Virgin, child, and S l John Bapt. in the church of Quinzano; the date of the former is 1526, the style akin to that of Girolamo de' Libri. The frescos of Quinzano have not been preserved, see Ricr. pittorica di Verona, u. s. P. II. pp. 15—16, 136—7; and Persico, part II. p. 151. Chap. VI. JACOPO BELLINI. 113 episodes conveys an impression of novelty hardly to be expected in that age; 1 and chroniclers relate that the series was completed with the assistance of Gentile and Giovanni. At San Giovanni e Paolo, where Jacopo is said to have decorated a chapel, there is not a remnant of his Avork. 2 At San Zaccaria alone, the frescos dated 1442 ; in a semidome of the chapel of San Terasio, may be considered his; though much blackened and abraded, they present exactly the mixture of old religious types and sculptural elements which characterizes his style, but with more vigour and spirit than are to be found in the sketch-book. 3 To these we may add a pic- ture in the Oxford Museum of a Dominican preaching in a public square, a panel likely to have been done in Jacopo's workshop. 4 We come in conclusion upon one or two pieces of un- certain authorship, which, if proved to have been by 1 Vasari, V. 2, Sansovino, Ven. Deseritt. p. 284, and Ridolfi Le Mar. I. 70 and fol. The latter gives the subjects: 1°, Redeemer in the tomb between two angels; 2°, Birth of the Virgin; 3°, Virgin as a girl, preparing sacerdotal garments; 4°, marriage of the Vir- gin; 5°, the annunciation; G', the visitation; 7°, the nativity; 8°, pre- sentation of Christ in the temple; 9°, flight into Egypt; 10°, Joseph as carpenter with the Virgin and Christ; 11°, return of Joseph and Mary to Judea after the^ death of Herod; 12°, Christ and the doctors; 13°, Christ meets his mother on the road to execution ; 14°, the Vir- gin receiving from Joseph the news of the capture; 15°, Christ carrying his cross; 16°, crucifixion; 17°, the resurrection; 18°, the as- sumption. 2 Sansovino, Ven. Descritta, p. 65. 3 Venice San Zaccaria. These frescos seem to have had scanty notice. They are in the concentric VOL. I. ribbing of the semidome of the chapel, and in the soffit. On the latter, ten busts of prophets in rounds held by the same number of angels (one of the rounds obli- terated). In the former, the Eternal, full-length, in benediction, between the four Evangelists and other saints; on a cartello in the left section, an illegible inscription; on a cartello in the second section, the date: "MCCCCXLII MeAgusti. 1 ' The figuresare colossal, and unplea- sant; the angels hard and wooden; the style a mixture of the sculp- tural and old religious Byzantine. 4 Oxford Museum. A Dominican stands in the midst of a square in front of a church, and in a portable pulpit. He is surrounded by spectators, many of whom are seated. He turns more particularly to a pope listening at a window. This is a small panel on gold ground, thickly laid in with opaque distemper, the head quite in the character of Jacopo Bellini's sketch- book. 8 114 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VI. Jacopo, would throw much light on the close of his career. One of these is a tempera sketch on panel of a fight, which once belonged to the Cornaro family ; a hasty, but spirited representation of incidents of battle by an artist well up in the study of classic sculpture, and especially of bas-reliefs, familiar with the marbles of Donatello, and of sufficient individual talent to give vigorous natural movement to figures in imme- diate action. In this production, we might fancy we discover the maturer power of Jacopo Bellini, when, having again left Venice for a time, he proceeded to Padua, and resided there 1 . That during his stay in this great centre of Italian culture, he kept an atelier, in which his sons worked ; that, with the help of his children, he painted pictures and frescos there; that he married his daughter to Andrea Mantegna, are all facts long known to historians ; but the honour of fixing the chronology of these events, w r as reserved to modern research. It is now ascertained that the altarpiece once executed for the widow of Erasmus Gattamellata in the chapel of the Sacrament at the Santo, was dated 1459, 2 and that Andrea Mantegna must have been married to Nicolosia Bellini long before 1458, at which date a letter 1 Venice. This panel, once in j the Cornaro Palace, afterwards in j possession of Abbate Cavagnis, was lately in the hands of a dealer at Venice, Signor Faenza. The scene is laid in a landscape, the hills of which are topped with castles. On the roads there are small figures; soldiers, on foot and horseback, fighting along the whole fore- ground. To the left, nearer the spectator, a fallen combatant is despatched by his opponent with a dagger. There is a reminiscence of the antique in the forms of the horses, which, as well as the men, are sketched with a quick hand. The colour is distemper hastily handled. 2 Padua, Santo. This picture bore j an inscription preserved by Poli- doro (Memorie della chiesa del Santo, p. 25, ap. Morelli, Anon. p. 98), as follows: "Jacobi Bellini veneti patris ac Gentilis et Jo- annis natorum opus MCCCCTX.' P The date is easily shown to be wrong in Polidoro. It must have- been MCCCCLX, because the re- cords of the Gattamellata family prove that the chapel was begun in 1456, and was ready to receive pictures in 1459. See Gonzati, La Basilica di Pad. T. I. 53, and Doc. XXXVII. See also Anon. p. 5. Jacopo also painted a figure in fresco on a pilasjter at the Santo. (Anon. p. 6.) Chap. VI. JACOPO BELLINI. 115 from the Marquis of Mantua to Mantegna speaks of the artist as encumbered with a family. 1 We are therefore justified in believing that Jacopo Bellini resided for a considerable time at Padua, that his advice and example were of great influence on his son-in-law, and that he was mainly instrumental in recommending to the study of Mantegna the models of Donatello and Uccelli, which are undeniably those upon which the great Paduan's style was formed. It may be imagined at the same time, that, if Jacopo Bellini lived at Padua between 1444 and 1460, as we suppose, his manner would necessarily become altered by contact with that of Donatello, who during six at least of those years inhabited the vicinity of the Santo, and he would be more than capable of producing such a piece as that to which our attention has been last directed. His name might even under these circum- stances be appropriate for a large canvas of a chase now belonging to Lord Elcho, in which we discover a class of talent similar to that previously described ; an art modernized and regularly formed by contact with the Florentines, and a technical treatment essentially Vene- tian.' 2 We shall see in the life of Gentile and Giovanni Bellini, to which we turn, after we cease to hear of 1 Vas. V. 162, and Bascliet; Ri- cherche di Doc. d' arte negli Archivi di Mantova, 8°; Mantova 1866, p. 20, and Gaye, Carteggio, II. SO. 2 London, Lord Elcho. This large canvas, six and half by three and half feet, is dimmed hy time, and the colours in addition are I blind, on account of too much varnishing. Still the colour is powerful in tone. In the distance the dead body of (?) Adonis bewailed by Venus, who is accompanied hy cupids; in front, four persons re- tiring from the ( base with horses and dogs. In the middle ground to the right, a hoar-hunt; the whole in a rich landscape bounded by the sea. The art is more per- fected than that of the Cornaro combat, but of similar origin; the drawing here being easier, more natural and better. The technical handling', too, betrays one ac- quainted with the Bellini school previous to the introduction of oil mediums; the colour being well fused and thin. This piece is either by Jacopo or one of his follow ing, and seems to illustrate the moment of transition from Jacopo's style to that of Gentile and Gio- vanni. 8* 116 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VI. Jacopo/ how they moulded themselves at first on the Paduan, and how the gentler nature of their pictorial character affected Mantegna. 1 We do not knoAv the date of Jacopo's death. Gentile was settled and independent at Venice in 1464, at which date we may suppose that his father was dead. We can make the following list of pictures assigned to Jacopo, and now missing: Venice, portraits of George and Catherine Cornaro (Vas. V. 21); portraits of Jacopo Lusig- nan, King of Cyprus, and senators (Ridolfi, Le Marav. I. 73); Casa L. Tomeo, portrait of the father of L. Tomeo, tempera in profile (Anon. 15); Casa Pietro Bembo, profile portrait of Gentile da Fa- briano, sold by the Gradenigos at Venice in 1815 (Anon. 18, and Eicci, Mem. I. 173), and portrait of Bertoldo d'Este, killed (1463) fighting against the Turks; Verona, picture of the Passion, sent thither by Jacopo, and con- taining a portrait of himself. (Vas. V. 2.) We may add the following list of spurious productions. Treviso, San Leonardo, Virgin, child, and saints. (Federici Mem. Trevig. I. 224.) This altarpiece, we shall see, is probably by Pier 1 Maria Pennacchi. Schleissheim Gallery, No. 1140, judgment of Solomon, catalogued Giovanni, inscribed "Jacopo Bel- lino MCCCCL," a forgery; the pic- ture being in the style of the de- clining years of Cariani of Ber- gamo, or the Veronese Torbido. Liverpool Museum, No. 30, Virgin, child, and seven saints, not painted on the Venetian system, but really in the hard style of the school of Palmezzano. As for the Laura and Petrach noted by Ridolfi (Marav. I. 73), and Federici (I. 224—5), the I less said the better. Chap. VII. GENTILE AND GIOVANNI BELLINI. 117 CHAPTER VII. GENTILE AND GIOVANNI BELLINI. The testimony of a writer who lived in the first years of the sixteenth century, proves that Gentile and Giovanni Bellini were the pride of cotemporary Vene- tians; and Francesco Negro justly boasts that Gentile, the elder, was master of the theory, whilst Giovanni, the younger, was learned in the practice, of painting. 1 These celebrated brothers were pupils, apprentices, and assistants of their father. 2 At his death they asserted their mutual independence, 3 but being bound by ties too dear and too lasting to allow of any but amicable rivalry, they laboured side by side, and shared alike the respect and patronage of their countrymen. Ac- customed in their youth to revere and to consult the experience of their progenitor, they enjoyed innumerable opportunities of progress, according as they followed him in his travels and watched the changes of his style under the influence of place, of time, and of men. Trained as children to admire the tenderness of Gentile, they might be taught later to correct the formal softness of the Umbrian, by the tradition of Florentine, example. Made 1 P. N. is the author of a ma- nuscript work dedicated to the Doge Leonardo Loredano( 1501 — 21). His statement that Gentile was "major natu," is important as con- tradicting Vasari, who makes Gio- vanni the eldest of the two bro- thers (see Vas. A r . 1, 2, and Anon, pp. 98—9). 2 Vas. V. 1—2. 3 lb. ib. 4. 118 THE VENETIANS. CiiAr. VII. familiar at Verona with the works of Pisano, they might reject what experience had proved to be too feeble and too childish in the productions of that master, whilst the half ruined monuments of an earlier age impressed them with the greatness of classic art. At Padua, they probably felt their father's sympathy for Donatcllo, and acknowledged the necessity of combining the study of sculpture with that of the model ; and their acquaint- ance with Mantegna spurred them to acquire a fit know- ledge of form, of movement, and perspective. To their great and immortal credit, be it said, they made a noble use of their opportunities. Gentile, branded by a later generation of Venetians with the epithet of u clumsy," 1 really taught his countrymen the value of a grave and thoughtful imitation of nature. Giovanni, enthusiastic at first for the dryness of Mantegna, ascended to the rank of a colourist; and both together laid the foundation of a school which, rising by the side of the Muranese, acquired an undisputed supremacy at last, and prepared the world for the final glories of Titian and his followers. We may conjecture, that Gentile Bellini settled at Venice as early as 1460, but we know of no picture that he produced previous to 1464, when he was ap- pointed to the most honorable commission of painting the doors of the great organ at San Marco. In the prime of manhood at that time, 2 and we may believe, of large experience, he was not free from the fetters of old formality, and he preserved with filial piety some of the marked features of his father's style; but he had learnt too much from the artists who illustrated Padua during twenty years, and his powers, though latent, were too 1 "Quel goffo Gentile." Aretino in Dolce; Dialogo, 12°, Milan/ 1863, p. 63. Sansovino, who was of the same clique, speaks with equal contempt of Gentile. (Ven. desc. p. 325.) 2 Vasari (V. 15) says that Gen- tile died when nearly eighty, in 1501. His death really occurred in 1507, which would give his birth in 1427—8. But there is little trust to be put in these data. (See postea.) Chap. VII. GENTILE AND GIOVANNI BELLINI. 119 great to admit of his remaining stationary. He showed both originality and skill in delineating four gigantic figures at San Marco, and completed them with a perfect consciousness of what their size and position required him to accomplish. There is nothing more strik- ing here than his successful application of perspective to form and to architecture, as it was applied by Mantegna in the fresco of S l James proceeding to execution at the Eremitani of Padua; nothing more remarkable than the geometric balance of the arrangement, the correct pro- jection of shadows, the ;bold decision of drawing, and the fair contrast of light and shade. Equally worthy of attention is the sculptural cast of drapery, clothing, and still displaying the frame beneath. Yet, with all these qualities, Gentile does not always please, either because his masks are disfigured, like those of his father, by con- ventional furrows and excrescences, or because the pro- portions of the human shape are gross and square, the arti- culations lame, the extremities coarse. There is an excess of flesh in one place, of bones and muscles and arteries in another; though strength and energy everywhere prevail. All the figures are seen from below; S l Mark, in front of a triumphal arch, adorned with panellings and carvings, and hung with a rich festoon, majestic in pose and drapery; 1 S l Theodore in armour, aged and heavy, like the Goliath of Jacopo's sketch-book, and not without disproportion of limb ; S 1 Jerom in a landscape, lean and 1 Venice, San Marco. These doors were originally painted on both sides; but have been sawn 1o form four panels now kept in one of the large upper galleries leading from S* Mark to the Ducal Palace. There is some inequality in the treatment of the several figures which are not all up to the same mark. The Mark, however, has all the characteristics above enumerated. The proportions and outline are good, and show the study n( nature, without selection. The architectural ornament is parti- coloured; the festoon composed of leaves, grapes, and apples in the I'aduan fashion. On the skirting of the arch is the word "Gentilis." The bine mantle is lined with green and bordered with gold, the lake tunic as well as the hands retouched, injured and blackened. The tem- pera here, as in the three other panels, dulled by time, dirt, and varnishes. 120 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VII. stringy, like the ascetics of the Veneto-Byzantine period • S* Francis receiving the stigmata, with an expressive and strongly-marked countenance, galvanized into rigidity by dint of searching. 1 Wherever Gentile seeks to depict and vary character, he is more or less unnatural and hard, whilst in the profile of a monk attending on S* Francis, we see the careful student of nature render- ing both its calm and its smile with great precision and firmness. What this series of colossal temperas reveals, grimed as it is and disfigured by abrasion and restoring, is that Gentile had not misspent the time during which he enjoyed a daily contact with the works of Donatello, Uccelli, and Mantegna. Though he and his brother learnt the more abstruse problems of perspective from Girolamo Malatini, professor of mathematics at Venice until 1494, 2 it is clear that the first rudiments of that science were commu- nicated to both at Padua, and that they had already mastered its rules with sufficient solidity to use them in depicting- even the human body. The laws of which Donatello had been the exponent as a sculptor, moulding his art upon that of the Greeks, were studied in their application to painting, hence Gentile's improvement in attitudes and in the cast of his drapery. Chiaroscuro, as a means of 1 S l Theodore in armour decked with a mantle, lance in the right, his left hand on the shield, in front of an arch, on the skirting of which is the word, "Bellini." The head is large and disagreeable, the action of the left arm lame; the draperies are straight and formless; the legs short and heavy, colour quite blackened, and the outlines grimed with dirt. S* Jerom kneels in a wild rocky landscape, the lion at his side, his form weighty and square, but the arms of exaggerated leanness, and showing too much dry muscle and veins; the left hand shapeless, and the detail generally indicated by hard lines, the shape and mask By- zantine. S l Francis kneels on his left leg, and receives the stigmata from the winged Christ above him. The landscape is childishly carried out, bounded in the distance by build- ings, pines, and a row of sugar- loaf ^hills. The face of the saint is reminiscent of those in Barto- lommeo Vivarini or in the Crivelli of the National Gallery (No. 668). The hands are long in the palm with projecting wrist-bones. 2 MS. of Daniel Barbaro in Ag- lietti (Francesco's) Elogio Storico di Jac. e Gio. Bellini in Discorsi Letti neir Acad, de 1 Belle Arti di Venez. 8°, Venice, 1815, p. 34. Chap. VII. GENTILE AND GIOVANNI BELLINI. 121 bringing out the projections of bodies, was used, as it would be by an artist copying in the sun and not in the twilight of the atelier; whilst, as in Mantegna, much of the significance of detail was suggested by silhouette rather than by delicate modelling. Ornament, as an accessory introduced into architectural back- grounds, was made to replace the stamped borders or embossments in pictures. That real life was also constantly observed, is obvious from the fact that, in portraiture, the genius of Gentile was already pre- eminent. We may incline to believe indeed that, although frequently employed on large subjects, he was quite as often commissioned to paint portraits; and there are carefully executed tempera-profiles in the Capitol at Rome, 1 and in the University Gallery at Oxford, that may be classed amongst the first productions of his shop. 2 In the earliest of his Madonnas preserved at the museum of Berlin, there are two side faces of donors, a male and a female, in which great expressiveness and indivi- dual character are to be found ; whilst the Virgin and child are remarkable for the high oval head and broad cheek conspicuous in Bartolommeo Vivarini. 3 A still better pro- duction of the same class is that of a Doge at the Correr Palace in Venice, where the finish is wonderfully minute and truthful, and the tempera is of that pleasing softness and tender fusion, which became more usual in Gentile 1 No. 136. Gallery of the Capitol, j panel with the ground regilt, in Profile to the left; bust called Pe- j scribed on the frame of the time: trarch, tempera on wood slightly 1 " Gentilis Bellinus." The two retouched in the cheek, if not by donors (busts) look up to the Gentile, at least a school piece. i Virgin with their thin lean hands 2 Oxford University catalogue, joined in prayer. The tempera p. 59. Two profiles of boys facing J of fair impasto is yellow in light, each other, one in a red cap, the i grey in shadow, but no doubt less other bare-headed, both youthful, coloured than it was originally, of a fair reddish tempera very care- the surface being injured by flay- fully treated; falsely assigned to ing and deprived of its glaze. We Masaccio, wood, half-life, busts, on j are enabled, however, to see the green ground. 1 minute hatching peculiar to Gen- 3 Berlin Museum, No. 1180, small j tile. 122 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VII. as he grew older. 1 Another profile of the same kind ; but a little pallid in hue, belongs to Mr. Cheney in London. 2 It is the peculiarity of all these pieces, that they are executed with more care than force, that they have a flat mellowness, and no strong effect of light or shade. They are however so well marked as the work of one hand, that they enable* us to stamp as false a number of other likenesses assigned to Gentile in galleries, such as the Doge in San Giobbe at Venice, 3 the Doge in the gallery of Crespano, 4 and more especially the Leonardo Loredano in the Lochis Carrara Museum at Ber- gamo, of which there are replicas at Dresden, and in the Correr collection. 5 The portrait character of Gentile's art is more conspicuous as he progresses. In 1465 he finished for Santa Maria dell' Orto the apotheosis of the first patriarch of Venice, Lorenzo Giustiniani/ 5 a church- 1 Correr Miis. No. 14. panel almost life-size; profile to the right, a very characteristic head, so finely hatched that the touches are almost imperceptible, detailed in every part with great minuteness, retouched (ex gr. in the green ground, and gold parts). If this were as alleged, the portrait of Doge Foscari, which may be doubted, it would date from before 1457. 2 Mr. Cheney, 4, Audley Square, j London. Doge in profile to the left, on canvas with two shields on a parapet in front, possibly Cristoforo Moro (1462—1471) same treatment as before; on canvas. 3 San Giobbe; sacristy, assigned by Zanotto, Guida di Venez. (1863) to Gentile, portrait of Cristoforo Moro, profile to the left on canvas, properly described by Cicogna (Is- criz. Venez. VI. p. 584) as a copy, much injured. 4 Collection of the late Francesco Ajata, now Town Gallery. The picture is modern, with a forged inscription: "Opus Gentilis Bel- lini." 5 See postea in Giovanni Bellini. 6 Now in the lumber-room of) the Academy at Venice, but noticed by Boschini (Le Kic. Min. Scst. Canareggio, p. 31) and Martinione in Sansovino (ub. sup. p. 167). This is a canvas tempera with figures of almost life-size, clearly and very finely outlined, very care- fully laid in over a light green ground, and highly fused. The sky is almost all gone as well as part of a double festoon, and a distance j of hills. Half the face of a kneel- ing figure to the right, a little Flemish in air is removed, and the blue skirt of the coat of the prin- cipal figure is carried away. There is a trace only of a polygonal nim- bus about the head of the patriarch. On a cartello at foot are the words : "MCCCCLXV opus Gentilis Bel- lini Venet." The hands are better than in the organ-doors; but the head of the kneeling figure holding the crucifix (1.) is out of drawing. In this same lumber-room is a canvas with figures half the life- size, representing Christ carrying his cross, and the procession to Golgotha. This is a painting of the close of the 15 th century with some Flemish character. Is it pos- Chap. VII. GENTILE AND GIOVANNI BELLINI. 123 man who had the singular good. fortune to captivate the masses and to gain a lofty rank in the hierarchy of the priesthood. 1 There was evidently little in the lean and wasted frame of this habitual ascetic to tempt a painter; but Gentile, taking him in his daily garb, and represent- ing him in all the reality of his emaciation, produced a figure remarkable for the easy gravity of its pose, and the mildness of its expression, and so minute that one may count the wrinkles on the face and neck, and the veins on the hands. The withered aspect of the mask is indeed far more successfully presented than the plumpness of the two angels in rear, whose oval heads and small features are repetitions of conventional types in Vivarini and Bellini's own school, or the well-fed persons of the attendant churchmen bearing the mitre and crucifix, one of whom is, phrenologically speaking, an idiot; but it would be too much to expect of Bellini in 1465 the perfection which he only attained twenty- five years later; and the spectator who pauses before this early and greatly damaged example, will find in it a number of defects which were but gradually corrected, such as flatness in tempera, cornered drapery, and occa- sional faults in drawing. From this period to the time when Gentile was honoured with a great national commission in the Hall of Council, his career is obscure, and we have none but doubtful pieces to enumerate; a Virgin and child in the Soranzo Palace at Venice, 2 and two graceful figures at Castel- sible that Gentile Bellini should have executed this piece; engrafting some Netherlandish character upon his own Italian style? Let us re- member that the surface is in a wretched condition. 1 Malipiero, Annals, ub. sup. (in Arch. Stor., part II. vol. VII. p. 664) says Lorenzo would have been canonized in 1474 but for the ex- pense. 2 Venice, Casa Soranzo, tempera, on panel, for more than a century in possession of the Soranzo fa- mily, under the name of "I Bellini 11 (half life), subject, the Virgin press inp; to her bosom the infant Christ, whose feet rest on a yellow cushion on a parapet; ground, a green hang- ing, and t hrough ;i window to I he left a landscape. This piece recalls the earlier art of Gentile with some angularity in drapery and affectation in the motion of the 124 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VII. franco/ said to have been part of a portable organ in S l Marco. We have only to bear in mind, if we admit the cor- rectness of the name given to these works, that they would illustrate the painter's earliest steps in the application of oil medium. We have already seen that when Luigi Vivarini offered to compete in 1488 with the Bellini, he described the pictures of the town-hall as canvases executed in a specific method. Gentile Bellini was appointed "to restore and to renew" these pictures on the 21 sl of September, 1474; and was rewarded with the reversion of a broker s patent in the German Merchant's Hall. 2 It is not improbable that, after he had repaired one of Gentile da Fabriano's frescos, his first subject — "the Pope offering the wax taper to the Doge in San Marco" — was done on canvas and in oil. Though Gentile in producing this and other decorations hands; the landscape is reminis- cent of thoseby the Flemings of this time. The Virgin 1 s head is regular in shape, that of the child round; the colour is a little blind, and sometimes of high surface, and might suggest the partial intro- duction of oil mediums. We can- not vouch for the piece being an. original by Gentile. 1 Castelfranco, Casa Tescari. These are two oblong panels re- presenting the erect figures of S ts Mary Magdalen and Euphemia, the latter signed on the skirting of the background with the follow- ing words, the genuineness of which is not to be relied on: "MCDLXV. Gentile Belli." These panels pur- chased by Professor Rugieri of Crema, who lived at Venice and at Padua, were bequeathed by him to Professor Caldani, who in turn left them to Dottore Luigi Tescari of Castelfranco. The Magdalen stands in front of a red curtain, over which a double garland falls. In her right hand a rich chiselled vase; in her left, a book. S l Euphemia, with her right hand on a dagger plunged in her breast; in her left, the book and palm of martyrdom. The art here is Bel- linesque, as at Casa Soranzo; the draperies angular; the hands af- fected ; the faces softly and roundly outlined. The colour is carefully laid on with the new medium, and highly finished. The surface, how- ever, is injured in many places by scaling and restoring. On the whole, two very doubtful pictures. 2 Illustrazione del Palazzo Ducale di Venez. ub. sup. p. 81, by which we correct the statement in the annals of Malipiero, (ub. sup. in Arch. Stor. VII. 2 Flor. 1844, p. 663) who, writing after these events, confounded incidents which hap- pened in 1474 with those which occurred in 1479, thus making Gen- tile and Giovanni paint together; whereas Gentile alone was em- ployed in 1474. The same records are also in French, in Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1866, vol. XX. p. 283, and following. Chap. VII. GENTILE AND GIOVANNI BELLINI. 125 was accused by Venetian chroniclers of the next century of having cancelled the frescos of his predecessors with- out improving on their performances/ the public of the day was not of that opinion, but measured his talent by a totally different standard. Gentile's works were highly praised by his cotemporaries, and accepted as masterpieces by the Government*, and it was not long before an occasion was found for giving him genuine proofs of satisfaction. Sultan Mehemet, the conqueror of Constantinople, sent word to the Signoria in August of the year 1479, that he wanted a good painter, and asked the Doge to grace with his presence the wedding of his son. The Doge refused the invitation ; but sent Gentile with two journeymen, on the 3 d of September, to Constan- tinople at the expense of the State. 2 Gentile found the aged Sultan friendly and generous*, was honoured with his sittings ; made drawings of many notable personages 5 ;i composed a picture of the reception given to Venetian ambassadors by the Grand Vizier: and, it is said, copied the reliefs of the Theodosian pillar. 4 He was dismissed 1 Sansovino says of the old wall- painting's in the Hall of Council: " Gentil Bellini parimente ne velo molti altri, phi tosto per cancellar l'altrui gloria, mosso dainvidia, che perch' egli migliorasse granfatto le pitture passate." (Ven. Desc. p. 325.) Yet when the same Sansovino de- scribes Gentile's "second fresco of the envoys sent to meet the em- peror, he praises "the tine figures, the good drawing, the beautiful colours, and good perspective." (ib. 330.) 2 Marino Sanudo, Diaries, exc. in Anon. ed. Morelli, ub. sup. p. 99; and see the order of the Signoria (in Gaz. des B. Arts, ub. sup. XX. j 286), dated Sep. 3, 1479, to the captain of the galleys to give the painter and his two journeymen a free passage. 3 There is one of these drawings in the British Museum, represent- ing a Persian chief, and a lady, both seated, but erroneously called portrait of "Mehemet and his wife." This is a fine work in pen and ink, and clearly done by Gentile during his stay at Constantinople. 4 Anon. p. 99. But the original frieze by Gentile is not preserved. It was engraved at Paris for the first time in 1702, and there is a copy of it assigned to Battista Franco, in the Louvre. See Louvre catalogue, art. Bellini. Vasari states that Gentile painted his own likeness for the Sultan. (Vas. v. 14.) Grave doubts may be entertained as to the truth of Kidolfi, when he relates that Gentile having painted a picture of S l John's head presented by the daughter of Herodias, Mehemet proved to him, by decapitating a slave in his presence, that he had painted the muscles of the neck | incorrectly. (See Maraviglie I. 77.) 120 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VII. with a knighthood and substantial presents/ and came home after an absence of little more than a year, bringing with him, in addition to his sketches, a portrait of Mehemet, from which it is very probable that he carved, or employed some one to carve, the well known medal of that potentate. As late as the middle of the 17 th century, Mehemet' s likeness was supposed to have been preserved in the Zeno palace at Venice. 2 It is much more likely to have been appropriated by Giovio, whose gallery at Como is celebrated in the correspondence of Aretino, and was not totally dispersed till the close of the last century/ 5 The present possessor is Mr. Layard, who has deciphered an inscription, and caused the painting to be restored. As a portrait, this injured piece is still of extraordinary interest; and whilst it presents to us the lineaments of the wiliest of orientals, it charms us by the wondrous finish of the parts which have resisted the ravages of time. 4 The age of Mehemet at this period may be judged 1 Vas. (v. 15) describes the gold chain presented to Gentile, and pre- served in his family, as worth 250 scudi, and Sansovino says he had read Gentile's patent of knight- hood (ub. sup. p. 330). 2 If the portrait once in Casa Zeno be that which afterwards passed into the collection of Lord Northwick, it is not genuine. In that collection there was a por- trait of a Turk in profile, with a red and white turban, the left hand on the hilt of a sword, a young man in a dress repainted by restorers. This portrait (wood, 4 feet high by 1*7, numbered 182 in catalogue, and assigned to G. Bellini) is certainly not by Gentile. It is the more likely that this is the piece noticed by Ridolfi (Mar. I. 77, 78), as Zanotto (Pinac. dell' Acad. Ven. Fasc. XXIV. notes) says this portrait in Casa Zeno was taken to England in 1825. But whilst writing of the North- wick collection, let us examine the following: "No. 452, portrait of a lady half life-size, signed "G. Bel- linus," bust in front of a parapet, on which stands a vase. This is a feeble painting, recalling Bissolo's style. No. 874, portrait assigned to Gentile, but of the close of the 17 th century. 3 Giambattista Giovio wrote in 1780 to Tiraboschi, and describing the remains of Paolo Giovio's mu- seum, says: "Ottenne Paolo fin al volto di Maometto opera di Gentile Bellini Veneto chiamato alia corte di quel sovrano." Cam- pori "Lettere Artistiche Inedite, 1 ' 8° Modena, 1866, p. 237. 4 London, Mr. Layard. The pic- ture represents a bust of the Sultan in an arched opening, turbaned and bearded; a rich carpet falls over the window-sill in front; beautiful . carved ornament deco- rates the arch frame-posts. The picture is ill preserved, but of remarkable finish, painted on very tine canvas without gesso. The North Italv Vol. I. p. 126 Chap. VII. GENTILE AND GIOVANNI BELLINI. 127 from the date on the canvas, 25 th of November 1480; a few months later he died, and was succeeded by the feeble Bajazet. But Gentile brought back from Constantinople an equally characteristic piece now in the Louvre, representing the reception of a Venetian embassy by the Grand Vizier and other officers of state. The moment chosen is that in which the envoy, attended by his suite, is intro- duced into the court of the minister's palace, who sits on a divan in the open air; to the right, on steps, and in the court, are picturesque groups of turbaned people, on foot and on horseback, with tame deer and an ape in their company. It is a hot sunny scene, filled with appropriate figures of square short stature, relieved by strong and well-projected shadows, and recalling in this respect pictures produced a little later by the skill of Carpaccio. 1 We might almost believe, indeed, that this artist, who was partial to oriental costume, was the comrade of Gentile on his journey, and had a share as assistant in the production of this composi- tion, 2 and we should then have a tangible proof not only that Gentile, but that Carpaccio, in 1480 painted habitually in oil. Before starting for Constantinople, Gentile had had the satisfaction of seeing Giovanni appointed his substitute at the Hall of Council. 3 When he returned from the East, he resumed his office without detriment to the inscriptions, as rescued from an old overdaub of paint, run thus : "Terrar. Marisq. victor ac dom- nator orbis Sultan . . . . into. . . . Mahometi resultat ars vera GientilismilitisauratiBelini naturae qui cunctare ducit in pro- pria jam proprio simul . ere MCCCCLXXX Die XXV men- sis Novembri." A fur collar of a brown tinge about the Sultan's shoulders is entirely new. 1 Louvre, No. C8, described by Boschini, as executed at Constan- tinople. "Carta del Navegar pit- toresco," small 8", 1760, Yen. p. 31. The picture is injured in the flesh parts, especially of the foreground figures. 2 .Sec passim, note to p. 1*2;"), where Gentile is proved to have bad two journeymen. :i Illustrazione del Palazzo Ducale, ub. sup. and Gazette des Beaux Arts, ul). sup. i 128 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VII. position of his brother, and both now laboured to- gether to the exclusion of all competitors. Under these circumstances Gentile's time was almost entirely devoted to the production of four great canvases, which were to illustrate in the town-hall the legend of Barbarossa. By the side of his earlier masterpiece of the " grant of the taper/'' he now composed "the departure of Venetian ambassadors to the court of the Emperor," in which the prejudiced Sansovino admits that the figures were well drawn, gaily coloured, and highly finished; and the backgrounds were in good perspective. 1 On this picture Gentile wrote: "Gentilis patrise hsec monu- menta Belinus, Othomano accitus munere factus Eques. 77 Then followed in succession the sequel of the previous incidents, on three canvases; the "Emperor's reception of the embassy;" "the Pope arming the Doge for his enterprise against the Emperor; 77 and "the Doge receiving the ring. 772 In the short intervals of his leisure, he produced the Virgin and child preserved in the collection of the late Sir Charles Eastlake; 3 a Virgin, child and saints, of which a part is still in the house of the noble, Giovanni Persicini at Belluno; and an adoration of the magi, long the ornament of a church at Vicenza. In the first of these we do not as yet observe the culmination of Gentile's power. He paints in oil with a tasteful combination of tints in accessories, and with excessive delicacy of finish ; he draws his figures with greater ease and nature, with more tenderness of feeling than of old; but he preserves the composition of his father and reproduces the attitude and action of the Virgin and child at Lovere. 4 The 1 Sansov. ub. sup. 330, see also Ridolfi. (Marav. I. p. 75.) 2 Sansov. 331, and Ridolfi, Marav. I. 76—8. 3 lb. ib. 331. These pieces have all perished as before stated. 4 London, late Sir C. Eastlake. The Virgin is seated in a large throne of parti-coloured marbles and protected by a narrow awning; in the distance is a landscape. The infant stands on her knee, holding a fruit and giving the blessing; on the edge of the hexagonal step, a cartello contains the words: "Opus Gentilis Bellini Veneti equitis." Chap. VII. GENTILE AND GIOVANNI BELLINI. 129 second introduces us to another phase of the same art, and is also highly polished. 1 The third reminds us much of Carpaccio and is very interesting for the variety of oriental dresses. 2 It is not till the close of the century that Gentile claims a lofty and great position in our eyes. We see him in all his strength, not in the ruthlessly repainted canvas of Pietro di Lodovico cured by the relic of the cross, which may be supposed to date from the year 1494; but in the procession and miracle of the cross, completed in 1496 and 1500, and in the sermon of 8 t Mark, left imperfect at his death in 1507. All but the last of these were commissioned for the school of San Giovanni Evangelista at Venice ; 3 an edifice already laid out in its principal parts by Jacopo Bellini; and they were intended to adorn the fore-hall of the albergo or sacred precinct, in which a relic of the true cross was enshrined. They were the first of a series carried out at different periods by the scholars of the Bellini atelier. Less injured than the scenes of the Passion by Jacopo, which were subsequently replaced by Tintoretto, the compositions of Gentile have suffered greatly from the indifference and ill treatment of successive generations, and it may be said of the "miracle of the cure" that age and .restoring have made it a worthless specimen of the master who created it. 4 The "procession 71 (Wood, oil, half-life.) The original delicacy of the flesh is much im- paired by restoring-; the tone has become reddish and untransparent, the harmonies are rich and true. 1 Belluno. Here is the Virgin enthroned as before, with the in- fant on her lap ; and a S l Margaret in front of an arch, the first on gold ground. (Wood, oil, half- life.) These two panels are much in- jured. 2 Now belonging to Mr. Layard, j in London. 3 Vasari (V. 3 — 4) assigns to Gentile Bellini the eight canvases in the albergo of the school of San | VOL. I. Gio. Evangelista, the truth being that Gentile painted three; Car- paccio, one; Mansueti, two; Diana, one; and Lazzaro Sebastiani, one. The correctness of this statement which might be impugned by re- ference to old authorities, whose statements differ, cannot be con- tested after an examination of the pictures. 4 Venice Academy, No. 543, in- scribed on a cartello (not free from tampering): "Op ... . Gentilis Bel- lini Yenet. p . . The date is gone; but we are told that Carpaccio painted as early as 1494 in the school, and it is not to be sup- 9 130 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VII. was itself so injured that it required one of those thorough repairs damaging to pictures at any time, but more particularly so when undertaken upon the sweeping and relentless system usual at the beginning of the present century. Such however is the merit of this remarkable piece, that in spite of the wreck which now meets our gaze, we are still enabled to judge of the artist's talent, and to test his ability in the representation of historic subjects; and we possess a sufficient substitute for those great and interesting decorations of which the fire in the Hall of Council in 1577 for ever deprived us. 1 The scene is laid in the Piazza of San Marco; the centre of vision being both the middle of the canvas, and the key-stone of the arch forming the high portal of San Marco. The front-view of this church is perfect in its minutiae, and preserves for our delectation the old mosaics of the recesses above the doorways, and of the upper gables, before they were altered by moderns of the 17 th and 18 th century. 2 To the right is the palace of the Doges, with the entrance to the Piazzetta, the base of the campanile, and the buildings leaning against the latter. To the left the colonnade, without the clock-tower, or the palace of the posed that he worked there earlier than Gentile. Another ground may be given for asserting that this piece was done before 1496. It is evidently earlier in style than the procession of the relic which bears that date. The scene is laid in an interior of which the idea seems taken from Jacopo Bellini's sketch-book (p. 68), and might re- mind us at the same time of the inner architecture of Santa M. de'Mi- racoli at Venice. In an octogon shrine in a choir, Pietro di Lodo- vico kneels at the altar; and the relic is presented to him by a brother. In front of the shrine and in the foreground, are groups of spectators. Part of the picture is retouched, part altogether re- painted, the flesh tones are thus reduced to a grimy blackness. What strikes the eye is the cor- rectness of the perspective. The picture is on canvas, in oil, and ten feet high. It is described by Boschini (Le R. Min. Sest. di San Polo p. 38) and Ridolfi (Le Marav. I. 82). 1 Venice Academy, No. 555, can- vas 3 met. 60, by 7 - 43, signed: " MCCCCLXXXXVI. Gentilis Bel- lini Veneti equitis crucis amore incensus opus." Without going into the detail of all the parts damaged, we note that all the white dresses in the foreground are re- touched (see Boschini, Sest. di San Polo, p. 38). 2 The modern mosaics are re- newals, the old subjects being pre- served. Chap. VII. GENTILE AND GIOVANNI BELLINI. 131 patriarch; and in the colonnade itself the Capello inn ; with its sign of the hat — an hostelry which still exists at the present day. The procession has issued from the portal between San Marco and the palace of the Doge; and, gravely proceeding up the Piazza, has turned at right angles across it, bending again at right angles to the left; so that whilst the van headed by brethren of the school, has been formed into a deep array on the shady side, the middle of the foreground is occupied by the baldaquin covering the shrine of the relic, with its white-clad bearers and satellites holding tapers; and, on the sunny side, the deputations with their flags and maces, the clergy, and the Doge with the umbrella advance in solemn state. Near the shrine kneels the merchant de Salis, whose son was healed by his father's vow to the cross. Within the rectangle of the procession, animated groups of spectators and single figures are disposed with much felicity, affording lively illustrations of the costume of the period. There is no doubt that this is the most important extant work of the Venetian school previous to the advent of Titian. It is a remark- able example of good arrangement, scientific perspec- tive, and truthful reproduction from nature. It is so distributed and put together that it conveys the impression of movement without confusion. Nowhere can we discover repulsive or inappropriate incident. The harmonies of lines and of colour are of the purest kind; chiaroscuro is attained Avith an evenness and nicety of balance productive of absolute repose; there is softness in the vanishing of light into half-tone and correctness in the projection of shadows. Sombre, dull, and even untransparent the colour may have become from abrasion or retouching, yet we can still discern with what sobriety the rapidly changing and innumerable shades were combined, under all the ad- vantages afforded by the master's skill in overcoming the technical difficulties of oil painting. We have in Gentile exactly that sort of gravity, in contrast with the 9* 132 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VII. gayer and more coloured fibre of Giovanni, which distinguishes Hubert, when compared with John Van Eyck; the bond of union between these brothers of the southern and northern climes, being the genius of An- tonello. For it was the fate of this great and original artist to introduce the Flemish methods into Venice, and see them carried to a perfection which he could not reach by men more generously gifted than him- self. Gentile's treatment here is of this kind; that he lays on his flesh with a moderate impasto, remodell- ing the whole with semi-transparents and without the thin glazes peculiar to the more advanced practice of Giovanni. It is a stern but powerful art, justifying the opinion of those cotemporaries who assign to Gentile the full enjoyment of theoretical acquirements. It is not by gay tints, but by the juxtaposition of correctly chosen local tones that effect is produced. Reds are decidedly red; white is absolutely white; but both are harmonized by scumbles. The touch is rich, copious, firm, and decisive. The crowded figures impress us with the idea of numbers; but their variety is as great as their multiplication; to count them is difficult, yet each one has his individuality in action, in form, and in face. All are grave, a little short in stature, perhaps, but weighty and dignified; and if, in the dresses, the piled nature of the folds and their occasional stiffness are striking, we must not forget that the stuffs in which the people are mostly clothed, are brocades of thick and substantial texture. The simpler elements of linear perspective perfectly applied by a man who was familiar with its rules, would alone have done much to realize the effects of distance and depth; but these effects are greatly enhanced by play of atmosphere; and the numerous varieties of tone which bring each personage or stone to its proper distance, are rendered with absolute mas- tery. The third of this most interesting series is engraved in these pages; it represents the recovery of the relic Chap. VII. GENTILE AND GIOVANNI BELLINI. 133 after it had been lost in the water; and receives an adventitious interest from the introduction of Catherine Cornara, ex-queen of Cyprus, with her suite amongst the spectators lining the sides of the canal. 1 Gentile now solves a new and more difficult problem than any that he had hitherto tried. To find the van- ishing and measuring points of buildings at right angles to the plane of delineation, is, as we have seen, a comparatively simple operation. It was an operation with which Piero della Francesca and Mantegna were perfectly acquainted. Not so the discovery of measuring points for blocks placed at accidental angles in the picture. Mantegna thought once to solve this problem, and the trial was unsuccessful. Gentile was more fortunate, and gives the lie of houses following the windings of a canal with scientific truth. His progress in realizing the idea of atmosphere is equally apparent, and he imparts to the richly-dressed females to the left such absolute rotundity, and yet such correct grada- tions of distance, that the eye is perfectly satisfied; nor is any hesitation shown in enforcing the differences which are obvious enough to the daily observer of life, between the attitudes, and the complexion of persons of high or low station, or the texture of cloths and silks of various patterns. Foremost amongst a group in front to the right, is a kneeling patron, said to be Gentile Bellini himself. It is but one out of many in this picture in which the dignity of Masaccio is united to the finish of Van Eyck. But, to be satisfied that tradition is correct in affixing the name of Gentile to it, we require a better guarantee than the statements of comparatively recent historians. The only genuine head of Gentile is that of the medal struck from a coign by Camelio, 1 Venice Academy, No. 529, can- I are the kneeling- queen and her vas .'J met. 20 by 4*20, signed on suite. (See Boschini Le Ric. Min. a cartello: "Gentili Bellini Veneti Sest. di San Polo, p. 37.) The en- p. MCCCCC." but the writing is graving is in Zanotto, Pinac. dell retouched. The best preserved parts [ Acad. Fa sc. XL. 134 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VII. after the return of the painter from Constantinople. There is nothing here to remind us of this medal; nor indeed is there anything in the so-called portraits of Gentile exhibited in European galleries to satisfy us that they are truly what they purport to be. The bust of a youth at the Correr Museum, a handsome man of light complexion, with long fair hair, seems done after 1500, and might be ascribed to Giorgione, as well as to Gen- tile or Giovanni. Were it a likeness by Gentile, it would be his own copy of an earlier one. 1 Unlike this are the "two Bellini in one frame under Gentile's name at the Louvre; but here we miss the firm hand of Gentile altogether; and stand faee to face with a rich even-toned canvas, with the melting and coloured tinting of Cariani. 2 In the museum at Berlin, two similar busts in one frame represent altogether different personages from those in the Louvre. 3 We may have occasion to revert to this question later. As regards 1 Correr Catalogue, No. 13, 35 inches by 23, wood, a youth in a violet red cap, lake vest, and green coat turned with fur; bust; soft in outline and in colour, of strong tint and yellow flesh tone; altered by damage to the surface. 2 Louvre, No. 69, assigned by Felibien to Gentile, and according to him a canvas representing Gen- tile and Giovanni. Fine and in good preservation. To the left a man of 35, three-quarters to the right, in a black cap, brown wig, and a fur collar, white pointed with black. To the right, a man of 40 or 45, in a black cap, chest- nut wig, black damask vest and squirrel collar. Behind them a dark green moire' tapestry, at the sides of which a landscape. The art here is the advanced art of the Bellinesque school after 1500, the effect of light is powerful, but without the massive divisions of Bellini, the colour golden and pro- duced by warm general glazes; but these cover the modelling of the parts so as to give to the whole a mysterious and somewhat untransparent melting look. We are far away here from the form and decided touch and outline of Gentile. Cariani of Bergamo would be found here in his earliest phase, one but little known, but familiar to those acquainted with all his works. 3 Berlin Museum, No. 12, can vas. Similar in arrangement to the above, but the faces and dresses different; i.e., to the left, three- quarters to the right, a man of sallow grey complexion in a black cap and brown-red wig, with a deeper brown fur collar on his shoulders. To the right, three- quarters to the left, a man in a black cap, in a black wig, with a black and white fur collar, back ground dark-brown, part of the cheek abraded. One might assign these pieces, if one clung to bet- ter authorities than that of Feli- Chap. VII. GENTILE AND GIOVANNI BELLINI. 135 representations of strangers to the Bellini family, there are none assignable to Gentile, except that of the museum at Munich, which is called "Giovanni Bellini by himself/ 7 but seems in its stern sobriety much more characteristic of the elder than of the younger brother. 1 Much as we should desire to trace exactly the steps by which Gentile ascended to the high level of art attained at San Giovanni Evangelista, we are precluded from doing so by the absence of authentic details. We infer from his will, which has been preserved, 2 that he visited Rome, and brought back volumes of designs from thence; he bequeathed these drawings to two of his pupils, Ventura and Girolamo. He was a mosaist, for he left a Virgin and child in mosaic to the company of San Marco. We presume that he kept a school, for there is concurrent testimony that in 1486 he received Titian as a pupil when a boy of nine years. He was married, but had no children. Finally we judge of the importance and pressing nature of his employment at last, from one fact — when Mantegna died in 1506, and Francesco, Marquis of Mantua, wished to have a canvas for the palace of San Sebastian, Bellini replied that he could not attend to the order, being engaged in advance for a long time; and so busy as to be unable to undertake anything new. 3 With the true nature of his engagements we become acquainted by a glance at the close of his will, in which he says that if Giovanni Bellini, his brother, should finish the picture commissioned for the bien, to Giovanni Bellini (see Anon. p. 80), who describes one picture with two profiles by Giovanni in the collection of Ga- briel Vendramin. 1 Munich Pinacothek, No. 604. Cabinets, wood, much injured by a split at the level of the eyes, the mouth repainted, and the sha- dows blind from restoring. This is the likeness of a man of 35 in oil, in a black cap, and dark vest. 2 See postea. 3 Anonymous letter from an agent in Venice to Francesco, Marquis of Mantua, dated April 17, 1506, in Darco, "Delle arti . . di Mantova, fol. Mantua, 1857." II. 63-1. 136 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VII. school of San Marco at Venice, he shall have the book of their fathers sketches. 1 Giovanni Bellini acceded to the wish of Gentile; he gave the last strokes to the sermon of S l Mark, which afterwards passed into the gallery of the Brera, and we see in this piece the final creation of the elder and the mature labour of the younger brother. 2 Great under these circumstances is our disappointment when we discover that the canvas has lost most of its value from abrasion and repainting. Yet amidst the ruins we still perceive that the art of Gentile on the eve of his death was better than it had ever been before. The " sermon, n in spite of its bad condition, still produces a brilliant effect. Its colour is more sombre than that of earlier examples, but is treated in Gentile's characteristic manner; the composition is fine, the figures have the individuality which he imparted, and the whole scene is full of stern and solid power. We must assume there- fore that Giovanni's part was to harmonize the whole together, and give it the last finish. Gentile, who had made his will on the 18 th of February 1507 (n. s.) 3 died on the 23 d of the same month, and was buried at his 1 See postea. 2 No. 90, Brera, canvas, origi- nally in the albergo of the school of San Marco at Venice. (Boschini Le Ric. Min. Sest. di Castello, 70; Sansovino, Ven. Descr, 286, and Ridolfi, Marav. I. 80.) This is so repainted and otherwise injured, 3 In nomine, &c. 1506, MS. Febrij die 18 ... . Ego Gentilis Bellino . . . sanus mente et intellectu, licet corpore languens . . . volo meos fidei commissarios et hujus raei ultimi testamenti executores, Jo- hannem fratrem meum carissimum et Mariane consortem meam one cannot tell how it was damaged \ dilectissimam .... (desires then before it was renewed. The canvas to be buried in San Gio. e Paolo, on the right is bare. All the fore- and ten ducats to be spent in part is repainted; the best preserved ! masses for his soul, further:) Di- piece is that on the left, where S l I mitto scole mee S. Marci meum Mark on a platform, with Venetian quadrum Sancte Marie de musaico; listeners on his right, and orientals ; item volo et ordino et rogo pre- of all ages and both sexes before j fatum Joannem fratrem meum ut him, preaches in front of a mosque, j sibi placeat coplere opus per me The figures are about one-third of j inceptum in dca scola S. Marci life; a large fragment has been quo copleto sibi dimitto et dari engraved by Rosini. See also Vas. volo librum designorum quod fuit IX. 141, 142, and VI. 103, where prefati q. pris nostri ultra mer- he assigns the sermon of S l Mark cedem quam habet a dca scola; et to Mansueti. si nollet p~fieere dictum opus volo Chap. VII. GENTILE AND GIOVANNI BELLINI. 137 own desire in San Giovanni e Paolo at Venice. 1 He was a diligent collector of remains of antique sculpture which in conjunction with mosaics and pictures by him- self decorated his house; 2 he left behind a number of works of which some are still missing, 3 and his name has been frequently appended to panels which he would not have accepted as his own. 4 Leaving these to the compass of a note, let us proceed to trace the life of his brother. dicum librum (restare) in meam commissariam .... Dimitto et dari volo Venture et Hieronimo meis garzonibus mea omnia designa re- tracta de Roma que inter ipsos equaliter dividantur; item dimitto et dari volo ecclesie S. Geminiani meum quadrum magnum S. Marie qd~ est in portico domus habita- tions mei ..." Original in Archiv. Notarile at Venice. 1 See the above, and Marino Sanudo Diaries in Cicogna, Iscriz. Venez. II. 119. 2 See the will, and anr.ot. Anon. 104. 3 Ridolfi (Maraviglie I. 83) de- scribes a circumcision in the Casa Barbarigo at San Polo of Venice, by Gentile, probably the same to which Lanzi (II. 103) alludes as a presentation of Christ. Moschini (Guida di Venez. I. 207) and Lanzi (II. 103) mention as in the Gri- mani palace a replica of that in Casa Barbarigo, with the inscrip- tion: "Opus Gentilis Bellini ^Equi- tis Veneti.' 1 We are not other- wise cognizant of the existence of these pieces. The picture in Casa Barbarigo was said to have been sent to Petersburg by Signor Fabris, in whose atelier a copy of it also remained for a time. That copy, as we shall see, is the counter- part of a picture at Castle Howard, by Giovanni Bellini, of which there are no less than six repetitions by different hands, without counting numerous adaptations by Catena, Bissolo, &c. Is not the name of Gentile given to the pictures at Casa Barbarigo, and Palazzo Gri- mani an error? We have noticed in the master's own will of a Virgin left to the church of San Gemi- niano, and of a mosaic bequeathed to the school of San Marco, and in historians; of a Virgin and child between S ts Catherine and David, with the Virgin and angel annunciate in an upper course, and the Eternal in a pinnacle. This last picture was in the school of the Merciari at Venice. (Boschini Le R. Min. Sest. di San Marco, p. 115, and Ridolfi, I. 82.) A Virgin Mary with saints is cited by Ridolfi (I. 83) as a work in the collection of a Dutch merchant, Giovanni Reinst. 4 This is a long list as follows : Rovigo, Galleria Communale, No. 3, wood, inscribed falsely: "Gentilis Bellinus eques anno 1483, " sub- ject, the Virgin adoring the child, a cold copy of empty colouring by Rondinello, or Basaiti, but pro- bably the former, of a part of a picture in the Doria Gallery at Rome. (No. 25 braccio secondo.) This picture in the Doria Gallery has an additional figure of S l John bearded, is signed: "Joannes Bel- linus," but is executed, for the greater part, by Giovanni's pupil, Rondinello. The same Gall., Doria, (No 43, Sala II.), contains a copy of the Rovigo panel, signed "Nicho- laus Rondinello," different from the original only in this, that the in- fant holds a bird by a string; a 138 THE VENETIANS, Chap. VII. school copy again of the Rovigo panel, with a slight change in the landscape distance, under Gio. Bel- lini's name, bnt by one of his school, is in the Rasponi Gallery at Ra- venna (No. 14). Padua Communal Gallery, No. 9, adoration of the magi, see Mansueti, postea. Berlin, Raczynski Gallery, Virgin and child, and young Baptist between a male and female saint, half-lengths. See postea in Catena. Modena Gal- lery, No. 35, Virgin, child, S l John the Baptist, a female saint, and two bust portraits of patrons look- ing up; a feeble work, for which see further in Catena. Treviso, Sant 1 Andrea. Large tavola of the Virgin and child enthroned between S l John Chrysostom, and S l Lucy, an angel playing a viol in front (Federici Memorie Trevig. ub. sup. I. 225), a piece of Bissolo's decline. Martellago, province of Treviso (Crico, p. 179), martyrdom of S l Stephen, nine figures almost life- size, by a follower of Bissolo; split vertically in two places. Pat. Casa Manzoni (betw.Belluno and Feltre). No. 30, a banquet, of Lombard cha- racter, time of Bramantino and his followers. Pavia, Galleria Malas- pina, Christ supported in his tomb by angels and saints; a small panel, greatly restored, originally by a common Lombard painter. Liverpool, Royal Institution, No. 31, wood, Virgin and child, exe- cuted in the style of the Bellines- que third-rate, Pasqualino. Dresden Museum, No. 209, wood, warped and renewed in many parts, horny and semi-transparent, where the colour is least injured. Subject, Virgin, child, and an aged saint. This style of colour, and hard dry form, recall the school of Fori! to mind, and especially Bal- dassare Karoli, a pupil or follower of Rondinello, whose pictures are to be found at Forli and Ravenna. S l Petersburg, Leuchtenberg Gal- lery, No. 85, wood, Virgin, child, S l Jerom, and two other saints, male and female, half-lengths be- hind a parapet. The colour of this piece is hard and bricky, and re- minds us of Marco Belli, or even Pasqualino's work. Stuttgardt Mu- seum, No. 234, portrait of a man holding a scapular, like a portrait in the Uffizi (No. 644), signed Paulus de Pinnis Ven. faciebat, an. XXXIII. MVXXXXII1I. ,, The colour is even, horny, and raw throughout. Altenburg, Pohl Mu- seum, No. 96, Virgin and child, completely repainted but seems Venetian. Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 139 CHAPTER VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. Giovanni Bellini was bred to art in the first half of a century, in which drawing and colouring only began to enjoy a new life. He learnt the rudiments from one who had not entirely cast aside the habits of an older time, and he soon displayed an earnest longing for improvement when thrown into contact with the Paduans of whom Mantegna had become the chief; but this period of his striving was not so remarkable as that through which he passed when Antonello visited Venice. Struck by the novel charms of oil-painting, he patiently went through the trials that repelled not a few of his cotemporaries, and enlarged the practice of the new medium. His first picture is an echo of the style of Jacopo; his later ones are affected by the contiguity of Mantegna. After 1472, he adopts the modern treatment, clinging at first to the sim- plicity of even tones, then bolder in his attempts, more varied in tint, daring in touch and hardy in effect. At this moment Titian finds his way into the atelier; and the golden age of the Venetian colourists begins. Nor does Giovanni content himself with giving the impulse — he is mainly instrumental in fostering the further progress of his school ; and when he finishes by turns the composi- tions of Vivarini and Gentile, he does for his cotemporaries what was done for himself by the great Vecelli. The first steps of Giovanni may still be followed with something like certainty by reference to pictures. An 140 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VJII. early tempera exhibited ten years ago in a London sale, and bearing a genuine signature, is probably the most elementary of his works, representing S l Jerom in the wilderness with the Hon on his haunches holding out his paw. A rock to the left with the lights on it touched in gold, a distant range of hills, a stile, a stream, and the blasted skeleton of a tree, smooth reddish stones on a sandy foreground enlivened with a cony, are component parts of a miniature piece original in character, but handled like Jacopo Bellini's " Christ at the limbus" in the Paduan gallery. 1 We may believe that Giovanni Bellini, when he did this, was still a pupil in his father's house, but privileged as a favourite to send forth under his own name the first fruits of his juvenile industry. It was, perhaps, the time when Jacopo, having changed his residence from Venice to Padua, was competing with Squarcione, and sapping his influence as chief of his craft ; but previous to the moment when Mantegna shook off his fetters and proclaimed his independence. That the two Bellini and Mantegna, as boys apprenticed to the same trade, should meet and become friends, though learning in rival establishments, is by no means surpris- ing; that the youngest of the Bellini, with a more flexible character than his brother, should frankly adopt the peculiarities of his comrade, might almost have been expected. The gradual commingling of the schools of Jacopo and Squarcione at Padua, is proved by numbers of masterpieces, in which the proportion of Bellinesque and Paduan elements vary, yet still remain distinct. For a long time, indeed, criticism, being exercised less strictly than it is now, was inclined to class these masterpieces under the head of Mantegna, but the turn of the tide was indicated when the "Christ on the mount " at the 1 Sold at one of Mr. Christie's sales in 1856 (wood, tempera, 11 inches by 17) inscribed on a car- tello in the left foreground: "Jo- vannes Bellinus." The lion is like those of Jacopo's sketch-book (see antea, Padua Gallery, No. 28); the colour laid on with a thin vehicle showing the ground through. Form here is thin and dry. Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 141 National Gallery was restored to Giovanni Bellini; and we shall now have occasion to examine a series of pro- ductions in which we may hesitate as to the name, but we boldly point out the origin of the painting. There are prominent and very characteristic features to be dwelt on here. The art is that of Jacopo Bellini, with an impress of youth and progress revealing the presence of his sons ; and, engrafted upon this, is the dryness of Mantegna. We shall have no difficulty in finding authentic works by Giovanni to justify us in assigning others of the same kind to him. One of the most conclusive reasons for connecting the Christ on the mount at the National Gallery 1 with the shop of the Bellini at Padua, would be that the composition is a close reminiscence of that in Jacopo's sketch-book, 2 were it not that in a picture belonging to Mr. Baring, and signed by Mantegna, a similar arrangement is adopted; )jut the comparison of this genuine Mantegna with the same subject at the National Gallery, is the true test by which the authorship of the latter may be tried. That Mantegna, when he finished his " Christ on the mount," was under the influence of the Bellini, we shall have occasion to show, but there is not the least doubt that in carrying out an incident of which he might have obtained the idea from Jacopo, he distributed the personages with a science unknown to his cotemporaries, and with that contempt for which he is so well known, of every thing tender or charming in nature. Giovanni Bellini follows more closely in the path of his father, and less rigidly in that of the Paduans. He represents Christ on the brow of a precipice in the middle of the space, in the 1 National Gallery, No. 726, (purchased from the late Daven- port-Bromley collection) wood, 2*8 by 4'10, known for many years as a Mantegna, and exhibited as such at Manchester. The tempera is dry and hard and very carefully worked. It has been rubbed down in clean- ing, and the sky with the angel is abraded in consequence. We may note the conventional mode of ranging locks of hair. The nimbs are rubbed off. 2 No. 42 of the sketch-book in British Museum. 142 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. attitude chosen by Jacopo, looking up to a heavy angel bearing the cup. The searching style of the drawing, the sculptural aspect of drapery clinging in blisters to the under forms, display much of Mantegna 7 s spirit; and were this a single example, one might say it is his. The foreshortened S l Peter in front, showing the soles of his sandals, the breadth of his knee and thigh, and the expanse of his throat, is equally well rendered after the fashion of the Paduan ; but the other apostles — one asleep with his head on his hand, the other recumbent against a rock' — are Bellinesque in type and are the natural precursors of those in the feast of the gods at North- umberland House. The landscape beyond the mount on both sides is not unlike that to which Mantegna was partial, but less wild. It is filled with the diminutive figures of Judas and his band, depicted in a manner recalling Jacopo, Mantegna, and Donatello; but distin- guished by feeling in the touch, in the colour^ and general tone, by a perfume of atmosphere in which Giovanni Bellini stands confessed. For some time after 1456, the probable date of this first effort, Giovanni continued to unite the bitter of the Paduan, with some of the sweetness of the Venetian style; and there are some pieces of which he may be considered the author, such as the transfiguration in the Correr Museum at Venice, or the crucified Saviour between the Virgin and Evangelist, the property of an English collector. The latter, it is true, might be claimed for Carpaccio, the landscape alone being essentially Bellinesque, whilst the dramatis personse have a sternness more than usually Mantegnesque, and the tempera a very sharp primitive tone; 1 but the transfiguration is not a 1 Exhibited at the British Insti- tution in 1865 under the name of Mantegna (property of Richard Fisher, Esq.), wood, tempera, figures one-quarter of life; subject, the crucified Saviour between the Vir- gin and Evangelist. The outlines are marked and firm, the flesh dull, yellow, grey, with dark shadows, of decided mass. The types are unattractive and impressed with a Mantegnesque vehemence. The left hand of the Virgin is injured. Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 143 tempera of the old kind 5 it betrays some knowledge of experiments, familiar to men struggling for changes in the old technical systems, and in many prominent features would suggest a Venetian authorship. 1 The composition is traditional, representing the Saviour ris- ing between the two prophets, and the three apostles on the foreground looking up; the masks are expres- sive, as if studied from nature, and rather derived than copied from the iron models of Mantegna, and the whole is done very much like later works by Giovanni, 2 whilst it preserves undoubted reminiscences of the Christ on the mount at the National Gallery. It is, however, unnecessary to dwell at length upon unauthenticated specimens, when similar ones are invested with a superior degree of interest by the artist's signature. Such are a Pieta in the Brera, and one in the Lochis Carrara Gallery at Bergamo. The latter, though full of Mantegnesque grimness, especially in the Virgin at the Saviour's side, is not without character; 3 but the frame of the chief figure seems drawn from the dissecting- table, and the Virgin's from a mummy; and the face of the Evangelist is childishly convulsed from sobbing. Added to this, an old-fashioned Byzantine mask in the 1 No. 27. Correr Gallery, wood, small, under the name of Mantegna, originally in San Salvadore (see Com. Vas. V. 202). The figures are all engraved in the gesso, pre- pared in grey,and hatched up to a finish with colours tempered in an oily medium of a viscous kind. There are no glazes, but the sha- dows are high in surface and in- sufficiently fused into the halftones and lights. The colours are now dim from time and varnishes, the flesh of a dull glowing tinge. The name of Carpaccio might suggest itself in reference to this picture, but it is less applicable than in the case of the foregoing cruci- fixion. Here too are several points of resemblance with the picture at I the National Gallery (No. 726), in the pose and action of the apostles, j the searching nature of the work in drapery, the cork-screw curls. The extremities are coarse and real- istic, as in more authentic pro- ductions of Giovanni. 2 See the Pieta, in the Brera at Milan, postea. 3 Bergamo, Lochis Carrara, No. I 4, wood, tempera, on dark green ground, half-length figures one- j third of life; with a vertical bruise running up one side of the torso of the Christ. The Greek letters MP. -6V, IC.XC, A.GO, above the figures; signed "Johannes B." The tempera of a dull yellow in the flesh is damaged by cleaning and varnishes. 144 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. Redeemer ; hands of a lean and bony shape ; dress of angular fold, and tempera of heavy impasto, yet withal outlines of clean precision, and we have a picture perfectly supporting the theory according to which Bel- lini combined the peculiarities of his father with those of the school of Padua. At the Brera, the same group is put together and designed with more truth ; and is therefore less disagreeably rigid than at Bergamo. Grimace is not wanting, but there is more real passion. Form is given with greater scientific precision; and, if unselect, still very forcible; the drapery is simpler in cast than that of previous examples. 1 But the subject is by no means exhausted when we have dealt with two or three panels. The Pieta in various aspects was one of Bellini's favorite themes; and, long after he had settled at Venice, he repeated it anew in a votive lunette com- missioned for the chapel of San Niccolo in the palace of the Doges. It is the more instructive to follow him in his treatment of this religious episode, because we watch his progress and the expansion of his practice during a period in which the chronology of his pictures does not as yet begin. We are told by old guides that he painted two scenes from the legend of S l Jerom in the school of San Girolamo at Venice in 1464; 2 and a 1 Brera, No. 188, wood, half- lengths of life-size; tempera, ori- ginally in the Zampieri collection at Bologna, inscribed on a longi- tudinal scrip fastened to a para- pet of white marble: "Hsec fere qmim gemitus turgentia lumina promant. Bellini poterat flere Jo- annis opus. 11 The treatment is very careful; form, suggested by hatching; the hands long and lean; the outlines broken; the tempera sharp, being probably bared to the quick by cleaning, as in past years the surface was much more dim and in harmony than now. The ground is seen through the colour in every part, but chiefly in the distance; the blues all blackened, and in part re- newed. An Ecce Homo, half-length, once in possession of Signor Mol- teni at Milan, suggests similar remarks. It is a small panel, with the half-length of the Redeemer in a square sepulchre, and is part of a predella, signed " Joannes Belinus. 11 2 Venice Scuola di San Giro- lamo, subjects, S l Jerom at the convent-door, and S l Jerom in his study. This is the school in which Luigi Vivarini and Carpaccio also painted. See Vas. (V. 12.) San- sov. (Ven. Desc. 176) Boschini (Le Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 145 crucifixion in monochrome at the Carita in 1472/ but there is nothing extant of these dates except the Pieta of 1472 in the Ducal Palace. 2 Comparing it with those which have been previously noticed; and bearing in mind the barbarous injuries inflicted in past days we observe that Giovanni Bellini has already tried to use oil-medium ; that though he clings to the unattrac- tive faces and vehement mouthing of Mantegna ; he in- troduces more natural feeling into grouping; a more correct, firm ; and searching method into drawing and modelling; and very marked expression in the play of features. It is an art not unlike that of Bartolommeo Vivarini at this time ; or Gentile's seven years before and still reminiscent; as regards arrangement; of Jacopo. 3 Having thus followed the changes of Giovanni's style in Ric. Min. Sest. di Canar. 44.) and " Ridolfi. (Le Marav. I. 85.) This school is now the "Ateneo." 1 We have it on the evidence of Boschini (Le Ric. Min. Sest. di D. Duro, p. 37), and of Ridolfi (Le Marav. I. 86), that Gio. painted in 1472 also the crucified Saviour, the Marys, and doctors of the church in monochrome in the re- fectory of the convent of the Carita at Venice. 2 Venice, Ducal Palace, canvas, transferred in the time of Bos- chini (Le R. Min. Sest. di S. Marco, p. 50), of Zanetti (Pitt. Ven. pp. 48, 49), and others, to the rooms of the "Magistrato dell 1 Avogaria" in the Ducal Palace, and still preserved .there, formerly dated, according to Zanetti, 1472. It was transformed into a square picture in 1561, by order of the nobles, Gio. Antonio Bon, Francesco Pisani and O. Valier, whose arms are on the frame placed at that time round the picture. On that frame, too, one reads: "MDLXI renovatum." The square sepulchre rests on the foreground, on its edges stand two ' VOL. I. bronze candelabra and a lighted taper. The torso of Christ is raised by the Virgin and Evange- list (half-lengths); to the left, the kneeling S l Mark; to the right, S l Nicholas in episcopals in a similar attitude. Distance, a hilly j landscape. On a scrip fastened to the front of the sepulchre, are the words: "Johannes Bellinus." The ground, distance, and most of the draperies are repainted; the head of S* Nicholas and part of that of the Evangelist similarly treated. The lights in the flesh generally are re-stippled, and the outlines are in many parts altered by im- pinging of the new ground colour. For the rest, the figures are bony and lean, the drapery Manteg- nesque, and the outlines broken; the forms are very marked and searched out with over-anxious care. The mouths are open, the features cornered. The S l Mark is in mask and type like a figure by Jacopo Bellini. Not a word to be said as regards colour. 3 Jacopo drew the subject with numerous figures, at p. 23 of his sketch-book. 10 146 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. the repetition of a single incident, we shall find an ob- vious advantage in pursuing the inquiry further, espe- cially as it takes us in a wide circuit through the churches and galleries of the continent. We come upon the next example of a Pieta in the sacristy of the cathedral of Toledo in Spain, where the Saviour is de- picted sitting in the sepulchre with his right hand rest- ing on its upper slab, his left held by S l John, and his frame supported by the Virgin, whilst three male and female saints are spectators in rear. 1 The difficul- ties of oil-medium are in part overcome, and there is a sensible improvement in the rendering of form, as well as in suggesting regular action and genuine grief, but the colour is dim and flat, and as yet lacks richness. Another repetition with a variety in the attitude of the Virgin, is that preserved in the Stuttgart Museum, where we revert in some measure to the fault of grimace ; though technical handling would point to the same period of execution as at Toledo. 2 Passing rapidly over an un- satisfactory replica, with the bust of a donor in the foreground once in the Campo Weyermann collection at Cologne, 3 we shall find a more symmetrical Pieta at the 1 Toledo Cathedral, wood, in its old frame, half-lengths, almost of life-size. On the side of the tomb the words: "Joannes Bellinus." The panel is split in three places, and an abrasion runs horizontally across the eyes of the Evangelist, and a turbaned figure near him. In ad- dition to the Saviour supported by the Virgin and the two per- sonages above-named, there is a saint to the left, and the head of a female visible between that of Christ and the man in a turban; distance, a simple landscape. The sacristy of Toledo Cathedral is very dark, and the picture difficult to see. 2 Stuttgard Museum, No. 4, wood, 2 feet 6 by 3*3, originally in the Contarini Palace, subsequently in that of the Barbini at Venice; signed on the face of the tomb: "Joannes Bellinus," but the letters are retouched, as are the faces of the saint to the left, and of an old man between the Virgin and Evan- gelist, at the Saviour's left, and the Virgin's right hand. The latter supports and looks down into the face of Christ, (half-lengths). At Venice the piece was grimed by old varnish. It is now cleaned out of harmony. Treatment as at Toledo. 3 Cologne, canvas, with the false signature, "Gentilus Bellinus Ve- netus, I486." The Virgin and Christ (half-lengths) are in similar attitudes to the foregoing, the attendant saints vary. On the right a bust of a priest in profile. Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 147 Berlin Museum in which the helping hand of Basaiti is revealed/ and a "Christ between the Virgin and Evangelists" belonging to the same institution; in Bellini's more advanced manner, remarkable for having been co- pied by the younger Donato and other minor artists. 2 In the gallery at Padua, the composition of Toledo seems to have been adopted by a follower of Mantegna. 3 The latest phase of art illustrated in this series is exhibited in an unfinished sketch at the Uffizi, where without completely losing the Mantegnesque character, the master has obviously gained in compression, in effect, in flexibility, and in the use of the new vehicle. 4 We shall probably remain within the truth in assuming that most of these panels date pre- vious to 1486, and are earlier than the great altarpieces of San Domenico at Pesaro, or San Giobbe at Venice. And it is worthy of note that, in their production, Bellini showed himself not averse from returning constantly to It is not absolutely certain that this is by Gio. Bellini. It is of the same period as the last-men- tioned, and certainly not by Gen- tile. 1 Berlin, No. 6, wood, If. 11 by 2-8 3 / 4 . The left hand of the Sa- viour is supported here by the Magdalen. The Virgin is behind to the left, and three saints attend — half-lengths. The signature in the upper corner to the right is muti- lated, and would read best as "Marcus Baxaiti." The vehicle is oil, and the surface horny; the flesh is bricky, and the shadows earthy. The picture would mark a period of change in Basaiti, from the style of Luigi Vivarini to that of Gio. Bellini. The name in the Berlin catalogue is, there- fore incorrect. No. 3 in the same gallery, a Christ in benediction, is a poor school-piece. 2 No. 4, Berlin Museum, wood, 2f. 3 by 2-9, from the Solly col- lection; subject, Christ between the Virgin and S l John (half- lengths)', the head of Christ dam- aged, and the surface generally altered, and dimmed by restoring. The date of this piece is later than that of examples previously described. Distance, sky. 3 Padua Gallery, No. 48. Ori- ginally in the Capo di Lista col- lection at Padua; a picture smoked up by glazes, and of heavy im- pasto, but of ruddy tinge (half lengths.) 4 Ufflzi, No. 581, canvas, life- size. This is a picture of effect with broad liquid shadows, but the faces have the look of the old Venetian time ; and the proportions of the frames are small. The flesh is living even in the Saviour, and of fair flexibility. The figures are all drawn with the graver on the gesso, and are prepared in mono- chrome like the S l Barbara of J. Van Eyck in the Antwerp Gallery. This was originally in the Aldo- brandini collection at Rome — en- graved in Kosini, pi. LXIV. 10* 148 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. the same theme. 1 Far otherwise was it with a sub- ject, of which there are several editions in various gal- leries, the subject of the circumcision. Of this Bellini created the great original which passed from the Orleans Gallery to the collection of the Earl of Carlisle at Castle Howard. 2 The venerable Simeon, bearded and dressed in splendid variegated vestments, stoops over the infant in the arms of S* Joseph; the Virgin, and a male and female saint with a pearl-embroidered cap, being mere witnesses of the ceremony. The technical treatment here suggests the period to which we owe the Pieta of Toledo. The males are put in with high surface-shadows, the females with a bed of impasto for high lights. There is a pleasant diversity in tints of dresses and cloths har- moniously decorated with stripes. The masks are still heavy, the forms curt, the extremities uns elect, and the drapery broken-, but the drawing is simple in its lines, and a glow is imparted to the whole by the use of an uniform glaze — a proof of further progress in the application of oil to painting. Of this important work we have one copy, probably by Catena, in the Leuchten- berg Gallery at S l Petersburg; 3 another by Marco Belli, in the museum of Rovigo; 4 a third at Grosvenor House; 5 a fourth, reminiscent of Catena or Bissolo, in the Doria 1 One of the above is perhaps that mentioned by Ridolfi (Mara v. I. 94) as in the Angeli at Mu- rano. 2 No. 125, Castle Howard, for- merly in the Orleans collection, wood, figures one -third of life, ground dark; on a scrip, the name: "Joannes Bellinus." The flesh of the child and that of the two females to the right are in- jured by cleaning. The general tone ^ is even over all, of a low key, and shows the use of general glazes; there is a consequent want of light; but what there is comes through from the under- ground. 3 Leuchtenberg Gallery, No. 68, under Giovanni Bellini's name, 2f. 5 by 3 f. 2y 2 , and of the same size as the Castle Howard example, but injured, the light yellow washy colour being a little rubbed down (half-lengths). 4 Rovigo, No. 80. See postea in Marco Belli. 5 Grosvenor House, No. 53, wood, under the name of Giovanni Bel- lini. This is an old Venetian copy of Marco Belli' s copy — of an even glowing tone. Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 149 Palace at Rome; 1 and three more at Pa via, 2 Vienna, 3 and Venice. 4 In course of time this episode was modified, and became the "Presentation of Christ to Simeon the infant being naked in the Virgin's grasp before Simeon in prayer in presence of Joseph and another saint. No doubt this modification was due to Giovanni Bellini, but we may conjecture that his first cast of it was lost; for the numerous adaptations that remain seem unworthy of his hand. That which of all others most approximates to Giovanni Bellini is preserved in the Belvedere at Vienna, and has been changed from a square to a round ; its present condition almost precluding a correct opinion. 5 Mansueti, Lazzaro Sebastiani, or Catena copied it in a panel at the Berlin Museum, 6 and there are three or four more repetitions of various shades of beauty in the Correr Palace, 7 the Communal Gallery at Padua, 8 and the 1 Rome, Doria Gallery, No. 5, Sala V. Figures half life-size (half- lengths). Raw, a little red and empty in colour (wood). See postea in Bissolo. 2 Pa via, Galleria Malaspina. This is a feeble and much-damaged copy on panel, and under Giovanni's name. 3 Vienna, Czernin collection, wood; a more modern copy even than the foregoing, but likewise called Giovanni Bellini. 4 Venice, atelier of Signor Paolo Fabris, wood, assigned to Gio. Bellini, but copied from the Marco Belli at Rovigo. One of these circumcisions is, perhaps, that once preserved in San Giorgio Maggiore at Venice. (Cicogna, Iscr. Ven. IV. 386—8.) 5 Belvedere, Room 2, Ven. school, No. 63, wood, 2f. by 3f. 7. This is probably a school-piece, almost entirely rubbed down, the best pre- served head being that of Simeon. The child is injured in addition by restoring. The colour receives light from the underground, but is now yellowish in the flesh parts, and blind (half-lengths). In the same room No. 65, is a Virgin and child in a landscape with S ts James, Joseph and John, and a male and female donor, the male repainted. This may be a picture by Girolamo San Croce or Previtali (half-lengths). 6 Berlin Museum, No. 36, wood, square, under the name of Gio- vanni Bellini, but less in his man- ner than that of Vienna, the tone being hard, opaque, and dusky (half-lengths). 7 Venice, Correr Museum. This panel 3f. by about 2f. 3 is an exact repetition of that of Berlin, and is kept in the room of the director. The tone is also of a dusky olive, and the draperies are coarsely treated (half-lengths). 8 Padua Museum. This panel (half-lengths) is full of holes and almost ruined; the female on the left being least injured. The tone originally must have had a fair glow, the types are reminiscent of 150 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. galleries of Vicenza, 1 and Crespano. 2 But the Paduan spe- cimen gains interest from its connexion with an artistic forgery. For a considerable time the name of Giovanni Bellini, inscribed on a cartello, was supposed to vouch for the genuineness of the work. During a recent clean- ing, it was observed that the inscription came away 7 leaving bare the words: u Vincentius de Tarvixio." Comparing the style with that of other Venetian pieces, we come to the conclusion that this panel was executed by Catena, whose Christian name is also Vineenzo; and we learn to claim as one person the painter of this and numerous other easel pictures, and an assistant of the Bellini at the great Hall of Council in Venice. 3 Francesco Bissolo altered the arrangement of Catena for San Zaccaria of Venice, 4 as a prelude to further variety in a presentation at the Academy of Venice, 5 and taking as his model a much finer one, impressed with most of the characteristics of Giovanni Bellini, now in the Bernasconi collection at Verona. those in a picture assigned to Gio- vanni Bellini in the church del Redentore at Venice, representing the Virgin, child, S l John the Bap- tist, and S l Francis, or of a Vir- gin and child by Giovanni Bellini in the Baring collection. It might have been doubted whether the picture, as it now stands, could even have been by Catena, but the Catena of the Liverpool institution leads up to this. 1 Vicenza Gallery. Same subject, wood, and ruined (half-lengths). 2 Crespano. This also is all but destroyed, but is an unimportant copy under Giovanni Bellini's name (half-lengths). 3 See postea in Catena. 4 Venice San Zaccaria. This panel was done for an altar in the choir, erected to the memory of Pietro Cappello after 1524. It is therefore needless to point out that the opinion of Zanotto (Pinac. Ven. Fasc. 8), who assigns the work in accordance with tradition to Giovanni Bellini is, on this ground alone, difficult to maintain. There is a new back ground here, of a colonnade and landscape, with the left hand figure of a female intro- duced so as to destroy the balance of the composition. The colour is feeble (half-lengths). 5 Venice Academy, No. 435, but see postea in Bissolo. 6 Verona, Bernasconi collection. This canvas, described by Ridolfi (Le Maraviglie I. 96) as belong- ing to the collection of the Mu- selli family at Verona, is signed on a scrip: "Joannes Bellinus." There is much of Giovanni's vigour and spirit in the work; though one might suppose that the careful outline and treatment are those of an assistant. The scene is laid in Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 151 During this period also, a great number of panels representing the Virgin and child alone, were completed by the untiring industry of the master, who sometimes kept up the old custom of gold grounds, or exchanged them for landscapes. In most of these he preserved the traditions of his school, reproducing perhaps, at the bidding of a patron, an old Madonna sanc- tified by the veneration of previous generations, yet always adding something of the spirit of his own age to creations that were never without charm. It is very probable that his atelier contained a stock of such things with which he satisfied the demands of casual pur- chasers; and that he sold indiscriminately the harvest of the year or that of previous seasons. Such a theory alone would explain how comparatively early altarpieces were publicly exhibited later ; and thus it no doubt happened, that when the remains of Luca Navagero, governor of Udine, were transferred to Santa Maria dell' Orto at Venice, in 1487, Giovanni Bellini furnished one of his " antiques," for the ornament of the tomb. Here, indeed, we may admire the graceful action and regular face of the Virgin, the comparatively simple outlines of the parts, and the delicate shape of the hands ; but the Mantegnesque expression in the child's face, the dispro- portion of its limbs, and the flat emptiness of the tem- pera are conclusive as to the remoteness of the date at which the panel was completed. 1 That it was customary an interior, and the female figure to the left carries the doves (half- lengths). Dal Pozzo and Pddolfi (Pittori Veronesi, p. 283, Le Ma- rav. I. p. 96) mention a Virgin, child, S ts Peter, Paul, and a kneel- ing figure, which had been in the Muselli and Sereghi collections. This piece, which according to Ki- dolfi, was a diptych with S l Vin- cent Ferrerius and S l Francis on the outer side, is not to be found; any more than a portrait of Gio. Bellini in the Muselli, and a full- length S l Helen with the cross, in the Bonduri Palace, at Verona. Likewise missing is a nativity (Del Pozzo, p. 291) in the Fattori Palace in the same city. 1 Zanotto (Pinac. Ven. ub. sup. Fasc. 15) would have his readers believe that the Virgin and child of Luca Navagero's monument was done in 1487, but the style of the 152 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. to repeat might be proved by the existence of a coun- terpart to Luca Navagero's Madonna, now belonging to Mr. Miindler in Paris; 1 but there is copious evidence of the fact in other replications, such as the Virgin and child in the Communal Gallery at Rovigo, which is the counterpart of that in the museum at Treviso cata- logued as Andrea Mantegna, and that of the Lochis Carrara Gallery, which merely changes the point from which the same group is depicted. At Rovigo the sacred incident only differs from that represented at S l Maria dell' Orto by a novel turn in the head of the Virgin, who bends over the face of the child; but the forms are more pleasing, the flesh tone is brighter; and grace is more delicately allied to nature than of old. 2 At Tre- viso, where restorers have played their well-known part, we see but a ruin which must originally have been very attractive ; 3 and at Bergamo we shall only mark an addi- tional plumpness reminiscent to a certain degree of Barto- lommeo Vivarini. 4 Three or four Virgins of a similar kind slightly varying from the above in the motive principles displayed in the action, are those of the galleries at Venice, Berlin, Milan and Pavia; the first, a good school- picture; 5 the second, interesting for the affectionate tender- picture contradicts his theory. It is now in the Venice Academy, No. 71, wood, about 2f. 6 by If. 8 on gold ground, over which a green hanging falls; on the gold ground the words, M.P. -0V. IC. XC; signed on a scrip at the base: "Joannes Bellinus." This piece is noticed by all the Venetian guides and chroniclers (half- lengths). 1 Paris, Mr. O. Miindler. This also is a tempera on panel, on gold ground, with a damask violace hanging, about half life-size, signed like the foregoing (half-length). 2 Rovigo, No. 109, wood, tem- pera, restored in oil, signed like the last on a scrip fastened to a marble parapet. The distance here is a landscape (half-length). 3 Treviso. The child here is in benediction, the distance a land- scape. The flesh is all repainted and stippled up anew (half-length). 4 Bergamo, Carrara Gallery, No. 216, wood, tempera, half-life, signed like the previous ones, behind the group a green hanging; the child which looks up to the Virgin's face is altered by restoring (half- lengths). 5 Venice Academy, No. 364, un- der "School of Jacopo Bellini, 1 ' ori- ginally in the Magistrato del Monte Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 153 ness of the Virgin; 1 the third, remarkable for having been executed in the mixed medium of tempera and oil, 2 with a severe, but well blended and pastose touch like that of a Pieta in the gallery of the Vatican at Rome, con- cealed under the name of Mantegna. 3 We shall notice finally amongst the less important masterpieces of the time when the system of tempera still prevailed, the beau- tiful Virgin adoring the child asleep on her knee, at the Venice Academy, in which Bellini, whilst appropriating an incident frequently used by the Muranese artists, shines forth as their superior in simple unaffectedness and delicacy. 4 Looking back and surveying the general features of Giovanni Bellini's career up to this moment, we observe that his practice is large and his experience increasing. Though gifted with the fibre of a colourist, he had been thrown by circumstances into a path which made colour unimportant and secondary ; hence his concentrated atten- tion upon form and expression; but in this one-sicled cultivation he remained behind Mantegna. He mastered, it is true, the application of perspective to the human Novissimo," a school-piece much changed by restorers (see Boschini Le Ric. Min. Sest. di San Polo, p. 24) (half-length). 1 Berlin Museum, No. 10, wood, If. 8y 2 by If. 4y 2 on gold ground (new). The child is in its shirt; the flesh injured (half-length). 2 Brera, No. 132, wood, on gold ground with the Greek ciphers as before, and a red hanging behind the Virgin. The child here j stands erect on the parapet and holds a piece of fruit (half-length), j }-" 3 Pavia, Malaspina collection. This ! panel is small ; on the parapet on | which the child stands, holding a [ flower, is a scrip with the words: "Joannes Bellinus, p." The Vir- gin's left hand rests on a book. This would be a very beautiful tempera, were it not altered by a restoration, which though careful j is not the less destructive of ori- ginality. The Virgin is graceful and noble, and recalls the later one of the Frari (1488). There is still something in the drawing reminis- cent of the 'Mantegnesque and of Bartolommeo Vivarini. The dis- tance is sky (half-length). 4 Venice Academy, No. 372 (full- length). The Virgin sits in a high- backed and broad-seated throne (distance of sky renewed, blue mantle repainted); on a scrip in front: "Joannes Bellinus." This is a panel in tempera colours origi- nally in the Magistrato dei Go- vernatori dell' Entrati. The forms are slender and regular, the hands delicate, the drapery still broken in the Mantegnesque style. The tempera is abraded but was from the first, dry, the lights being hatched up warmly. 154 Chap. VIII. frame, and was impressed with the proportional divi- sions illustrated in the antique; his drawing was searching, and he gave a plastic character to drapery; but he was not at first a perfect draughtsman, nor did he approximate to any ideal. A vulgar realism was conspicuous in personages, the action of which was equally strained and exaggerated. 1 But these faults were subsequently corrected in a considerable measure; with longer experience came skill, simplicity, precision, and refinement, — skill in giving spontaneous effect to groups ; simplicity in casting drapery ; precision in de- fining outline; refinement in selection. 80 long as Bellini struggled through the experiments of oil-medium, he failed to assert his superiority as a colourist ; but he might have achieved fame in the more severe and difficult path of grand composition and lofty style. That he was on the point of reaching a very high level in this respect we may judge from the success of his vast tempera of the Virgin and saints produced shortly after 1472 for a chapel of San Giovanni e Paolo. 2 Even in the days of Aretino and of Dolce, panegyrists of a bolder and more modern Venetian art, there were none who denied the great merits of this noble work, 3 and were it not that years and surface-daubing disfigured it at last, the judg- ment of our day would have confirmed the verdict of the 16 th century. Now that a necessary cleaning has revived some of the original touches, we become satisfied with the truth of historians who affirm that the medium 1 We have seen enough to con- vince us now of Vasari\s injustice when he says of Gio. Bellini: "per non avere studio di cose antiche, usava molto, anzi non altro che il ritrarre qualunque cosa faceva dal vivo, ma con maniera secca cruda e stentata. 1 ' What a curious mixture of truth and prejudice there is in these remarks. 2 Agletti, ub. sup., and Zanotto (Pinac. Venet. Fasc. 15) say after 1464, and before the arrival of An- tonello, ergo before 1472. But Bel- lini may have hesitated even in 1473 before painting a large altar- piece in the new medium with which he was imperfectly acquainted. 3 Their praise is cold and un- willing, but still praise (see Dolce. Dialogo della Pittura, reprint of I Milan, 1863, p. 2). Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 155 employed was tempera; 1 and we agree with Vasari, "that this was one of the best creations up to this time in Venice." 2 If the word grandiose were applicable to any Vene- tian picture, it would be appropriate here. We have before us a grand manifestation of skill by a man who is a master of his craft, representing a school rising to greatness; the first superior effort of an artist who has gone through every sort of probation and reached maturity. Giovanni Bellini had not as yet looked at painting with any other object than the illustration of its rarest qualities, proper distribution, movement, light and shade. There was still in him the striving to give art an impress of supreme dignity and solemn purpose by dint of analytical power, and by the applica- tion of scientific principles. In spite of some primitive formalism in the group of the Virgin supporting the child erect on her knee, an imposing effect is created by the rich throne on which she is seated, and the tall portico through which the sky and its white-lined clouds appear. Telling as regards the groups and architecture is the low centre of vision, which justifies the position of the panel on an elevated altar. Rich and powerful is the tone, as if varnish ve- hicles had been used. On one side, S 1 Thomas Aquinas, bending over the leaves of his book; S l Gregory in a tiara; S l Jerom with long and copious beard; on the other, S l Catherine of Sienna, the Magdalen and other female saints all individual in attitude and thought, as well as in face and expression; between them, three slen- der boys singing from a book, soprano, looking up ; bass looking down; tenor straight; reminding us more than any others in Bellini of those beautiful children with which Donatello decorated his monuments at Padua or Florence. Classic in proportion, the figures are outlined without any unnecessary accident of contour, a very 1 Sansovino, Ven. Desc. I. 65. | 2 Vas. V. 5. 156 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. noteworthy improvement on the exaggerated searching of the, earlier period. In easy attitudes and united by holy thought, they are clothed in dress of becom- ing cast, and stand in natural contact in the average size of the human body. Correct in their articulation, the extremities combine both delicacy and power; and here and there considerable ingenuity is shown in giving a novel and unexpected turn to folds of dra- pery. 1 Except in the altarpiece of San Giobbe, which illustrates the culminating point of his career, Bellini never kept this level after. The fascination of tint- ing absorbed his spirit so completely at last that he forgot, as we shall forget in the contemplation of his richly coloured canvases, the gradual substitution of har- mony of tones for the simpler and severer principles which are the ground-work of all true art. But though the Virgin of San Giovanni e Paolo only charms by the soberer gifts of the composer and draughtsman, it stands in the Cappella del Sacramento by the side of Titian's Peter Martyr, and bravely challenges comparison. It settles once for all the contest between the rival ateliers of Murano and Venice, and places Giovanni Bellini in advance of Bartolommeo and Luigi Vivarini. 2 The period immediately following the completion of this masterpiece was marked by numerous efforts to add 1 Venice, San Giovanni e Paolo. This great panel was in past times entirely repainted in oil; and had become so dim as to be hardly visible; much of the daubing was subsequently removed; but the sur- face required and underwent neces- sary restoring: ex gr. in the mantle of the Virgin, S l Jerom, S l Cathe- rine and the Magdalen, and the feet of the three singing-boys. The figures are life-size, very strongly outlined — on a scrip fastened to the plinth on which the throne rests are the words: " Joannes Bel- linus p. 1 ' The altarpiece in this church, called "tavola di S. Vincenzo," and assigned by Sansovino (Ven. Desc. p. 65) to Bellini, we shall see is not by him. A Virgin and child described by Boschini (Le Ric. Min. Sest. di Castello, p. 62) in the cappella San Giacinto of this church is now missing. 2 Since these lines were penned, the masterpiece of Titian and the masterpiece of Bellini have both fallen a prey to fire. They pe- rished in San Giovanni e Paolo on | the night of Aug. 16, 1867. Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 157 perfection in the use of mediums to previous acquire- ments. Thus one of the small Virgins of the old Con- tarini Gallery, now in the Venice Academy, affords a grave and chastened combination of attitude, marred by defective treatment in oil and a blind red surface; 1 whilst a similar piece at the Berlin Museum, exhibits increased freedom in sombre pastose handling, without any novel transparency of colour. 2 A finer illustra- tion of this struggle in Bellini is the Pieta in the gallery at the Vatican, long assigned to Mantegna, but really an important link in the chain connecting the art of 1470 with that of 1480. Mantegnesque undoubtedly is the form and its perspective rendering ; Mantegnesque, the substantial breadth and rigidity in Joseph of Ari- mathea, Nicodemus, or the masculine Magdalen. But Bellini was never more prone than at this epoch to im- part stern energy and force to his impersonations. Belli- nesque, on the other hand, is the contrast between those figures and the slenderer one of the dead Redeemer; Bellinesque the solid mass of light and shade in juxta- position ; and, above all, the low powerful brown tone with its well blended and half opaque impasto, betraying the use of vehicles contemned and unused by Man- tegna. 3 1 Venice Acad. No. 101, wood, about 2-4 by P8 (half-lengths). The Virgin holds the infant erect on a ledge of veined brown marble, on which a scrip is fastened, bearing: "Joannes Bellinus." Besides being imperfectly treated in oil, this panel is cleaned and repainted, es- pecially in the flesh of the Virgin's face. The tints are raw, and done at one painting; the landscape distance fair enough, varied in tint, and firm in touch. We may mention here the Virgin and child with the donor, S l Paul reading, S l George and two female saints, lately under Gio. Bellini's name, in the Pourtales Gallery in Paris ; a somewhat raw and hard produc- tion, of which we shall not give a decided opinion without seeing it again. It was sold at the Pour- tales sale in the spring of 18G5, for 40,600f. or more than 1600/., which might speak for its genuine- ness. 2 Berlin Museum, No. 11, wood, 2f. 5 3 / 4 by l-8'/ 2 , from the Solly collection. The child here also in benediction, and holds a pear; the landscape is intercepted in part by a flowered red hanging. The whole injured by restoring; signed, "Joannes Bellinus 1 ' (half-length). 3 Rome, gallery of the Vatican, No. 5, wood, kneepiece, with figures about life-size; a landscape and sky, the white clouds of which are 158 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. The master's capital achievement in this phase is, however, a vast coronation of the Virgin commis- sioned for the church of San Domenico of Pesaro, in which he makes light of the intricacies of the new tech- nical system. He had as yet seldom attempted anything so important, as the life-size Redeemer and Virgin, accompanied by S l Peter and S l Paul, S l Jerom and 8 f Francis; the main subject being inclosed in a rich frame of wood, encased in pilasters with niches con- taining saints, covered with a deep gilt entablature, and resting on a predella of seven pieces. Quaint is the throne on which the Saviour and Virgin are seated, the latter bending to receive the crown. It is an open rectangular bower of stone, faced with coloured marbles and decorated with white friezes, behind and through which a hilly landscape and a sky full of red and blue cherubs are visible. Plump and pleasing in Bellini's homely type, the Virgin contrasts well with the Saviour, whose movement recalls the finer creations of Ghirlandaio ; whilst the comparative rigidity of the face and the broken crush of the brocade dresses are com- pensated by the natural truthfulness of the extremities. Weighty and grave are the apostles, with a strong accent in the marking of their features and draperies, and a slight transition from light to shadow. Wild in cha- racter, yet softened by tender thought, is the mask of S l Jerom, monkish and clean that of S l Francis. On a smaller scale, but equally effective, the eight saints in pilaster niches are full of calm energy, the Baptist wiry and unkempt, the stern precursor of an ideal dear in after years to Titian; S l George on his pillar with the red cross banner, in a classic attitude revealing Gio- vanni's familiarity with Donatello's sculpture and Man- tegna's wall distempers. The predellas alone would have repainted. There are fragments only of the Christ's nimbus. The face of the Magdalen is greatly changed by restoring. The colour is of a low brown tinge, very much blended, but of stiff texture and brownish in the shadows. Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 159 given Bellini fame, so spirited and powerful is the action, particularly in the conversion of S l Paul, and the crucifixion of S l Peter, so tasteful the colour. Re- markable, in conclusion, is the fact, that the larger piece is of a low brown tinge with shadows somewhat distinctly marked, betraying Giovanni 1 s ignorance as yet of certain rules of glazing, and showing that he worked off the several parts at one painting; wheras the predellas and the landscape already exhibit some of that rich- ness which prepares us for the style of Giorgione and Titian. 1 From the date of this work to the moment when the transfiguration in the Museum at Naples was com- pleted, but a short time can have elapsed; yet in the interval, or perhaps simultaneously, a small panel was finished which once belonged to the Contarini at Venice, and afterwards came into the hands of an English col- lector. 2 S l Francis coming out of a bower, to receive the stigmata, stands in a condition of momentary pain in the foreground of a valley enlivened with minutiae of every imaginable kind. Nowhere is a clearer insight to 1 Pesaro. The vast central panel, praised by Vasari (V. 11) and Ri- dolfi (Le Marav. I. 05). is 8f. 6 high by 7f. 11 broad. .The pilaster, saints each two feet. On the face of the polygonal step of the throne, are the words, "Joannes Bellinus." Amongst the saints on the left pilaster are S l Catherine of Alex- andria, one with a censer, one without distinctive marks, and the Baptist; on the right, S l Chiara, S l Bernardino, S l Louis, and an aged saint. On the basement of the pilasters to the left, S l George fighting the dragon; to the right, S l George on his pillar. In the predella itself, beginning from the left: 1°, the conversion of S l Paul, with horses in classic style; 2°, the martyrdom of S l Peter; 3°, the nativity; 4°, S l Jerom penitent; 5°, S l Francis receiving the stig- mata. A vertical split disturbs the effect of the principal figure of the Saviour in the coronation; the background of the saint on the pillar is abraded. Though generally the mass of light and shade is well defined, there is still some lack of modelling in the transitions, and the result is in a certain measure flat. 2 Originally in the house of Taddeo Contarini at Venice (Anon, p. 65), now the property of S. Ding- wall, Esq., and exhibited at Man- chester in 1857 (noticed by Lanzi, II. p. 101), as in the Correr palace; wood, oil, 4f. 7'/ 2 by 4f. high. On a scrip fastened to a stump of a tree on the left, the words, "Jo- annes Bellinus." The general tone is still brown, opaque, and even, the sky overcast. 160 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. be obtained into Giovanni's efforts to represent with a still viscous l^edium, and without much variety of tint the accidental changes in a sunless landscape, and at the same time to preserve his old feeling for gravity, dignity, and repose. In the Naples transfiguration, he makes the distribu- tion subordinate to a general effect with less atten- tion to the laws of composition than at an earlier period. The Saviour, between the prophets, is just rising from the ground; his regular countenance, encircled by locks richly falling on the shoulders, relieved against white clouds, his figure — of good proportions — in the broken folds of a winding-sheet, 1 the morning glow concentrated on his person, and casting its crisp long shadows from the projections; on the ground before him, the startled apostles, paltry and vulgar in face, and expressing wonder or fear in half recumbent attitudes. They have been sleeping on the edge of a precipice overhung with wild vegetation and guarded by rustic rails; and they produce by no means a regular or satisfactory complement to the principal group above them. But Bellini seems aware that something .must be done to counterbalance a conspicuous fault. He trusts in the first place to the effect of light on the central point of the picture, which is the Kedeemer ascending; and he graduates the harmonies of his colour in the remaining personages and landscape so as to throw them as much as possible out of prominence ; all this, however, in a low key of tone, imperfect in the modelling of the transitions from light to shade, brownish, even raw, but proving how nearly the subtleties of treat- ment were under command. To complete the charm, and cause us still further to forget imperfections, Bellini gives us an extensive view of a North Italian district, into 1 A head of the Saviour, in type and character like this of Naples, signed, "Joannes Bellinus" (wood), is in the Academy of Arts at S l Ferdinando of Madrid, and may be that mentioned by Boschini (Le Ric. Min. Sest. dorso Duro, p. 36) as in the school of the Carita at Venice. 7 Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 161 the nooks and corners of which he leads us, showing the heights of the hills, their modulations and distance by contrasts of tint and by atmosphere; one sees that summer is gone; an autumn day has broken; some trees have leaves, others are bare of foliage; the herds- man drives out his cattle at dawn ; people meet, and oxen graze at the sides of a stream under the protection of manorial towers. It is here at last that we find Gio- vanni Bellini great as a painter in oil, applying the secrets of manipulation brought over from the Nether- lands by Antonello, 1 patiently entering into detail like the Van Eycks, not unmindful of the severe laws of science inculcated by Mantegna, remembering the rules of perspective familiar to Donatello and Uccelli; but using only so much of each as suits the free develop- ment of his own power and his delicate organization as a Venetian colourist. 2 For a little while longer Bellini's course may be traced by the prevalence of strong brown tone, and imperfect technical treatment in pictures; instances of which are to be found in the Virgin and child at the National Gallery, 3 and the Virgin between saints in the Stsedel Museum; 4 but, in a very short lapse of time, his aim 1 We neglect as a fable the statement of Ridolfi (Le Marav. I. p. 87) to the effect that Antonello's secrets in oil-painting were sur- prised by Giovanni Bellini dis- guised as a nobleman sitting for his portrait. 2 Naples Museum, No. 378, wood, 5f. 8 by 3f. 9, on a card fastened to a post of the railing are the words, "Joannes Belli." There is a patch of restoring on and about the Saviour's right hand. 3 National Gallery, No. 280, wood, 2f. ll 3 / 4 high by 2f. l'/ 2 , purchased from Baron Galvagna at Venice in 1855. The Virgin sits under a projecting roof hung with green, at the sides of which a landscape. The child is about to take an VOL. I. apple from the Virgin's left hand. The tone is low; the faces plea- sant; the forms a little short, and the drapery angular, though not without style. On a scrip, fastened to the veined marble screen, the words, "Joannes Bellinus, p. 11 (half- length). 4 Stsedel Gallery at Frankfort. No. 17, from the Baranowski col- lection, wood. The Virgin holds the infant's left foot in her left hand. He turns towards the Bap- tist, a fine brown toned type of the precursor; to the right, S l Elizabeth — half-lengths. The colour is transparent, and shows the stippling, especially in the child. The surface is altered somewhat by cleaning. On the screen-base: 11 162 Chap. VIII. was chiefly to produce light and sunny effects ; and the first fruit of his endeavours seems to have been the Virgin and child between two saints in the Academy at Venice and a similar subject in the Museum at Madrid. Were it not for injuries received in early times, the latter would perhaps have been one of the pleasantest illustrations of this period of Giovanni's artistic activity, being full of elegance in the movement of the figures, and charming from the exquisite nature of its original finish. 1 The Venice panel is in better condition, though by no means free from damage; the shapes, with one exception perhaps, are elastic, the style of drapery easy, and the colour obviously tractable under the painter's hand ; and it is of the highest interest to note how thinly the flesh is painted and glazed, whilst the dresses gain substance from scumbles, and the ground is raised in surface above all the surrounding parts. 2 If we have not read the history of Giovanni Bellini's progress in vain, we may now conclude that, during ten or twelve years subsequent to the arrival of Antonello da Messina at Venice, he never once relaxed his efforts to master the practice of oil medium. Though failure should have stared him in the face on more than one occasion, he clearly surrendered to no discouragement, returning to the charge, and finding strength to proceed in every new endeavour. We can still see that constant improvement was the reward of his struggles. He may "Joannes Bellinus." Distance, sky. The form of the infant is a little stiff and awkward. 1 Madrid Museum, No. 605, wood, 3f, 8 by 2f. 9, half-lengths; back- ground, a green curtain intercept- ing sky. To the left, S l Catherine in a jewelled head-dress; right, S l Ursula with an arrow. The face j of the latter alone is well preserved; the child, a fair study from nature ; j inscribed on a scrip fastened to the screen below, "Joannes Bel- linus p." 2 Venice Acad. No. 436, wood, about If. 8 by 3f. 1, on a dark green ground. The child a little stiff, falsely drawn as regards the right arm; left, S* Catherine with jewelled hair; right, S l Mary Mag- dalen. The drawing is visible be- neath the superposed tints; and the light is given by the under- ground — a variety not to be found in Flemish examples. The Virgin's right eye is repainted and out of place (half-length). North Italy. Vol 1 p 163. VIRGIN, CHILD, AND SAINTS ; an altarpiece, by Giovanni Bellini, originally at San Giobbe, now in the Academy of Arts at Venice. Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 163 have thought that mastery at last would bring him to high renown, he may have been urged by the mere wish to excel. Whatever motives actuated his conduct, they were strong and steady enough to take him to his goal. His crowning trial was made in an altar- piece ordered for a chapel at San Giobbe ; which still preserves the outer setting intended to bring its lines into relief. Long since transferred to the Academy of Arts, and in a place for which it never was intended, this beautiful production still appears to combine all the qualities for which Bellini might up to this time have claimed praise— appropriate and dignified composition, noble character, elevated feeling and chastened design. 1 To these he now added a solemn impression of tender repose, youthful freshness, and smiling life, united to a sunny but gently vaporous tone. If in a previous example, like that of San Giovanni e Paolo, he had been eminent when confined to the limits of tempera, in this he displayed equal sternness of maxims with the bright enticements of colour. Great is the science with which he harmonizes the lines and the tinting of his stone semidome and pillars, with its hanging dais, picking out the framing of a splendid throne with marbles of all 1 Venice Academy, No. 36, wood, m. 4*60 high, by m. 2'55 in its original shape; arched at top, now cut down to a rectangle; and having, for that reason, two pieces at the upper angles. A scrip fas- tened to the step on which the playing angels sit, contains the words: "Joannes Bellinus. 11 A part of the blue mantle of the Virgin and the left leg of S l Se- bastian are retouched and injured. Lanzi II. 102, and Zanetti (Pitt. Ven. p. 52) date this piece in 1510; but the statement of Sansovino (Ven. Desc. p. 155) to the effect that this was his first masterpiece in oil publicly exhibited in Venice, though it might be qualified, can- not be denied; especially as it is confirmed by Sabellico (in Mos- chini (Guida di Ven. II. 58, 67—8). Vasari adds (V. 5) that it was painted previous to Giovanni's employment in the Council Hall at Venice; and this opinion is confirmed by the test of treatment and execution. Agletti (in Elogio, ub. sup. p. 55) throws the date back to 1473, which is a little too early; but he did so supposing that Giovanni had already been appointed to work in the Council Hall in 1474 — an error into which he might fall when reading the annals of Malipiero. (See extr. in Vas. note to V. p. 7, and antea, note to p. 124.) 11* 164 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. shades. Finely thought out is the concentration of light on the Virgin seated with the babe on her knee, looking forward as if struck by some external . event, yet full of calm benevolence; varied the movements of the three angels playing instruments at her feet; kindly in their meditative submission the passive S l Francis, the pray- ing Job, the attentive Baptist, the wounded S l Sebas- tian, the eager S ls Dominick and Louis ; a broad system of shadows, tempered to suit the gloom of the chapel, completes the attraction. By means essentially his own, Bellini was here creating for the Venetian school something distantly akin to the extatic style of Angelico, and more calculated to touch the religious fibre of his countrymen than that of Ghirlandaio at Florence. Technically he had won the secrets of half impasto, of local and diverse glazing, and he had mastered the method of balancing and fusing harmonies into grateful chords. 1 The "canon" of Venetian art is truly stated to have been laid down in this picture, 2 which according to the unanimous opinion of historians established Giovanni's fame as an oil painter, 3 and led to his employment by the State; Gentile Bellini, who, as we remember, had hitherto been exclusively salaried by the Government in the Hall of Council, had been chosen in the summer of 1479 to proceed to Constantinople at the bidding of the Doge. He was to start on the 3 d of September, the date of his return being uncertain, and perhaps remote; his influence, combined with that of patrons and friends, was used in Giovanni's favour, and, 1 But here as yet Giovanni is not as perfect in oil as Gentile was when he delivered the pro- cession of the relic to the school of San Giovanni Evangelista. 2 Agletti, Elogio, 57. 3 Vasari, Sansov. Sabellico, see foregoing note. In San Giobbe, sacristy. The marriage of S l Catherine, assigned to Gio. Bellini by Boschini (Le R. Min. Sest. di Canareggio, p.. 63), Zanetti (Pitt. Ven. 54), Moschini (Guida di Ven. II. 61), and Sel- vatico (Guida di Ven. 160), is by Previtali. See postea. A Virgin, with S l Joseph, the Baptist, and angels, noticed by Boschini as in the chapel of the hospital of San Giobbe, is missing. (Le R. Min. S. Canareggio, 62.) Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 165 four days before the elder sailed, the younger Bellini was appointed to a reversion of a broker's patent in the Fondaco de 7 Tedeschi. 1 From that time till his death the "father of Venetian art" was engaged in the Hall of Council, finishing canvases of which the number never rose to more than seven. 2 Here, in daily inter- course with his brother, he successively witnessed the promotion of numerous rivals and assistants — of Vivarini, his competitor in 1488 ; 3 of Christopher of Parma, better known in his own country as Caselli, his subordinate in 1489; 4 of Bissolo, Pierino Sante, Matteo, Lattanzio da Rimini and Marco Marziale, his journeymen in 1492; of Catena in 1495, 5 and Vittor di Matteo in 1514;° of Carpaccio and Girolamo his companions in 1514 — 15. 7 What he or they achieved in all these years may be found described in the pages of Venetian chroniclers, who not only tell the subject of each canvas, but enume- rate the effigies with which the compositions were filled. 8 There never was a hall so rich in cotemporary portraits ; but in a part of the same space, another and more re- gular collection, forming a frieze, renewed in the 16 th century by Tintoretto, had been commenced, in which Giovanni had a share. 9 The appointment to a senseria, as the broker's patent was called, bound the holder to intro- duce into this frieze a likeness of every successive Doge. 10 Bellini contributed regularly to this series, and no doubt made duplicates and repetitions of each likeness; and though it is uncertain whether this duty was imposed in the summer of 1480, when a salary of seventy ducats 1 1479, Aug. 29. See the record in Illustrazioni del Palazzo Ducale, ub. sup. 2 One of them, the naval en- counter, on the site of Fabriano's fresco, took eleven years of his time. Sansovino (Ven. Dese. p. 328—32), Vasari (V. 8—12), Ri- dolfi (Le Marav. I. 91—3). 3 See antea. 4 Gaye, Carteg. II. 71. * lb. ib. ib. f> Decree of Council of Ten, dated 27th Feb. 1514 (n. s.), in Cadorin, notes to Gualandi, Memorie, ub. sup. Ser. 3, ]>. 92. 7 lb. Lb., and Sansovino. i Ven. Desc. p. 333.) s Sansovino and Jvidolfi, ub. sup. J Ridolfi, Le Marav. L '.17. 10 Vasari Kill. p. 23. The price was eight scudi (ib ib). 166 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. was given to him in expectation of the patent at the Fondaco, 1 or in 1483, when he was appointed painter to the Government and exempted from the charges of his guild, 2 there is reason to believe that the first panel executed by him in his new capacity was the profile of Giovanni Mocenigo, who sat on the ducal throne from 1478 to 1485. This profile is preserved in the Correr collection at Venice, and though it seems a little primitive and lacks the flexibility conspicuous in the Loredano of the National Gallery, it is a picture of a fine glowing tone, 3 and highly creditable to its author. When an artist with a large practice accepts public employment, he consents to the cur- tailment of that practice, or he reserves to himself the right of attending to private commissions for which he charges a price proportioned to the greatness of his fame. Thus it was that Bellini agreed with Giovanni Trissino to furnish a resurrection of Christ for a chapel of the Vicenza Cathe- dral in 1483 for two hundred ducats, 4 that he painted shortly after for some unknown patron the Virgin and child be- tween S l Paul and S* George at the Academy of Venice, unrivalled for its extreme precision of drawing, its breadth of light and shade, easy cast of drapery, and bright enamel of colour; 5 thus it was that in 1487 he produced the beautiful Virgin and child of the Venice Academy, in which we know not which to admire most, the noble gravity of the mother, or the pulsation of life in the child. Bellini certainly never so completely com- 1 July 1, 1480, record in Illus- trazioni del Palazzo Ducale, ub. sup. 2 lb. ib. 3 Correr Mus. No. 16, wood, m. 61 by 0*46; life-size; profile to the left, partly retouched, and revar- nished on green ground. See Vas. V. 4. (bust.) 4 See a clause in the will of G. Trissino, p. 43, of Ab. Magrini's Elogio di B. Montagna, in Atti dell 1 Accad. de 1 B. Arti at Venice, 8°. Venice, 1863. 5 Venice Academy, No. 424, wood, from the old Renier collection 0. m. 63 by 0. m. 86, half-lengths; signed in a scrip on the yellow stone screen, "Joannes Bellinus." Behind the Virgin is a red hang- ing; and, at its sides, sky; to the right, S* George in helm and shirt of mail, and sword in hand. 6 Venice Acad. No. 94, old Con- tarini collection, wood, m. 0"75 by 0'55; signed, as usual, on the parapet of veined marble, " Joanes Bellinus p. 1487." Giorgionesque, Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 1 67 bined relief with transparence, or golden tinge of flesh with rich and tasteful harmony of tints. By dint of per- severance he had succeeded in losing all trace of hard- ness, and acquired what may be called the Giorgionesque touch. It was the very time when Giorgione and Titian both attended his school, beginning their career with great good fortune when their master was at the zenith of his power. Then it was that they took their lessons from the best that he created, the Virgins which we have just seen issue from his atelier, 1 and those which immediately followed them. They might admire and study the little Madonna of the Admiralty Court, now at the Academy,, with its crown of red cherubs and its dis- tance of landscape, one of the most silvery and exqui- sitely handled things that can well be imagined; 2 or the Virgin and child with saints and angels placed in 1488 in the sacristy of the Frari, or the still more important votive altarpiece willed by the ostentatious piety of the Doge Agostino Barbarigo to the nuns of Santa Maria degli Angeli at Murano, or, to fall back upon subjects of a profane nature, the delightful allegories — ornaments of some curious piece of furniture — once we believe a treasure belonging to Catena. 3 In the course of a single year Giovanni Bellini had found leisure to attend to his duties in the Council Hall, and to finish pictures especially in the touch of the trees (half-length). 1 The S l Sebastian in the altar- piece of San Giobbe already reminds us of Giorgione's type in that of Castelfranco. 2 Venice Acad. No. 313, wood, m. 0*77 by 0*61, originally in the Magistrato della Milizia di Mare at Venice. Note the well-fed flesh in mother and child, her smile, and his contentment. She is matronly, motherly; the cherubs give a mysterious depth to the scene. The landscape is warm, clear, silvery and exquisite in touch ; but mark also the blue mantle is repainted, and the Virgin's cheek injured by cleaning and restoring. The same has happened to the flesh in the belly of the child. See the print in Zanotto Pinac. dell Acad, di Venez. Fasc. XXIX. (half- length.) 3 Vincenzo Catena, in one of his wills, dated 1525, leaves \>> his executor, Antonio de Marsilio, "a piece of furniture of walnut- tree, with certain small figures in it, painted u by misser Z^mBe^io." See postea. 168 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. which alone might have filled a much larger space in the life of an artist less gifted or less perfect. 1 Yet, in none of these did he allow any mark of haste or neglect to appear. At the Frari, where the Virgin holds the infant on her knee and hears the gay piping of two boy-angels at the foot of her throne, where Nicholas, Benedict, and companion saints stand with soft but solemn repose beside her, we have at once the gentlest and most elegant emanation of Bellini's art. 2 We fancy it to have been the gem before which Cima stood, imprinting its beauties on his memory and striving to revive them as Francia might have done after con- templating a Madonna by Perugino. Every part is the natural complement of the rest; the Virgin, handsome and pensive, the children pretty in their crowns of leaves, the saints in admirable proportion, everything definite, with crisp precision as in Van Eyck or Antonello, sug- gesting one might say a wish to rival the great cotem- porary master of portrait in Venice, whose splendid like- ness at the Louvre with its glaring eye would naturally excite his emulation ; yet so massive as to create a vivid impression at a distance. In this conjunction of precise and highly finished detail with general effect; in the force of chiaroscuro, as well as in the truth and rich- ness of colouring, it is certain that Giovanni Bellini could go no further without falling into excess of sharpness in the rendering of form. Considered technically this picture exemplifies the use of transparent flesh tones re- ceiving light from the ground gesso, Avhereas in the votive 1 The subjects of these canvases, which were lost in the fire of 1577, were as follows: 1°, the naval action fought between Otho and the Doge; 2", the Emperor humbling himself before the Doge in San Marco; 3°, the Pope grants the umbrella; 4°, the Pope, Emperor, and Doge meet at Rome; 5°, the Pope distributes the standards to the Doge; 6°, the Pope and his guests in state at San Gio. Late- rano; 7°, discovery of the Pope at the convent of the Carita. (See Vas. V. 6—12, Sansov. 828—30, and Ridolfi, Le Marav. I. 89, 93.) 2 Venice, Frari. Wood, figures about one-quarter life-size. In the face of the pedestal of the Virgin's throne, the words: "Joannes Bel- linus, p. 1488," engraved in Za- notto, Pinac. Ven. Fasc. 34. Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 169 altarpiece of Agostino Barbarigo, Bellini changes his tactics, piles impaste- of solid substance on the fleshy prominences, and gains light from without. It is the first time that he acknowledges principles familiar to Gentile and applied by him in the procession of the relic. Who that has visited Murano and entered the church of San Pietro Martire, does not know that beautiful canvas with its tasteless frame of the 17 th century, on which the Prince of Venice, introduced by S l Mark and S l Augustin, kneels in all the pomp of orange and ermine, yet with all the humility of a sinner, before the Virgin ? 1 who has not been delighted by the lovely calm of that Virgin, with her boy on her knee imparting the benediction to the sound of viol and guitar? What charm dwells in those two children or that wonderful row of cherubs' heads that hang on cloudlets about the purple curtain, what attractiveness in the vegetation of the landscape and its beds of weeds and flowers in which the crane, the peacock and the partridge alike elect to congregate ! How noble the proportions of the saints, how grand and real the portrait of the Doge! it is that here large contrasts of light and shade are united with bright and blended tone; that the atmosphere is playing round these people and helping them to live and move before us, and nature is ennobled by thought and skill. 2 As 1 Murano, San Pietro Martire. This altarpiece was for centuries in Santa Maria degli Angeli at Murano, a convent of which Agos- tino Barbarigo was the adminis- trator before his election to Doge in 1486. In it two of his daughters were nuns, and for its benefit he spent sums of money. The will of Agostino, which has been printed in D. V. Zanetti, del Monastero di S. M. degli Angeli, 8°, Venice 18C>:>, pp. 57 and fol., tells us that Bellini's picture was as late as July, 1501, an ornament of the | Barbarigo palace, and that it was taken after the Doge's death to | the high altar of Santa Maria degli Angeli. On the marble skirting of the throne step are the words : "Joannes Bellinus, 1488," above which are the ducal cap, the Bar- barigo shield, and the letters " A. B." For a long time disfigured by ex- tensive repainting, the surface is now at least clean, but the heads of St. Mark and of the Doge are dulled by restoring, and the blues and reds in the tunic and mantles of the Virgin and S l Mark are new. The best preserved bits are the cherubs. The figures are all but life-size. 2 Of this year 1188 we have a 170 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. this picture fades from sight, we may turn to the alle- gories of the Academy, where genial fancy gives raci- ness to scenes of singular meaning; a serpent turning round the bodies of two men is frightened by the tongue of one leaping from the recesses of a conch; nothing more sweet or brilliant than the solid warmth of the Giorgionesque touch. 1 The car of Bacchus is drawn by children, attended by a buskined personage with flying drapery, a lance and shield. Vivid colour, easy action and classic shape remind us of the artist's study of Mantegna and Donatello. 2 The naked mistress of some noble, on a pedestal, points to the likeness of her lord, reflected in a mirror, and babes with trump and drum gambol at her feet, a life-like reproduc- tion of some Venetian beauty suggestive of fecundity. 3 A female sits in a skiff with a child holding a globe, others playing pipes, and syrens skimming the whirl of waters. 4 The art is classic like that of an old cameo, recalls the Florentines Pollaiuolo or Botticelli, reveals the study of the antiques treasured in the museums of Vene- tian palaces and breathes the spirit of Titian's later bacchanals. But the feeling, substance, and handling of the piece are not so much a prelude to that of Titian as they are to that of Giorgione; and it difficult not to be struck by the similarity of spirit which gives a family air to these allegories of Bellini and that assigned to Barbarelli at the Uffizi. 5 portrait (wood), bust, half-life, signed, on a scroll: "Johannes Bellinus, 1488," in Dudley House. It is the likeness of a man of 35, with a reddish beard, in a black cap (hand new), background land- scape. The surface is so injured by retouching-, that one cannot judge of the panel's original value. 1 Venice Acad. No. 237, signed on a scrip: "Joannes Bellinus, p." The distance, a hill and castle, is put out of harmony by a repainted sky; wood, m. 0*33 by 0*22 broad. 2 Venice Acad. No. 235, wood, m. 0*30 by 0*32 high; sky injured. 3 Venice Acad. No. 236, wood, m. 0-34 b. by 0'21 high. 4 Venice Acad. No. 234, wood, m. 0.30 h. by 0'32 b. The sky new. Besides this, No. 238 in the same Academy; Avood, m. 0*27 h. by 0*18 b.; is part of the same series, and represents a female with wings and claws, and blinded; the sky, as before, new. b Uffizi, No. 630, originally in Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 171 Having now achieved almost all that could be expected of him in tempera and in oil, Bellini had but one more test to apply in order to complete the cycle. He had not as yet, as far as we know, been tried as a fresco painter; the climate of Venice having perhaps deterred his patrons from requiring the use of that method. An opportunity now offered itself on the mainland, and we believe it to be true that he painted in 1490 the tomb of the senator Onigo in San Mccolo of Treviso. For a long time this monument was shorn of much of its splendour by the erection of stalls at its base; but since these have been removed, the real proportions of the mass and the beauty of its decoration have been brought to view. A marble sarcophagus forms a centre inclosed in a frame surmounted by a broad pro- jecting entablature. The arms of Innocent the VIII. re- pose on this entablature, its projections supporting strings of trophies. The base of the frame rests on a cornice, at the angles of which two soldiers stand, each with a hand on a long sword. A frieze and panelling beneath circumscribe two circular plates imitating bas-reliefs — of a game between satyrs and syrens — and a cavalry skirmish. It is clear that a work so freely and grandly executed in a purely Venetian style can be due to none other than Giovanni Bellini, but it is remarkable that a man so lately accustomed to the easel should so fearlessly treat fresco. Tasteful design and freedom are lavished indiscriminately on the bas-reliefs and monochrome orna- ment, and the soldiers on the pedestals are outlined with strong incised contours of bold hardness, the lights being of sufficient transparence to show the underground, the half tints of a greenish grey, the shadows neutral and occasionally broken with brown; and here and there a dab of red on a lip or a cheek heightens the effect in a masterly manner. 1 the Medici villa of Poggio Impe- riale (but see postea in Giorgione). 1 Treviso, San Niccolo. The date, 1490, is on the marble sar- cophagus. Some parts of the dresses have lost colour, otherwise 172 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. Whilst this and so many other undertakings were absorbing Bellini's attention, it is but natural to suppose that the canvases of the Council were to a certain extent neglected. To rouse his zeal the Council of Ten had honoured him in 1483 with the title of Pittore del Do- minio, and increased his means by granting him exemption from the dues of his guild. 1 In 1488 it tried to sting his jealousy by introducing Luigi Vivarini as his rival. In 1494 it threatened him with the competition of Peru- gino. 2 After these reiterated demonstrations Giovanni at last devoted himself almost exclusively to his public works, turning aside but for a moment to paint the Baptism of Christ for the church of Santa Corona at Vicenza. 3 So advanced is the artist here in technical skill that he immediately foreshadows the style of 1505 in a rich pastose touch and brilliant golden tone. Noble the fresco is still in good condi- tion, being painted on a very polished surface of lime. Eidolfl (Marav. I. 86) assigns the work to Antonello. 1 Illustrazioni del Palazzo Du- cale, ub. sup. Decree of Feb. 26, 1483. 2 Gaye, Carteggio, II. 69—70, and, passim, in Perugino. The Umbrian was to have filled up the spaces between the windows on the north wall with the battle of Spoleti, as it was called (Ghiara- dadda), and another subject, and the complementary portraits of Doges in the frieze. 3 Vicenza, Santa Corona. The technical treatment of this picture might confirm the statement of Agletti, who says (without, how- ever, giving proofs) that the date of execution is 1501. (Elogio ub. sup.) The picture may be a little earlier. The date is given neither by Boschini (I Gioielli di Vicenza, 12", A 7 enice, 1676, p. 70), nor by Vendramin Mosca (Descrizione di Vicenza, 8°, 1779, part I. p. 14), but both say truly the picture seems done by Giorgione. The atmosphere has been taken away by the process of cleaning; re- touched are the face of the angel to the left, and the legs of the Saviour; restored or altogether renewed, the heads of the Eternal and Baptist, the blue of the Eternal's cloak, and the hair of the two angels to the left. A parrot has been put in by the restorer near the open scrip be- neath the Baptist's feet, on which one reads: "Joannes Bellinus. 1 ' The colour threatens everywhere to scale. Wood, arched, figures life-size. The only other examples of a Baptism of Christ by Bellini, mentioned by Venetian writers are one described by Boschini (Le R. Min. S. d. Castello, p. 35), and San- sovino (Ven. Desc. 47) in San Giovanni del Tempio at Venice, and now missing; another, men- tioned by Ridolfi (Le Marav. I. 88), but attributed to Cima by Bos- chini (Le R. Min. S. di D. Duro v 34) in the church of the Carita at Venice, and also missing. Chap. Till. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 173 is the silhouette and pose of the Christ standing on a bed of pebbles ; magnificent the type of his form, flexible his flesh; wild is the Baptist standing on the bank and pouring out the water; calm in their expectancy are the three angels to the left, whilst the Eternal with out- stretched arms looks down from above, through the quiet atmosphere of evening, into a valley closed at bottom by the cones of distant hills. But whilst this Baptism re- minds us of the progress which Giovanni makes as his mastery increases, it does not so fully divorce us from the older methods of treatment and of modelling peculiar to the painter, as the Virgin and child amidst saints completed in 1505 for San Zaccaria at Venice; an altar- piece in which Bellini takes us with a spring into the midst of the Venetian moderns. 1 There is no great dif- ference between the construction of the composition and that of previous ones, at San Giovanni e Paolo or San Giobbe. The Virgin is seated with the child in benediction between four saints in the semidome of a vaulted chapel, and an angel plays the viol on the step of her throne. It is not the arrangement, grand though it be, which strikes us by its novelty. The quality for which it is pre-eminently remarkable is depth of light and shade; a quality prominent in Giorgione, 2 Sebastian del Piombo, and Titian, attained as they were taught to attain it, by a most artful concentration of soft clear glow upon certain portions of the picture. There is no other example up to this time of great monumental art in this school; none in which composition, expression, movement, effect, and colour are so richly combined with freedom 1 Venice, San Zaccaria, life-size, arched. On a scrip to the left of the angel, the words: "Joannes Bellinus, MCCCCCV." Having been taken to Paris at the begin- ning of the century, and there transferred to canvas, there is sonic retouching in the parts; the Vir- gin's head especially being injured in the shadow side; the left hand of S l Catherine spoiled, and the hair of the Magdalen restored. 2 The later Venetians all pretend that Bellini here is inspired by Giorgione, but see postea in Gior- gione; and compare Zanetti, Pitt. Yen. 51. 174 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. of hand. We might perhaps criticise the squareness and shortness of proportion in the features and limbs of cer- tain figures ; like that of the bald S l Peter with his head inclined towards the spectator, or the bearded Jerom on the right looking down to his book. We might desire a more select type than the snub-nosed profile of the Magdalen/ or the bluff S l Catherine, but all inequali- ties disappear in the large contrasts of light and shade, in the breadth and fusion of the modelling, the firmness and solidity of the well-fed touch, in the great and mysterious exhibition of skill which escapes definition, but is always allied to mature practice in artists of supe- rior power. What in former time might in Giovanni be the fruit of precept, is here the fruit of a perfect con- sciousness of mastery 5 and as regards colour, what might be the result of seeking and trying in earlier days is here produced by absolute certainty of hand. Placed on the altar at San Zaccaria, for which it was completed, the picture is perspectively arranged to suit the spot and the lines of the outer architecture ; its light is calculated for that which falls from the principal window of the church. It is a masterpiece of the kind which Vasari called modern. What the effect of such a work on cotemporary painters might be, we have but little means of judging. It is clear that Bellini was innovating very seriously upon the practise of those who still worshipped Manteg- nesque traditions, and he was innovating too at an age when younger men might have been content to pause in the enjoyment of what they had gained, but he was sure that the rising generation of masters, the Titians and Giorgiones, would follow in his wake and still acknow- ledge him as chief, however much the older hands might murmur. 2 It was about this time that Albert Durer came 1 This type becomes a favourite with Seb. del Piombo, Pordenone, and Pellegrino. 2 "Er (Bellini) ist ser alt und is noch der pest Im gemell," says Durer (Durer to Pirkheimer, Feb. 1506 (in Campe, Reliquien, 12°, Nurnberg, 1828, p. 13). Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 175 from Nuremberg to Venice, and being patronized by the head of the wealthy house of Fugger, began to compete with the local artists. The small fry of these imme- diately showed their jealousy by persecution; they caused him to be fined as a stranger by the guild, they threat- ened him, and abused his work, copying him the while behind his back. 1 Curiously enough the strongest reproach they had to make was that he had too great a contempt for the antique, 2 but whilst the lowly herd thus showed its teeth and by its hostility suggested to Diirer that he should shun their company, Giovanni Bellini welcomed the stranger from beyond the Alps and even sought to purchase something from his hand, and Diirer in his letters to Pirkheimer has nothing but praise for the old Venetian's amiability. 3 As time went by a question arose; had Diirer been influenced by Bellini, or Bellini been altered by contact with Diirer? Vasari did not hesitate to state, and he did so with marked and unnecessary asperity, that the Bacchanal of 1514 was copied from Diirer, 4 when the utmost he might have con- fined himself to saying would be that the cast of drapery in that masterpiece was branched and broken somewhat after Diirer' s fashion, as it was about the same time in works of Giorgione and Boccaccino, in Carpaccio, the Signorelli of the North, or Montagna; but Vasari might have seen in the very altarpiece which he charged Bel- lini with copying, the altarpiece namely which was placed at the expense of the Fuggers in San Bartolommeo of Venice — which was taken by Rudolph II. to Prague, and is now in the Bohemian convent of Strahow— something very nearly scenting of the imitation of Giovanni » lb. ib. ib. 2 Ib. ib. ib. This is the very accusation made by Vasari against Bellini and the Venetians (XIII. 18). See the quarrel between Grimm (Kunstler and Kunstwerke, VII. VIII. ub. sup.) and Geheimerrath Waagen (Zeitschr. fur Bildende Kunst, vol. I. No. 5) as to the meaning of Diirer's letter in this matter. 3 lb. ib. ib. 1 Vasari XIII. 23. 176 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. Bellini. 1 In this most injured picture, in which the Vir- gin crowns the Kaiser Maximilian with roses in presence of a pope and a numerous congregation, an angel at her feet with a viol seems more like one of Bellini's children than any that Diirer ever drew before or since. 2 Albert himself asserts in more than one of his letters that those who affirmed he knew not how to colour were silenced by his success, and were induced to declare that they had never seen tints more beautiful. 3 "No one will fall into the mistake of supposing that Diirer could teach the Venetians any secrets of colour. They had mastered and modified the system of oil-painting derived through An- tonello from Van Eyck in a manner very different from his. But great as he was, he undoubtedly exercised an important influence on the painters of Northern Italy by attracting their attention to a necessary precision of de- tail in copying nature. In any other sense he was more likely to acquire than to convey instruction. Two of his pictures in Italy, clearly done at Venice, are the Christ amongst the apostles, a low red toned composition in the 1 That the picture of S l Bar- tolommeo was presented to that church by Cristoforo Fugger, is proved by Sansovino. (Ven. Desc. ub. sup. p. 135.) It was removed by order of Rudolph II. of Haps- burg, to Prague (Roth. Leben, A. D. 18", Leipzig, 1791, p. 23), Van Mander, Het. Sch. Boek. fol. Amsterd. 1618, p. 131, and re- placed in San Bartolommeo by an annunciation of Rotenhammer's. (Boschini Le R. Min. Ses. di San Marco, p. 108.) That it was a pic- ture of the Virgin and saints (Marienbild) is in Durer's own letters (Diirer to Pirkheimer, in British Museum, printed in Wiener Recensionen, by Geheimerrath Waagen, and reprinted in Grimm, "Kiinstler and Kunstwerke," No. VII. VIII. 18G5, p. 166—7). That the Strahow picture is the picture in question, is proved by the style and by the inscription: "Exegit quinque mestri spatio Albertus Diirer Germanus, MDV. 11 A copy of this picture at the Lyons Mu- seum with the same inscription, and some considerable alterations in the form of the composition, is due to an imitator of the later half of the 16 th century. It was brought from Vienna by Napoleon, who presented it to the Lyons Museum. See doc. in de Ris. Les Muse'es de province, II. 379. 2 In Grimm (Kiinstler and Kunst- werke, ub. sup. VII. VIII. 1865, pp. 160 — 2), the Strahow Madonna may be seen photographed. It is rubbed down and bleached in a very unusual manner. 3 Diirer to Pirkheimer, 1506, in Campe, p. 27, and Grimm, 167. Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 177 Barberini palace at Rome, 1 and an apostle's head of similar stamp in the Spannocchi gallery at Vienna, 2 but the noblest effort of his brush in those days is the small cru- cified Saviour in the museum of Dresden. 3 For propor- tion, power, life, and noble character this exquisite piece rivals the creations of Leonardo da Vinci. The flesh is treated with a soft blending and Avith a firmness of touch and richness of enamel almost unrivalled ; and such is the minuteness of the detail that we can see the hairs on the frame and the reflections in the eyes. A gem of this kind would naturally attract the attention of the great Venetians, and lead them to analyze nature with more care than was their wont 5 and it can hardly be doubted that studies of this sort were the moving cause of Titian's undertaking and completing that marvel of his youth, the Christ with the tribute money. That Diirer should have been flattered by the attentions of Bellini is not to be wondered at. Bellini was greatly respected by the Venetian nobles of his time, and almost spoiled by attentions from men of letters, dilettantes and collectors. Ariosto numbered him amongst the favorites of his muse ; Pietro Bembo, who made love and verses at the begin- ning of the century and changed his mistresses as he changed his servants, wrote sonnets to Bellini's portrait of his flame, 4 and sat for his own likeness ; 5 and Isabella, Marchioness 1 Rome, Barberini Palace, wood, spare in vehicle, with the shadows hatched as they would be in an engraving; inscribed, 1506. 2 Sienna Gallery, No. 29, with the monogram and remains of something like a date; the tone strong, and betraying the inten- tion of imitating the full tones of Boccaccino, but the impasto thin as before. 3 Dresden Museum, bought at the sale of the Bbhm collection in Vienna in Dec. 1865, wood, 7'/ 2 inches high by 6 b. Distance, sky and a landscape of very low VOL. I. horizon, inscribed with the mono- gram, and the year 1506 (usually read 1500). There were other pictures of Diirer's in Venice in the 16 th century; a figure of Christ shown to the Hebrews, in the hall of the Council of Ten. (Boschini, Le R. Min. Sest. di S. Marco, 23.) 4 Vas. V. 16, and Bembo, Opere, Milan, 8°, 1808, Vol. II. pp. 21 and 22. The picture is praised in sonnets XV. and XVI., but is not now to be traced. r< Ridolfi, Le Marav. I. 90. This portrait is lost. 12 178 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. of Mantua, used the poet's influence to get a picture for her drawing-room. Such was Bellini's independence that when Bembo promised to do the lady's bidding, he hardly trusted his own powers of persuasion, but enlisted the services of several of Giovanni's friends and patrons i About the time when Mantegna had finished the well- known series of allegories with which the Mantuan palace was adorned, the Marchioness had already made a fruit- less attempt to obtain a similar production from Bellini. His excuse for not complying with her request had been that he was too busy with other work; but desirous of deprecating the anger of so powerful a lady, he sent a nati- vity to Mantua, hoping by this means to prove his good will. 1 On the occasion of Bembo's visit to the Marchio- ness in the summer of 1505, she returned to the charge, urging her wish with such persistence that Bembo con- sented to mediate. In August he accordingly went to the atelier of Bellini with Paolo Zoppo, and both plied their batteries with such success, that Bembo was enabled to write to his protectress that "the castle had consented to surrender;" 2 still, he advised the Marchioness to write a letter in her own hand, and she accordingly sent one dictated to her secretary in the following Octo- ber, telling Giovanni how thankful she had been for the despatch of the "nativity/ 7 but how anxious she still felt that the u histories" of his brother-in-law Mantegna should be completed by a history from his (Bellini's) hand. 3 Giovanni replied, as we have reason to believe, in a note of acquiescence, asking for the measure of the canvas, whereupon the Marchioness responded stating that Bembo would be at Mantua in May, and that he would suggest a subject of which the particulars would afterwards be given. 4 Bembo, however, was not in 1 The nativity is not known to exist at this time. 2 Bembo to Isabella, Aug 1 . 27, 1505. (Darco. Arti di Mantova, nb. sup. II. GO. Gaye, Cart. II. 7G. 3 Capilupi to Gio. Bellini, Man- tua, Oct. 19, 1505. (Darco. ub. sup. II. GO. Gaye II. 80.) 4 Capilupi to Gio. Bellini. (Gaye II. 81, and Darco. II. 61.) Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 179 any hurry to visit Mantua, where malignant fever was raging*, and as he had seen Bellini towards the close of November, and ascertained that he was still inclined to accept the commission, 1 the Marchioness resolved to sug- gest a subject of her own and sent it for Bembo's con- sideration. 2 In acknowledging the receipt of the missive on new-year's-day, he warned Isabella not to fetter, by absolute directions, the talents of a man " who liked to wander in paths of his own/ 7 and concluded by telling her that if she would press Mantegna to fulfil certain promises he had made to Francesco Cornelio, a gentle- man of Venice, that nobleman would be of material assist- ance in keeping Bellini to the performance of his pro- mise. 3 In the meantime, to make matters surer, and perhaps, hoping to create rivalry between the brothers, Isabella sent an agent to Gentile Bellini to inquire whether he would paint a canvas for the palace of San Sebastian. 4 The answer here was short, in the negative, and as a last resource Bembo was again instructed to sound Giovanni. He brought messages as late as May, 1506, 5 and it is likely that at this time, if at all, Bellini was induced to undertake the work required of him. No record has been preserved to prove the despatch of a picture to Mantua; but if we can sup- pose the Marchioness to have chosen a sacred inci- dent instead of an allegory to match Mantegna's, we 1 Bembo to Isabella, Venice, Nov. 20, 1505 (Darco. II. Gl, Gaye II. 79). 2 As we judge from the context of the following. 3 Bembo to Isabella. Venice, Jan. 1, 1506 (n.s.) Gaye, II. 81, Darco. II. 57. 4 Anon, agent to Francesco, Mar- quis of Mantua. Venice, April 17, 1506 (Darco, II. 63—4). 5 Bembo to Isabella, May 13, 1506 (Gaye, II. 82. Darco, II. 64). f) The Mantuan catalogues of pictures sold by Daniel Nys to Charles I. of England, do not men- tion Bellini's name; and in the inventories of 1627 and 1700 at Mantua we only see notice of a Virgin, child, and S l Sebastian, and a Virgin, child, S ts John Baptist, John Evangelist, Jerom, and Catherine, both of which pieces are not now forthcoming, i Darco. II. 161.) We are also told that Bellini painted a like- ness of Isabella (Pungileoni, Gior- nale Arcadico, vol. I. 258, a pud Annot. Vas. V. 16), but this like- ness also is missing. 12* 180 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. might assume that Bellini sent her a beautiful panel re- presenting the death of Peter Martyr, which once adorned the house of the late Andrea Schiavone at Venice, and subsequently formed a part of Sir Charles Eastlake's col- lection. We have seen how admirably Bellini painted landscapes as backgrounds to votive altarpieces. In this example he creates the original model of those landscape pictures in which Giorgione, Titian, and Cariani became so famous, the peculiar feature of which is that the figures are altogether subordinate to the locality into which they are introduced. Here, indeed, Bellini is not successful in arrangement or appropriate action, repre- senting Peter Martyr to the left awkwardly prostrate as he falls stabbed to the ground, and Peter Martyr again hardly earnest in his flight from the dagger of the as-* sassin; but the foreground is the mere skirting of a thick forest in which woodsmen ply the axe, and shepherds lead their flocks, whilst, through an opening to the left, we are led over a bridge towards a city pleasantly nest- ling in an amphitheatre of hills, the light tints of the distance peeping through the screen of verdure. We are reminded in this scene of Castelfranco, the birth-place of Barbarelli, with its groves and luxuriant vegetation; and nothing can exceed the rich and well-blended golden colour with which the beautiful neighbourhood is here depicted. 1 How difficult it may have been for Bellini to satisfy all the demands that were made upon his industry in 1505, we may gather from the fact that he not only finished the Madonna of San Zaccaria, but a S l Jerom between Peter and Paul, for San Cristoforo of Murano, 2 and a Virgin and saints preserved for a lengthened period in the gallery of the Del Pozzos at Verona. 3 But, more 1 London, late Sir C. Eastlake, wood, 5f. 2'/ 2 broad by 3f. 2 high; the surface not free from restor- ing. 2 Boschini (Le Ric. Min. Sest. della Croce, p. 20), Sansovino (Ven. Desc. p. 234), and Zanetti (Pitt. Ven. pp. 51—2). 3 Dal Pozzo, ub. sup. pp. 306 and 310. Chap. VJII. i GIOVANNI BELLINI. 181 important still) he had to paint, ex officio, the likenesses of the Doge Leonardo Loredano, one of which, an heir- loom in the family of the Grimani, 1 has found its last resting-place in the National Gallery. 2 This remarkable portrait is a singular instance of the skill with which Bellini could seize and embellish nature, reproduce the flexibility of flesh in a soft and fused golden tone, and venture at the same time into every line of detail. An- tonello, whose success had been so marked in previous years, might have seen, had he lived, to what perfection the technical system of the Van Eyck's could be brought by an artist of feeling and talent. Though Loredano sat to Bellini — as he sat to others — again and again; and though Bellini's fame is in part due to his portraits, there is no better example of the painter 1 s talents in this branch to be found ; but we are bound, whilst dwelling on this fact, to remember that the number of Bellini's productions of this kind is. now limited. We have seen that he counted Bembo, Giovanni Mocenigo, and Agos- tino Barbarigo amongst his sitters; but the number of persons who came to his atelier would make a long list, comprising all the celebrities of his time, whom he introduced into subject pieces, many Doges, Pietro de' Priuli, 3 Leonico Tomeo, 1 Filippo Vendramin, 5 Gia- como Marcello, 6 and Bartolommeo Alviano, 7 captains of 1 This was not a solitary spe- cimen, we are told, by Ridolfi (Le Marav. I. 96) ; there were two great "cosmographies" by Bellini in this palace, with figures of Ptolemy, Strabo, Pliny, and Pom- ponius Mella. 2 National Gallery, No. 189, bust portrait of -the Doge in his robes of state, signed in an un- folded scrip on the parapet: "Jo- annes Bellinus." 3 Pietro de 1 Priuli appeared as kneeling patron in a Virgin and child between S 1 * Peter, Romualdo, Mark and Francis, in an altar- piece described in San Michele of Murano, by Sansov. (Ven. Desc. 235.) This altarpiece, as well as the "resurrection 11 in the same church is missing. (Ridolfi, Le Mar. I. 89.) Boschini (Le Ric. Min. S. della Croce, p. 21), assigns the piece to Cima. There is likewise nothing known of the S ts Con- stantine and Helen mentioned by Boschini (Le Ric. Min. S. della Croce, p. 21.) 4 Anon. 15. 5 lb. 80. 6 lb. 67, 201. 7 Vas. V. 17. Ridolfi (Le Marav. I. 97). None of these portraits are traceable, nor have we dis- 182 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. the Venetian armies. The busts preserved in galleries are almost all nameless, and some of them, like that of a youth in the Lochis Carrara Museum at Bergamo, 1 are ruined by retouching, whilst others are frequently Bellini's only by courtesy. 2 Many, such as that of Hampton Court, or those of Liverpool, of Munich, of the Uffizi at Florence, and the Capitol at Rome, are called likenesses of Bellini by himself; but, as usual in these cases, it is very difficult to find out the one genuine portrait of the series, for all are dissimilar in character and features, besides being unlike those attributed to Gentile Bellini. At Munich, as we have already observed, 3 the hand is not that of Giovanni; at Hampton Court the features are pinched and stern, but the treatment seems hardly equal to that of Giovanni, though it is vain to pretend to a correct opinion when a panel has received so much injury; 4 at Liverpool the face is that of a youth disfigured by covered the portrait of Aldus Ma- irazius noted in Cicogna Isc. Ven. III. p. 45. 1 Lochis Carrara, No. 204, wood, inscribed in an unfolded scrip on the marble screen: "Joannes Bel- linus, p." 2 We cite in loose order as such: Correr Mus. at Venice, No. 17, bust of a youth more modern than Bellini, and justly questioned in the catalogue. Pat, (three miles from Belluno) Gall. Manzoni, No. 33, bust, front face, in black cap and vest, wood, small, so injured as to make it improper to give any opinion. Mo den a Gall. No. 499, copper, portrait of a man; not of the Ve- netian school. Genoa, Palazzo Brignole, three- quarter length; a man in a fur cloak, bareheaded, with his left hand on a book, a scroll in his right, inscribed: "Franc. Philetus Doctor. 11 Distance, a landscape; a poor example, possibly by Ber- nardino Pordenone. Uffizi, No. 177. Portrait of an aged man; a copy, perhaps, and somewhat in the style of Giovanni Martini of Udine. Rome, G a 1 1 e r i a B o r g h e s e, Room XI. No. 27, a magnificent bust by Antonello (see postea); and in the same frame a youth (half-length) dated 1510 (?) recall- ing the art of Vittor Belli or Mancini. No. 39, bust of a female in a yellow cap and a green dress, of a later date than Bellini. Rome, Gallery of the Capitol, No. 207, portrait of a female. (See postea in ErcoleGrandi the younger). London, R. S. Holford, Esq., small panel with a bust of a boy, three-quarters to the right, in- scribed at the ' sides of an empty scrip: "Opus Bellini Joannes Ve- neti non aliter; 11 possibly by An- tonello (see postea.) 3 Passim, (the portrait is No. 604 cabinets.) 4 Hampton Court, No. 277, wood, inscribed on a scrip: "Joannes Bellihus." Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 183 retouching; 1 at the Uffizi we have a genuine work by Bellini, representing a man of forty or fifty, with a heavy curly wig, a violet cap ; and black silk coat, broad in forehead and in cheek, with eyes wide apart, a. thin barrelled nose and a small mouth. 2 Though stippled up by a modern restorer, the colour is slight, well fused, and tastefully laid on in the method observable in pic- tures of 1480 to 1487. There has been a tendency to acknowledge this as a true likeness in our day, 3 though Vasari's engraving points much more surely to the panel in the Capitol at Rome, done earlier than that of Florence, and dating from a time when Giovanni had not as yet overcome the difficulties of oil medium. 4 It is a carefully drawn bust of a beardless man in a long yellow wig, with a sharp glance from the black pupil of his eye, low angular brow, a round-balled nose, and a sarcastic mouth; and it might be preferred before its rivals for the very cogent* reason that it is most like the medal coined by Camelio and still preserved at Venice. 5 Bound by the dying wish of his brother to finish the sermon of S l Mark for the school of that name in 1507, perhaps more than usually busy in that and the following years with the canvases of the great Council Hall, Bellini produced comparatively little between 1506 and 1513, and — painful to relate ■ — such sacred pieces as he completed for San Francesco della Vigna in 1507, (i 1 Liverpool Institution, No. 32, wood, bust in black cap and vest; distance, sky; inscribed on the parapet: "Joannes Bellinus." 2 Uffizi, No. 351, wood, bust under half life-size, with the words : " Joannes Bellinus, 1 ' written on the yellow marble ledge. 3 It has been used as a model for a bust in the Academy of Ve- nice, by the sculptor Borro, and by the editor of the later edition of Ividolfi quoted in these pages. 4 No. 132, Gallery of the Capitol, wood, inscribed on the parapet: "Joannes Bellinus; 11 distance, sky (retouched). The tone is even throughout, and a little opaque; the colour thinly rubbed in with great minuteness of detail, the ground gesso seen through the yellow hair; back of panel mar- bled. 5 See a description of it in Anon. 247. 6 Venice, San Francesco della Vigna, cappella Santa, wood, half- lengths, under life-size, of the Virgin and child between S' Sebas- tian and S l Jerom, S' Francis and 184 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. and for an unknown patron in 1509, 1 are now injured beyond redemption; but a Virgin and child of 1510 at the Brera, stamps the art of Bellini in these days with a peculiar impress, being handled with great ease and confident haste, and characterized by a general glaze over monochrome preparations, veiling the surfaces with a very strong and glowing film. 2 Giorgione, at this time, had left the atelier; as we may judge from the single fact that his frescos in the Fondaco de' Tedeschi were valued at Bellini's suggestion in 1508 by Lazzaro Bastiani, Carpaccio and Vittor di ? Matteo; but the journeyman in Giovanni's atelier, of which these pieces most remind us, is Previtali, whose Virgins in 1510 and 1511 were of this character. Three years later Bellini completed for San Giovanni Crisostomo a picture only second in style and monumental grandeur to that of 1505 at San Zaccaria, a picture which lacks the firmness of touch conspicuous in the master's productions at the beginning of the century, but remarkable for glow of tone and breadth of treatment, in projected shadows, chiaroscuro, and drapery. There is something striking and quaint in the form of the subject — S l Christopher and S l Augustin being represented standing at the opening S l John Baptist, presenting a donor in pilgrim's dress; distance, land- scape, inscribed as usual : "J oannes Bellinus, MDVII." The flesh parts are almost completely covered over with repainting of a dark and opaque tinge; but the treatment, especially in the distance, seems to have been broad and easy. The child's form, however, is heavier than of old. 1 Venice, late collection of the Duchess of Berri. Virgin and child, half-lengths in a landscape, wood, inscribed on a scrip fast to a book in the Virgin's hand: "Jo- annes Bellinus, MD Villi." This panel, with all but life-size figures, but almost entirely repainted, be- longed quite lately to the Duchess of Berri, and was put up for sale at Vienna in the spring of 1868. It was previously in the Casa Mocenigo, a San Polo. (Agletti ub. sup. p. 78.) 2 Brera, No. 209, wood, m. 1.50 high, by 1'21 broad, three-quarter lengths, all but life-size. Behind the Virgin a green curtain, and a landscape, with a horseman and a shepherd and flock; a cartello on a tree to the right bears the inscription: "Joannes Bellinus, MDX." 3 See the record in Gualandi, Mem. ub. sup. Ser. III. p. 91, and Gaye, Cart. II. 157—8. Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 185 of an arch through which S l Jerom may be seen reading a book in a landscape. 1 Something peculiar in the execution and impasto, and a certain vulgarity in the drawing guide us to the conviction that Bellini had secured the services of a new assistant, and that this assistant is Basaiti. From this time indeed Basaiti seems to have given a new aspect to his style, as we shall see at San Pietro Martire of Murano; 2 but he probably helped Bellini previously in many a picture — slightly in a Virgin, child and saints recently added to the Louvre collection; 3 in a rich bright Madonna with four saints, a Virgin and child, and Christ in grief belonging to the late Sir Charles Eastlake; 4 in a 1 Venice, San Giovanni Criso- sto-mo. Wood, figures life-size, of good proportions and very easy in their movement; inscribed on a scrip in the marble screen be- tween the foreground figures : "MDXIII. Joannes Bellinus." The nearer parts of the landscape are finely made out in a warm brown colour, with varieties of weeds and creepers, and with stones scat- tered about (engraved in Vol. XXV. of the Ape Italiana). San- sovino writes (Ven. Des. 154) of a S l Mark in San Giovanni Criso- stomo by Bellini, but it is not to be found. 2 A picture originally in the Angeli of Murano, called Bellini by Ridolfi (Le Marav. I. 94). In the Stuttgardt Gallery, No. 134, we have a Virgin and child, signed: "Marcho &. Joa. B. p." much re- touched, query by Basaiti, Marco Pensaben, or Marco Belli. Of the same class in the same gallery, No. 69, a Virgin and child greatly repainted and very weak. 3 Louvre, No. 69 bis, wood, m. 0-84 high by 0'61 b. It belonged I to Mr. Van Cuyek, the Prince of Orangej Mr. Brentano, and Lord Northwick in succession. It re- presents the Virgin and child, S l Peter and the young S l Sebastian, with three cherubs' heads in the sky, signed: "Joannes Bellinus," a very careful, clear, even-toned picture, of fused surface. The child a little stiff. 4 London, late Sir C. Eastlake. 1°, Virgin, child, and S ts Peter, George, John Bapt. and a female; the Virgin with her hand on the head of a donor, looking up in prayer from the right side of the picture, wood, 4f. by 2*3'/ 2 , signed, "Jo- annes Bellinus, 11 very careful and bright, but not free from retouch- ing. 2°, the child on a cushion resting on a parapet, takes an orange from the Virgin, behind her a lake red hanging, and, through a window, a landscape — signed in the parapet, "Joannes Bellinus," wood, half-life. The face of the child is good, the tone pleasant, but the treatment a little feeble. 3°, Christ naked to the knee, with the crown of thorns on his head, and rays issuing from him; (land- scape distance), of a free type and fine natural form, well contrasted in the mass of light and shade, rich in touch and in tint of dis- tance, but a little cold from slight restoring. 186 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. Virgin belonging to Mr. Layard { , and one adorning the Leuchtemberg collection at S l Petersburg, 2 and almost exclusively in a holy family of the late Northwick collection. 3 That it was Bellini's habit at times to trust greatly to his assistants, might be inferred from numerous examples in public and private galleries. Without mentioning such pictures as the Christ at Emmaus in San Salvatore of Venice, which is obviously by Carpaccio, 4 or the Virgin adoring Christ at the church del Redentore, and at San Giovanni in Bragora by Luigi Vivarini, 5 there are panels in many places called Bellini, which are due either totally or in part to his disciples; as such we might put together a considerable number in which the 1 London, Mr. Layard. Virgin holding' the child with his hands resting on each other; her left hand on a book; a landscape is seen through a window to the left. Wood, half life-size, signed: "Jo- annes Belliniis;" of old subjected to some cleaning and retouching. This Virgin was formerly in the Vendramin palace, and is men- tioned in the catalogue of that collection. (MS. in British Mu- seum. De Picturis in Museis Dm Andrae Vendramino positis, an" MDCXXVII.) 2 S l . Petersburg, Leuchtemberg collection. No. 5, wood; the child holds a bird; behind the Virgin a green curtain, and to the left a landscape. (The head of the Vir- gin and the child's feet are ruined by restoring.) 3 Late Northwick collection. No. 883 of the collection; wood, 3f. 6 by 2f. 8. Virgin, child, Joseph, and to the right in foreground two partridges; behind the Virgin a tree-trunk, and in distance a broad landscape, signed: "Joannes Belli- nus." This panel is flayed, and in [ part retouched. The name is even unsatisfactory, but we are re- | minded of Basaiti's picture, No. 599 at the National Gallery. 4 We shall have occasion to convince ourselves of this further on. (See postea, Carpaccio.) But it is necessary to state here that the authorship of Bellini has the countenance of Boschini, Sanso- vino, and Ridolfi. We have to notice further, as assigned to Gio. Bellini, a last supper, which passed from the Casa Federigo Contarini into the Casa Ruzzini Priuli, and thence into the Manfrini collec- tion; but where that picture may now be is not known. If it be the small panel in possession of Signor Fornaser at Venice, who says he had it from the Manfrini palace, it is a small Bellinesque work of good impasto, but of no great importance. Another is men- tioned by Ridolfi (Le Marav. I. 96) in the Cornaro palace. It was taken to Vienna and burnt in the fire of the Razumowski palace. (Zanotto Pinac. Ven. Fasc. 10), and bore the date of 1490; but mark, Ridolfi only speaks of a Cena, in which Christ, Cleophas, [ and Luke are present. 5 We have sought to prove this, | passim, in Luigi Vivarini. Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 187 hand of Cima may be traced. 1 Then there are those which betray the feeble style of Bissolo, 2 others 1 1°, S l Petersburg", Hermitage, No. 4, Virgin and child between S ts Peter and Anthony (see postea). 2°, S l Petersburg, gall, of Count Paul Stroganoff, Virgin and child betw. S l John the Bapt. and another saint, with the false signature of Gio- vanni; both these are by Cima, as well as: 3°, Virgin, child, Baptist and another saint in the gallery of Baron Speck Sternburg at Liit- schena, near Leipzig, which also bears the signature, " Joannes Bel- linus." 4", Virgin and child, signed "Joannes Bellini," belong- ing to Signor F. Frizzoni at Bel- lagio, near Como. 5°, Virgin and child between S l Francis and a female saint, signed "Joannes Bel- linus faciebat," once in the Rogers' 1 collection, belonging to S. H. An- derdon, Esq., and exhibited at Manchester. But, most important of all, Venice, Chiesa della Carita, but now No. 582, Academy, Vir- gin and child, two Migels, S ts Catherine, George, Nicholas, An- thony, Sebastian and Lucy, given by Boschini (Le Pic. Min. S., di D. Duro, p. 35) to Bellini. 2 In the Chiesa del Redentore at Venice there is a Virgin and child between S ts Jerom and Francis (wood, half-life), half-lengths, as- signed to Giovanni Bellini by Bos- chini (Le Ric. Min. S. di D. Duro, 65 — 6) and other Venetian writers. Behind the Virgin a red curtain on a dark ground. The execution of this piece is greatly reminiscent of Bissolo, whose replica of it is to be found under its proper name in the Casa Alvise Mocenigo at San Stae in Venice. It is therefore 1 probable that Bissolo was the | author as assistant in the atelier of Bellini. Still clearer is this co- operation in a Virgin and child between S l John Evangelist and S l ! Catherine of Alexandria, in the sacristy of this very church. Though — like its companion, above-men- tioned — greatly injured, this piece still betrays the original feebleness of its execution. More in the character of Giovanni and signed with his name, is the Virgin and child alone — exactly like those of the Chiesa del Redentore — in the collection of Mr. Thomas Baring in London. (Wood, half-life, knee- piece.) Behind this Virgin is a green curtain and a landscape to the right (shadows injured). A feeble copy, even to the name, of the Baring example, is in the Czernin gallery at Vienna (wood), and a repetition of the same arrange- ment — also a copy — is in the Ajata gallery at Crespano. In the Scalzi (Carmelites) of Venice, there is a Virgin and child (wood, half-life), engraved in Zanotto (Pinac. Ven. Fasc. 3.), with the usual green hanging behind her, intercepting a landscape. This may have been originally a good picture of the master about 1500, but it has been too much cleaned and repainted to warrant a strong opinion. Zanetti mentions it, (Pitt. Ven. p. 55.) Boschini (Le Ric. Min. S. di D. Duro, 39) mentions a Virgin and child in San Gervaso e Protaso at Venice (engraved in Pinac. Ven. Fasc. 15) as by Bellini, but Zanotto is correct in ascribing it to Bis- solo, unless it should be by Bar- tolommeo Veneto, the colour being bricky and vitrous. In the parish church of Pianiga (three miles from Dolo) there is an altarpiece to which the name of Bellini is given, the character being that of a piece by Bissolo — subject : S l Martin sharing his cloak between S ts John Evangelist, Peter, James and Jerom; upper course, the Virgin, child, and young Baptist between S ts George (dirty), Gregory (ditto), Sebastian and Louis (ditto), a very feeble and flat-toned series 188 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. suggesting Previtali or Lotto, 1 more reminiscent of Vittor Belli, or Pennacchi, 2 Marco Belli, Cariani, 3 or Gior- of panels. In the same style, but under Bellini's name, a small panel with figures one-fourth of life-size, representing- an adoration of the magi in the gallery of Perugia. Feebler than Bissolo, and much damaged, is a so-called Bellini, a Virgin and child, No. 1119 (wood), in the gallery of Schleissheim. 1 The most important of these is a marriage of S* Catherine in San Giobbe, christened Bellini by Zanetti and others, called B. Bellini by Zanotto, who engraves it (Pinac. Ven. Fasc. 25), really by Previtali, to whose life (post.) we must refer. Of the same character, with some- thing of Rondinello, the Virgin, ch. and Bapt. in the Doria gall, at Rome (No. 25), noticed (passim) with its re- plica in the Rasponi gall, at Ravenna. Finally, under Bellini's name at Hampton Court, No. 554, a con- cert (canvas, with four life-size figures), an empty low-toned piece, dulled by retouching and varnishes, recalling the last days of Previtali or Lotto. In character like the works of Previtali when known at Venice under the name of Cordelia, is a Virgin and child between S l Peter and S l Helen, in possession of Mr. Barker in London. 2 In Casa Gera at Conegliano is a Virgin and child in a landscape (wood, kneepiece), with a donor in black, looking up in the left hand corner. This picture, called Gio- vanni B., has not his firmness of touch. Its gloomy yellow tone and fatty colour are reminiscent, as we shall see, of Vittor Belli, or the Friulans, subsequent to Giovanni's time, not forgetting Domenico Man - cini of Treviso, whose work of 1511 is preserved. Near the high altar in San Leonardo of Treviso is a large picture of S l Erasmus en- throned between S ts John the Bap- tist and Sebastian. The forms of the principal figures are short and square, the colour reddish, dry and flat, and the whole besides re- painted and grimed. The archi- tecture is in the style of that used by Vittor Belli in an altar- piece at Spinea, but the general treatment recalls Pennacchi; and if so, he would be Vittor's master. 3 Gallery of Rovigo, No. 31, ca- talogued as Bellini, and inscribed on the wheel of S l Catherine : "Joannes Bellinus." Subject, mar- riage of S l Catherine in a land- scape. The forms are golden, but empty. It might remind us of Girolamo Santa Croce, or Cariani, were not those artists too modern. We may suppose the author to be Marco Belli at a date preceding that of the circumcision in this gallery. There is a replica of this, called Basaiti, at Dudley House; another, a copy of that of Dudley House, in the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge, a third in the gal- lery of Padua, originally in the Capodilista collection, much abraded and spoiled by cleaning (all of them on wood, figures one-sixteenth of life, half-lengths). In the Hoser collection at Prague is a holy family, in the manner of Marco Belli, or Catena (No. 66, Room 6, wood.) More in the manner of Cariani than of any other artist, is a Vir- gin, child, and S l Peter, a small canvas (No. 32, Room XL) in the Borghese palace at Rome, a plea- sant piece, a little vaporous in outline, Lotto as regards colour, old Palma in the masks of the Virgin, golden in tint, and careful. (Figures half-length, under life- size.) By the same, who, as we know, continued the manner of old Palma, and studied Giorgione, a female (half-length on panel, half life-size), with thick yellow hair, in a dark green dress and red sleeves, a pleasing cheerful figure in natural movement, rich and rosy in hue of flesh; a little feebler in Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 189 gione, 1 Catena/ 2 Pasqualino, 3 Santa Croce, 4 Antonello of execution than a Palma would be, in the Esterhazy collection just sold at Pesth. The figure is a slight variety of that belonging to the president of the hospital at Bergamo. 1 Deserving of Giorgione's name, but bearing that of Bellini, is a predella representing the adoration of the magi, belonging to Sir W. Miles of Leigh Court; the art being that subsequent to Bellini, illus- trated by Palma Vecchio, Seb. del Piombo, and Titian, followed by Pellegrino and Pordenone. 2 We have already noted the portrait of Doge Loredano, by Catena, under Bellini's name at the Dresden Museum, No. 210. It is hard in colour, and not touched as Bellini would have done. There is a very pretty little canvas of S l Jerom in his study, at the National Gallery (No. 694), for- merly in the Manfrini collection. It is evidently by a pupil and imitator of Bellini. The colour is pearly, and recalls Lotto or Ba- saiti, as we see him at San Pietro di Castello of Venice, or Previtali, as he appears after 1502. The author may be Catena. The pic- ture is a clean and pretty thing by an artist of the second class, following Gio. Bellini at the period when Giorgionesque painting came in fashion, and imitating that phase so as to lose his own originality. In the Raczynski collection at Berlin, No. 61, a holy family, with a male and female saint, half- lengths, in a landscape distance, is assigned to Bellini, but recalls the youth of Bissolo, as in certain j so-called Carpaccios in the Brera (see postea in Carpaccio), or the early time of Cariani, or — most likely of all — Catena. The flesh is yellowish, of slight body, yet horny and monotonous. (Wood, small, originally in the collection of Lucien Bonaparte.) 3 We shall notice several un- doubted works of this feeble fol- lower of Giovanni. There is a Virgin and child assigned to the latter by Boschini (Le Rie. Min. Ses. di D. Duro, 67), in the sacristy of the ch. del Redentore, in which we trace his hand, and this espe- cially in the clumsy child, and the yellow tone of the flesh with its high surface shadows. Similarly recalling Pasqualino are the fol- lowing assigned to Gio. Bellini; Correr Museum, No. 15, Virgin and child between S ts Jerom and Catherine. Rome, gall. Barberini, Virgin and child, No. 58. 4 There is a so-called Bellini, No. 39, wood, subject, the Virgin and child between S ts Jerom and Joseph, in the museum of Carls- ruhe, which, though much re- painted, reminds us of the style of Girolamo Santa Croce. Similarly, a hastily executed holy family in the Scarpa collection at LaMotta in Friuli (wood, six figures, greatly injured), a feeble though carefully painted Virgin, child, John Bap- tist, and Jerom (No. 32, wood), in the Liverpool Institution. 5 We have already spoken of certain portraits at Rome and in London (passim). 6 We shall have good reason for giving the name of Sebastian del Piombo to the Incredulity of S l Thomas in San Niccolo of Treviso, which Federici (Memorie Trev. I 225) assigns to Giovanni Bellini. 7 These are numerous, as fol- lows: Venice, San Fantino (sec Boschini Le Ric. Min. Ses. di S. Marco, p. 96, and Zanetti, Pitt. Ven. 56), Virgin, child, and S l Joseph, in front of a landscape and damasked curtain, by a nerve- less follower of Bellini in his last days. Yet Zanotto (Pinac. Ven. Fasc. 31) engraves this ruined and repainted panel as genuine. Chi- oggia, San Jacopo, S l Sebastian and S l Roch by an artist later than Titian. Romanz, ch. of the 190 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. Messina, 5 Sebastian del Piombo ; G nameless Bellinesques, and strangers to the Venetian school. 8 Annunziata, between Cividale and Aquileia, with the forged signature, "Gian .Bell , M°. DI. Tit' 10 , 1437 pixt.," a :picture of the 16 th cen- tury, with the Virgin and child between S ts Nicholas and Catherine ; and below, a female saint between S l George and the Dragon and S l Martin sharing his cloak. Padua, Communal Gallery, formerly in Santa Giustina (see Brandolese, Guida, p. 103 — 4), Virgin, child, and Baptist, with a scrip on a screen behind the figures, on which scrip the words, " Joannes Bellinus MDVI," a forgery, the canvas dat- ing really from the close of the 16 th century. Crespano, Ajata Gall. Copy of the foregoing, including the signature and date. Turin, gall. No. 198, wood, kneepiece, rep. the Virgin and child between S l Joseph, and the Baptist, pre- senting a donor. An old panel, with the forged signature, "Jo. Bellinus." Bergamo Duomo. Behind the choir is an ill-lighted Virgin and child under Bellini's name, but it seems of a later style, like Palma or Lotto, probably by Savoldo. Madrid Museum, No. 414, S l Peter receiving the keys from Christ, a copy, we may be- lieve, of a better piece now belong- ing to the Marquis of Exeter, Bur- leigh House, of which there is a still smaller repetition once in possession of Mr. Anthony, the picture dealer. Vienna, Acad, of Arts, No. 335, Virgin and child, between S ts Jerom, John Baptist, a female and Paul (wood), in- scribed on a scrip: "Joanes Bel- linus. 1 ' This is an old school- piece, by some follower of the master. Stuttgardt, Mus., No. 42, canvas, Virgin and child, with the word, "Joannes." This word seems old, but the picture is now not so. No. 21, Virgin, child, S ts Pantaleo and Peter presenting a patron, canvas, with a dubious "Joannes Bellinus," a repainted work. S l Petersburg, col. of Count Paul Stroganoff, Virgin and child, by a copyist of Bellini. 8 Parma, gall. No. 24, full-length of the Saviour in benediction, either by Caselli or Araldi, at all events hard and raw in tone as a work of Palmezzano. Rimini, Communal Gallery, dead Christ bewailed by four angels. We shall see reason to assign this life-size tempera to Zaganelli. San Marino, San Francesco. Virgin and child be- tween S ts Marino, John Baptist, Francis and Catherine; a work like Coda's or Girolamo Cotig- nola's. Lond., Dudley House, Vir- gin and child, in a landscape, inscribed: " Joannes Bellinus" (wood, half-length), by a freehanded follower of Bellini, such as Ron- dinello shows himself. Carlsruhe Museum, No. 155, S l Sebastian at the pillar, inscribed with a forged "Joannes Bellinus pingebat, MCCCCLXXI." the old signature of Palmezzano still appearing un- derneath. Padua, Casa Galeazzo Dondi-Orologio, S l Jerom erect and almost naked (small panel), per- haps by a Ferrarese, Stefano of Ferrara (postea). Padua, Casa Nordio, Virgin, child and S l Jo- seph, inscribed with the false name "Joannes Bellinus f. 1508" (wood), Ferrarese, perhaps by Erco'le di Giulio Grandi (see postea). Mo- dena Gallery, No. 39, nativity by Galeazzo Campi, in the manner of Boccaccino. No. 127 and 499 in the same gallery, are still less Bellinesque than the above. Rome, gall, of the Capitol, Nos. 79 and 87 (wood, half life-size), erect figures of S ts Sebastian and Nicho- las, of a glowing enamel like Dosso Dossi's. No. 207, more near Costa's manner. S c h 1 e i s s h e i m, Gallery, No. 989, Virgin, child, S ts Anthony, Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 191 Towards the close of a long and well-spent life, and almost at the very moment when Titian was trying to supersede him in the "senseria" of the Fondaeo, and take his place at the Hall of the Great Council, Giovanni Bellini painted one of the gay and sensual scenes to which the genius of the Venetian school seemed so peculiarly adapted. In extreme old age and on the brink of the grave, he entered on his task with the lightsome heart of youth. Accustomed to deal with art in its broadest and most sweeping style, and to trust for effect to the length of his practice and the certainty of his experience, he turned upon his steps, reverted to the minute and careful manner of earlier years, and pro- duced a composition remarkable for simplicity, and an elevated feeling of selection. This beautiful piece, originally commissioned for Alphonzo of Ferrara, has found its resting-place in the house of the dukes of Northumberland after many vicissitudes, and represents the feast of the gods, in a beautiful North Italian glade, the most conspicuous of the deities being Mercury with his wand in the middle of the foreground. Nothing can be truer or more natural than the group of males and females at his side sitting or recumbent, indulging in fruit or wine, or replete with both, and whilst Silcnus unloads his ass, servants draw the sparkling liquor, and and Sebastian (wood), by a Bolog- nesc of Francia's school. No. 1141, Herodias with the head of the Baptist, like a work of Calisto da Lodi. Milan, Brera, 204, wood, with the false inscription, "Bellinus." A Virgin and child, the latter taking' a flower from a vase, a Lombard work with the look of Andrea of Milan. No. 277, Virgin and child, modern and not Venetian. Vi- cenza Pinac. No. 36, Virgin and child, inscribed, "Joanes Bellinus" — a forgery, school of the Luini. Bribaho, near Belluno, ch. of San Niccolo, Virgin and child between S ,s Nicholas and Roch, half-life. Leonardesqne, reminiscent of, yet not by, Boccaccino. Brescia ch. of San Gio. Evangelista, deposi- tion from the cross (wood, nine figures, one-third of life), in the manner of Vicenzo Civerchio. Liverpool, M. Ch. Roner, No. 78, at the Dublin Exhibition, holy family, of Leonardesqne manner, and by a Lombard. Belluno, Casa de' Pagani, Virgin, child and donor by Fungai. Rome, (Jail. Corsini, No. 90, a S* Jcrom, by a painter of the close of the 16 th century. 192 THE VENETIANS. Chap. VIII. satyrs serve the cups around. How observant the painter still could be of life and action, we see in a figure near Mercury holding a flask beneath the cask, or in the wreathed one helping the tipsiest to drink. Here are types — like that of a female bearing a cup, or a goddess about to taste of fruit — that seem derived from the classic works of Greece, whilst nature is copied with simplicity and truth. Free, perhaps loose, is the action of the man lifting the cloth of a drowsy nymph reposing to the right; ornaments of vases are taken from the best antique examples. It is a quiet orgy on the bank of a stream at even-tide, beneath the shade of noble trees. The kingfisher sits on a reed, and the pebbly sand is strewed with the remnants of the feast — nothing better than the distribution and arrangement of the com- pany. Amid the intricate interlacing of branch and foliage, touched with the golden tint of sunset, and in the undulations of the middle distance, we see satyrs sport or climb the boughs. Far off, a rocky hill shoots out of the valley, and is capped with the towers of a castle — an exact view of Cadore, as seen from the point of Previs. The distance and episodes are counterparts of those which Titian painted in his smil- ing days, tinted with the richness of his Bacchus and Ariadne, glowing with the warmth of the bacchanals of Madrid. Yet so easy is the passage from Bellini's art to his, that the transition creates no contrast. The tone throughout is harmonized, and the art of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries meets and mingles in perfect fellowship. It happened, therefore, to Bellini, that he signed this picture in 1514, after sketching it, and that when Titian was asked by the Duke of Ferrara to complete the series, he had to finish Bellini's work before he began his own. 1 Yet Bellini lived for some time 1 Alnwick Castle. The history of this picture, now in Alnwick Castle, is in Vasari. XI. 235 and XIII. 23. It was in the Ludovisi and Aldobrandini collections in Rome, before it came to England, Chap. VIII. GIOVANNI BELLINI. 193 longer. In 1515 he painted the so-called Venus of the Belvedere, a fine and well-selected type of ordinary female beauty, and so he ended with a startling contrast to the early severity of his boyish years. 1 His death occurred on the 29 lh of November, 1516, 2 and he was buried in the church of San Giovanni e Paolo by the side of his brother Gentile. 3 and is a fine canvas 6 feet high; signed on a scrip fast to a wine butt in the left hand foreground: "Joannes Bellinus Venetus pinxit MDXIIII." There are retouches in many places, chiefly in shadow where they affect the general effect very little. 1 Vienna, Belvedere. Room II. No. 43, wood, 2f. 2 by 2;4V 2 long, figure seen to the knees, seated on a cushion covered with a Turk- ish carpet in a room with a dark ground (restored), on the window- sill, left, a vase ; through the win- dow, hills and sky; on a card on the carpet the words: "Joannes Bellinus faciebat MDXV." . This piece is almost cleaned down to the grey preparation. The head of this figure, much damaged, is in the gallery of Castle Howard, No. 84. 2 Gaye, Carteggio EL 143, and Cicogna, Iscriz. Venez., II. 118. 3 A few pieces omitted hitherto may be mentioned here, ex. gr. : Bergamo, Lochis-Carrara Gallery, Virgin and child in a landscape, signed "Joannes Bellinus p." It may have been original, but is now greatly injured. Rome, gall. Borghese, Room 10, No. 30, small panel of the Virgin and child one- third life-size, signed on screen and in a scrip: "Joannes Bellinus faciebat." Behind the Virgin a blue curtain, and to the right a landscape. The Virgin is hand- some and graceful; the treatment, though careful and blended, is feebly soft, and betrays the mas- ter's old age. Rome, belonging in 1860 to Signor Falzacappi, 78, VOL. I. Arco de' Carbonari, small panel of S l Jerom kneeling naked in a land- scape in front of the cross; a very careful composition reminiscent of Basaiti, of glowing flesh-tone and thin-bodied colour, signed; "Joan- nes Bellini opus." Garscube, near Glasgow, Virgin and child, panel half life-size, a flayed and damaged example of Bellini 1 s late manner (1507 — 10), signed "Joannes Bel- linus." The following list of missing pictures includes probably many of those noticed in the text, supra, and others scarcely entitled to the master's name. Venice, Palazzo Ducale, Procuratia di Ultra. Panel with S ts Peter and Mark, and three portraits. (Bosch. Le Rich. Min. S. di S. Marco, p. 73. Ridolfi Le Marav. I. 95.) Magistrato delle Legne, S l Mark between S ts Jerom and John Baptist, Nicholas and Buonaventura in a landscape. (Bo- schini Le R. Min. S. di San Marco, 76.) Arsenale, Cappellina del Ma- gistrato di Sopra, long piece with half-lengths; marriage of S l Cath. S ts Mark, John Baptist, Sebastian, and James. Bosch. (Le R. Min. S. di Castello, 17.) Chiesa della Carita (suppressed), apotheosis of S l John Evang. (Anon. p. 86.) Sansovino (Ven. Desc. 266.), Ma- donna de' Miracoli, near side por- tal. Virgin, child, Baptist, Chiara, and a female patroness with her child. Boschini. (Le Ric. Min. S. di Canareg. p. 5.) Same church, S l Jerom in the desert, with Stran- ds and S* Chiara. Bosch. (Le R. Min. S. di Canareggio, 5), Sanso- vino (Ven. Desc. 179), and Ridolfi 13 194 Chap. VIII. (Le Marav. I. 88). San Giorgio Maggiore, the Saviour, a saint, and a Redeemer. Bosch. (Le R. Min. S. della Croce, 57 and 56.) Zanetti (Pitt. Ven. p. 56). Ch. del Redentore, Virgin, child, and S l Francis. Ridolfi (Le Marav. I. 95). Ch. della SS. Trinita, altarpiece, with S ts George, Peter, Paul and Anthony. Bosch. (Le Ric. Min. S. di Castello, 38.)' Scuola della San- tissima Trinita, Virgin and child, schoolpiece, Bosch. (Le R. Min. S. di D. Duro, p. 30.) Ch. di San Vito, Christ crucified between the Virgin and Evangelist, schoolpiece. Boschini (Le. Ric. Min. S. di D. Duro, p. 32). San Dona, Christ carrying his cross, Bosch. (Le R. Min. S. della Croce, 31.) San Ste- fano, Saviour in benediction, Ri- dolfi (Le Marav. I. 95). Santa Maria Maggiore (suppressed), Vir- gin, child and cherubim. Boschini (Le Ric. Min. S. di D. Duro, 62). Zanetti (Pitt. Ven. 55), Sansov. (Ven. Desc. 270.) San Felice, Scuola de 1 Centurati, Virgin and child, Bosch. (Le Ric. Min. Ses. di. C. Reggio, 27), Ridolfi (Le Marav. I. 85.) San Gioseffo, Virgin, child, S ts John Baptist, Jerom, and Cathe- rine, Bosch. (Le Ric. Min. S. di Castello, p. 10.) Santa Caterina, Virgin and child, Bosch. (Le Ric. M. S. di C. Reggio, 18.) Moschini (Guida di Ven. I. 678). Teatini, Virgin and child, Bosch. (Le Ric. M. S. di D. Duro, 38.) San Gio- vanni alia Giudecca (suppressed), S ts John Baptist, Matthew, and Romualdo and a predella, with scenes from the saints 1 lives, and above, an annunciation. Bosch. (Le R. Min. Sest. di D. Duro, 63.) Zanetti (Pitt. Ven. 48.) San Gi- miniano (demolished), two Virgins, Bosch. (Le Ric. Min. S. di S. Marco, 78.) Sansov. (Ven. Descr. 110). Ridolfi (Le M. I. 851). San Giu- liano, Virgin and child, S ts Cath. and Daniel; above, the annuncia- tion. Sansov. (Ven. Desc. 126.) Ridolfi (Le Mar. I. 85.) San Gio- vanni Evangelista, Scuola, stories of the cross? Sansov. (Ven. Desc. 284). San Giorgio in Alga (burnt last century). Christ at the column. (?Antonello) Bosch. (Le R. Min. S. della Croce, 62.) Casa Ruzzini (or Priuli or Federigo Contarini, a Santa Maria Formosa), excellent pictures, Sansovino, (Ven. Des. 374), amongst them a last supper, see passim). Study of Ottavio Fabris, Palazzo Lorenzo Delfino, Casa Morosini a S. Moise', pictures, Sansovino, (Venez. Descr. 374, 375, 376) in the latter a Virgin, child, and saints. (Ridolfi, Le Mar. I. 97.) Casa Lando, Casa Sala- mone, Casa Zeno alii Crocicchieri, Virgins. Ridolfi (Le Mar. I. 96). Palazzo Barbarigo a San Polo, a Virgin and a head of Christ, (Lanzi II. 103). Casa Taddeo Con- tarini, portrait of a lady to the shoulders, Christ with the cross to the shoulders (Anon. 65). Casa Zuan Ant. Venier, Christ in ma- jesty. (Anon. 73.) Casa Jeronimo Marcello, Virgin and child (Anon. 67.) Casa Giorgio Cornaro, Christ, Cleophas, and Luke. Vas. (V. 12.) Ridolfi (Le Mar. I. 96), and see passim, portrait of Queen Cathe- rine, (ib.) Casa Pasqualino, half- length of Virgin and child restored by Catena. (Anon. 58.) Signor Bernardo Giunti, Christ between four saints. (Ridolfi, Le Mar. I. 95.) Signor Gio. Van Veerle, Virgin, child, S ts Peter and Jerom, half- lengths. (Ridolfi, Le Mar. I. 95.) There are no pictures in the churches of Treviso, Conegliano, or Castelfranco by Bellini, though many are assigned to him by Fe- derici (Memorie Trev. I. 226, 7, 8). Istria, Citta Nuova, tavola (Zanetti, Pitt. Ven. 47). Ferrara, San Ber- nardino, Virgin and child. (Frizzi in Vas. V. 24.) Rimini, San Francesco, Pieta and two children for Sigismund Malatesta. (Vas. V. 17.) Chap. IX. CARPACCIO. 195 CHAPTER IX. CARPACCIO AND OTHER FOLLOWERS OF GENTILE BELLINI. The permanent establishment of three great schools at Venice towards the close of the 15 th century, naturally created a capital of artistic labour, which found employ- ment or lay fallow, according to the briskness or depres- sion of the market. The Vivarini, Gentile, Giovanni, Bellini, were all employers of this labour, and it is to the variety of their styles and teaching that we must look for an elucidation of the principles by which the mass of second-rate Venetians were influenced in their development. It is not enough to say that one painter is the pupil of another. In the byways of art, we necessarily meet with men who are disciples of one master for a season, and followers of a second for another season; with men who have sympathies for different systems at different periods ; it is more difficult, for this reason, to trace out the course of the second-rates than that shaped out by their chiefs. This difficulty is not lessened at Venice by richness of historical sources, or by the^ existence of evidence as to localities and dates; on the contrary, there is no portion of art history so obscure as the Venetian, nor one in which the critic is bound to proceed more cautiously. Where signatures are wanting, names are bandied about with unparalleled recklessness ; yet when these arc found, 13* 196 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IX. they frequently surprise us by revealing unexpected changes. Still a patient and careful examination will clear up many doubts, settle some cardinal points, and safely solve disputed problems. Before we reach the age of Giorgione and of Titian , we find a host below the rank of Bellini plying their trade in Venice. Of these, Carpaccio, a theorist of Gentile's school, is the most conspicuous, commencing under the influence of the Vivarini, then turning Belli- nesque without loss of power or originality. By his side stands Lazzaro Bastiani, strongly Paduan at first, then Muranese, merging into Carpaccio at last. His friend, follower, and companion is Mansueti, purely Venetian at the start, an admirer of Gentile and Carpaccio, an imitator of Giovanni Bellini under the garb of Cima, and of kindred with Mantegna and Michael of Verona. Last of this group, Benedetto Diana languidly copies the Paduans and Carpaccio. Migrating from the North, Cima is attracted by the charm of the younger Bellini's pictures, acquiring, as we believe, from Antonello the clean and blended manner which gives his figures something of the air of Leonardo. The Trevisan, Catena, a feeble draughtsman at the outset, soon learns to ape the Bellinesque as represented by Basaiti or Mansueti, and dies a Giorgionesque. Ba- saiti, a pupil of Luigi Vivarini at the opening of the sixtenth century, absorbed in Giovanni Bellini a few years later, lapses at last into Palmesque indistinct- ness. Previtali, a Bergamasque, is modified at various stages of his career by Bellini, Basaiti, Catena, Palma, and Lotto. Bissolo, clinging at first to Catena, ascends to Bellini and soars at last towards Giorgione and Titian. There is no lack of smaller fry in addition, each-one of which has his little peculiarities. We shall try to find a clue out of this labyrinth with as little trouble to the reader as may be. Carpaccio is said to have been born in Istria, but when Chap. IX. CARPACCIO. 107 and where, it would be hard to say. 1 It is not unlikely that he was from youth upwards a companion of Lazzaro Bastiani, whom Vasari fashioned into two persons, calling them Carpaccio's brothers. Of Lazzaro we know that he was a member of the school of San Girolamo at Venice in 1470, 2 and we may assume that both had had some expe- rience of Paduan teaching, either on the mainland or in service with the Vivarini, before they formed a manner of their own. If we look forward to the masterpieces of Car- paccio's manhood, and especially to those with which he decorated the school of Sant' Ursula, we shall see the riper form of an art, the germs of which are traceable in an altarpiece sacred to S l Vincent in the church of San Giovanni e Paolo. There is no altarpiece which has given rise to more dispute than this one. It represents S l Vincent on clouds in a glory of angels between S ls Christopher and Sebastian, with a Christ in grief between the angel and the Virgin annunciate in an upper course, and a predella in three* parts devoted to incidents of S l Vincent 7 s life. If Sansovino be correct, the painter would be Giovanni Bellini ; 3 Boschini says it is by Bartolommeo Vivarini, 4 whilst Zanetti thinks if worthy of Carpaccio. 5 The truth may be that several artists had a share in the different panels of which the whole is composed. In the predella, where S 1 Vincent preaches, saves a family from an earthquake, and rescues a man from assassins, the distribution is in Mantegna's fashion, and the figures are conceived in a spirit not unworthy of Bartolommeo Vivarini ; the S l Vincent is gentle, fairly shaped and outlined, and in a good attitude, and worthy of comparison with 1 The Ab. Gr. Cadorin says in notes to Gualandi, Mem. u. s. Serie III, p. 92, that the birth of Car- paccio in Istria is proved by Canon Stancowich, but the place and date are uncertain. His name in cotem- porary records is Scarpaza (Gual. Mem. Ser. III. 90). Vasari calls him "Scarpaccia" (VI. 85), and Sansovino (Venez. Des, 30) like- wise. 2 Notizia delle opere della Rac- colta Correr by Vincenzo Lazzari, 8 n , Ven. 1859, p. 8. 3 Sansov. (Ven. Des. p. 65.) 4 Bosch. (Le Ric. Min. Sest. di Castello 62—3.) 5 Zanetti. (Pitt. Ven. 28.) 198 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IX. Luigi's Bellinesque creations, or with Bartolommeo's in neighbouring altars, were it not sharp and dry in treatment. S l Christopher, on the other hand, is long, lean, and wooden, whilst the S 1 Sebastian is boldly set upon the ground, and looks vulgarly defiant. In this figure chiefly, and in the Virgin or angel annunciate, we see the stamp of Carpaccio; the suffering Christ being more in the coarse and rustic character of Lazzaro Bastiani. The colour in every part is hard, vitrous, and hatched up to a finish; but we can hardly err in assuming that the piece was commissioned in the atelier of the elder Vivarini, and partly executed by Carpaccio and Lazzaro. 1 About the time when Giovanni Bellini was employed at the school of San Girolamo in Venice, Luigi Vivarini and Carpaccio were both engaged there ; 2 and it is greatly to be regretted that all the pictures of this religious corporation should have been dispersed and lost, as they might help us to form an opinion of the manner in which Carpaccio changed his ground from tempera to oil-painting. 3 It is a mere surmise, founded on critical observation, that he accompanied the elder Bellini in 1479 to Con- stantinople; 4 but we cannot doubt that the lessons of 1 Venice, San Gio. e Paolo. The S l Vincent is fairly preserved, the S l Sebastian retouched in the torso (the distance too is here repainted). The ground in the S l Sebastian is injured and the blue mantle of the Virgin annunciate new. In the Pieta the head and torso of the Saviour and the hair of the angel to the left are damaged. There is more or less cleaning or re- touching in every part. See the poor line-engraving in Zanotto, Pinac. Ven. Fasc. 32. 2 There is nothing more strange than the total disappearance of all the pictures of the three mas- ters in this school, which was sup- pressed at the beginning of this century. Every guide up to 1787 notices them, and Lanzi praises them highly (II. 84 and 105). 3 The reader may bear in mind that the name of Carpaccio has already been suggested as appro- priate to a crucifixion in tempera belonging to Mr. Fisher in London. 4 This surmise would lose much of its value were it true that Car- paccio painted in that year a vo- tive picture of the Doge Mocenigo before the Virgin and saints. The existence of such a picture in the Mocenigo Palace at Venice, bearing date and signature seemed to satisfy all doubts. But the in- scription is proved to have been a forgery, and was removed at the cleaning of the picture. See Miindler. (Analyse, and p. 52.) The Chap. IX. CARPACCIO. 199 Gentile affected his colouring and drawing, and had a great influence on the growth of his style ; and we attri- bute his partiality for Oriental costume to a residence in the East. Carpaccio's best efforts are those which belong to the period immediately following 1490, during which, with some slight interruption, he finished nine canvases in the school of Sant' Ursula. 1 Taking his subjects from the legend of the saint to whom the place was dedicated, and careless of the chronology of the story, he painted the arrival of S fc Ursula at Cologne in 1490; 2 her glori- fication after death in 1491, 3 her dream, 4 and her interview with the English prince in 1495; 5 and, in the interval, the parting audience of the English envoys with King Maurus ; 6 their return to England ; 7 the meeting of Ursula and her Virgins with the Pope at the gates of Rome; 8 the introduction of the English envoys to King Maurus, 9 and the death of S l Ursula. 10 picture is now No. 750 at the National Gallery. 1 The school of Sant' Ursula was close to San Giovanni e Paolo, and was renewed with larger windows in the 17 th century. It has since been suppressed. See Sansov. (Ven. Desc. 65 and 72.) 2 Venice Acad. No. 544, canvas, m. 2*77 high by 2*55, broad, signed on a cartello affixed to a post: " Op. Victoris Charpati Veneti, MCCCCLXXXX. M e Septembris." This picture, which had been heavily repainted, has been freed from much of its earlier disfigure- ments, but, like all the rest of the series, is greatly injured, so that the colour has very little charm left. 3 Ven. Acad. No. 560, arched, canvas, m. 8'70 high by 3*65, in- scribed : "Op. Victoris Carpatio MCCCCLXXXXI." The saint is on a palm with the Eternal sur- rounded by cherubs looking down to her; greatly injured. 4 Ven. Acad. No. 533, canvas, m. 2'70 h. by 2"65; a fine angel, to the left, in an interior, and S l Ursula asleep on a pallet. Light streams in from a window to the right. Most damaged piece, in- scribed: "Victo. Car. p. f. 1495 (often misread 1475). Cortesius R. (estoravit) 1751." 5 Ven. Acad. No. 542, canvas, m. 2'75 h. by 6*08, inscr. on the pil- lar of a standard: "Victoris Carpa- tioVeneti, opus MCCCCLXXXXV." The whole corner of the left fore- ground irretrievably injured. 6 Ven. Acad. No. 537, canvas, m. 2'75 h. by 2*48. The parti- coloured marbles picked out for contrast in the manner followed later byMontagna, inscribed: "Vic- toris Carpacio Veneti opus." 7 Ven. Acad. No. 541), canvas, m. 2*98 h. by 5'17, inscribed: "Vic- toris Carpacio Veneti opus." 8 Ven. Acad. No. 546, canvas, m. 2-98 by 3'05, inscribed : "Victoris Carpatio Veneti opus." 9 Ven. Acad. No. 539, canvas, m. 2-75 h. by 5"85, inscribed: "Op. Victoris Carpatio Veneti," Less injured than the foregoing. 10 Ven. Acad. No. 554, canvas, 200 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IX. There is nothing more striking in this interesting but greatly damaged series, than the perfect correctness of the linear perspective in all the distances and interiors, and we hardly require the evidence of Daniel Barbaro to prove that Carpaccio had learnt from the master who taught the Bellini all the known problems of the science. 1 From the nearest foreground sentinel seated with a dog on the pier in "Ursula's arrival at Cologne," to the last of the archers who issues from the gateway; from the nearest tower on the bank to the gate near the horizon*, from the foremost caravel, which approaches with its freight of pope and bishops and Virgins, to the felucca that sails on the furthest waters, every part is made to vanish in due proportion. The scenes are rich in architectural features, varied in combination of groups and singularly realistic; and we are inclined on these grounds to overlook the frequent curtness or homely stamp of the figures and the halting of some attitudes. In the " glory of S* Ursula," the natura- listic fervour of adoring devotees reconciles us to the unsatisfactory nature of the arrangement. In the parting of the envoys from King Maurus, attention is fettered less by the groups of courtiers about the king's throne, or the secretaries at the table, than by the clever con- trasts of local tints, and the vivid effect of a ray of sun cast from a window on the person of the chief ambassador. The return of the embassy is a straggling composition made interesting by natural expressiveness in numerous portraits, and a sunny glow relieving the actors in the scene. Rudeness of outline and coarseness of face are the chief defects of the saints in the reception of S* Ursula, yet the reality of the scene, the infinite multitude of clerical dignitaries, and the individual character of the heads, impress a stamp of unusual grandeur on the picture; and m. 2-79 h. by 3*56. In the distance the body of the saint is carried away by the bishops. The archers shooting are reminiscent of Signo- relli; the surface is greatly injured; not signed. 1 See Agletti, ub. sup. p. 34. Chap. IX. CARPACCIO. 201 though the crowd is gathered on one spot, the chief incidents are clearly and forcibly indicated, and a monu- mental breadth is gained by the solid structure of the battlements and towers overlooking the landscape. But of all these canvases, that which takes the prize for composition, resolute movement, firm drawing and well balanced light and shade, is the introduction of the ambassadors to King Maurus. The monarch sits between four councillors in an open terrace-lodge, through which we see a landing-place and distant edifices. The envoy and suite kneel before him in presence of the court, and the lower company stand outside in a portico. To the right, a room in which the king converses with his daughter, and a hunchbacked nurse sits moody on a stone. There is great art in the mode of relieving the principal personages on the light ground of the distance, in the broad touches with which the busy people on the piers and quay are thrown off; and a very good contrast is afforded, by the hunchback at one extreme and the standing courtier at the other, lean- ing on the terrace-rail, with a movement bold and free as Signorelli could have made it. The painter's deep observation of nature and his power in combining various incidents on one stage is shown in the parting of the English prince from his father, and the same meeting his betrothed-, the scene at one side being laid near a rocky beach enlivened by coasters stranded by the tide, on the other at the water-steps of a palace such as Claude ima- gined for his heathen heroes. Carpaccio, in all these pictures, is strikingly related to Gentile Bellini, whose gifts he shares as a master of perspective, and a geometrical distributor of subject. Without any poetry of fancy he was fertile in the inven- tion and illustration of incident, earnestly impulsive in the conception and rendering of movement. With greater sternness than Giovanni Bellini, but without his noble- ness in bearing, he rivalled Signorelli in vehemence and abruptness of action. We cannot find one instance in 202 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IX. which he sacrifices mass to finished detail, though few could surpass him in minute ornament of drapery or architecture ; and no painter of the age was more at home in the quaint tailoring and complicated dress of his countrymen. Even in landscape, which was a principal feature in his work ; he avoided the tendency of the northerns and some Venetians to multiply small objects; or, if he did so, he dealt with them so broadly as to suggest the intervening distance. Conscious indeed at all times of his power to put every part of a picture in its place by local tint as well as by linear perspective, he never shrank from attempting the most difficult effects of sunlight on fields, on hills, on water, or on buildings 5 he was never frightened by any contrast, were it ever so glaring, if by a judicious introduction of the comple- mentary tone, he could bring it into keeping. Light w r as at the same time well balanced by shade, and fre- quently with large effect. His drapery, though straight in its fall, and sometimes marked with excessive sharp- ness, was still judicious. He was fond of introducing monkeys, dogs, and dwarfs ; and in this shows not a little eccentricity. Human proportions with him were short, and his faces, though seldom meaningless, were not above the common range. Having spent his early days in the use of tempera, and mastered the laws of har- monies in the scale usual to that system, he found it very hard to adapt himself to the new processes ; and his canvases of S* Ursula, though painted with the modern medium, are executed according to the tempera method, unglazed, without the feeling for tone which distinguished Giovanni Bellini, and devoid of the polish peculiar to Antonello. He was rough in his touch, dusky and red in flesh tone, coarse and black in outline; but what he lacked in sentiment of colour was compensated by the application of scientific laws ; and in the midst of hard staring primaries, where no attempt is made to fuse and blend the tints, he pits one shade against the other and produces harmonic chords. / Chap. IX. CARPACCIO. 203 Thus far Carpaccio holds a certain prominence as a subject painter, following the lead of Gentile Bellini. Being better fitted by the form of his talent for com- posing scenes of life and action than calm religious subjects, he was accepted as the representative of that class of art by the Venetians, and kept in constant employment. Unwilling, we suppose, to enter the lists against the Bellini, who were his friends, he abstained till late in the 16 th century from competing with them in the decoration of the Hall of Council; and thus he secured the good will of men who might have been dangerously hostile to him. If, after finishing the decora- tion of Sant 7 Ursula, it chanced that he was called upon to take a share in adorning the school of San Giovanni Evangelista, he only did so in common with Mansueti, Diana, and Lazzaro; because it was obvious that Gentile could not undertake the whole of the pictures in that vast establishment. The single piece which he was invited to complete there would almost prove that having been the disciple, he was now the client of the elder Bellini; and so far as we can judge from a canvas more interesting as illustrating old Venice than for any charm of colour, his u Patriarch of Grado casting out a devil with the help of the relic," is more in the spirit of Gentile than the illustrations of the legend of S 1 Ursula. We can desire no better view of the old Rialto and the palace of the Patriarch of Grado, as they existed at the close of the 15 th century, than is here set forth with all the advantage of true perspective and a realistic reproduction of nature; but between the dry hard figures which fill the space, and those of the great Venetian master, there is a contrast by no means favourable to Carpaccio, even if we grant that Carpaccio is more gentle, and less hard than before. 1 Were ' Acad, of Venice No. 504, can- I to Zanotto, who engraves it; (Pin. yas, in. :;.77 h. by 3.85, injured dell. Acad. Ven. Fasc. XXXIV.) in throughout, and repainted in the 1494, but we should like to see water and sky. Painted according the record, 204 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IX. it true, as has been asserted that he received this com- mission in 1494, we might be obliged to confess that, at this period it was not in his power to shine as a painter of sacred incident. His Christ spouting blood from the wounds in the presence of angels, — a canvas of 1496 at the Belvedere of Vienna 1 — is a work of much less power and of far more disagreeable features than the realistic subjects to which our attention has been hitherto confined. About the year 1450 the Dalmatians inhabiting Venice founded a school or refuge for the relief of distressed sea- men of Dalmatian birth, with service buildings in the priory of the knights of S l John. At the opening of the century the priory had fallen into a state of decay, and it was resolved that the school should be rebuilt under the name of San Giorgio de' Schiavoni; and that its walls should be hung with incidents taken from the lives of the Saviour and the patron saints of Dalmatia and Albania, Jerom, George, and Trifon. 2 Carpaccio having been chosen to undertake this commission, delivered within five years, — from 1502 to 1508 — no less than nine small easel can- vases and an altarpiece, which were most appropriately placed at last round the hall of the school. The refuge of the Dalmatians is one of the few foundations of its kind that has survived the wreck of the republic; and the pictures of Carpaccio, though injured by renewal and cleaning, still appear to great advantage in the warm twilight of sunny summer hours. Toned down by age and experience to a less abrupt style, Carpaccio here loses some of the vehemence conspicuous in earlier times, 1 Belvedere, Ven. Sch. Room 7, No. 25. Christ on a pedestal in front of a hanging supported by two angels, is adored by four other angels holding the symbols of the passion. The blood spouts from feet, hands, and side into a chalice ; canvas, 5f. 2 h. by 5*2, inscr. on a cartello to the right: "Vic- torio Charpatio Venitti opus 1496." This is a very injured but red- toned picture, of fair proportions in the hard and rigid figures. 2 Sans^vino (Ven. Desc. 47). Selvatico (Guida di Ven. ub. sup. p. 100), and Zanotto, (Venezia e le sue Lagune, ub. sup. II. part n. p. 24i.) Chap. IX. CARPACCIO. 205 his art assuming a gentler and more Bellinesque feeling without loss of originality and power. The most favour- able application of his talent is to be found in the study of S l Jerom, where the " father 77 suspends his task to cast a glance through the sash. His room is furnished with little of the simplicity that might be expected from one of his repute. There is a statue of Christ on an altar at the bottom of the room; two bronze horses and a candelabra adorn the left-hand wall, and a globe stands on a bracket to the right; in a recess are shelves filled with books. Nothing can be more real than the scene lighted from a window, and pleasantly varied by projected shadows; and the momentary abstrac- tion of the saint is cleverly suggested. Easy and masterly drawing is combined with colour free from excessive rawness; and it is not unlikely that this was one of the masterpieces which left an impression on the ductile art of Basaiti. 1 Equally real, but perhaps more sternly so, is the death of S l Jerom finished in 1502, 2 in which oriental costumes are freely introduced, whilst the meet- ing of the saint with the lion, and the fright of the friars, imitated as we are told from Luigi Vivarini, gives occasion for an exaggerated contrast of fearlessness and cowardice. 3 Of the two following scenes, Christ invited to the table of the Pharisee, 4 and Christ on the mount, 1 Venice, San Giorgio de 1 Schia- voni, canvas, inscribed in a car- tello on the foreground: "Victor Carpathius pingebat ; " the best pre- served number of the series. 2 Venice, San Giorgio de 1 Schia- voni. In the middle of the space lies the corpse on a pallet. To the right and left, clergy; one of whom reads through a pair of spectacles; in the distance, a church, a palm, and a well, where people draw water for cattle, and a Turk on horseback. Canvas, inscribed: " Victor Carpathius fin- gebat MDII." 3 Venice, San Giorgio de 1 Schia- voni. The saint is calm before the lion; whilst the friars in tremor and running with hasty, incor- rectly drawn, stride, fly, some to the right, others into the convent in the distance. Canvas, con- siderably injured. There are, as usual, a stag and a partridge amongst the figures. 4 Venice, San Giorgio de 1 Schia- voni. Christ, followed by the apos- tles, is invited by the Pharisee to his board; the scene being alto- j gether in an interior; on a scrip, ! remains of an inscription: "C . . 206 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IX. there is unhappily little to be said except that both are greatly damaged, and the second is a reproduction of the primitive compositions of the Venetian school. 1 Bad in condition, likewise, is the S* Trifon killing the Albanian basilisk with a blessing, 2 and the altarpiece of the Virgin and child between two angels. 3 In the baptism of the Gentiles by S* George, dated 1508, the best principles of composition are applied; oriental costume is frequent; and Carpaccio gains a softness reminiscent of Giovanni Bellini and Cima. 4 The combat of S l George, who tilts at the dragon as he crawls amidst corpses and remnants of human feasts is full of true but repulsive detail, 5 whilst the final victory over the monster introduces us to a theatrical scene laid in a landscape of unmistakeable eastern character. 6 Other pictures in the same phase of Carpaccio's career, are the annunciation of 1504 in the Academy of Arts at Vienna, 7 the " glory of S* Thomas patius . . n. . t . . MDII." Canvas, injured, and in parts quite dim; a scutcheon on this and the fol- lowing- number would show that each piece was the gift of some member of the "school." 1 Venice, San Giorgio de' Schia- voni. Darkened reddish picture, with an empty scrip near the scutcheon 'above-mentioned. Can- vas utterly ruined by repainting and varnishes. 2 Venice, San Giorgio de 1 Schia- voni. Canvas, injured; a king seated in a portico to the right, looks on as the saint overcomes the basilisk; distance, landscape, buildings and spectators. 3 Venice, San Giorgio de' Schia- voni, assigned to Catena, and repainted (ex. gr. child and land- scape), but still in character like Carpaccio. 4 Venice, San Giorgio de 1 Schia- voni, S l George baptizes; in the centre, kneeling acolytes; to the left people playing instruments; inscribed : " Victor Carpa .... MDVHI." 5 Venice, San Giorgio de 1 Schia- voni, canvas, with a scrip un- folded on the foreground, but no inscription. Repulsive are the de- tails of a half-devoured corpses, an arm, a hand, skulls, snakes, frogs, and lizards; but S l George sits very firmly in saddle. The dis- tance is a fine one of lake and mountains. 6 Venice, San Giorgio de' Schia- voni, canvas. The principal group of S l George sword in hand over the dragon is flanked by others of spectators looking on or play- ing instruments, in eastern cos- tume. This is larger than the re- maining compositions and fairly preserved. The original drawing is at the Uffizi in Florence. 7 Venice Acad. No. 375. This is in the usual form, the Virgin being at a desk in a portico ; can- vas, inscribed: "In tempo de Zuan de Nicolo zimador e soi compagni MCCCCCIIII. del mese d' April." Small piece of a dull tone, much damaged by restoring. North Italy. Vol I. p 207. THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE; an altarpiece by Vittore Carpaccio, in the Academy of Venice. Chap. IX. CARPACCIO. 207 Aquinas/ 7 of 1507 in the museum of Stuttgardt, 1 and the burial of the Virgin of 1508, in ,the gallery of Ferrara, 2 showing that the artist was less fitted to deal with calm religious episodes than with incidents of legendary history. Yet the time was approaching when Carpaccio was to put forth his strength in order that he might not be eclipsed by earlier creations of Bellini. He was still on friendly terms with this painter, who had chosen him in 1508 to value the frescos of Giorgione at the Fondaco de' Tedeschi, and no competition had ever taken place between them; but Carpaccio was now called upon to execute a presentation in the temple at San Giobbe, where one of Bellini's famed altarpieces stood, and it behoved him to concentrate his power and show of what stuff he was made. His effort was great and his success honourable, and a glance at the illustration in this page will show that he never produced anything more simple or more noble. He certainly never approached Giovanni so closely as on this occasion; foil if in artifice of colour he remained below his great competitor, he more than equalled him in severity and precision of form. He did 1 Originally in San Pietro Mar- tire of Murano, now in Stuttg'ardt Museum, No. 28, wood, arched, figures life-size. S l Thomas en- throned between S ts Mark, Louis, and a bishop introducing a patron. Four angels hold a cloth above the saint's head, inscribed: "Op. Victor Carpathius MDVII." a very bad split cuts the picture in half. It was originally fine, is now in- jured, but recalls Cima and Bel- lini. The head of S l Thomas is damaged (See Cicogna, Isc. Ven. VI. 444, Bosch. Le Ric. Min. S. del Croce, 23.) The picture was in the Barbini collection and was sold twenty years ago to the King of Wurtemberg. 2 Ferrara, wood, arched, figures one-third of life-size. Round the tomb the apostles in a landscape, and above them the Saviour with the infant Virgin kneeling, in- scribed on a cartello beneath the tomb: "Victor Carpathius Venetus MDVIII." This is a very careful work of a red glowing tinge, broadly treated in drapery, a little uniform in colour, and threatening to scale. Panetti of Ferrara seems to have studied this work, which originally stood in the church of Santa Maria in Vado at Ferrara. A counterpart of the subject in a different form, and on canvas, is in the Academy of Arts at Vienna, but in wretched condition. To the left of the tomb are five angels, in front of whom three patrons kneel; the whole scene in a building, through the arches of which a landscape is seen. 208 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IX. more; he surpassed Bellini in grandeur of arrangement, and in a felicitous combination of thought in the move- ment or occupation of the dramatis persona?. Critics have dwelt unnecessarily on the anachronism of turning Simeon into a pontiff between attendant cardinals, but there can be no doubt that it was a happy idea to make one of these servants bear the mantle of his master, such a gorgeous mantle too, so finely cast, as indeed the dra- pery mostly is. But besides, the high priest is noble in shape and aspect, and expressively gentle in mien. A pretty child of sculptural limb is presented by the full shaped Virgin ; the prophetess is calm and kindly in feel- ing and glance ; and the boys who busily ply their in- struments on the steps of the throne are very charming. The frosted nature of the colour, due no doubt to clean- ing, deprives the canvas of an additional charm; and though Carpaccio did not play as Bellini played with the difficulties of oil medium, he gave no doubt an original warmth to his flesh which time and accident alone can have removed. 1 That a glowing, ruddy, perhaps uniform tone was habitual to him in these days, is proved by the Christ at Emmaus preserved in San Salvatore at Venice, under the name of Giovanni Bellini; a picture in which we notice neither Bellini's types, nor his feeling as a colour- ist, nor his line as a draughtsman. If we look at the contrasts of tints and their harmony, we detect the art familiar to Carpaccio in pitting one shade against another to make up the chord ; there is no subtle agency at work to blend tints together, the flesh is not broken up or varied to produce effect. Warmth, on the contrary, is obtained by* an even red film thrown over all and with- out partial glazes. The masks have the proportions and 1 Venice Acad. No. 488, wood, m. 4*20 h. by 2'25, inscribed on a small scrip beneath the central playing angels: "Victor Carpathius MDX." Cleaning has frosted the lights and brought down the sha- dows to a cold grey. The forms are correct, not searched out, but well proportioned. Chap. IX. CARPACCIO. 209 stamp of those in the presentation. The drawing is strongly marked; the drapery sharply defined; the scene lighted, according to Carpaccio ; s wont, by a ray from a window, the hands and feet weighty, and the figures partly dressed in Eastern costume. This noble creation was willed by Girolamo Priuli to the altar of the Sacrament at San Salvatore, and represents the Saviour with one of his disciples in a turban to the left, another to the right, and at each end of the table a pilgrim with staff and scrip and water bottle. 1 It is one of the finest and most characteristic works of the master. This was the period of Carpaccio's life in which he most extended his practice, a period yielding much in quantity and not a little in quality. At the great Council Hall where he painted "the indulgence of S 1 Marco," he probably did his best. 2 In the school of San Stefano, for which he finished in 1511 the vocation of S l Stephen now at Berlin, 3 the saint's sermon at the Louvre, 4 his dispute with the doctors (1514 at the Brera), 5 and his martyrdom (1515 at Stuttgardt), 6 he transfused into a 1 Venice, San Salvatore, canvas, figures life-size, called Giovanni Bellini by Boschini (Le Ric. Min. S. di San Marco, p. 104). Sansov. (Ten. Desc. 121). Zanetti (Pitt. Ven. 54). Zanotto (Pinac. Ven. Fasc. 10), and all modern guides. It is not to be assumed that this work is subsequent to the visita- tion; it may date some years earlier. 2 He is proved to have been at work in the Hall of Council with Giovanni Bellini and Vittor di Matteo in 1515 (Cadorin in Gua- landi. Mem. ub. sup. Ser. III. p. 92), also Sansovino (Yen. Desc. 65, 333—4). 3 Berlin Museum, No. 23, can- vas, 4f. 8'/ 2 h. by 7'5 broad. S l Peter calls S' Stephen and six others to deacon's orders; in the distance a temple and a landscape. In the foreground to the right a VOL. I. beggar and a child playing with a dog — inscribed: "Victor Carpa- thius pinxit MDXI." The colours are more than usually ruddy, and a reminiscence of the art of Gio- vanni Bellini and Cima may be traced. The figures are short, and marked with strong shadow. 4 Louvre, No. 123, canvas, same size as the foregoing, viz. m. 1*52 by 1-95 long. To the left, S l Stephen on a pedestal, surrounded by an Asiatic audience in a landscape. This piece was once in the Brera at Milan. It is injured by rubbing down. The art here still recalls Gentile Bellini. 5 Brera, No. 144, canvas, m. 1*43 long by 1'70, well preserved, massive in light and shade, in- scribed: "Victor Carpathius pinxit MDXIIII." and full of portraits. 6 Stuttgardt, No. 207, canvas, 5f. 1 high by 5*9, with remains of 14 210 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IX. small but important series the spirit and power which marked earlier illustrations of the same kind at Sant' Ursula and San Giorgio de' Schiavoni. 1 But then came a rapid decline, attributable to age ; weariness, or the excessive use of assistants. Being asked in 1514 to paint a votive altarpiece for San Vitale, he composed a scene of unusual dimensions and character, the patron saint being placed on horseback in a court, accom- panied by his wife Valeria, the Baptist, S l James and S l George, in front of a high arched screen, Gervasius and Protasius, sons of S l Vitale, attended by S l Andrew, and S l Peter adoring from that eminence the Virgin in the clouds. In no previous example had Carpaccio represented form so feebly. The monks of Sant 7 Antonio of Castello at Venice having had the imprudence to admit within their walls a priest attacked with plague, the monastery was put into quarantine by order of the Venetian authorities in 1511, and it seemed likely that the inmates would all succumb to the fatal sickness; but the prior, Hector Ottobon, vowed, if he were spared, to erect an altar to the crucified martyr in the chapel of his order, and lived to carry out his pious purpose in 1515. 3 The altarpiece then completed by Car- paccio is one of his poor productions, and alike power- less in drawing and in colour. 4 a signature: "Vi . MDXV." The treatment is rough and the surface injured. To the right ithe saint is stoned by command of a leader standing in the middle dis- tance; to the left a procession, distance, landscape. 1 We miss the altarpiece in the school of San Stefano, represent- ing S l Stephen between S ts Nicho- las and Thomas Aquinas. (Boschini Le Ric. Min. Ses. di S. Marco, p. 90.) 2 Venice, San Vitale. This piece is on canvas, with life-size figures, and hangs in the choir behind the high altar. In a scrip unfolded on the ground behind S l Vitale, one reads: "Victor Charpatius pinxit MDXIIII." The person who ordered the work was Giovanni Luciani, parish priest of San Vitale. (Zanotto Pinac. Ven. Fasc. 25.) The horse of S l Vitale is wooden, the colour of a dull yellow red. 3 Cicogna, Isc. Ven. vol. I. p. 162. 4 Venice Acad. No. 559, canvas, in. 3-0 h. by 2-08, from the sup- pressed church of Sant' Antonio, insc. " V. Carpathius MDXV." Cru- cified saints are in confusion to the left, their souls floating upwards to a choir of angels in heaven; / Chap. IX. CARPACCIO. 211 The meeting of Joachim and Anna, composed in the same year for San Francesco of Treviso, though carefully treated, is a curious mixture of empty handling and German drapery, suggesting the employment of Previtali and other foreign journeymen. 1 There is more of the master's spirit in the lion of S l Mark done for one of the Venetian courts by Carpaccio in 1516 5 2 and many undated pictures in addition might be named which have superior attractions to those we have now dwelt on. They are scattered in the strangest manner; a small genre subject, a salutation, and a portrait, in the Correr Museum, 3 a presentation and marriage of the Virgin at the Brera; 4 a sybil and a male figure in the house of the Barufi at Rovigo, 5 a nativity in the Lochis Carrara Gallery at Bergamo; 6 a holy family of the quaintest on the right a king on horseback orders the execution. The colour is rosy and weak, the types are paltry, recalling inferior works of Costa's school. 1 Venice Acad. No. 552, wood, m. 1*83 h. by 1*66, signed on a car- tello at bottom: " Victor Carpathius Venet. op. MDXV." engraved in Za- notto, Pin. dell Acad. Ven. Fasc. X. At the sides of the principal group S ts Ursula andLouis. In thedistance S l Joachim ascending the steps of the temple to meet the high priest. 2 Now in Palazzo Ducale, and insc: "Victor Carpathius MDXVI." originally in the Magistrato de 1 Camerlenghi di Comune a Rialto, it represents the lion half life-size on a meadow; to the left the Piaz- zetta, to the right the present customhouse; distance sea and sky (repainted and the signature re- touched). 3 Correr Mus. No. 46, two ladies at a balcony play with their lap- dogs. A boy in front with a pea- cock, a pair of slippers, a bird and two doves on the balcony-screen complete the panel (in. 0'94 h. by 0'64), signed: "Opus Victoris Car- patio Veneti;" feeble production, of disagreeable tone. No. 47, at the sides of the salutation, S ts Joseph and Joachim, canvas m. 1*28 high by 1*37, much injured, dimmed and scaled. No. 48, bust portrait of ^1 young man in a red cap and vest, wood, m. 0"35 h. by 0'23, ruined, but originally bold as a Signorelli or Botticelli. 4 Brera, No. 218, marriage of the Virgin, canvas, 0. 1*27 h. by 1'37; genuine, of the time of the series from San Stefano, but less successful. No. 222, presentation, same size and style. No. 229, S l Giustina between two saints is by Cima and much injured. 5 Rovigo, canvas oblongs with figures almost of life-size, not free from restoring, well posed and proportioned, and somewhat Man- tegnesque in head, reminiscent of the master's work No. 46 at Correr. f) Bergamo, No. 217, canvas, figures one-quarter of life-size, signed: "Victor Carpatius faciebat." To the right the mother in bed, to whom a female presents food. In 14* 212 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IX. shape and full of curious detail in the Louvre ; 1 a Virgin with saints at Berlin; 2 a sketch of S l Ursula parting from her father, at Mr. Layard ; s in London; 3 a religious allegory with the forged name of Mantegna in the house of the Conte G. B. Canonici at Ferrara. 4 The latest authentic productions of Carpaccio are his worst; and it is difficult to realise the fact that after the death of Giorgione, and when Titian was painting in the Hall of Great Council at Venice, Carpaccio was still able to find patrons for such works as he furnished to churches in Istria, 5 the Lombard provinces, and front and still to the right a fe- male seated. In centre, the nurse washing the child. This piece is sharp from cleaning and restoring. 1 Musee Napoleon III. No. 171, from the Fesch collection, wood, m. 0*96 high by 1*25, inscribed to the left: "a Victore Carpathio ficti." The Virgin sits in a land- scape on a long stone bench be- tween two boy angels; to the right, on the same bench, S 1 Anne and S' Joseph with his legs awk- wardly set; to the left, S l Eliza- beth and S l Joachim. Two angels iiold up a hanging behind the Vir- gin; in half distance an arch of natural rock, on the top of which is S l Jerom with the lion. A dark strongly shadowed tone pervades the picture; the figures are short and outlined in black. Whilst in Paris let us not forget the Virgin, child, and young Bap- tist, signed: " Victoris Carpatio Veneti opus," in the collection of M. E. Pereire, a picture not seen by the authors, engraved in Gaz. des B. Arts," 1864. 2 Berlin Mus. No. 14, wood, as- signed to the school of Giovanni Bellini, but in Carpaccio 1 s man- ner, and superior to the foregoing. Subject, half-lengths of the Virgin and child between S l Jerom and S* Catherine in a landscape (in- jured). 3 London, Mr. Layard, small panel. On a meadow, where a servant feeds birds and a tall tree grows, S l Ursula takes leave of her father, behind whom are four ladies; to the right a palace quay and distant hills bordering a vast sheet of water on which there is a boat and distant vessel. The subject has also been called the arrival of Queen Catherine Cornaro at Cyprus, a broad sketchy piece, intended to be seen at a certain distance. 4 Ferrara. The Saviour lies in a grave-cloth stretched on a square tomb. In the distance to the right the Virgin in a fainting state in the arms of a turbaned female, S l John looking at her. A figure close by sits at the foot of a tree, more to the left, the sepulchre guarded by two angels. In the extreme distance, the noli me tan- gere. This picture is in the style of Carpaccio or his school, the reddish tone varying slightly from his. If not Carpaccio, the author might be Michele da Verona. The false, signature: "Andreas Man ti- nea f." is on the side of the tomb. 5 In the cathedral of Capo d' Is- tria there is a Virgin and child between six saints, inscr: "Victor Carpatius Venetus pinxit,MDXVT," with the addition :"Cosme Dusi Ve- netus restauravit MDCCCXXXIX." To the latter is no doubt due the complete repainting of the picture. Chap.- IX. CARPACCIO. 213 Friuli. 1 We trace his existence with certainty by means of pictures up to the year 1519, in two altar- pieces at San Francesco of Pirano in Istria 2 and in the church of Pozzale near Cadore, 3 and from that moment he fades from our view, 4 leaving to a poor In the oratory of San Niccold of the same place is a Virgin and child between S ts John Baptist and Nicholas of Bari, an ugly work that would do Carpaccio no credit were it proved to be by him. In the Commune of Capo d'Istria is a canvas representing the entrance of a podesta into the town; spoiled by repainting, but possibly by Carpaccio. 1 Brescia, Casa Averoldi, Virgin and child between S l Faustinus and S* Giovita in a landscape, three angels playing instruments at the foot of the throne, inscr. : "Victor Carpatius Venetus pinxit, MDXVIIII," wood, figures life-size; split vertically in three places and somewhat retouched. The saint to the left is affected in pose, the other is more pleasing. The Vir- gin is in fair movement and of good proportion, recalling the types of Previtali; the child is thin and lank; a dull yellow tone predomi- nates over all. 2 Pirano, canvas, with life-size figures of the Virgin and child between S ts Louis, Peter and Francis, Anthony, Chiara and Vi- tale. Two children playing instru- ments sit on the step, inscr : <{ Vic- tor Charpa . . . Venet MDXVIHI." Paltry work of Carpaccio's worst days. 3 Pozzale, Virgin and child be- tween S ts Thomas and Dionysius in niches, above which are half- lengths of S ts Roch and Sebastian, in very bad condition, wood, in- scribed: "Victor Carpatius Vene- tus pinxit MDXVIIII." Very feeble, the S l Thomas recalling Diana; the Virgin and child reminiscent of Luigi Vivarini, S l Koch, a type common with Marescalco. A child with a flower sits on the step of the throne. 4 There are pieces with Carpac- cio's name to be noticed here; premising that we know nothing of the so-called portrait of himself mentioned by Federici (Memorie ub. sup. p. 228) and by Mr. Miind- ler as in possession of Cavalier Giustiniani alle Zattere. (See Essai d' une Analyse ub. sup. p. 53.) Milan, Brera, No. 63, S l Stephen, No. 180, S l . Augustin, No. 182, S l Anthony of Padua, wood, originally in SanStefano at Venice, with some- thing reminiscent of Boccaccino or Campi; they create an impression as if by Bissolo in Catena's man- ner. Venice, Frari, altarpiece of S l Ambrose. (See Basaiti, postea.) Venice Manfrini Coll. No. 139, bust portrait, a very realistic male likeness of the school of Bernar- dino of Milan. Venice, San Gio- vanni in Bragora, S l Andrew be- tween S ts Jerom and Martin, by Bissolo (see postea). Venice, Sant' Alvise, originally in Santa Maria delle Vergine, eight small panels representing 1", Solomon and the Queen of Sheba; 2°, Tobit and the angels; 3°, adoration of the golden calf; 4°, Job; 5°, dream of Nebu- chadnezzar; G°, Joshua stops the motion of the sun; 7°, Rachel at the well; 8°, the sons of Jacob before Joseph. These are school- pieces, and somewhat injured. Venice, San Giovanni e Paolo, coronation of the Virgin, once in San Gregorio, where Boschini ascribed it to the school of Vi- varini (Le Ric. Min. Sest. di D. Duro, p. 31), assigned by Xa- notto (Venez. e le sue Lagune, II. II. 108) to Carpaccio. There is, in truth, a mixture of his man- 214 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IX. scion of his house ; named his skill. 1 ner with Cima's; the art, however, seems more like that of the school of Udine, and Selvatico with some intuition names the author Gio- vanni Martini or Girolamo da Udine. Rovigo, commune, No. 144, Virgin, child, and S l Joseph, fuzzy panel, much repainted, re- miniscent of Carpaccio' s style as altered by Mansueti. Rovigo, Casa Silvestri, bust of a man in a black cap, with dark vest and long hair, ground, sky ; more like Vittor Bel- liniano than Carpaccio. Bergamo, Lochis Carrara, bust of a beard- less man of advanced age, in a black cap, less life-like than Carpaccio, of low dull tone, and probably by Mansueti. Carlsruhe Museum, No. 129, catalogued as Cima, Virgin and child between S ts Elizabeth and Jerom, with something of Cima, perhaps by Benedetto Car- paccio, or Mansueti. Venice Acad. No. 430, Virgin, child, St. Joseph, two female saints and a patron, under Carpaccio's name, but poor and more like the work of Man- sueti or Lazzaro. No. 413, half- length of a man, more modern than Carpaccio, much repainted, and representing the person called Verocchio by Lorenzo di Credi at the Uffizi of Florence (wood). No. 348, crusaders in a church, from Sant 1 Antonio di Castello (Bos- chini Le R. Min. S. di Castello, p. 12), properly called Carpaccio but ruined. Noale (church of) life-size figures on panel of S l John Baptist between S ts Peter and Paul, with a modern inscrip- tion of no authority. (Federici, Mem. ub. sup. I. 228.) This is a picture in the feeling of Vittor Belliniano, and hardly equal to a production of Benedetto Carpac- cio. The colour is dull, raw and heavy. Serravalle Duomo, two canvases representing 1°, the an- nunciation. 2°, S ts Agatha, Bar- tholomew, Poter, Catherine and Benedetto, but a shadow of another female, all but life- size (Crico, Belle Arti Trevig. p. 268) in the manner of Francesco da Milano, a follower of Pomponio Amalteo. Amongst missing pic- tures we have the following: Ve- nice, Sant 1 Antonio (suppressed), Christ appearing to the Marys (Boschini, Le Ric. Min. S. di Cas- tello, 12, Ridolfi Le Mar. I. 64). San Giovanni e Paolo, altarpiece in three parts, in one of which S l John Evangelist, the Eternal above. (Bosch. Le Ric. Min. S. de Cast. 84.) Chiesa della Carita, a picture with incidents of the life of the Baptist (Bosch. Le R. Min. S. di D. Duro, 34 — 5.). Scuola de' Tes- sitori, Virgin crowned by two an- gels, child and four portraits. (Bosch. Le. R. Min. Sest. della Croce, 10.) San Salvatore of Mu- rano, Virgin, child and saints. (Cicogna, Isc. Ven. VI. 444, and 903.) Santa Fosca, the Virgin, be- low whom, S ts Peter, Paul, Roch and Sebastian. (Ridolfi, Le Mar. I. 60, and Sansovino, Ven. Desc. 146.) In private hands, Virgin, Simeon and other saints. (Ridolfi, I. 65.) Udine, San Pietro, the Saviour. (Maniago, Guida di Udine, 1825, 41, 64.) Spinea, three saints. (Federici Mem. I. 228.) Cone- gliano, San Paolo, coronation of the Virgin, S ts Peter and Paul. (Ib. ib.) Florence, Uffizi, adora- tion of magi (withdrawn). Ro- vigo, Casa Cassilini, a square with a crowd of orientals. (Bartoli, Guida, p. 194.) Casa Muttoni, pro- cession of the magi. (Ib. ib.) 1 The oldest picture of Benedetto Carpaccio is in the "Comune" of Capo d'Istria, and represents the coronation of the Virgin, signed: "Benetto Carpathio Veneti pin- geva MCCCCCXXXVII." The figures are half the life-size, awk- ward, and not unlike those of Vittor Belliniano. In the same place is a Virgin and child be- Chap. IX. LAZZARO BASTIANI. 215 Lazzaro Bastiani who, in 1-170, was a member of the college of San Girolamo at Venice, failed to rise to the high position o£ Carpaccio, 1 and never was entitled by his works to claim superior distinction. He was bred, as we believe, in the Paduan school, and acquired all the disagreeable features of its art without the redeeming qualities so conspicuous in Mantegna ; and having chosen Venice for the place of his abode some time after Man- tegna retired to Mantua, he found it necessary to change the principles on which he started. The models which he then found congenial to his mind were those of Vivarini, whom he soon learnt to imitate without losing altogether the impress of his first education. Thrown late into companionship with Carpaccio, Man- sueti, and others of a more modern stamp, he kept judiciously in their wake, and shared on more than one occasion the commissions which fell to their lot. The honourable position which he held in his guild at Venice, and the confidence which his judgment inspired, tvveen S ts James and Bartholo- mew, and a child playing 1 a violin on the altar-step, inscr. "B. Carpa- thio pingeva MDXXXVIII;" a very poor repainted piece, apparently of Benedetto's old age. Is it pos- sible that he should have been in his prime an assistant to Vittore, and that these should be works of his last years? In the Duomo of Capo d'Istria we have a massacre of the innocents, a canvas dated 1523, which more nearly resembles the elder Carpaccio than the fore- going, and which may be Bene- detto's work at an earlier period. The worst productions of this art- ist, however, are the Virgin and child between S ts Justus and Ser- gius in the cathedral of Trieste, having once been in the Torre del Porto, a much repainted and very unpleasant altarpiecc, signed: "Be- nedeto Carpathio MDXXXX; a canvas with life-size figures in the Duomo of Capo dTstria, represent- ing the "name of Christ" adored by S ts Paul and John the Baptist and the kneeling Francis and Ber- nardino, inscr. : " Benetto Carpathio Veneto pingeva MDXXXXI;" and a Virgin enthroned with the child on her lap giving the benediction to S l Lucy and another saint (life- size figures) in the ch. of Santa Lucia at Val di Fasano near Pi- rano, inscribed: "B. Carpathio pingeva MDXXXXI." Of Bene- detto's school, if we can call the atelier of such a painter by this name, are a large Pieta, and a glorified S l Andrew between S ts Peter and John, dated 1647, in the duomo of Capo dTstria. 1 Lazzaro has been usually called the pupil of Carpaccio, but dates contradict this. The error is, how- ever, of respectable antiquity (Ki- dolfi, Marav. I. 66). Zanetti pro- perly calls Lazzaro an imitator. (Pitt. Ven. p. 41.) 216 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IX. were attested in 1508 by Bellini's choice of him to value the frescos of Giorgione at the mart of the Germans, 1 and his public engagement to paint the portraits of doges in the Hall of the Twenty. 2 The first picture which he is known to have executed is the entombment in the church of Sant' Antonino at Venice, embodying a theme familiar above all others to the Paduans, and constantly repeated by the Bellini. On this occasion he displayed in its most developed form the studied arrangement, the coarse realism, the forced violence and searching anatomy of the Squarcionesques, and the dry character of their tempera; and he set up, so to speak, a model for future generations to judge him by. 3 We have had frequent opportunity of noticing how painters of many ages multiplied a composition, allowing of none but the most subtle varieties in attitudes or ex- pression, and therefore a safe test of power. Lazzaro treated it without elevation of thought, giving colossal forms to the dead Saviour, expressing strain in the effort of S* John to lower him gently into the tomb, and aban- doning the Virgin, the Marys, Mcodemus and the Mag- dalen to a mere passive wail of grief; but the interest wanting in such a work as art is furnished by its value as an authentic example of Lazzaro's talent, when he came to Venice, and still more as a clue to earlier pieces of a Paduan stamp in the museum of Berlin, in which we may see Mantegnesque arrangement and force imi- tated and combined with low technical skill. Out of 1 Passim. 2 Sansovino (Ven. Desc. p. 326). Ridolfi. (Marav. I. 67.) He also painted the standards on the Piazza at Venice, his companion being Benedetto Diana. (Cadorin in Gua- landi, Mem. Ser. III. 90—1.) 3 Venice, Sant' Antonino, arched panel with life-size figures in- scribed on a cartello on the tomb: "Lazzaro Sebastiani. 1 ' At the tem- porary suppression of Sant 1 An- tonino, the picture was removed to San Giovanni in Bragora, where it was repainted in great part; in 1846 it was returned to Sant' An- tonino. See the engraving in Za- notto (Pitt. Ven. Fasc. 28). 4 There are two pictures at the Berlin Museum which suggest the name of Lazzaro. No. 1144, wood, representing Christ raised on the cover of his tomb by the Virgin and Evangelist; the right leg hang- Chap. IX. LAZZARO BASTIANI. 217 this first phase of imitation Lazzaro soon passed into a second, in which Venetian impressions are displayed; holding about the same level in respect of method and feeling as Andrea of Murano. Under these conditions the " glorification of S l Veneranda" at Vienna, 1 and pro- bably the Pieta at Cittadella were produced. 2 As the influence of the Vivarini atelier became more powerful in him, Lazzaro lost some of the rude muscu- larity displayed in his first efforts; and though he con- tinued to be vulgar and realistic and of a melan- choly dryness in colour, he gave to his figures some- thing more nearly allied to delicacy and slenderness, 3 and he entered into the spirit of the changes intro- duced by the application of oil mediums. This was the period when he received the order of Giovanni degli Angeli, canon of San Donato at Murano to represent him kneeling in the midst of saints and angels before J;he Virgin and child. 4 However meaningless he may appear ing over the side, and the foot raised to show the sole, the sense- less frame, are Mantegnesque, but too searching in the attempt to give the anatomy of the parts. The vulgar and realistic feeling is not improved by dark, dry and coarsely-touched tempera. This piece, placed in the "school of Squarcione," is like an early work by Lazzaro; another, of a little later date, is No. 1170 A, "school of Mantegna," with the same dra- matis personse in different move- ment; a little better in form, but in the same feeling as the pre- vious example. Here the colour is of an inky grey, and so nearly allied in texture and tone to the panel of Sant 1 Antonino, that the painter can be no other than Laz- zaro. In both pieces at Berlin the colour is injured. 1 Vienna Academy, originally in the convent of Corpus Domini at Venice, and in a ruined state. The patron saint is enthroned between eight females, two angels in front kneeling. On the throne one reads : "Lazarus Bastianus pinxit, 11 figures life-size. (See Zanetti, Pitt. Ven. p. 41.) 2 In the ch. della Madonna del Torresino, at Cittadella in the province of Padua. The upper part of this arched panel is re- painted; in the foreground the Saviour lying at length on the ground is wildly bewailed by the usual personages. We are re- minded here of the upper part of Andrea da Murano's picture at Trebaseleghe (passim). The dra- pery is broken, and like that in the foregoing examples, the tem- pera similarly dull and dark in tinge. What remains of this piece threatens to scale. The S l Joseph to the left is new. 3 See passim, as to a possible share of Lazzaro in the altarpiece of S l Vincent at San Giovanni e Paolo. 4 Temporarily placed in San 218 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IX. as a composer ■ in this creation of the year 1484 ; how- ever feeble as a colourist and delineator of nude, he seems to have gained some power at least as a painter of portrait. He showed a certain improvement in the technica of colours about 1490, when he finished the coronation of the Virgin amidst saints now preserved in the Lochis Carrara Gallery at Bergamo, 1 the nativity, attributed, with' small authority, to Parentino, 2 and the quaint S* Onofrio on his tree in the Venice Academy. 3 At the same time we may consider him to have united all the gentleness of shape and clearness of tone which it was possible for his nature to absorb in the atelier of Luigi Vivarini. In the school of San Giovanni Evangelista Lazzaro Doroteo of Murano, during- repairs at San Donato, this picture is a lunette panel with figures one- third of life-size, inscribed on the step of the Virgin's throne: "Hoc opus Lazaris Sebastiani MCCCCLXXXIIII." The Virgin, and child, in a throne are adored by the kneeling patron (right) pre- sented by S l Donato, whilst (left) S l John recommends two w r inged angels. Right and left in front of a low wall boys play viol and guitar. Distance, sky and hills. Note the dry leanness of the Baptist, and the excrescences of flesh in the face, the angular nude and the dark shadows. The dra- pery also is sharply broken and cut in fold. The face of S l Donato is injured. 1 Lochis Carrara, No. 26. The Eternal looks on behind the throne, whilst Christ crowns the Virgin, and four angels float above in the blue sky; to the left S l Bernard in episcopals; to the right S l Ur- sula with her banner, small panel, inscribed: "Opus Lazari Veneti 1490. The forms here are more paltry than before. The picture, however, is much injured. 2 Venice Acad. No. 348. This piece is mentioned in Boschini as of "the old manner." In his time it stood in the ch. of the island of Sant 1 Elena, and it is hard to say how the name of Parentino was suggested. The Virgin kneels un- der a pent-house before a manger in which the child lies. In rear two shepherds peep in, and at the sides are four saints, all in the character of the figures in Laz- zaro's inscribed works. The Virgin here is perhaps more than ever reminiscent of Muranese types. The colour is clear as at Bergamo, and shaded in grey, producing something of the effect of empti- ness. (See Bosch. Le Ric. Min. Sest. della Croce, p. 49.) 3 Venice Acad. No. 447, wood, m. 2*34 h. by 1*42, once in San Giuliano. The saint sits between the branches, to which a ladder is placed, at the sides S ts Mark and Jerom sitting; distance land- scape. On a cartello fastened to a tree are the words: "Lazarus Bastianus p." The comparative simplicity of outline here reminds us of Luigi Vivarini; the treat- ment is in oil, the tones being low, and the medium viscous. The surface is, however, dimmed. Chap. IX. MANSUETI. 219 came in contact with Mansueti and Diana, and the "gift of the relic" which he executed there towards the close of the century, proves that his style was approxi- mating to that of Carpaccio and Mansueti ; 1 but after that period his activity seems to have been very seriously confined, and we shall see that with the exception of an annunciation in the Correr Museum, 2 he has left little that it is possible to trace. 3 Of Mansueti we know perhaps less than we do of his friend Lazzaro, but there was this essential difference between them : — Lazzaro betrayed a Paduan education, whilst Mansueti was clearly Venetian. In the picture • of a miracle done in 1494, at San Giovanni Evan- gelista, Mansueti subscribes two important declarations with his own hand. He says that he believes the miracle which he depicts, and that he is a pupil of Bellini. The matricular register of San Giovanni adds another trait which in some measure completes the sketch, 6 Venice Acad. No. 550, gift of the relic to the school of San Giovanni, canvas, in style like the foregoing, but wanting light per- haps on account of injury from time and restoring. We might claim for Lazzaro, under these cir- cumstances, a share in Bellinesque schoolpieces,like Mansueti in style, but beneath his powers. Note that the canvas at the A signed: "Joannes de Mansuetis pinsit." The mask here is very much below that which we find in similar busts by Bel- lini or Vivarini. The right hand is raised in benediction, the left rests on a book; the face is bony with marked depressions and pro- tuberances, the hair curled and bound together like a wig. This is the art which we find in the so-called Bellini's presentation of Christ to Simeon (No. S6) at Ber- lin. 2 Bergamo, Lochis Carrara, Coll. No. 221, signed: "Joannes de Man- suetis fecit." The Virgin sits with the dead Christ on her lap, S l John (left) supporting his head, the Magdalen and an aged male saint the feet. To the left a saint in oriental costume, m. 0'88 br. by 0*55, of full texture in colour. 3 Same collection, No. 220, can- vas, in which the saint kneels in prayer before the cross in a land- scape peopled with animals of all sorts, signed: "Joannes de Man- suetis faciebat." Drawing middling, colour monotonous, character after Carpaccio. Of this there is a re- plica reversed, small canvas, signed : "Joannes de Mansuetis faciebat, 11 in the Ajata collection at Cres- pauo, the original drawing for both in the late Wellesley collection at Oxford. (See for a portrait in this gallery assigned to Carpaccio, passim.) The author is probably Mansueti. 4 Uffizi, corridor, No. 80, can- vas, greatly injured, signed: "Jo hannes de Mansuetis faciebat," from the Puccini collection at Pistoia. Of doubtful pieces we note — Rovigo Galleria Com. No. 144, a nativity attributed to Carpaccio (passim), but more in the style of Mansueti or Lazzaro. Padua, Casa Ferdinando Cavalli, a small panel of the Virgin holding a fruit, and the child erect holding her dress with his left; a much-repainted specimen, recalling the manner of Mansueti. More akin to Basaiti, though assigned to Mansueti. Ve- nice, Correr Gall. No. 36, a S t Jerom penitent, one-fourth life- size. Missing are the following: — Venice, San Canziano, S l Luke and other saints (Bosch. L. R.Min. Ses. di C. Reg. 7, and Ridolfi Mar. I. 68.) Gesuiti (or Crocicchieri) capture of S l Mark (Bosch. Le R. 31in. Ses. di C. R. 11), crucifixion (Sans. Ven. Desc. 168 — 9), the same, once in the Manfrini palace, and now past our ken. (Zanotto, Guida di Ven. 346.) Picture once in San Maffeo of Mazzorbo, signed: "Opus Johannis de Mansuetis discipuli Joannis Bellinus (?) (Zanotto Pin. dell' Acad. Ven. Fasc. XV.) San Giorgio Maggiore, bust, canvas, of the apostle Peter. (Cicogna, Is. ! Ven. IV. 386, 388.) 224 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IX. not an original morsel remains/ and as the colleague of Lazzaro Bastiani in furnishing the standards on the Piazza of San Marco. 2 One of his most characteristic pieces is the Virgin and child between four saints once in Santa Lucia of Padua, in which it is easy to perceive that the first impressions of the painters youth were derived from the Squarcionesques. His forms are weighty, and more coarsely naturalistic than Car- paccio's or Mansueti's 5 his draperies are muffled, and of the texture of blankets; his touch heavy and fluid like that of Savoldo. 3 It is not surprising that his earlier creations should be classed amongst those of unknown Paduans, like the transfiguration of the Venice Academy, 4 but it is curious that some of his later ones should be miscalled Catena. In the first we have a tempera of a chocolate colour, full of vulgar accent and exaggeration in the outline of limbs and body, boldly incorrect in drawing, and broken in drapery, with a coarse wildness pervading the features, and a hard raw touch; the second is a couple of half-lengths of the Virgin and child amidst saints in the academy of Venice, in which defects conspicuous in the transfiguration are repeated, but repeated in the new oil medium with dull, 1 Venice Acad. No. 557, canvas, m. 3-63 h. by P43. There are figures, many of them females with children in a court, and others ascending a flight of steps. This piece, once in San Giovanni Evan, is noticed in Boschini (Le Ric. Min. Ses. di S. Polo, 37—8), and all other authors as the work of B. Diana. 2 See Cadorins's notes to Gua- landi, Mem. Ser. III. p. 91. 3 Ven. Acad. No. 580, wood, oil, m. 97 h. by 2*25. The Virgin en- throned with the child between S ts Jerom and Benedict and Giustina and M. Magdalen, inscribed: "Be- nedictus Diana pinxit. D. Fior- delixe mogier che fo di Maistro BartoB bochaler fato far questa op." Strange contrast between the heavy saints in this piece and the puny child. Note the coarseness of the hands, the dull brownish tone, and fatty treatment of the colour. (This altarpiece is engraved in Zanotto, Pinac. dell 1 Accad. Ven. Fas. XIII.) 4 Venice Acad. No. 377. The Redeemer rises from a rock, his hand cramped, his feet broad like those of Andrea da Murano; the head fairly regular. In this and the two neighbouring figures the idea is good, but clothed in a rough language of art. There is considerable boldness in the atti- tudes, wood, tempera, half life-size. Chap. IX. BENEDETTO DIANA. 225 horny, and high surface tones. 1 After a certain course of learning at Venice, Diana exchanged something of his squareness and breadth for slenderness, 2 and under these conditions produced the gift of the girdle to S* Thomas in Santa Maria della Croce at Crema ; but in spite of all efforts he remains vulgar in masks, and realizes form with sharp and broken contours, his colour preserving a dry bricky tinge recalling Boccaccino. A great disadvantage to Diana lies too in his want of taste for architectural adornment; and in this very altarpiece of Crema his style in the buildings of a distance is grotesque and heavy. 3 In better balance yet still impressed with many undesirable faults, are the Madonna and saints in the Palazzo Reale at Venice, 4 and 1 The first of these is in the Ven. Acad. No. 121, wood, m. 0*85 h. by 0'93, oil, injured by restoring 1 . Subject, the Virgin and child be- tween the Baptist and S l Jerom. Note the heavy air of the Virgin and child, and the coarseness of the forms, the broken drapery, and the excrescences in the face of the Baptist. Note also the thick impasto of dull colour. The second is in the Venice Acad. No. 385, wood, oil, ra. 0'82 h. by 1*25, originally in the Magistrato del Sale at Venice. The character is the same here as above, but there is something- more refined in the head of the Virgin. Diana tries to be pretty, and falls into disproportion. We shall see that Catena had quite another manner. At the Virgin's sides are S ts Jerom and Francis in a landscape; the surface is less injured than that in No. 124. 2 We pass by the S l Mark be- tween S ta Francis, George, Michael and Dominick, once in the Magis- trate della Milizia del Mar now, in the depot of the Palazzo Ducale, as a work that has lost all claim to genuineness from repainting, though it is noticed in Bosch. (Le VOL. I. Ric. Min. S. di S. Marco p. 53), and Zanetti (Pitt. Ven. 70); canvas, oil, figures half life-size. 3 Crema, Santa Maria della Croce, wood, oil, figures half life-size. Here again Diana recalls Savoldo, but the Eternal in a lunette has something of Cima. The Virgin holds the girdle as she stands in a glory of cherubs, beneath which are the apostles in a landscape. Signed, on a cartello to the left, "Benedicte Diana p." (See Anon, p. 54.) 4 Venice Palazzo Reale. This, which bears the cognizance of the Cornaro family on the side of the throne, and a lost Virgin done for the Cornari at the church of SS. Apostoli in Venice, shows that this family patronised Diana. See Bosch. (Le Ric. Min. Ses. di C. R. 21:), who says the subject of the pic- ture at the SS. Apostoli was a S l Lucy between three other saints; and Lanzi II. 106, who had evi- dently seen the work. The Virgin of which notice is taken in the text, was done for the Zecca, or mint, now Palazzo Reale. At her sides are S ls Jerom and Francis, each of whom recommend a small kneeling patron. 15 226 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IX. the Virgin and child between S l Augustin and S* Monica once in the Servi and now in the academy under the name of Florigerio ; 1 but in the main Diana holds a low place in Venetian annals ; 2 being only superior to Marco Marziale ; and other fourth-rates, 3 of whom happily but a few are remembered by" pos- terity. When Albert Durer wrote to his friends at Niirenberg that there were painters at Venice who copied him in The figures are bony and thin, the draperies broken; Diana here has a mixed manner between Vivarini's and Bellini's, whilst the brown tone of flesh recalls the technical treatment of Lazzaro. The colour, as usual, is of a fatty impasto, but better managed than usual. (Canvas, oil, not free from restoring.) 1 Venice Acad. No. 38, wood, m. 1-80 h. by 1'50. Virgin, child, and young S l John between S ts Augus- tin and Monica, properly called Diana by Boschini (Le Ric. Min. Ses. 1 di C. Reg. No. 44), by Ridolfi (Marav. I. 55), by Sansovino (Ven. Desc. p. 162), and Zanetti (Pitt. Ven. 71), yet engraved by Zanotto (Pin. dell 1 Acad. Ven. Fasc. XVIII.) as by Florigerio. Perhaps this nomenclature may have been sug- gested by the silver grey tone of the flesh half-tints, a certain neatness in rendering form, and better draperies than before, but the types and masks are Diana's usual ones. It is curious at the same time to observe the lunette of the piece containing the Eternal (wood, Venice Acad. No. 3), assigned to Bissolo. 2 Under Cima's name, but like a work by Diana, is a small panel, in oil, belonging to Signor B. Gera atConegliano, representg. S l George and the carcase of the dragon in. a landscape; a dull-toned picture of a little less antiquated style than Diana's usual ones, the figures being slender. The picture is in- jured by restoring. As missing, note: Venice, San Stae, Virgin and child enthroned between S ts Mark, Jerom, Andrew and Louis, Boschini (Le R. Min. S. della Croce, p. 15). San Fran- cesco della Vigna, S l John Evan- gelist between two saints (Vas. VI. 104 — 5, and Sansov. Ven. Des. 52). Carmine, S^uke between S ts Peter and Paul with the Virgin and child, the latter holding the orb. (Bosch. Le Ric. Min. Ses. di D. Duro, p. 44, Sansov. Ven. Des. 262, and Ridolfi Marav. I. 55), Scuola della Carita, Virgin and child, with several friars in attend- ance (Bosch. Le R. M. Ses. di D. Duro, 36), Scuola di San Marco, Noah's ark, left unfinished by Diana. (Sansov. Ven. Des. 286.) 3 Amongst the painters of the lower class whose works have dis- appeared, we count Lattanzio of Rimini, who is registered in 1495 as one of the decorators in the Hall of Great Council at Venice, at a salary of forty ducats a year, raised later to forty-eight ducats. (Gave, Carteggio, II. 71). Lattan- zio and Mansueti both laboured, at the church of the Crociferi or Gesuati at Venice in competition with Cima, the first having painted a sermon of S l Mark, dated 1499. (Boschini, Le Ric. Min. S. di C. Reg. p. 11, Sansovino, Ven. Des. 169, and Ridolfi, Marav. I. 202.) Chap. IX. MARCO MARZIALE. 227 churches, or wherever else his works were to be found, we can scarce doubt that he spoke, amongst others, of Marziale. We may turn the leaves of chronicles and consult the oldest guides without finding his name; yet he was a journeyman at the Great Hall of Council in 1492 and has left a few pictures behind him. It would be difficult to prove in an absolute sense that he was a plagiarist of Diirer, but if we visit the Conserva- torio de' Penitenti at San Giobbe in Venice, and look at a circumcision which Marziale finished in 1499, we shall be convinced that no Venetian was better prepared than he was to accept lessons derived from German art. The composition is not very different from that commonly found in the Venetian school at this time, but the figures are exceedingly hard, and carried out with the most painful want of feeling in the fashion usual to men imperfectly acquainted with the handling of oil colour. 2 As yet however Marziale is purely Venetian in technical treatment and in colour. In 1506 he completed a " Christ and the apostles" at Emmaus, in which he ex- hibits unmistakeable change. Though still thoroughly Italian, and as regards the arrangement of his subject a follower of Carpaccio, he displays a northern spirit in the short and heavy mould of the Saviour's head, and the addled folds of his drapery. The figure to the left, so finely dressed in its turban by Carpaccio, is turned by 1 Gaye, Carteggio, II. 71. 2 Venice, San Giobbe. The Vir- gin sits in the middle of the pic- ture with the infant on her lap, with S l Joseph holding the doves to the left, and a female at her shoulders. To the right Simeon, behind whom are two females and a male. The figure of Simeon, the hand of the saint on the ex- treme right of the picture are re- painted. The hair of S l Joseph is divided into straight parallel ringlets. On a cartello beneath the Virgin one reads: "Pinxit opus Marcus Marcialis Venetus, anno MCCCCLXXXX Villi. (Lanzi er- roneously reads 1488, II. 107.) In the same sty!e, but better, and of an olive tone, is a very precisely-drawn panel in the Berlin Museum, No. 49, representing the Virgin, child, a bishop, S l George, and two other saints, with the enigmatical signature or remnant of a signature as follows: ". . . pertus maras pinxit." 15* 228 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IX. Marziale into a negro, the pilgrims on the extreme left are quite German, and recall to our mind creations of Cranach. 1 But the German air here is mild when compared to that exhibited in a second edition of the same subject executed in 1507, and preserved at the Berlin Museum. The masks here become more essentially transalpine, the drawing harder, the drapery more minute, and detail more intrusive. 2 So far, however, Marziale is not wanting in a certain power. At a late period he fell into an excess of triviality and vulgarity, unsurpassed perhaps in any school ; and of this we have fortunately but one example, in the woman taken in adultery, long concealed in an hospital at Borgo San Donnino near Parma. 3 Marziale' s prototype in this stage of his pictorial exist- ence is an artist of northern education, called Nicolaus de Barbaris, who produced a "woman in adultery" exactly like that of Parma in the Palazzo Alvise Mocenigo at San Samuele of Venice. In raw hardness of colour, paltriness and repulsiveness of faces, and stiffness of 1 Venice Acad. No. 96, wood, m. 1*18 h. by l - 40, signed on a car- tello: "Marcus Marcialis Venetus 1506." Note the stiffness and dry- ness of fold in the drapery; the shadows are high in surface. 2 Berlin Museum, No. 1, wood, 3f. 8 1 /* h. by 4f. 6% from the Solly collection. Signed, "Marcus Ma . . i Venetus p. MDVIL" The catalogue reads the signature erro- neously " Marco Marcone," no such person being known in the Vene- tian or any other school. 3 Parma. This piece was quite lately in the hands of Signor F. Discart in Modena. It is on can- vas, with figures all but life-size (half-lengths). The Saviour stands in the centre between the adul- teress, whose hands are bound, and the officer, who shows him the book of the law; in rear are five personages. Nothing more vulgar can be conceived than the faces. The shapes are wooden, the drapery broken, the hands rigid, the flesh of a dull olive tone, yet the out- lines are very minute. On the stomacher of the adulteress one reads: Marchus . . . rcialis f." Note at the Mayence Museum, a portrait bust, No. 42, in a land- scape with the mutilated inscrip- tion in the back of the panel: "MCCC . . . XXXX . . . die primo mensis Augusti M. M. f." This little portrait of a man in a black cap and red dress has something of the mixed character of Cima and the Lombards. The last letters of the inscription might point to Marco Marziale. Chap. IX. JACOPO DE BARBARIS. 229 drapery, this piece has hardly its equal. 1 That Nico- laus .produced it at Venice, if not for the Mocenigo, at least for some Italian family is probable; that he and Marziale both laboured together is likely; but there is a curious feature to be noticed in connection with his name and the inscription on his picture. He signs: "Nicholaus de barbaris fecit/' and completes the inscription with a monogram which in a more complete form is the cognizance of another person of the same clan, respecting whom continental critics have indulged in endless speculation. 2 Jacopo de Barbaris, whose sig- nature and emblem 3 appear on a panel of 1504 in the gallery of Augsburg, whose initials and sign authen- ticate a head of Christ in the museum of Weimar, is no doubt identical with Jacomo Barberino Veneziano, of whom the Anonimo relates that he went to Germany and Burgundy, and there adopted the art of those countries. 4 He was the colleague of Mabuse in the service of John of Burgundy, Bishop of Utrecht, 5 and excelled as a painter and engraver. 6 It is not certain whether he and Jacometto of Venice are one person, the Anonimo having carefully distinguished the works of both; 7 there is more probability in the assumption that he is the 1 Venice. Palazzo Alvise Moce- nigo, panel with straight paltry figures. In this style we note a Virgin and child in a landscape attended by S ts Jerom, Catherine, and another saint, a panel once belonging- to the family of Capo- di-Lista, and now No. 481 in the Communal Gallery at Padua. The foreign air of the figures and the mixture of Ijellinesque character might make us assign it to Niccolo de Barbari. The general tone is low, dull and raw; the colour thick in substance and hard; there is, at the same time, great minuteness of finish in the parts. 2 See Bartsch's peintre graveur. Passavant's d°, Harzen in Nau- mann'sArchiv. Leipzig. Weigel, and Grimm, Ktinstler and Kunstwerke, VII. VIII. Aug. 1865. 3 A wand of Mercury. 4 Anonimo, 77. 5 Germanicarum rerum scriptores, 1611, Francfort. 6 For the engravings, see the authorities in that branch above quoted. Diircr notices works of his in the gallery of Margaret of Austria at Malines. Campe, ub. sup. 135. 7 Anon. 77, and 18, 19, 61, 70, 73, 74, 75, 81. Strange that of this Jacometto no trace should have been preserved. 230 THE VENETIANS. Chap. IX. artist alluded to in Diirer's correspondence as Jacob Walch. 1 In a suppressed part of his dedication to Pirkheimer, in the "Book of proportion/' Diirer alludes to Jacob Walch as a man who had given him valuable hints in his youth ; 2 whilst in a letter to Pirkheimer he states that there are much better men at Venice than u master Jacob/' and that the Venetians are of his opinion; believing that if Jacob were so great a master he would have stayed at home. 3 There is no doubt; supposing the identity of Walch and Barbaris to be conceded; that the opinion of Durer's friends at Venice is correct. What the Anonimo says of Jacopo's assumption of the Ger- man manner applies to the pieces still extant in Ger- many. The panel at Augsburg representing a partridge, two gauntlets, two brassards and an arrow, signed: "Jac° de Barbari p. 1504," forms the cover to a picture by another hand, and is done with Flemish minuteness. The Christ in the museum of Weimar, a front face with long locks, though greatly injured by rubbing down and retouching, still appears of German or Flemish type, minutely detailed in the hair and drapery, and of a feeble rosy tone, hatched up with very fine lines in the half- tints. There is not a trace in it of Venetian art. 4 But these are not solitary examples of Jacopo's industry; 1 Campe, Reliquien, ub. sup. p. 13. 2 This has been communicated to us by the kindness of the late keeper of the Leipzig Museum, Herr von Zahn, who recently ex- amined Diirer's MS. in the British Museum, and published the results of his search in " Jahrbiicher fur Kunst-Wissenschaft, Leipzig 1 , 1867." 3 Campe, ub. sup. p. 13. 4 Weimar Gallery, panel, 1 foot high by 9'/ 4 in. broad. The out- lines of the head are all retouched, likewise the hair and curls, except on the right shoulder, where the old surface is preserved. The eyes are restored, so that one sees the old shape beneath the re-touches. This head was once in the Praun and Frauenholz collection at NU- renberg (Brulliot. I. 429), and was bought for the Weimar Museum twenty years ago. It has a signa- ture in the upper left hand corner as follows: "I A D B,' 1 and be- tween the A and D the wand of Mercury, but the latter half of the letters is new. Chap. IX. JACOPO DE BARBARIS. 231 there are some in Paris and in Ratisbon, and others under strange names in the gallery of Dresden. 1 1 Dresden, Mus. No. 1795, wood, If. 9 h. by 1, representing- S l Cathe- rine, and No. 1796, canvas, If. 5y 4 h. by 11 '/ 2 in. representing 1 S l Bar- bara. No. 1804, Christ in bene- diction, with a small cross in his left hand, canvas, 2f. 2 h. by 1*7 1 / 2 , under the name of Lucas von Ley den is by the same hand. It has been stated by the owner of a picture with Jacopo's signa- I ture in private hands in Paris that i Jacopo de Barbaris is the pro- bable author of the S l Jerom in his study, assigned to Van Eyck, or Jacometto, or Memling by the Anonimo (p. 74 — 5), and now in the Baring collection in London. If so, he must have painted at some period of his life in a different style from that observed in his pictures at Weimar and elsewhere. 232 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. - CHAPTER X. CIMA AND OTHER BELLINESQUES. Giovanni Battista of Conegliano, known in his own time as "il Conegliano/' and bom in the beautiful city of Friuli, which stands on the banks of the Livenza 5 wandered to Venice in search of teachers or patrons, and earned for himself a well deserved celebrity as a com- poser of sacred subjects. 1 Deeply attached, like most mountaineers, to his native place, he prided himself on nothing more than that he was its genuine child and citizen; and, as he rarely lost an opportunity of intro- ducing into landscape distances the charming hills and vales in which his youth had been spent, he was called in the 17 th and following centuries by no other name than Cima da Conegliano. It was the fashion from the earliest times to adorn houses and public buildings in the towns of the Trevisan Marches with figures and friezes, which gaily subdued the glare of white stones and plaster 5 and amongst rude decorations of this kind at Conegliano we notice a slender neatness and regularity in delinea- tions of the human shape, and a reddish tinge of flesh familiar to Cima; yet Cima's productions have little else to remind us of local influences, and we are at a loss to name 1 He always calls himself "Co- neglianensis 11 in his pictures, and is only known to Vasari, the Anonimo, and Sansovino, as Gio- vanni Battista da Conegliano. Bos- chini (Le. R. Miniere, Pref. p. 9.) is one of the first to call him Cima, saying with a pun that he is "appunto di Cima, come si suol dire." Chap. X. CIMA. 233 an artist in Friuli to whom he owes any marked feature of his style. When he executed a Madonna between two saints for San Bartolommeo of Vicenza in 1489, he was still wedded to the old system of tempera, but as a painter in that medium his finish was cold, blended, and very careful; his figures are of good proportions, agree- able form and firm outline, and his drapery though an- gular is appropriately cast. He balances the contrasts in dresses, or in accessories according to correct laws of harmony; but though his manner reveals something of the Venetians, it is not absolutely that of Giovanni Bellini. 1 Having settled at Venice, Cima soon perceived the necessity for acquiring the trick of oils, and when commissioned by the friars of the Madonna dell' Orto to compose for them a "glory of S l John the Bap- tist," he undertook to paint the panel in the new method. But even here, his figures have little more than good proportions, their scanty development reminding us of the Friulan in its cornered dryness, just as the land- scape and back ground . of ruined architecture recall familiar bits by the great masters of the hill country, Pellegrino of San Daniele and Pordenone. Technically too the treatment is imperfect and raw, the tone darkly shadowed and of a dusky olive, without the fusion or the finish which we expect from Cima. 2 1 Vicenza Gallery. This picture was lately taken from San Barto- lommeo of Vicenza (Mosca Guida fli Vicenza, ub. sup. 7.) to the Municipal Gallery of the town. It is a tempera on cam-as, with figures three-fourths the size of life, signed on the step of the throne: "Jo- aries bptista de Conegliano fecit 1489, adi p° mazo. The Virgin is enthroned before an arched bower fronted with marbles over- shadowed with vine. At her sides stand S ts James and Jerom. The surface of flesh in the standing' infant and the red tunic of the Virgin are scaled in some places. 2 Venice Acad. No. 74. This altarpiece is noticed by all the Venetian guides as adorning the church of the Madonna dell' Orto, wood, oil, m. 3-05 h. by 2'05. It has been engraved in Zanotto (Pin. Ven. Fas. 14), and represents the Baptist on a pedestal attended by S ts Peter, Mark, Jerom, and Paul in the opening of a round cloister. The surface is injured by abra- sion, 234 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. Before 1492, we may conjecture, he had finished the Pieta at the Venice Academy in which a more mascu- line development and greater freedom of action in nude are combined with deeper thought in distribution and a more vigorous treatment of oil-colour than had previously been attained. The rapidity of his progress, however, is best revealed in the grand altarpiece of the Virgin and child with saints ordered in 1492 for a brotherhood at Conegliano, and the baptism of Christ completed for the high altar of San Giovanni in Bragora at Venice, in 1494. Whilst in 1489 we still perceive him cling- ing to reminiscences of his own land, he is now more decidedly Venetian. In the background of his pic- ture at Conegliano, models of architecture and orna- ment are taken from the cupola chapels of San Marco, the Virgin's head is of a regular Bellinesque type, and the angels playing at the foot of the throne seem inspired from those of Giovanni Bellini. 2 If as regards colour, the brightness of the original surface has been lost, and time thus deprives us of an indispensable charm, we shall make up the loss by turning to the Baptism, where, in spite of abrasion, a beautiful brownish glow still overspreads the panel. As if rivalling Bellini, who treats the same theme at Vicenza, Cima here shows us the Saviour in a rill, fronting the spectator, but 1 Venice Acad. No. 429, from the Renier collection, wood, oil, m. 0'70 high by 1*13, signed on the stone sepulchre: "Joannes bap- tista Coneglianensis opus." Nico- demus supports the body of Christ, whilst the Virgin and S l John hold the arms, and the two Marys look on. The tints of flesh are still sombre, and the shadows of high surface. 2 Conegliano Duomo. This altar- piece is on the wall to the left of the high altar (wood, oil, figures life-size, split in two places, threat- ening to scale in many parts, and repainted in the shadows through- out), signed on a cartello on the throne-step: "Clarissimi ac eques- tre ordinis viri francisci quadrivij ductu auspicio hie auspicis Joannis a fraterni . . . . fecit MCCCC/' Federici says the date was 1493 : but the commentators of Vas. (VI. 118—19) state that it is 1492, and that the archives of the duomo contain memoranda according to which the price paid to the artist was 416/. 12?. of Venice. The angel to the right looking up is reminiscent of one of Bellini's in the altarpiece lately burnt at San Giovanni e Paolo in Venice. The head of S l Catherine is ruined. Chap. X. CIMA. 235 turning, with melancholy tenderness, towards the Bap- tist who, standing on the bank above, and thrown into strong shadow, pours water from a cup on his head-, three angels to the left holding the red tunic and blue mantle. Behind the Saviour is the river from which the rill is fed, flowing from a distant and not very high range of mountains ; on the left the lofty rock, Cima of Coneg- liano with its castle and defences, and a tree with autumn leaves breaking the rugged line of stone, and the serene air of the sky peopled with winged cherubs. Without the simplicity or taste for colour of Bellini as a land- scapist, Cima surpasses his cotemporary in this in- stance in variety of outline and contrast of water and hills. He is very masterly in producing strong effect by light and shade. He gives to his forms such metallic precision and hardness of polish, that he recalls Antonello da Messina, and he has his own peculiarity in a formal method of twisting hair into curly locks. His painting differs alike from Bellini's in feeling and in technical treatment. The difficult art of breaking up tones and varying sur- faces by partial glazes is foreign to his habits and un- suited to his nature. He leaves those difficulties to be dealt with and overcome by Giorgione and Titian; and thus sacrifices a great element in the production of flex- ible and tenderly modelled flesh; but he has a clear ringing enamel of surface which has its attraction. 1 1 Venice, San Gio. in Bragora. This noble picture was painted, as is proved by records, at San. Gio- vanni in Bragora, by Gio. Battista da Conegliano in 1494 (Mem. Sulla ch. di S. G. in B. ub. sup. p. 27), wood, oil. On a slip of paper, curl- ing out of the foreground, are rem- nants of an illegible inscription; the surface here and there, espe- cially on the right hand foreground, greatly rubbed down. Twice was this subject painted by Cima, once here, once in the church of the Carita, where SS. Paul, James, Augustin and Jerom formed part of the picture. This last example, now missing, is noticed in Bos- chini(Le Ric. Min. Ses. di D. Duro, p. 34), and Sansov. (Ven. ub. sup. 36), and ascribed to Bellini by Ridolfi (Mar. I. 88). •We miss an important work of 1497, an adoration of the shep- herds with San Lorenzo Giustiniani, mentioned by Boschini (Le R. M. Ses. della Croce, 61), Ridolfi (Mar. I. 101), and Sansov. (Ven. Desc. 240.) 236 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. From this time forward, with but slight variations, the art of Cima preserved eonsiderable uniformity. Lustre and blended nature of tint, and forcible con- trasts of light and shade, most distinguish him from the Venetians, and might suggest a Lombard influence, but that the true cause of these peculiarities may, we believe, be found in Antonello da Messina. Compared with other painters of the close of the 15 1 ' 1 century, Cima takes a place by Giovanni Bellini's side, similar to that held by Francia in respect to Perugino. Francia's impasto was more solid, his flesh was more metallic, clear, and glowing than VannuccPs, but his feeling and expression were less subtle. Cima has not the largeness or breadth of shape in figures, nor the fibre of the colourist, which belong to Bellini. He never attempts subjects, and in this as in other respects he stands at the very opposite pole from Carpaccio; but, like Francia, his favourite theme is the Madonna with or without saints, to whom he gives a very agreeable and calm contentment. What he lacks in grandeur is com- pensated by staid and dignified simplicity. His control over himself almost equals that of Gentile, and he never falls into any extreme. As a delineator of the human frame, he has the necessary anatomical acquirements; in drapery he is conscious of the inner form, though his clearness frequently leads to strain and angularity of fold. He has in his limited walk all that is required to make him a worthy rival of the best Venetian artists before the rise of the 16 th century. We have seen him in his prime as regards finish, effect, and glow of even tone in 1494. He continued on the same level in a considerable number of minor pieces, of which the most authentic, if not the most attractive, are the Virgin and child of 1496, in Santa Maria delle Grazie at Gemona, 1 and the Madonna, in 1 Gemona, half-lengths wood, I tance sky and landscape; inscr. oil, figures one-quarter of life, dis- | on a scrip to the right: u Joannis Chap. X. CIMA. 237 the gallery of Bologna. 1 In 1501 he completed the incre- dulity of S l Thomas for the hospital of Portogruaro, on which all his power was expended, giving a mild agree- able air to the Saviour, an expressive face to S l Thomas, and dignified mien to the surrounding apostles; 2 in 1502 the altarpiece was finished in which he repre- sents S l Constantine and S l Helen at San Giovanni in m Bragora, one of those brown-enamelled pictures which characterize the earlier phase of his career. 3 As Vene- tian art grew bolder and the first years of the century sped away, Cima too became more free, adding rich- ness to his tints, force to his shadows, effect to his distances, and animation to his figures. In this vein he completed for the Carmine of Venice a nativity in which the Virgin kneels by the manger attended by the angel and Tobias, at the base of a picturesque and precipitous bank, whilst S* Joseph introduces the shepherds in pre- sence of S l Helen and S l Catherine. He gives to this lively scene a prettier landscape than he had ever done baptista Coneglianensis opus 1496, adi primo Avosto. This small panel is much injured and dis- coloured, the only genuine bit that remains being the head and part of the body of the child. 1 Bologna, No. 61, wood, oil, arched, figures, half the size of life. The Virgin, half-length, holds the child erect in profile on a parapet, distance landscape and sky; above, the Eternal and two angels, inscr. : "Joannes baptiste Coneglianensis opus. 1 ' Originally painted fur the sacristy, of S. Gio- vanni in monte of Bologna (Za- notto Pinac. dell' Acad. Ven. Fasc. XVI.), it is a pleasant specimen of Cima\s simple study of nature un- der the Bellinesque influence. The colour is clear and well-fused. 2 Portogruaro. This is a large altarpiece, inscribed :" Joannis Bap- j tistas Conegliasis opus 1501 (the j last cipher doubtful J al tpo di mb agnolo et Zamo operaio . . fn | fatta questa tavola. 11 Much in- jured and ill-restored, this piece is scaling in many places, and some heads are dimmed by re- painting'. The scene is laid in a room with a panelled ceiling, and two arched windows looking out on a landscape. 3 The following* memorandum in the records of San Giovanni in Bragora refers to this piece: "1502 31. Marzo; Maestro Zan Batt. da Coneglian depentor col quale fu fatto mercato per 1. 28 in tutto, che debbe far una palla per il legno della Crocc, con una Croce, c. S. Elena, e Constantin, et a basso in tre quadfi l'invention della Croce." (Mem. ub. sup. p. 27.) At a very early period the predella was transferred to I!. Vivarini's Virgin, child and saints of 1478 in the same church. (See passim.) The chief panel, with half life- size figures, has been engraved by Zanotto. (Pinac. Yen. Ease. 30.) 238 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. before, and effects of shadow that are but the forerunners of more perfect ones in altarpieces at Parma. 1 There, indeed, he concentrated all the talent with which he had been gifted, and it is impossible to find a more impor- tant example of his skill than the Virgin and child be- tween S l Michael and S l Andrew, in the public gallery of that city. 2 For many years, during which this beau- tiful work formed the centre of attraction in the Sanvi- tale collection, it was considered a masterpiece of Leo- nardo da Vinci, and as such was praised by the serious Amoretti, and the enthusiastic Rio. It remarkably dis- plays the power of Cima in casting broad shadows over large masses of a ruined classic temple, the Virgin resting on a stone, with the child near her on a broken pillar; as they both sit there and S* Andrew stands close by with his cross on his shoulder, she helps the child's right hand to the gesture of benediction, and S l Michael to the left, weighs souls in a pair of scales. A smiling landscape closes the distance, and white clouds float clear over a blue sky. Such a graceful thought as is here embodied is rare in Cima, who also reveals increased ability in the natural presenta- tion of figures. As a sun effect, in which the prin- cipal group is relieved against the dark blocks of masonry behind it, the picture is a model of just balance in contrasts. The architecture and its perspec- tive are alike correct; the tone is of a red enamel, and if anything too cold and smooth in its finish. More kindly, if not as powerful, and for Cima of a pure and elegant feeling, is the second great altarpiece executed for the cathedral at Parma. 3 In front of a 1 Venice, Carmine, wood, en- graved in Zanotto (Pinac. Ven. Fasc. 13), signed in a cartello be- low the manger: "Joanes Conel- lanesis opus. This piece is da- maged by restoring. 2 Gallery of Parma, wood, figures | two-thirds of life-size, well pre- j served - with, of old, the forged signature: "Lionardo Vinci, 1492." See Amoretti, Mem. Stor. di L. Vi. 8°, Milan, 1804, p. 41. 3 Gallery of Parma, wood, oil, figures two-thirds of life-size, in- Chap. X. CIMA. 239 semidome, in the vaulting of which we see the Eternal as he appears in the gilded mosaic tribunes of the older Christian churches, the Virgin enthroned lays her right hand on the head of S l Damian who prays near her with inspired glance. The child on her knee turns in the opposite direction to bless S l Apollonian and at the sides S 1 Cosmo and S* John, S l Catherine and S l Paul, look on in pious meditation, a single angel at the foot of the throne pausing with the viol at his throat. Cima per- fectly displays on this occasion the art of distributing his personages with appropriate action, and of mixing light and shade with judicious effect. Some heads keep their place most admirably, though fully out of light; shadows are projected with uncommon skill without altering the character of subdued tone that overspreads the whole picture ; and there is such soft harmony in colours which singly are uniform and unbroken, that we are surprised at the happy effect attained by such means. Nothing more delicate than the silvery hue of the flesh; nothing more brilliant than the polish of surfaces laid on with half impasto and almost free from glazes. We might add to this list of Parmese pictures, the Virgin and child between saints transferred to the Louvre from San Domenico of Parma, 1 and the Pieta of the Modena gallery executed for Alberto Pio of Carpi, a known ad- mirer of the works of Cima. 2 Great activity now scribed on a cartello at the side of the angel: "Joannes baptista Conia'nsis." 1 Louvre, No. 173, wood, arched, m. 1-70 high by 1'10. The Virgin holds the infant on her knee, and he receives the homage of S* John the Baptist and the Magdalen. On the base of the throne are the words: "Joanes Bapt. Coneglaneso opus." (See Miindler, Essai d' une Analyse, ub. sup. p. GO.) ■ The surface has been rubbed down in cleaning. 1 Modena Gall. No. 143, wood, m. 1-34 high, by 1-07. S l John kneels (right) and supports the head, whilst Nicodemus holds the frame and the fainting Virgin the left arm of Christ. The Marys attend the Virgin, and, to the right and left, are S ts Bernardino and Francis. We agree with the Marquis Campori in thinking this the picture described in San Nic- colo of Carpi by Pozzoli, author of the Cronaca di Carpi (1624). (See Campori "Gli artisti," &c. ub. sup. p. 153.) There is some for- mality in the arrangement of this 240 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. seems to take possession of the painter. Without losing anything of his finish he completes in succession an extraordinary number of large and important panels; the S l Peter Martyr of the Brera ; which Vasari saw in the monastery of the Corpus Domini at Venice, and thought alone of all Cima's creations worthy of mention *, 1 the powerful S l Jerom penitent, 2 and a fine glory of S l Peter in the same gallery in which we ad- mire alike depth, brilliancy and gloss, 3 a S l Cathe- rine of elegant stature belonging to the Marquis of Hert- ford, 4 and S 1 Sebastian and S* Roch, the property of Sir Anthony Stirling. 5 Varying these we have a series of half-length Virgins with the child,* differing in value or piece, but the Saviour is well- shaped, the drawing- is generally careful, the modelling and contrast of light and shade correct. The surface has been restored, and now threatens to scale. 1 Brera, No. 96, S l Peter stands erect on a pedestal in an arched cloister between S ts Nicholas and Augustin (wood, m. 3'20 high by 2*15). An angel plays the violon- cello at the foot tof the pedestal, on the border of which the rem- nants of the painter's signature are yet visible. In the distance is a splendid landscape. The S 1 Nicholas especially is of a severe dignified type. (See Vasari VI. 100; Bosch. Le. E. Min. S. di C. Reg. 71; Sansov. Ven. Des. 174.) 1 Brera, No. 126, wood, m. 0'35 high by 0"29, under the name of Basaiti, but by Cima in his prime; the drawing being firm, the enamel glossy, the landscape minute after Antonello's fashion, the flesh warm and brown. 1 Brera, No. 189, wood, m. 1*66 high by 1*47. S l Peter enthroned between Paul and John the Bap- tist, an angel playing a lute at the foot of the pedestal, on the border of which, "Johannes Bap- tista Coneglianensis fecit. 1 ' In the same collection we have small panels, No. 213 and 217, in each of which a couple of saints are set; part, perhaps, of a pre- della to a lost altarpiece, origi- nally in San Girolamo at Venice. (Boschini Le Kic. Min. Ses. di C. Reg. 42; Sansov. Ven. Des. 176.) The art is that of Cima, with some damage attributable to restoring. No. 253, the Virgin and child, has not the full vigour of the master's best time, but is injured by re- storing. No. 229, assigned to Car- paccio, is a triptych undoubtedly by Cima. (See passim in Carpac- cio.) 1 Marquis of Hertford's collec- tion, No. 197, wood, 4f. 7'/ 2 high by 2f. 5*6, signed on the pedestal on which the saint stands: "Jo- anis baptiste Coneglianesis opus." Through the peristyle in which the saint stands with her palm, wheel and crown, a beautiful land- scape. This is a fine Cima of the strong stamp of 1502, the flesh slightly retouched. 3 London, Sir A. Stirling, wood, half life-size, S l Roch, a vulgar mask. S l Sebastian a good nude. Both, and the Virgin and child, between S ts Francis and Anthony in a lunette of the same period and character as the immediately foregoing. Chap. X. CIMA. 241 in charm, according to the period of their execution, or the state of their preservation. A peasant face of kindly nature, with a peasant child to match, are special features in that of 1508 at Santa Maria della Consolazione in Este. 1 Of a more select type, but of hard reddish tinge, a similar one in the Casa Fabris at Conegliano. 2 More pleasing in tone and of beautiful gloss is one at the National Gallery, in which the child stands erect on the Virgin's knees; 3 but most graceful and agreeable in movement is another in that gallery in which the infant neatly turns its head and strides forward in a charming momentary action. 4 Here we have the clear silvery colour, with grey shadows, which distinguishes the same subject in a different form at the palace of Prince Napoleon in Paris, 5 a pretty example of a clear and very attractive brightness, full of feeling in the melan- choly but affectionate glance of the Virgin, and peculiarly 1 Este, wood, all but life-size, inscribed on the screen at the base of the picture: "Joannes baptiste Coneglianensis opus 1508." The child, on the Virgin's lap, holds the hem of her bodice. Through an opening at the left sideof a dark green wall is the usual land- scape. The .colour here is raw, and the forms are a little short; preservation perfect. 2 Casa Fabris, wood, all but life-size. Note that in Casa Gera at Co- negliano, there is a S l Michael assigned to Cima, and not by him. (See passim in Diana.) In the Communal Gallery of Rovigo, under No. 106, is a Vir- gin and child, panel, half-life, called Cima. It was originally in the episcopal palace. (Bartoli, Pitt, di Kovigo, ub. sup. p. 164.) The Virgin, in a marble seat, holds a book. Repainted, cleaned, and stippled up afresh, this piece seems rather a work of Basaiti or Previtali than of Cima. Bartoli mentions further two pictures by Cima, now missing: a marriage of S l Catherine in Casa Ferrari, and a Virgin and child in Casa Silvestri at Rovigo. (Ib. ib. pp. 232, 259.) 3 National Gall. No. 124, wood, If. 8'/ 2 h. by If. 5. The Virgin sits in a marble seat, distance a landscape, signed: "Joanes bap- tiste Conegla s p. 11 The style is of the time of the picture belong- ing to Sir A. Stirling, well pre- served, and of fine strong enamelled tone — formerly in Powerscourt castle, afterwards belonging to Mr. W. Coningham, M.P. and Mr. Beaucousin in Paris. The child holds a bullfinch. 4 National Gall. No. 300, wood, 2f. 3 high by If. 10y 2 , inscribed: Joannes Baptista p." Well pre- served. 5 Formerly in the Zambeccari Gallery at Bologna, inscribed on the parapet: "Joannis baptiste Coneglanensis," wood, half life- size. The extremities here are de- fective. VOL. I. 16 242 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. Bellinesque in its drapery. Bellinesque likewise, but of large proportions and shape in the figures, is the injured specimen in the Stsedel Museum at Frankfort- on-the- Maine. 1 But space would be wasted in attempting to enumerate all the panels in which Cima represented or is supposed to have represented this familiar subject. 2 Amongst the more important things which he did at Venice in the first years of the 16 lh century, we may find superior interest in the incredulity of S l Thomas, a composition of three figures once in the school of the Masons at Venice, a cold and somewhat stiff creation, but combining great strength of colour and purity of outline with powerful effect. 3 This combination of silvery light with cold treatment is to be found in the Angel and Tobias, between two saints at the Badia or church della Misericordia in Venice. 4 In another phase, in which Bellinesque repose is united to expanded form, we have the large Madonna with attendants which stood in the church of the Carita before it came into the 1 Stsedel Museum, No. 19, wood, 2f. i h. by If. 10, inscribed in an un- folded scrip: "Joanis baptist. Co- neglans; 1 ' the Virgin in full dra- pery in front of a green curtain, the child a little puffy. 2 Berlin Museum, No. 16, wood, 2f. by 1*8, signed: " Jovannes Bap- tista Con is ;" a very pretty and genuine replica of 642, at the National Gallery, injured in the flesh, water, and sky. Leuchtemberg collection at S l Petersburg, wood. Eepetition of No. 300 at the National Gallery by an assistant of Cima, ex. gr. Pasqualino. A replica of this again is No. 421 in the Venice Academy, a picture of hard red tone and wiry outline unlike Cima's. Akin to the Madonna of Prince Napoleon, we have a similar one called Cima in the-Manfrini Palace at Venice. No. 239, wood. The Virgin here has her hand on the child's head, not on his shoulder. Ruder treatment, more broken dra- pery, and colour more opaque than Cima's proclaim the presence of a copyist here who may be Pasqua- lino. 3 Venice Acad, wood, m. 2*08 h. by 1*40. The frame of the Saviour is cold from cleaning and re- touching. (See the engraving in Zanotto, Pinac. dell' Accad. Fasc. XVI.) The figures are very cleanly detached from the distance. The figure to the right of the Saviour is S l Magnus. 4 Venice, wood, figures half life- size, signed on a scroll: " Joaries baptiste Coneglian. opus.'" The scene is a landscape of cold tone, but this may be owing to the bad condition of the piece, split hori- zontally in two places and scaling. See the engraving in Zanotto. (Pin. Ven. Fasc. I.) THE INCBEDDL1TT OF ST. THOMAS; an altarpiece by Ciroa da Conegliano. in the Venice Academy. Chap. X. CIMA. 243 Academy at Venice; 1 and S ls Sebastian and Mark in the collection of the late Sir Charles Eastlake. 2 Following Cima's works into distant places where the taste of collectors have taken them, we shall bring a goodly list together, if we mention only those that are of most importance. There is a small Madonna between the Baptist and S l Catherine, in which the infant may be seen taking the cross from the former and holding the mystic ring in readiness for the latter; it belongs to Mr. Watts Russell, and was exhibited at Man- chester. 3 Another picture of this class is the Virgin and child between S l John the Baptist and S l Paul in the Venice Academy, 4 a panel unlike some in this repository which betray the employment of Girolamo of Udine or other followers of Cima's manner. 5 In the 1 Venice Acad. No. 582, wood, m. 4*10 h. by 2 - 10, Virgin and child between S ts Sebastian, George, Nicholas, Catherine and Lucy; ori- ginally in the ch. of the Carita. See Bosch. (L. R. Min. S. di D. Duro, 35), who calls it by mistake Bellini, Zanetti, (Pitt. Ven. 60) and Sans o v. (Ven. Desc. 260, and, above all, Anon. 86.) This picture has un- fortunately suffered from restoring. It is engraved in Zanotto. (Pinac. dell' Accad. Ven. Fasc. 37.) 2 Wood, each 3f. 4 h. by If. 4, in niches. These are amiable, softly coloured figures, recalling Bellini more than usual. They may have been originally at the Gesuiti or Crociferi at Venice, where there once stood an annunciation betw. the two saints above named and ;i missing Virgin and child between S ls .John and Benedict. (See Bosch. Le E. M. S. di C. Keggio, 11 and 15; Sansov. Ven. Desc. p. 160.) In the same church Federici notices a S. Lanfranco (?) with other saints of which we know nothing. (Mem. I. 223.) 3 No. 198 at Manchester, wood, 3f*l long by 2f. high, inscribed on a cartello: "Joannis bapti. Coneg- lianensis op." Half lengths, dis- tance sky. 4 Venice Academy, No. 125, wood , m. 0-80 high by 1-18, half-lengths, recalling Bellini, but deprived of freshness by abrasion and retouch- ing. The Virgin here holds the infant erect on a parapet; distance sky. 5 Venice Acad. No. 530, justice, m. 1-87 h. by 0'82; No. 531, tem- perance, same size; both from the justice-hall of one of the Venetian tribunals, are called Cima, and have some of his character mixed with features peculiar to Carpaccio. It is the same mixture thai may be discerned in a coronation (pas sim) at San Giovanni e Paolo of Venice, assigned to Carpaccio and Girolamo, or Giovanni da Udine. In the same, spirit as tlic temperance and justice arc, Venice Acad. No. 532, the angel annunciate, and No. 562, the Vir- gin annunciate, under the name, of Pellegrino da Udine, the writer of the catalogue having transferred to 562 the signature, "Pellcgrinus faciebat" (really existing on No. 16* 244 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. church of Sant ? Anna at Capo d'Istria, the travelled amateur may see a very large altarpiece with Cima's name, devoted principally to the representation of the Virgin and saints; and so feeble in execution that it foreshadows the coming of Girolamo Santa Croce. 1 A brighter and clearer creation in the graceful phase of Cima's art is the Virgin and child at the foot of a tree between S* Jerom and S l Louis, now in the Belvedere at Vienna, and previously in Santa Chiara of Murano. 2 From the same island, but from the church of San Michele, is the Virgin with the child and saints in the museum of Berlin, 3 a gallery in which we shall also find 535, the annunciation). This angel and Virgin annunciate which the catalogue, following out its mis- take, supposes to have come from the tailor's school at Udine (erro- neous allusion again to Pellegrino's annunciation), were, as Zanotto informs us (Guida di Ven. p. 535), in San Francesco of Conegliano. But for the name of Cima we should not recognize it. Venice Academy, No. 444, S l Christopher, from the school of the Mercanti at Venice, a fragment of a large altarpiece mentioned by Boschini (Le Ric. Min. Ses. di C. Reg. pp. 37—8), and comprising the S ts Sebastian, Louis, John the Baptist, Jerom, Nicholas and James. 1 Capo d'Istria. The centre, arched, represents the Virgin ador- ing the child on her lap, five angels in flight about her head, two at her feet playing instruments; in the sides in niches, S ts Mary Magdalen, Anna, Joachim and Cathe- rine. In an upper course, half- lengths, of S ts Chiara, Francis, Jerom, and Nazarius (protector of Capo d'Istria.) On a scrip at the foot of the Virgin's throne are remains of an inscription, of which "Joanes bapti" .... is all that is legible. The figures are half life-size, the flesh of a yellowish uniform tint. The blues are in- jured. 2 Belvedere, Room 2, Ven. Sch. No. 56, wood, arched, 6f. 8 high by 4'4, inscribed: " Joa. Bapt. Conegl." In the distance the castle of San Salvadore of Colalto, and in the middle distance, S l Joseph — origi- nally in Santa Chiara. (See all the guides, and Ridolfi and Zanetti.) The flesh is much injured. In this church was, according to Zanetti (Pitt. Ven. p. 63), an annuncia- tion by Cima, called by Boschini (Le R. Min. Ses. della Croce, p. 39), a school-piece. We may notice, whilst at Vienna, a pretended Cima in the Harrach Gallery, representing the Virgin, sleeping child, a female saint, and a male in episcopals, a redaubed picture of the 16 th century. 3 Berlin Museum, No. 2, wood, 6f. 7'/ 2 h. by 4*4, signed: " Joannis Baptiste Coneglianensis opus." The hard wooden redness of the flesh in males, and its greyness in females are chiefly due to flaying and repainting. The Virgin en- throned holds the child in bene- diction before S ts Peter, Romual- dus, Bruno, and Paul; scene, a chapel with a landscape visible through the intervals of the pil- lars. This piece, originally in San / / Chap. X. CI MA. 245 a miracle of S l Mark, for years the ornament of the Gesuiti at Venice, 1 and a Virgin and child with a donor, of a less certain origin. 2 At Dresden we shall see a figure of the Redeemer of Bellinesque stamp in a fine landscape, 3 and a presentation of the Virgin at the temple with a very pretty distance, 4 at Munich, the Virgin and child between S t Jerom and the Magdalen, an early piece of thin olive tone. 5 The descent of the cross of the Carmelites, at Venice, is now much injured, in pos- session of Count Paul Stroganoff at S l Petersburg.' 3 A fine Baptist and S l Jerom at the sides of the Madonna adorn the collection of Baron Speck at Liitschena near Leipzig, and was once assigned to Bellini, 7 like that of Michele of Murano, was in the Solly collection. 1 Berlin Mas. No. 15, wood, 5f. 6 by 4*4. S. Mark cures Anianus of the prod of his awl. The figures are short, the treatment Bellines- que, but, note some restoring. Distance, buildings with figures in oriental costume. (See Boschini, Le Ric. Min. Ses. di C. Reg. 11.) 2 Berlin Mus. No. 7, wood, 2f. 2V 2 high by2f. 11, originally in the Solly collection. The Virgin with the child blessing a donor, signed: "Joannes baptista Coneglanensis." The flesh injured, the landscape fine. No. 16, a so-called portrait of Giovanni Bellini by Cima, has not the character of Cima's art. 3 Dresden Mus. No. 215, wood, 5'5 high by 2-9. This fine full- length in a landscape has been restored with very dark sha- dows. It is of Bellinesque cha- racter, and at the time when it formed the ornament of the altar of the Greek chapel at Dresden, it was called Bellini, the name "Joannis Bellini opus," being forged on the screen at bottom. In the distance a man holds an ass, beaten by another; an incident allusive, no doubt, to Christ's coming to Jerusalem. 4 Dresden, No. 216, wood, 3f. 10 h. by 5*2. The Virgin ascends the steps of the temple, and is awaited by the priest and his acolytes. In the distance to the right an open colonnade and people. The touch is not as firm as usual. 5 Munich, Pinac. cabinets, No. 608, wood, 2f. 5 high by 3'9, half- lengths in a landscape, signed on a screen base: "Joannis Baptistse Coneglanensis opus. 1 ' Formerly in the collection of the Empress Jo- sephine at Malmaison, hastily treated and injured in the shadows. Same collection, Saal No. 559, see Basaiti, postea. 6 S l Petersburg. Christ at the foot of a high cross is raised by the Virgin, the Magdalen support- ing the left arm, Nicodemus and the Evangelist wailing; three Car- melites kneel in various parts of the foreground— distance a land- scape. This piece, transferred to canvas, is opaque either from re- storing or from the employment of assistants by Cima himself. It is not many years since it left the Carmine of Venice. 7 Liitschena, Baron Speck von Sternburg. No. 181, transferred to canvas, 2f. 4 h. by 3*6, once in the collection of Count Sicking. Fine though repainted in the blue mantle of the Virgin, aud retouched 246 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. the museum at S l Petersburg/ or that of Mr. Anderdon in England, 2 or the Virgin and child belonging to Signor Frizzoni at Bellagio. 3 We omit some damaged and spurious pieces/ concluding with the necessary admission here and there in flesh. On a new piece added to the bottom of the picture is the false signature: "Jo- annis Bellini opus." 1 S l Petersburg, Hermitage, No. 4, transferred to canvas, half-lengths of the Virgin and child between S ts Peter and Anthony. The sky and landscape restored, and a piece added at top. This picture is mis- called Bellini. 2 No. 199, at Manchester, and once in the collection of Samuel Rogers, small piece, 9 l / 2 in. long by 7, representing the child on the Virgin's lap taking the cross from the Baptist, whilst the Vir- gin converses with a female saint on the right ; distance sky, inter- cepted by a green curtain — falsely signed : " Joannes Bellinus faciebat." (See passim.) 3 Bellagio, half-length under life- size, signed on the screen with the forged name of "Joannes B;" in- jured by cleaning and restoring, but still fairly preserved in the sky and distance. The child on the Virgin's lap caresses her face with his left hand. 4 The list is as follows: church of San Fior near Conegliano, the Baptist in a repainted landscape between S ts Peter, Lawrence, Fio- renzo and Vendemiale; in an uppdr course S ts Bartholomew, Urban, Blasius, and Giustina, half-lengths, the latter repainted. Predella, 1°, an episode of the life of S* John, of a more modern date and similar in this particular to a last supper forming the pinnacle to this altar- piece; 2°, the daughter of Hero- dias presenting the head, and the decollation of the Baptist. This picture, the surface of which is eaten away by damp, is by a later artist than Cima, and mechanical in treatment. Germano, or Zer- men, near Feltre, church of San Dionisio. Virgin and child be- tween S l Dionysius and another saint, wood, figures life-size; in a lunette, Christ in benediction, half- length, between S ts Paul and Peter, much scaled. Two saints belonging to the series have been removed, one representing S. Anthony being still in the house of the curate. This piece, assigned to Bellini, is poorly executed with red flesh-tones, in Cima's manner; the colour is rough and opaque, and without sufficient contrasts of light and shade, the nude ill-proportioned — a school- piece. Bergamo, Lochis Carrara Gallery, No. 128. S ts Nicholas, Lawrence, Dominick, Bartholomew, Anthony the Abbot, and another saint in a landscape, inscribed with "Batt. Cima Coniliensis, MDXV," a forgery. The picture is of a later time than Cima, perhaps by a Bergamasque. Noale Duomo (once in the Battuti), assumption, with figures one-third of life-size, coarsely-executed panel, certainly not by Cima. Florence, Uffizi, No, 582, Virgin and child, S l Peter and a nun with a babe in swaddling-clothes, assigned to Cima, but by some Friulan below Gio- vanni Martini of Udine in merit. Venice, Signor Giacomo Cassetti, No. 60, a Santa Marina, figure of justice, signed: "Janes baptista Coneglianensis opus." This pic- ture, originally by Cima and in the Palazzo Ducale (Bosch. L. R. M. S. di S. Marco, p. 64), formed part of a larger piece representing S ts Mark, Andrew, and Louis, and a figure of temperance in the tri- bunal of the Magistrato della Ca- mera all 1 armamenti. At present figure and signature are altogether Chap. X. CATENA. 247 that though Ridolfi says Cima lived till 1517, the latest genuine date on any of his pictures is 1508. 1 A painter of less note than Cima ; who began life in the Venetian provinces, and gained a surprising reputa- tion at Venice is Vincenzo di Biagio, commonly called Catena, whose Trevisan origin has already been men- tioned in these pages. He was a man of no great parts, but of remarkable industry, who began with the humblest claims to public recognition. Trained in the school of Bellini, when it was attended by the most promising masters of the 16 1,1 century, he displayed a peculiar readi- ness in appropriating the surface forms of successive styles; and he captivated public attention in his day by an imitative rather than by an original talent. He came to Venice early, as we may conjecture, from Treviso, where he had probably learnt the rudiments of elementary art; and was known in 1495 as Vincenzo of Treviso, journeyman in the great Hall of Council- 2 For some repainted. The three saints are now in the Academy of Arts at Vienna under Cirna's name. They are of raw colour, and without Cima's delicacy of colour or of touch. It is possible that they were entrusted by the master to assistants, as ex. gr. Girolamo, or Giovanni Martini of Udine. Ven. San Martino, resurrection by Giro- lamo Santa Croce. Not seen: London, Earl Brown- low, Virgin, child, saints and angels (Waagen, Treasures, II. 314). Late Dennistoun collection, Virgin and child (ib. ib. III. 281). Missing; or spurious, pictures cited by Fede- rici (Mem. Trev. I. 223), at Ma- rocco, ( amino, and Fontanelle in the Trevisan province. Assump- tion in Santa Maria Mater Dom. of Conegliano. Murano, San Mi- chele, resurrection. (Federici, Mem. I. 224.) The same piece is assigned by Ridolfi (Marav. 1. 89) and Sansov. (Ven. Desc. 235 — 6) to Giovanni Bellini. Venice, ch. della Santis- sima Trinita, Virgin and child be- tween the Baptist and a bishop, and a nativity. (Boschini Le Ric. Min. Ses. di Castello, p. 38.) Ven. San Cristoforo in Isola, Virgin, child, S l Veronica, and another female saint with a predella in which are S ts John the Baptist, Jeremiah and Francis. This piece, assigned by Boschini (Le R. Min. Ses. della Croce, p. 20) to Cima, is attributed by Sansovino (Ven. Des. 234) to Girolamo Santa Croce.- San Giovanni alia Giudecca, organ- doors, with the annunciation in- side, S ts Matthew and John Bapt. outside. (Bosch. Le R. Min. S. d. D. Duro, 63; Ridolfi, Marav. I. 101.) Rovigo, San Francesco, tavola, with the date of 1541, allusive to the period of the erection of the altar. See Lanzi, II. 110, and Fe- derici Mem. I. 224. 1 Ridolfi, Marav. I. 102. 2 His salary was three ducats a month. Gaye, Cartcg. II. p. 71. There is a Madonna in Santa 248 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. considerable time he laboured obscurely for fame, eking out the poor subsistence afforded to him out of the State treasury by the production of religious pictures; but what he did was feeble and of little promise; and were it not that his first creations require to be studied for a just comprehension of his progress, we should scarcely find any interest in dwelling on them. Three votive pieces — a presentation of Christ to Simeon, in the Communal Gallery at Padua; a Virgin and saints, in the Liverpool Institution; and a Trinity, in San Simeone at Venice — make us acquainted with his first serious steps in the artistic profession. The earliest of them was allowed for awhile to figure amongst the works of Giovanni Bellini; and even after the removal of a false signature which covered the original one, the hand of Catena was not immediately detected; doubts remaining as to whether Vincenzo da Tarvixio and Catena were identical; but these doubts soon disappeared before an attentive ex- amination, and Catena is now surely proved to have copied Giovanni Bellini in subject without being able to approach his mastery in drawing, his boldness in treatment, or richness in colouring. In spite of bad condition, the presentation may still be criticised as a panel executed in oil, of a dull reddish tone, with hard angular contours and styleless drapery, and an empty imitation of Bellinesque composition and forms. 1 At Liverpool, Vincenzo has already the surname of Catena. 2 Maria di Castello at Savona, signed: "Vincenzo Catena, 1 ' pur- porting" to be dated 1490; it has not been seen by the authors. 1 Padua Gall, wood, oil, greatly injured. Subject, the presentation inscribed: "Vincentius d. Tar- vixio; 1 ' a signature recovered after the removal of a forged one as- signing the picture to " Johannes Bellinus." This piece was in the Casa Capo di Lista at Padua. We may mention as in the same neighbourhood a similar subject No. 28 in the gallery of Vicenza, assigned to Catena, but so da- maged as to preclude any positive opinion. 2 The name "Vicentius pictor a Cathena," in one of the painter's wills might prove that he was known for a partiality to jewelry. We know that he was so from the wills kthemselves. See postea. Chap. X. CATENA. 240 In the Virgin and child, with her attendant saints, he keeps strictly to a tenuous system of broken outlines and a meaningless confusion of draperies, shading the flesh with single tints in sharp contrast, of a livid semi- opaque tinge. It is characteristic of his manner that the faces are full and round, yet bloodless, with very small features and receding chins; 1 and, poor as they appear to us, they were imitated later by Previtali. One quality to a certain extent redeems a number of faults 5 the drawing may be paltry and the expression null, but nature is minutely copied in portrait, and the profile of a donor at the Virgin's feet in the Liverpool Madonna is both careful and pleasing. 2 Amongst other unfavourable impressions created by Catena's manner at this period, one is very marked in the Trinity at San Simeone. It is no reproach that the old typical composition should be preserved, in which the Eternal sits enthroned with the transverse beam of the cross in his hands and the Saviour hanging there in agony. The bony dryness of the flesh most repels, being chiefly due to the substitu- tion of thin lines for modelling in the detail of the minor parts. 3 In this wise Catena continued to produce for a certain number of years, sometimes coming near Mansueti 4 in his efforts to resemble Bellini, sometimes 1 Zanetti very truly says (Pitt. Ven. p. 79) "Le carne hanno poco sangrie." 2 Liverpool Institution, No. 87, wood, figures, half-length, and one quarter of life-size. The Virgin holds the child, who blesses the donor in the presence of S l Nicho- las, S l Francis, and a female saint ; ground dark; the drapery is cut out like a tarsia; there are no half tints. Signed on the screen at the base : Vincencius Chatena p." 3 Venice, San Simeone. This picture has been engraved in Za- notto (Pinac. Ven. Fas. 11), wood, oil, one-fourth of life-size; at the I sides of the throne a landscape; ! the head of Christ bent, the face haggard, the feet and hand's paltry, the colour in flesh a reddish mono- tone; the shadows sharply defined, and the draperies if possible more broken than before. 4 In this style we have the fol- lowing: London, Marquis of North- ampton, half-length Virgin and child, with S l Joseph and a female saint holding a cross ; distance sky and hills, Avith a false signature: "Joannes Belli ..." This injured work has the types of Catena, and a light flat yellow flesh-tint. The arrangement and idea are better 1 than the execution, which is like that of Mansueti. Modcna Gallery, 250 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. more akin to Basaiti, 1 but always below the mark even of these second-rates. As the 16 th century opened, his practice extended and his skill increased, and he was employed by the doge, Leonardo Loredano, to paint a votive altarpiece for the Pregadi chapel in the ducal palace. In this large and ambitious piece he depicted the doge kneeling under the protection of S l Mark and the Baptist, exactly as Agostino Barbarigo kneels in Bel- lini's altarpiece at Santa Maria degli Angeli at Murano, before a Virgin and child of a fair Bellinesque shape; and, poor as the draperies still appear, there is some- thing spontaneous and life-like in the work. Catena now appears to have studied Bellini to better purpose; he paints in a lighter key, yet still with cold precision. 2 There seems no reason to doubt that he won at least the applause of Loredano, who caused him to take a profile likeness of himself in dogal dress, of which copies Avere subsequently made in considerable numbers. So well did he perform this duty that uncritical judg- ment assigns his original in the Lochis Carrara Gallery at Bergamo to Gentile, 3 and the copy at Dresden No. 35, wood, half-length Virgin amd child between S l John and a female saint, with a male and female donor in front, assigned to Gentile Bellini. This piece is simi- lar in spirit, form, and treatment to the foregoing, and both are by one hand. The portraits are cold and careful, as at Liverpool. 1 In the Venice Academy, No. 13, S l Jerom; No. 11, S* Augustin, arched panels in oil, much injured by repainting, and once in a Vene- tian convent, have the character of Catena modified by contact with Basaiti (See Moschini, Guida di Ven. II. 507). 2 Venice, Ducal Palace. This picture is mentioned in all the guides, and was not long since brought to light again in the de- posits of the Ducal Palace. It was in part covered with repaint- ing, the removal of which disco- vered the signature on the Virgins throne-step : " Vincecius Chatena p. 11 The Virgin sits on a throne in a landscape, and the child blesses the kneeling doge to the left. It was a question at first who the doge was, but it was shown to be Loredano by com- parison with Leopardi's bronze of him (1503) in the Piazza of San Marco. The flesh has been in- jured by fire and subsequently re- painted. 3 Lochis Carrara, No. 193, wood, nearly life-size, head retouched, distance, seen through an opening, sky, and the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. The colour and tech- nical treatment as in the altar- piece of the Palazzo Ducale. / Chap. X. CATENA. 251 to Giovanni Bellini. 1 Without the feeling, the plea- sant colour, or the skill in modelling conspicuous in Bellini, he displays ability in reproducing the features of his sitter, and thus deserves a modest meed of praise. Whilst his success was thus marked in a special walk in art, his comparative inferiority in large religious compositions remains undeniable. In 1520 he completed the glorification of S l Cristina for Santa Maria Mater Domini at Venice, representing the Saviour on high in a well-sought attitude giving a blessing to the seraphic saint kneeling not ungracefully on a cloud at his feet. In a landscape below he depicts S l Cristina looking up to heaven, surrounded by angels laden with the instruments of her martyrdom. What strikes us here is the derivation of various parts from different masters ; from Bellini, a general air of imitation in figures dwarfed to a lower scale of art ; from Diana and Bissolo, the movement and execution of the Saviour; apart from this, great smoothness and languid delicacy, a clearer if not less empty tone than heretofore. 2 At a comparatively advanced stage of his practice Catena thus proved him- self a man with the fibre of a copyist ; unsettled in manner, borrowing right and left from second and third-rate painters and totally devoid of originality. Unlike Car- paccio or Conegliano, who had marked features of their own, he rivalled BasaitPs carefulness without possessing Basaiti's steadiness of purpose. He watched the turn of opinion in respect of cotemporary performances, and tried each current of which he thought he had discovered the direction. In this way he made friends amongst the wealthy and acquired a name. We must not, in the meanwhile, attach too much weight to the current idea of his fame founded upon certain expressions in a letter 1 Dresden Mus. No. 210, copy of the foregoing', of which a replica is in the Correr Mus. No. 43. 2 Venice, Santa M. Muter Do- mini, wood, oil, arched at top, and much injured by restoring-. 252 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. addressed by a gentleman at Rome, in April 1520, to a friend in Venice. Marcantonio Michele, the author of this letter, was celebrated as the best judge of antique remains in existence at that time. He was a man of literary repute, author of an elegant description of an- cient Bergamo. He was well known to Gabriel Ven- dramin, a noted collector of the 16 th century, to Aretino, and to Serlio, the pupil of Peruzzi. 1 Being at Rome on the day of Raphael's death, he wrote to Antonio di Marsilio at Venice, a letter retailing the latest intelli- gence as to Sanzio's occupation previous to his demise, stating that Michael Angelo was sick at Florence, and concluding with a request to Catena to take care of his health, "for the times were not kindly to great painters. ? ' We may suspect that this flattering notice of an artist without any claim to be mentioned in the same breath as Raphael and Buonarrotti, had its hidden cause. Catena in the course of his practice had hoarded a considerable amount of wealth. A will made in 1514, shows him to have been one of a numerous family whose members followed mercantile pursuits, and states that he resided in a house of his own in San Bar- tolommeo di Rialto at Venice. He lived in unmarried relation with the daughter of a furrier of Udine, and had familiar intercourse with persons of the respectable citizen class in his neighbourhood. In this will he bequeaths to Dona Menega Furlana, the lady of his choice, three hundred ducats and all his personal chat- tels; to his two brothers a hundred ducats each; to his step-brothers ten ducats, and to the guild of S l Luke two hundred ducats as marriage portions for daughters of poor members and as doles to the needy. One of his executors is Antonio di Marsilio, Marcantonio 1 s corre- spondent, to whom he leaves his jewelry, a piece of 1 See Marcantonio's letter in Anonimo, pp. 210 — 12, and Bot- tarfs Raccolt. ub. sup. I. 574. See also Aretino, Lettere, Lib. III. 215, and SerhVs Architettura, book III. Chap. X. CATENA. 253 furniture with figures by Giovanni Bellini ; all his terra cottas and ten ducats in gold ; the other executor being Battista Ignatio, prior of the hospital near San Marco, to whom a canvas tempera of Adam and Eve and a canvas of S l Jerom in his cell are bequeathed. 1 It was natural that some adulatory expressions should be exchanged in a correspondence between persons with whom Catena was intimate, and one of whom expected to be benefited by his will; the more so as it subsequently appeared that Antonio was a greedy and shabby fellow whom Catena cut off with less than a shilling. 2 If, however, we should prefer to assign more generous motives to the judgment of Catena's friends, we may assume that they admired him for a gaiety and finish of which they did not fully appreciate the un-original character or for some specialty in art, such as that of taking likenesses, in which he was really clever. In this restricted sense we may admit that they had some ground to stand upon, though nothing can excuse a direct comparison between Catena and men of the class of Eaphael and Michael Angelo. One or two of his figures in this period of Bellinesque imitation are not indeed unworthy of atten- tion. In the Belvedere at Vienna hangs a half-length of a man in a black cap, dressed in blue and red, with his hands on a book; 3 in the late Beaucousin collection, there was a bust profile of a bearded man, 4 both in the main Bellinesque, carefully drawn, glossy, and clean in 1 See the wills and codicils, postea. 2 lb. ib. 3 Belvedere, room 2, Ven. sch. No. 33, wood, oil, 2f. 5 by If. 10; signed in the upper part of a dark background : "Vincentius Catena pinxit." There is an attempt here at instant action, but its effect is rigid. Flaying of surface has de- prived the picture of its harmony. 4 Paris, late Beaucousin col- lection. Profile to the left, in a cap, wood, oil, half life-size, of an uniform hot tone, carefully exe- cuted; signed: "Vinzentius Ca- tenus p. 1 ' It is a pity that other portraits of Catena should be missing, that being, as Vasari says (VI. 98), his forte. We quote, ex. gr., Venice, Casa Andrea de' Odoni, portraits of Francesco Zio, one half-length, the other to the knees. (Anon. 63.) Casa Ram. portr. of Zuanne Ram. (Ib. 78.) 254 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. surface ; and prepared for the reception of a warm general glaze. Such pieces may have been attractive in many respects at the period of their execution, when they might charm by daintiness, by rosy shadeless tones, and by minute outlines. If we add to these a habit of gaily contrasting flat single tints and dresses, we gain an excellent idea of such pictures as Catena produced about this period; such as the Virgin and child with S l George and S l Joseph in the monastery of Montalto near Messina in Sicily, 1 the madonna amidst saints and an adoring patron in the Berlin Museum, 2 and the Virgin between S l Peter and the Baptist in the Hermitage at S* Petersburg. 3 There is not one of these examples in which the small forms and careful contour of Catena's earlier time are not to be found; not one in which we fail to trace dependence on contemporary painters. At Montalto, we are reminded of Basaiti, Bissolo, or Lotto, by the variegated dress of one saint, of Giorgione, by the pose of another. At Berlin and Petersburg Previtali and Lotto are recalled. Still more in the line of the Bergamasques is the portrait of one of the Fugger family in the museum of Berlin, one of the most finished even productions of the master, who never modelled flesh with more success than 1 Montalto, wood, oil, under the name of Titian; subject, the Vir- gin and child, half-lengths, the former holding Christ's right hand in her left, and the child with a chaplet in his left. Behind to the right S l Joseph, and on the same side in front S l George in plate ar- mour and shirt of mail. The execution is patient, the tone uni- form, thin, and reddish in flesh. Through an opening in the middle of the picture the sky is seen. 2 Berlin Mus. No. 19, canvas, oil, 2f. 10 h. by 4f. 11. The Vir- gin adores the infant on her lap (half-length). To the left S l John the Baptist and S l Joseph, to the right S* Catherine, and S l Buonaven- tura in episcopals presenting the donor. This is a picture of hazy tone with flat bright contrasts of tertiaries, careful in outline, with heads reminiscent of Previtali. The style a little broader than at Mon- talto. Some parts, as the head of the Virgin and that of the bishop, are rubbed down. Note the flat- tened face of the infant. 3 Hermitage. No. 9, wood, trans- ferred to canvas, distance sky; the Virgin and child, similar in attitude and shape to the foregoing — flesh tone, as before, uniform, warm, but feeble. Chap. X. CATENA. 255 in this instance. Had he kept the same level throughout, he might have deserved comparison with Moroni or Holbein for patient rendering of pallid flesh. 1 The last phase in Catena was that in which he spe- cially, and we may say, successfully followed Giorgione and Bellini; and the most important, perhaps, of all his creations is that of the National Gallery, in which a knight, having alighted from his charger, falls prostrate before the Virgin and child. Nothing can be more clearly traceable to the influence of Barbarelli than the manner of drawing the page behind the wall holding the knight's charger, or the screen of cold green trees behind the pensive S l Joseph. The profile of the cap- tain in armour is as careful and as finished as that of the patron in the votive altarpiece of Berlin ; and the Virgin with the round small-eyed child on her knee is Catena's in type and treatment as well as in the frittered and crushed character of the drapery folds. His too are the accessories, the dog and the partridges. 2 But this, we believe, is not an isolated example here. We have seen that the painter's will in 1517 contains a be- 1 Berlin Mus. No. 32, canvas, half-length, 2f. 5 h. by 2f. 1. This is perhaps the portrait noticed by Vas. (VI. 99) in the Fondaco de' Tedeschi at Venice. Here Catena is a master of oil medium, all the parts having 1 the same surface. The flesh is light yellowish, coldly shaded, the action instant, but too stiffly arrested, the hands poor; the personage is in a black silk cap, and dark silk dress cut out square to show the shirt at the neck. Whilst at Berlin we must not Neglect No. 39 in the museum, a Virgin and child with a donor, S ts Paul, Mary Magdalen, and Cathe- rine (half-lengths, wood, 2f. 2 h. by 2f. 8'/ 2 ), ascribed to Catena, with masks like Previtali, but of a thick red bricky impasto, like that in pictures assigned to "Andrea Cordelaghi." 2 National Gallery, No. 234, can- vas, 5f. 1 high by 8f. 7, formerly belonging to Mr. Woodburn, and previously at Rome, where the au- thors in common with many others considered it to be by Giorgione, since then much injured by re- storing, the page being blackened and spoiled. On consideration and comparison, however, Catena is entitled to this work, which is in the same style as the Virgin and portrait in Berlin. The types are Giorgionesque and Bellinesque, the execution careful as Basaiti's, the form given in Catena's small man- ner, ex. gr. as at Liverpool, Mont- alto, and the public palace in Venice. 256 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. quest to the prior Ignatio of a S l Jerom in his cell. This very subject in our national collection is doubtingly ascribed to Giovanni Bellini, and may well be by Catena. It represents the saint pensively reading at a desk in a room open to the air; a book-case is on the wall, a crucifix on the table, a lion and two partridges on the floor*, through the opening we see the sky, hills and a distant church. It is a pretty pearly-grey canvas of rosy flesh tone ; without any density of shadows, gay in the brightness of the cardinal's crim- son and blue robes, imitating all at once the Bellines- ques, Basaiti, and Lotto. 1 Of larger interest, and of im- portance second only to the* "adoring warrior" is the holy family in the Dresden Museum, long known as a Giorgionesque canvas by Catena in the Pesaro Palace at Venice, but now attributed, with the help of a forged signature, to Andrea del Sarto. The principle of treat- ment and execution is unmistakeable. We see the same flat and bloodless flesh tone, the same crushed drapery, similar masks to those which strike us in London. The child, which struggles to avoid the walking cradle made ready for him by S l Joseph, is perhaps of broader form than usual; but the landscape, the dog, the partridge are all Catena's. 2 Space would be uselessly occupied in further descriptions of pictures impressed with the stamp 1 National Gallery, No. 694, can- vas 2f. 4'/ 2 h. by 3f. 2'/ 2 , till 1862 in the Manfrini Gallery at Venice, well preserved. A replica of the same size is in the Stsedel Gallery at Frankfort, No. 18. 2 Dresden Museum, No. 46, can- vas, 5f. 2 h. by 7, with the false signature: "And s Sartus," bought as a Perugino, and described in the catalogue as by Sassoferrato from a drawing by Raphael. S l Anne sits on a green cushion, the Virgin on her lap, holding the j infant, and ^S t Joseph stooping over a walking cradle— distance a pale I sky and landscape seen through a large opening. Three partridges are on the floor (left), and a white poodle terrier to the right. There is no light and shade in the prin- cipal group. The flesh is of a sickly paleness, but every part is clearly done; much restored through- out, but best preserved in the S l Anne. Lanzi mentions this picture in the Casa Pesaro at Venice (II. * 107), and Zanetti (Pitt. Ven. p. 79 — 80) describes it fully, stating that it is signed by Catena in Gothic- letters. This signature has been obviously removed to make place for the false one above mentioned. / Chap. X. CATENA. 257 of our artist. We shall therefore pass over the circum- cision in the Leuchtemberg collection at S* Petersburg, 1 the Virgin and child with S l Joachim and the young Baptist in the Hoser Gallery at Prague, 2 the u glory of S l Francis" in San Giovanni e Paolo at Venice. 3 We may watch the gradual decline apparent in the fantastic vulgarity of the flagellation at the Venice Academy. 4 We shall see that towards the close of his life Catena had some connection with influential patrons at Bergamo ; and had we not an actual proof through pictures of a rapid falling off in his powers, we should guess the fact from Pietro Bembo's letter to Pietro Lippomano in 1525, in which the friend of Bellini and of Titian thus 1 See passim. This may be the circumcision noticed in Annot. Vas. (VI. 99) as at Santa Maria Formosa in Venice. 2 Hoser Gallery, Prague, room VI. No. 66, wood, oil, under the name of Gio. Bellini; if by Catena, one of his feeble creations (but see passim). 3 San Gio. e Paolo at Venice, in the nave to the right of high altar, wood; subject, S l Francis between S ts Louis and Buonaven- tura, signed: "Vincentius Catena." This picture was originally in the Cappella San Francesco at the Frari. (Bosch. Le Kic. M. Ses. di S. Polo, 41, and Riclolfi, Marav. I. 106.) It is certainly repainted, and the name above tells us that Catena is the painter. 4 Venice Acad. No. 52, canvas, m. 1-56 h. by 2*0, originally in San Severo. The Saviour at the column writhes under the lash of the executioners. Herod stands with his suite to the left, other figures to the right. This also is greatly repainted, but it is probable that some assistants of Catena had a share in it, and there is some northern character in the masks and shapes. For a Virgin and child at San VOL. I. Giorgio de 1 Schiavoni. See passim in Carpaccio. For two madonnas with saints falsely assigned to Catena, and really by Diana, Nos. 385 and 124 Venice Academy, see passim in Diana. We may add, among doubt- ful works: Dresden Museum, No. 211, the Virgin, child, S ts Marga- ret, Catherine, Anthony Abbot, and Nicholas, wood, oil, 3f. 3 h. by 4'10, bought last century as Seb. del Piombo. The waxy pallid colour is of a fat impasto, the masks and forms recalling the Friulan or Bergamasque, after the time of Giorgione and Palma the elder. The hand seems the same as in a picture of the late — Northwick collection, No. 90, a holy family with the Magdalen, S l Catherine, and a saint presenting the young Baptist, Giorgionesque in its landscape distance, short and paltry in the character of its figures. Further, Correr Museum, No. 56, Virgin and child between S l Simeon and a female, by an early Friulan, perhaps Pellegrino ; Berlin, Raczynski collection, No. 61, Virgin, child, and saints, for which see passim in Giovanni Bel- lini. Schleissheim, No. 1140, judg- ment of Solomon. (See antea in Jacopo Bellini.) 17 258 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. loftily writes : — "Although I had done all that lay in my power for Vincenzo Catena before I received your Lord- ship's warm recommendation in his favour, I did not hesitate, on receipt of your letters, to add something to (the price of) the first piece I had from him; and I did so because of my love and reverence to you, and I trust that he will return appropriate thanks to you for having remembered that you could command me." 1 The last of Catena's wills is dated from his house at San Bartolommeo di Rialto on the 10 th of September 1531. It describes him as "egrotus sed in lecto jacens;" and we may believe that he did not long survive. 2 1 Bembo to Lippomano, bishop of Bergamo, at Rome, dated, "Villa near Padua, May 8, 1525;" in "Opere," 8° Milan, 1809, V. 253. Amongst missing works assigned to Catena, we notice the follow- ing: Venice, San Severo, the visi- tation (Bosch. Le Ric. Min. S. di Castello, 28, and Zanetti, Pitt. Ven. 79). Carita (church of), the doge arriving at the Carita to recognize Pope Alexander III. Lanzi II. 107, and Piacenza's continuation of Baldinucci. San Luca, above the organ-doors, annunciation, inside; and outside, S ts Mark and Andrew (Le R. Min. S. di San Marco, 103). San Maurizio, Virgin, child, S l Christopher and S l Nicholas, a patron, and above, the Eternal. (Ib. ib. p. 84, and Lanzi, II. 107.) Casa M. A. Pasqualino, Virgin and child, by Giovanni Bellini, renewed by V. Cat. (Anon. 58.) Casa di Bartolommeo Nave. Judith with the head of Holophernes. (Cicogna, Isc. Venez. Vol. VI. p. 133.) Casa Z. Ram. head of the youthful Apollo playing the pipes. (Ib.ib.) Palazzo Ducale. Tribunal of the Magistrato al Superiore, the dead Christ with the Marys and other saints. (Bosch. Le Ric. Min. Ses. di S. Marco, 55, Zanetti, Pitt. Ven. 78.) Crema, ch. del Spirito Santo, Christ appears to the Mag- dalen (Anon. p. 54). 2 As already stated (passim), there are wills and codicils of Catena, dated 1514, 1517, 1518, 1525, and 1531. The following extracts convey all that is interest- ing for art history: "1414. adi 3 frever (February) in Venecia io Vizenzo chadena depentor fo de Ser biasio laso ala schola dei depentori da Ven. ducati du- zento . . . e de questi . . . voio chel sia maridate zinque donzele fiole dei poveri de la dita sch. et che le sia persone di bona vita, et abi per una ducati vinti . . et li altri zento d. voio chel sia de- spensadi ai poveri della dita sch. El residuo de tuti mie beni . . alia schola dei depentori da Venexia. Follows a codicil : anno m. quingent. dec. Sept. die decimo septimo Februari, verum est me V. Cathenam, p. q. S. Blasii de confmio S. Bartolomei de Rivoalto da . . . Item dimitto Rev. et literato domino presb. Bapt. Ignatio priori hosp. penes Campanile S. Marci meum telarium de Aqarela Adami et Eve et unum aliud telarium s. hieronymi ab. heremo. . . . Item dimito domino Antonio Marsilii com. meo testam. rasteletum de ligno meus et omnes Chap. X. BASAITI. 259 In the chapel of the Milanese at the Frari of Venice, an altar was erected in 1503, for which Luigi Vivarini was commissioned to paint the a glory of S l Ambrose." He composed, as we have seen, 1 a vast and imposing picture representing the saint on a high throne between S l George and S* Vitale, S l Gregory, a friar, and S l Augustin, attend- ing on one side; S* John the Baptist, S* Gervase and S l Protase on the other; S l Sebastian and S l Jerom standing in thought at the extreme corners of the foreground. Over- taken by death before he could finish the work, he left Marco Basaiti to complete it, and Basaiti accordingly laid in two of the foremost figures to the right, 2 four to the left, meas figuras de relevo et ducatos decern. . . . Item dictis meis com- missariis do et confero plenam potestatem facieri et facere possem quacumque acordia pacta, compo- sitiones et conventiones cum qui- buscumque aventoribus meis pro quacumque causa scilicet pro . . . et eorum ocasis et pro quibus- cumque figuris et alias quolibet per me factis. Et liec quanto ad artem meam spectat. . . . Item dimittoGerardo famulo meo ducatos tres aure. . . ." The will of 1525 repeats many of the bequests of the earlier one, and changes the value of others. It contains in addition the following: "et sia chonprato uno stabele per far una schola da poter redurse i diti depentori; e sel sera denari da- vanzo sia speso in tanto fondi a benefitio dela dita schola .... Item ordeno chel mio chorpo sia sepolto a S. Zuane Polo." (This was done; Eidolfi, Marav. I. 107.) Then follow certain paragraphs that have been struck out with strokes of a pen, as ex. gr. : "Item Laso al sovra schrito miser An- tonio (di Marsilio) tuti i miei anele . . . . el mio restelo de nogera chon zerte fegurete dentro depinte di mario de miser Zuan belino, et anchora tuti i miei nudi di rilievo fati di tera chota . . . Item io V. ordeno et anulo et privo et chaso Antonio de Marsilio de la mia commessaria . . . . et questo perche io lo chogno sudo un gran gioton et un gran tristo." Further: "lasso al mio garzon inozente fu fiolo de ser Zorzi dei puoveri io ge laso per lamor de Dio ducati vinti." Follows a codicil in duplicate, with slight varieties, the chief substance of which is this: "1531, die do- minico decimo m. Septembris Rivo- alti . . . Cum ego Vincentius C. . . corpore languens in lecto coram etiam infrascriptis . . . presenta- verim Z. de Priolis Ven. notar. meum testamentum . . . et non possim manu mea propter meam pravam egritudinem scribere, . . . . . Item lego Innocenti famulo meo ducatos octuaginta. ..." The school of painters, as we learn from Ridolfi (Mar. I. p. 107) erected with Catena's money several houses at San Sofia, on one of which was written: "Pictores et solum eme- runt, et has construxerunt pedes bonis a V. Catena suo collegio relictis MDXXXII." The above wills and codicils are in the Ar- chivio Notarile at Venice. 1 Passim. 2 i.e. S* Jerom and S l Augustin, but as regards the latter some doubt may be expressed. 17* 260 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. and two angels playing instruments at the foot of the throne. Though Basaiti was, we think the assistant of Luigi Vivarini, and was greatly biassed in style by the lessons of that master, he differed from him in many particulars. In St Ambrose and the nearest members of his saintly court, Luigi' s olive tone is hastily put in at one painting with a lucid and somewhat viscous vehicle showing the white underground freely; and the boldness of a prac- tised hand is marked in the character and treatment of the figures. Basaiti's drawing and execution are harder, dryer; his tints more incisive and raw; his colour stiffer, less transparent, and more deeply shaded with a bitu- minous mixture. 1 We shall become convinced by a careful examination of his early period, that Basaiti clung to the Muranese manner for six or seven years after 1503 ; and it is a probable conjecture that he was Luigi' s journey- man at the close of the previous century, and his disciple in the Ducal Palace. Vasari says that he was born at Venice of Greek parents, and we are the more inclined to believe this statement, because, Greek as the name undoubtedly is, the style is essentially Venetian. 2 Some authors, on the other hand, affirm that Basaiti was a native of Friuli. 3 We know of no place in Friuli except perhaps the town of Serravalle, in which he could gain the rudiments of the style to which he subsequently ex- panded. It was there that Jacopo of Valentia followed his profession. In its churches we notice two or three pictures affecting a mild sort of grace, recalling the Leonardesques, combining careful execution with imper- fect outline, uniting a cold regularity in the reproduction 1 Basaiti's style in this picture is that of his best works between 1503 and 1510; but his outline is more marked, his colour more entire than in 1510. 2 Vasari (VI. 100, 102), hastily looking at Basaiti's pictures, and not cognizant of the various styles, gives the works of one period to Marco Basarin,and those of another to Marco Basaiti, thus making two painters out of one. It is of Ba- sarini that he says he was born at Venice of Greek parents. 3 Ridolfi, Marav. I. 56, and Lanzi, who combines Vasari and Ridolfi by saying Basaiti is born in Friuli of Greek parents. .(II. 106.) Chap. X. BASAITI. 261 of faces and nude to flat grey-brown flesh. These might possibly be productions of Basaiti's youth/ but that they remind us equally of the art which begins with Simon da Cusighe, or Matteo and Antonio Cesa, and cul- minates in Antonio da Tisoio; 2 we have to guard also against the tendency to acknowledge age in Friulan pic- tures; when we consider that in the rise of the 16 th century, there were men like Rosso and his son Gio- vanni da Mel, who preserved a most primitive air when Bellini and Giorgione and their pupils were giving a new and more modern aspect to painting in Venice. We shall thus incline to prefer Vasari's opinion to that of Ridolfi, and the more so as Vasari is the older writer of the two, and likely to have learnt the true ver- sion in the atelier of Titian. The character of Basaiti in early years may be judged from a series of small madonnas, striking from the conformity of their general appearance, though differing from each other in arrangement and attitudes. One example in possession of Signor Vito Enei at Rome represents the Virgin in front of a green curtain, which half conceals a landscape, the infant on her knee giving the benediction to the youthful Baptist. The Vivarini models here are modified in a manner reminiscent of Previtali. 3 In the Correr Museum, a patron in profile looks up from the edge of the picture to the infant held in an erect position on a 1 One of these pictures is in San Lorenzo, and is less Leonardes- que than a second in San Silvestro alia Costa at Serravalle. The first indeed has some coldness of cha- racter and regular types recalling the Peniginesque school, and re- minds us of Timoteo Viti. A third piece with something of this air is the Virgin, child, and four saints at the altar of the Constantini family in the church of San Mar- tino di Valle in Cadore; and a fourth too much injured to justify a decided opinion in Aquileia. 2 Of Antonio da Tisoio there are pictures dated 1512. (See postea.) 3 Rome, Signor Enei, wood, m. 0-55' / 2 hr. by 0*73 h. injured by flaying and repainting; signed in a cartello to the left: "Marchus Baxaiti p." The child and S l John are hard, rigid, and incorrectly drawn. Technical treatment — an imperfect adaptation of that of Antonello, with a thick enamel of colour of a warm brown in flesh, due to a general glaze over the monochrome preparation. 262 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. parapet by the Virgin. 1 In the Manfrini Gallery the child ; lying on its mother's lap plays prettily with a bird. 2 A fourth variety, belonging to Dr. Luigi Tescari at Castelfranco, depicts the Virgin with the infant on a balcony guiding his hand to the gesture of benediction. 3 Vivarini's influence prevails throughout the series, which is remarkable for inanimate coldness. Large and re- gular proportions, and rounded heads in the Muranese fashion present an uniform rigidity increased by broken and somewhat meaningless drapery. The medium em- ployed is oil, the treatment technically imitating that of Antonello, being pastose in substance, prepared in mono- chrome, scumbled over all, and of a glassy brownish flesh tone. In closer relation to Vivarini, and better drawn is the dead Christ and two standing saints from the church of the Madonna de' Miracoli at the Venice Academy, 4 the latter still betraying imperfection in the use of oil, the former almost worthy of Luigi in his Bellinesque style. In the same spirit, with considerable symmetry of arrangement, but without any improvement in execution or in feeling for colour is the Pieta of the Berlin Museum, improperly assigned to Giovanni Bellini. 5 1 Venice, Correr Museum, No. 34, wood, oil, m. 0'74 h. by 0*57, signed: "Marchus Baxaiti p.;" to the left a green curtain concealing a landscape; the colour is glassy, the head of the child flat. 2 Venice, Manfrini collection, No. 220, fig. half the size of life; wood, oil, on a cartello to the left : "Marcus Baxaiti," distance a land- scape with a sky spotted by re- touching. In the same spirit, originally, the same composition reversed in the Harrach Gallery at Vienna; wood, oil, signed: "Marchus Ba- saiti pj" but completely repainted. 3 Castelfranco, wood, oil, figures one-third of life-size, signed on the screen at the base: "Baxaiti p.;" distance landscape, red in tone, hard and uniform, but ruined by retouching and varnishes. 4 Venice Academy, No. 7, wood, oil, m. 3*40 h. by 1*95, an angel kneeling at the head, another at the feet of Christ, lying full length on the ground in a landscape. No. 4, wood, oil, m. 2'0 h. by 0'60. S l James on a pedestal, on the side of which is the word: "Marcus;" distance a landscape. No. 6, do. do. S l Anthony the Abbot, signed: "Basaiti p. 1 ' Something in these pieces recalls the S ts Jerom and Augustin in this gallery, Nos. 11 and 13 by Catena. 5 Berlin Museum, No. 6. See passim. Nokth Italy. Vol I. p 263. Chap. X. BASAITI. 263 The highest point to which Basaiti rose before he en- tered into the Bellinesque phase, he attained in two im- portant pictures of 151 0, one of them conveying a partial, the other a more absolute acknowledgment of modern lessons. For Sant' Andrea, in one of the islands of Venice, he finished the call of James and John, sons of Zebedee, to the apostleship. The Saviour, accompanied by Peter and Andrew, has reached a bleak and rocky shore intended to represent the coast of the sea of Galilee. James, obedient kneels to receive the blessing, whilst John steps out of the boat in which his father remains in awe. A boy on a pier in front forgets his angling and looks round at the interesting scene, and the distant waters are lined with precipitous hills, and bathe the battlements of Zabulon. With extraordinary patience and precision of outlines, Basaiti produces a formal and lifeless composition, in which regular figures are rigidly set in conventional attitudes. His drawing is deficient in correctness, his draperies are frittered into breaks, his landscape divided into large raw arid masses ; and unpleasant eccentricity is shown in the long curling hair of the fishermen. The colours are still opaque, tenacious, and ill managed; and broad principles of chiaroscuro are wanting. 1 For San Giobbe, where he had to stand in competition with his master and in rivalry with Carpaccio, he paints Christ on the mount receiving the chalice from the angel, with the apostles sleeping lower down the hill; and imagines this scene observed from a high portico at the sides of which four saints are standing. Theatrical and unreal in the highest degree, this piece has still advantages not possessed by its 1 Venice Acad. No. 31, wood, arched, m. 4*55 h. by 2 - 60, origi- nally in Sant' Andrea della Certosa, signed on the pier on which the boy sits: "MDX M. Baxaiti." The date is falsely given as 1511 by Zanotto, who engraves the work in Pinac. dell 1 Accad. Ven. Fasc. XVII. Note how the distant boat with three figures in it is painted off on the ground colour of the water. Something regular in the forms and faces recalls Ca- tena. 264 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. companion at Sant 1 Andrea. Objectionable are the pal- triness and vulgarity of the shape and face of Christ, the hardness of the drawing, the want of transition from light to shade, and the opaque substance of the colour; but a marked improvement is noticeable in the pro- portions of saints which occasionally recall the types of Bellini, and we shall observe some clever effects of sun as well as harmony in the choice of tints. Without Bellini's feeling for soft richness of colour, without Carpaccio's energy in rendering form, Basaiti rises to a higher level than he held before. 1 Having thus far modified his manner, Basaitps aim seems to have been to perfect the technical treatment of his pictures, and give them some of the polish of Antonello and the Lombards. Of this we have an instance in the adoring Virgin between saints at the Municipal Gallery in Padua, where the old habit of care- ful outline is preserved, and a hard reddish flesh tone reminiscent of Catena is brought up to a bright and uni- form enamel. 2 In this effort Basaiti's cleanness is much akin to that of Andrea da Milano; but his work has a glassy emptiness detrimental to general effect. Conti- nuing steadily in this path he painted a "man of sor- rows " now in the Ambrosiana at Milan, in which 2 Venice Acad. No. 534, wood, oil, m. 0*62 h. by 2-20. This altar- piece is signed on a cartello: "1510 Marcus Basitus," and was executed for the altar of the Fos- cari in the church of San Giobbe. (Cicogna Isc. Ven. VI. p. 562.) At the sides are S ts Louis, Francis, Mark and Dominick, the S l Fran- cis especially Bellinesque. Let us mark how well the angel is relieved against the ground as he appears near a tree to the Saviour on the mount. The picture is injured, especially in the right hand figure, where the shadows are blackened. A piece of the head of both saints to the right has scaled away. The feet of the apostle nearest the spec- tator are half renewed. 2 Communal Gallery at Padua, wood, oil, once in the collection of the Capo di-Lista family at Padua. Inscribed on the screen at base: "Marcus Baxaiti p." The child lies on the parapet (partly abraded and scratched in frame and head), the Virgin erect behind (half-length) in adoration, a vulgar mask, to the left S 1 Peter (injured by old restoring), right S* Liberale. In the sky three heads of angels, like those in Giovanni Bellini's Virgin and saints (No. 69 bis) at the Louvre. Chap. X. BASAITI. 265 Luinesque elegance is coupled with Bellinesque soft- ness in the face ; 1 and at intervals a portrait and a bust of Christ, dated 1517, in the Lochis Carrara gallery. 2 We may perhaps also assign to this epoch a Christ carrying his cross in the museum of Rovigo, in which Lombard regularity of features and gloss of surface are so marked that the picture has been thought worthy of Leonardo da Vinci. The head here is crowned with thorns, the mouth is open and expresses pain*, and rays of light emanate from the person of the Eedeemer. The dress of ashen grey is bordered in green and broken into angular folds. It is copied from a piece justly attri- buted to Giorgione, and has the glowing tone of a period midway between Bellini and Barbarelli; its drapery is cut like that of the Venetians of this time, and the exe- cution betrays the hand of Basaiti or Previtali. 3 It is characteristic of this phase in Basaiti's art that when his works bear no signature they are classed under an infinity of names. At the Doria Gallery in Rome his martyred S { Sebastian in a Venetian landscape is ascribed to Perugino on account of the smoothness pe- culiar to the Christ of Rovigo, and perhaps also because of something strained and conventional in the attitude, 4 but the same pose and languid air, a similar landscape 1 Ambrosiana at Milan, wood, full length, half the size of life. On a cartello the words: "Mors mihi ultra non dominabitur." With his right hand Christ points to the spear-wound, and holds the banner on his left — distance rock and landscape. The flesh is injured by cleaning and repainting, the head being most damaged. 2 Lochis Carrara, No. 222, wood, oil, bust. Portrait of a man in a black cap and vest, with long hair and beard, signed: "M. Baxaiti F," ruined by restoring. In the same gallery, No. 204, head of Christ signed: "MDXVII Basaiti f." 3 Communal Gall. Rovigo, wood, 11 inches by 18 '/ 2 ; the surface of strong grey brown flesh im- pasto, is crackled as Palma's flesh crackles. 4 Doria Gall, at Rome, room 11, No. 80, wood, oil, full length, half-life. The saint is fast to the column, the left arm bound above the head, the right behind the shoulders. In the distance is a friar carrying water, a man fishing, and other incidents. In the same Gall. No. 7, room 11, 266 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. and episodes are to be found in the more authentic replica of the Berlin Museum. 1 In the latter collection a glory of S 1 John the Baptist reminds us of Lotto, 2 whilst a Virgin and child with saints at Munich recalls Bellini and Cima. 3 In 1515 Basaiti enters freely into a new path of imi- tation, effecting a radical change in the technical system of his handling. From a cold horny opacity of olive tone in flesh he passes to a clear impasto of full touch derived from Palma, but without the richness of that master and more after the empty manner of Lotto. The hard sharp outline, till now a marked feature of his style, makes room for a misty uncertainty of contour, and the transitions from light to shade are softened to excess. Under these conditions he repeated the call of James and John to the apostleship, now in the Belvedere at Vienna, inclosing the subject theatrically with a portico and statues in the spirit of his altarpiece at San Giobbe. 4 Virgin and child between S ts Peter, Nicholas, and two other saints, half-lengths, under Basaiti's name, is by Boccaccino or Galeazzo Campi. 1 Berlin Mus. No. 37, wood, oil, 7f. 1 h. by 3 3 / 4 , signed: "Marcus Baxaiti p." This figure is dimmed by time, and the olive tone is darkened further by restoring. Originally in the Solly collection. 2 Berlin Museum, No/20, in three panels, each 2f. 11 '/ 2 by liy 2 in. with a lunette containing the Virgin and child be'tween S ts Anna and Veronica, If. 6 h. by | 4f. 5y 2 . The lower panels contain S l John the Baptist between S ts Jerom and Francis; — landscape distance. The types of Basaiti are in the central figure and S l Fran- cis, Lotto's in the S l Jerom (in- jured by abrasion). We are re- minded of the latter by the gayness of the colours, a certain slender- ness in the figures, and an empty semi-transparent surface of colour. The Bergamasque character indeed is almost as decided as it might be in a work of Francesco Rizzo, yet there is no reason for depriving Basaiti of this work. 3 Munich, Pinac. Saal No. 559, formerly called Giovanni Bellini, now school of Cima, wood, oil, 2f. 1 by 3f. 2'/ 2 . The Virgin lays her left hand on the head of a donor, at her sides S l Sebastian (much abraded) of Bellinesque cha- racter, and S l Jerom in Basaiti's mould. The distance is after Bel- lini's fashion — an ill- preserved | piece, most reminiscent of Basaiti, to whom it is not assigned. The catalogue attributes, however, one picture to him. No. 537, cabinets (with doubt). This is a descent from the cross of so poor a cha- racter that it reminds us much of Nicolaus de Barbaris or Marziale. 4 Vienna, Belv. Venet. school, room II, No. 62, wood, oil, 3f. 11 h. by 2f. 6'/ 2 , inscribed on a scroll at base: "1515, Marcus Baxaiti f." Chap. X. BASAITI. 267 That he was led in this direction by the example of Bel- lini, for whom he certainly laboured in these years ; as well as by partiality for the style of other cotemporary moderns is obvious. He follows Palma and Giorgione in a brilliant effect of landscape; and Bellini in the ani- mation and increased flexibility of his figures. His forms and drapery, his types, acquire more correctness and truth; but on the whole, he is not free from monotony, and he keeps respectfully behind the chiefs of the Venetian school. Yet, if we consider the relations in which masters and assistants lived, and the vicissitudes which works of art undergo, we shall not find it sin- gular that Basaiti should have had a share in pictures that pass current under the name of Giovanni Bellini, whether we revert to the first period when he painted in a comparatively opaque olive tone, or turn to 1515 when his touch was bright and pastose. We need but look back to Bellini's S* Jerom at San Giovanni Crisostomo or the madonnas of the late Sir Charles Eastlake's collection to judge of Basaiti's activity in his master's atelier, 1 whilst, to know him in his independent cha- racter, it may be sufficient to study the Bellinesque and Palmesque " Virgin and child in a meadow" at the National Gallery, 2 the assumption at San Pietro Mar tire of Murano, and the numerous panels representing S l The composition is that of 1510 reversed. Two figures holding the pillars of the opening through which the scene is visible, are in monochrome. 1 See passim in Giovanni Bel- lini. There is also a Virgin and child with S l Joseph in a landscape, once belonging to Lord North- wick, wood, oil, 3f. 6 h. by 2*8 h. with two partridges to the right, signed with "Joannes Bellinus." This much-injured panel is an ex- ample of a work signed by the master and executed by Basaiti as his assistant. 2 National Gallery, No. 599, wood, oil, 2f. 2 high by 2f. 9, purchased at Florence. The Virgin is seated on the ground with the child at full length on her lap. A stork and a snake fight at the foot of a dead tree, from the branches of which an eagle looks down. The removal of old repainting in this work, though carefully done, has weakened its surface; and the out- line has lost some strength in con- sequence. The touch is rich and clear, and the tone gay. 268 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. Jerom in the wilderness preserved in Italian and other galleries. At San Pietro Martire Basaiti produces a large and important work ; excellent for its landscape, but in which the figures are Bellinesque of a less refined type than Bellini's, and softness is produced by a film of vapour on the outlines. 1 By similar means the hardness of lean and angular forms in the panels of S* Jerom are in a certain measure concealed. It is interesting to follow the masters steps as he turns out in succession a whole series of pieces representing this subject. His first edition is that of Conte Papafava at Padua, where the bearded father reposes all but naked on a bank, reading under the lee of a broadly shaded rock from which roots and shrubs depend. At the base is a recumbent lion, and behind him to the left, a ridge of hills with a town and castle and a bridged stream, a partridge, a goat and a deer enlivening the distance, and a tortoise crawling on the foreground. The touch here is ample after the fashion of Bellini and Palma; a raw warmth marks the tones; and the figure is relieved on the distance by broad shading like that of Cima in the Baptism at San Gio- vanni in Bragora. 2 Of a smaller size and more Belli- nesque treatment is a replica in the National Gallery finished with Flemish minuteness; 3 — slightly varied in 1 Venice, San Pietro Martire, originally in the convent of the Angeli at Murano (Bosch. Le Ric. M. S. della Croce, 25), wood, oil, with figures (life-size) of the Vir- gin ascending on a cloud, whilst eight saints look up from below. The shadows are somewhat grey, and the saints are a little stiff and vulgar. Ridolfl (Marav. I. 94) is the only writer who assigns this piece to Giovanni Bellini. Some heaviness is due to varnishes, the execution recalling that of an in- credulity of S l Thomas in San Niccolo at Treviso. (See passim.) 2 Padua Conte Papafava, wood, oil, figures one-quarter of life-size, bony, lean, and with large extre- mities, well preserved, and the landscape rich as that of the as- sumption at Murano; well spaced out, and diversified by lights and shades of different colours. 3 National Gallery, No. 281, wood, oil, If. 6 h. by If. 1, replica in small of the foregoing, a little hard yet woolly, well preserved, origi- nally we believe in San Giorgio Maggiore at Venice. (See Cicogna. Isc. Ven. IV. 388.) Chap. X. BASAITI. 269 setting, another belonging to the Lombardi collection at Florence; 1 — different again that in which S l Jerom kneels before the cross at the Academy of Venice, 2 or 'that of the Casa Giovanelli in which he sits at a desk. 3 Looking back into Basaiti's life in order to resume the salient features of his art, we observe, that having been alternately a journeyman in several workshops and a master on his own account, he assumed to all outward appearance, the peculiarities of various painters in succession. Of humble acquirements at first, he clung till the end of the fifteenth century to the strict and serious models of Luigi Vivarini, parting with reluc- tance from them in 1510, and taking up with those of Bellini. Under the influence of the latter he went through several transformations, closing his career in a manner radically opposed to that with which he opened. Were we to look at his pictures without any know- ledge of these changes, we should be at loss to determine whether they are by one hand or by two; one being- hard, dry, and Vivarinesque; another bright, misty, and pastose, but that in all phases the individual stamp of Basaiti remains. In the hard as well as in the gay period, the ground features by which he is distinguished are emptiness and mono-tone. He takes from Vivarini, Bellini, and Palma the superficial characteristics of their 1 Lombardi coll. Florence. Small Titian's name; small panel in oil panel, a rocky elevation to the left, the head of the saint slightly retouched. 2 Venice Acad. No. 317, wood, oil, m. 0'53 h. by 0-41. The saint kneels to the right at the foot of a rocky bank with a stone in his hand. The forms are square, the blue dress fused and of strong inl- and greatly injured. The saint sits at a desk, the lion near him to the left. Behind to the right a rocky bank. We may glance too at a Jerom penitent, once in the Lochis collection now be- longing to Signor Piccinelli at Bergamo, signed : "Marcus Baxaiti, 11 but too injured to justify an opi- pastolike Plws^ One"o7 8 thete ?i 0I \ ™e S» Jerom in the Brera St Jeroms may be that mentioned ^ 12 f V We haY * see £ (Pf* 1 ™) by Ridolfi (Le Marav. I. 56) as in " by Cirna; another, No. 36, m San Daniele at Venice. i °°™f Muse ™ assigned to J Mansueti is more in the manner 3 Casa Giovanelli, Padua, under i of Basaiti's school. 270 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. style, and comes as near each of them as a superficial imitation will allow. Thus it happens that in the assump- tion of San Pietro Martire, or in the S* Jeroms, his pe- culiarities of hand are discernible although he enters with extraordinary cleverness into the spirit of Giovanni Bel- lini. His figures are designed with less mastery, his masks are a little less select, his drawing a little less correct, and his drapery less adapted to the under form. Light and shade are not so cleverly balanced, colours have the brightness, but not the true contrast required for perfection. Basaiti's work, in fact, has not the pure ring of the choicest metal. In landscape he proceeds from a bleak aridity to an extreme gaiety: he does not dwell on detail, but his large masses have neither the sober tint nor the mysterious richness of atmosphere conspicuous in his last teacher. Between him and Bellini there was a relation not unlike that of Penni to Raphael. He was a clever instrument, not an independent genius. But this sketch of Basaiti would be incomplete if we did not dwell upon an intermediate phase in which he imitates Carpaccio. This phase is illustrated by a "glory of S l Peter," and a canvas of S l George and the dragon, dated 1520, at San Pietro di Castello of Venice, 1 the latest authentic works of Basaiti with which we are acquainted, and the last that we have space to mention in this place. 2 1 Venice, San P. di Castello. S l Peter enthroned in an arched portico between S ts Andrew, Ni- cholas, James, and Anthony the Abb. canvas, oil. The influence of Carpaccio is observable here in the firm rendering" of form. The colour, injured here by restoring, is of a low olive key, the faces of a soft character. Zanotto, who engraves the piece (Pinac. Ven. Fasc. 4), tells us it was ordered by Antonio II. of the Contarini, who sat in the patriarchal chair at Venice, from 1508 to 1524. Same ch. above entrance to the sacristy. S l George on horseback in profile to the right, the princess in rear holding on to a tree, canvas with figures of half life-size, inscribed on a cartello: "MCCCCCXX, M. Basaiti, p." The figures are very like Carpaccio's, and if Basaiti had left but this picture, we should say he was Carpaccio's pupil. (See the engr. in Zanotto, Pinac. Ven. Fasc. 17.) 2 We note the following in ad- dition to the pictures in the text: Venice ch. of the Salute, sacristy ; Chap. X. PREVITALI. 271 Amongst the numerous pupils of Giovanni Bellini, few have received more constant or louder praise from modern writers than Andrea Previtali, an artist unknown under that name to Venetian chroniclers. He came to Venice at the close of the 15 th century, and probably practised there as Andrea Cordeliaghi, or Cordelia; pic- tures from his hand, with that signature, being exactly identical in treatment with others inscribed, "Andreas Bergomensis." After a stay of several years with Giovanni Bellini, he settled at Bergamo, and assumed, about 1515, the surname of Previtali, by which he was subsequently known. We may judge of his prolific character from the fact that the lease of his house in Bergamo cost S l Sebastian bound to the tree in a landscape, a heavy square figure of the character of Basaiti's later time, on canvas, much injured by repainting", engraved in Zanotto. (Pinac. Ven. Fasc. 1.) London, Mr. Cheney, 4, Audley Square, j^anel, bust, portrait of a man in a dark dress and cap, with a dis- tant landscape, shadows a little in- jured; signed on a cartello: "Mar- chus Baxaiti, p." Richard Fisher, Esq., No. 81, at the British Insti- tution, exhib. in 1865, half-length panel of Christ in benediction holding a thin cross, in a land- scape, assigned to Cima, but by Basaiti. London, Dudley House, Virgin, child, and S l Joseph, the child presenting the ring to S l Ca- therine; this variety of a subject in the gallery of Rovigo (No. 31) under Bellini's name is called Ba- saiti not improperly yet it might be by Cariani. There are copies of it (see passim) in the Fitz- william Museum and in the Gall. Com. at Padua. Stuttgardt Mus. No. 134, Virgin und child (sec passim) possibly by Basaiti but greatly injured. No. 77, Virgin and child, feeble, restored and more like Mansucti than Basaiti. Padua, Casa Maldura, originally, we believe in the suppressed ch. of the Crociferi (Ridolfl Le Marav. I. 56, and Brandolesi Guida di Pad. p. 197). The dead Christ on his winding-sheet is about to be lowered by two grave-diggers into the tomb, distance landscape, wood, oil, figures one- quarter of life-size. The air is that of Basaiti, the im- pasto being well knit, a little in Palma's system, but empty. It is said (Brandolesi u. s. 197) the lu- nette of this piece, a coronation of the Virgin, was once in Santa Maria Maddalena at Padua. Pastrengo near Verona. Here is preserved a deposition from the cross (not seen by the authors) once in the Badia di Sesto in Friuli. (Ridolfi, Marav. I. 56, Lanzi, II. 106, Maniago, Belle Arti Friulane, u. s. pp. 41, 175.) This piece is on panel and signed: "Ba- xaiti f." The figures are half the size of life. Notices kindly favoured by Signor Nanin of Verona. Venice, Magistrato delle Ragione Vecchie, S'Mark between two saints (see Andrea Busati, postea). Missing. Venice, San Giobbc, S l Bernardino, seated on a rock with saints. (Vas. VI. 101.) Bo- logna, Ercolani Gallery, resurrec- tion, signed "Marcus Basaiti" (Pia- cenza\s Baldinucci). 272 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. him twenty-eight lire, and a delivery of four pictures per annum. 1 It was related by Ridolfi, 2 that Titian frequently stopped at Ceneda on his way to Cadore to visit Andrea's "angel and Virgin annunciate" in Santa Maria del Mesco, and that he always looked at it with rapture. This anecdote is very much like one which assigns to Michael Angelo an extraordinary admira- tion for Roger van der Weyden, and probably had its origin in banter; for Andrea is at best a second-rate painter who copied from Bellini, Carpaccio, and Cima, and fell into a style akin to that of Catena and Basaiti, varied with elements derived from Palma and Lotto. The very earliest piece which has been handed down to us is a votive madonna in the house of Conte Ferdinando Cavalli at Padua, in which we read the words "Andreas bgomensis Joannes dissipulus pixit M^CCOH." 3 It represents a Virgin seated on a stone bench, turning her face with a tender inclination towards a kneeling donor, whilst the child, erect on her knee, gives a blessing. There is no lack of sentiment in her slender form; the patron has a pleasant youthful profile and a Bellinesque air ; the child is lean like those of Lotto, with a head incorrectly set on the shoulders in the fashion of the early Paduans; a hard and tenuous outline, distinct on close inspection, is veiled at a distance by a semi- transparent film of reddish colour spread like a clouded crystal over the whole surface. The handling is a cross between that of the Bellinesque and earlier Berga- masque, and the inscription, which boasts exclusively of 1 His landlord was the Marchese Rota of Bergamo. Tassi, (P. M.) Vite de 1 Pitt. . . . Bergamaschi. Tom. I. p. 43. 2 Le Marav. I. 184. 3 Conte Cavalli, Padua; wood, figures a quarter of life-size; half- lengths. The treatment and touch are a cross between Lotto and Palma; but the surface is rubbed down, and not free from repainting. This is a very important picture for the life of Previtali, for hitherto we have never heard of an earlier example than that of 1506. It shows that the painter cannot have been born later than 1480. Chap. X. PREVITALI. 273 Bellini's teaching evidently tells but half the truth. 1 So far, however, as this teaching is revealed, it betrays a leaning to the transition phase between Giovanni's second and third manner, when he painted with a hard and as yet imperfect medium, the circumcision of Castle Howard and the Pieta of Stuttgardt. There are several pictures of this period too clearly his to be mis- taken, yet known by other names in divers galleries. We number amongst these a pretty resurrection with a rich landscape imitating those of Cima, in the house of the Conte Roncalli at Bergamo; 2 a circumcision in the Manfrini Gallery catalogued Giovanni da Udine, reminiscent of Bellini and Catena, 3 a Virgin and child between S* John the Baptist and a female saint in the palace of the Principe Giovanelli at Venice. This piece is signed: " Giovanni Bellini/' and must be admitted to have been executed in the workshop of that master; but the hand is that of an assistant, and that assistant is Andrea. In the Virgin, as well as in the female saint at her side, the forms are well proportioned but small, with thin and dry extremities; the child 1 Previtali and Basaiti produce works that leave us in doubt as to which of the two is the au- thor; the same may be said of Catena and Lotto, who mingled something of Palma in their works, creating a distinct phase of Vene- tian art. They presented old de- fects, even after Bellini had reached the full sway of his power, taking then something of the Bellinesque, mingling with it the Palmesque, and so becoming impressed with a curious cento of peculiarities. 2 Conte Roncalli, Bergamo. The Saviour rises, with the banner in his hand and in benediction, two of the soldiers at the sides of the foreground erect, a third in the centre recumbent, a fourth covering his eyes. Distance, a hilly landscape at sunset, with the Marys, S l John and the shep- VOL. I. herds; wood, oil, figures one-fourth of life-size, under the name of Cima. Here is the same hard low key of horny colour, the same slenderness of figures as at Padua, and a very rich landscape in the fashion of Cima. The picture is damaged, the outlines being in- jured by crackling. 3 Manfrini, Venice, wood, oil, small (half-lengths), Virgin and child before Simeon, and to the left behind the Virgin, a female saint in prayer, distance trees and hills. The child shrinks from Simeon, and hides its right hand in the dress of the Virgin. This picture is injured and repainted, but in the style of the foregoing. The Simeon is especially Belli- nesque; the child and its move- ment reminiscent of Catena. 18 274 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. asleep on the Virgin's lap is long and lean, with a flattened head; the Baptist is of fair stature, but incorrectly drawn; the landscape, though Bellinesque ; is Previtali's, taken from the hills about Bergamo, in large divisions, as was customary with Basaiti. 1 When Prcvi- tali did this about the year 1500, he was trying to adapt his manner to that of Bellini, under whose superintend- ence he produced something that was made to pass current as original, but he was still below the level of Catena, who led in the same path with his madonna of the Hermitage at S* Petersburg. For some years we believe it frequently happened that PrevitalPs madonnas were sent forth into the world under Bellini's name, Previtali being one of a small but chosen band of journeymen who laboured in the master's atelier. We may suppose, indeed, that he was for a time the comrade of Rondinello, a native of Romagna, upon whom Bellini reposed much confidence, whose hand we trace in a Virgin signed " Joannes Bellinus" in the Doria Palace at Rome. 2 Like Rondinello, Previ- tali made considerable progress in imitating Bellini, though in spite of the carefulness of an eager and conscientious assistant, he often betrayed himself in the defective movement, and the lean cast of his forms, and the muffled aspect of his drapery. His wakeful spirit observed that Venetian art was changing under the influence of Giorgione and Basaiti, as well as under that of Bellini himself; and when about this period he executed on his own account the annunciation admired by Titian at Ceneda, his style already displayed an habitual study of these men. Yet it was of little avail after all that 1 Principe Giovanelli, Venice, wood, oil; kneepiece, figures one- fourth life-size, half-lengths. 2 See passim in notes to Gentile Bellini. The panel in the Doria Palace, No. 25, brae. 2, Gran Galleria; wood, oil, half-length, 2f. by 2 f . 4, represents the Vir- gin and child, and S l John the Baptist. (See postea in Rondi- nello. Chap. X. J PREVITALI. 275 these influences should be at work around him. The effect which they produced was not essential, and we perceive in the annunciation that the cast of An- drea's figures, that is, their slenderness and bending grace, their rounded heads, and piled drapery remain unaltered, whilst the touch preserves a reminiscence of Palma, and the landscape a fresh green tinge akin to that of Giorgione. Primitive sharpness, uniformity, and enamel gloss are at the same time marked results of his handling. 1 By these general characteristics as well as by a habit of straining the movement of children to give them an affected air of fondness, we recognize as Andrea's not only a small Virgin and child in possession of the late Mr. Bromley, 2 but the marriage of S l Catherine in the sacristy of San Giobbe at Venice. Though classed amongst the productions of Giovanni Bellini, the picture has not escaped a searching criticism, and has of late been considered a school-piece. We shall be able to discern no difference between it and the usual productions of Previtali at this period. The round masks, the ornaments, the small hands, the passive softness of the figures are as clearly his as the glowing mono-tone of the flesh and the brilliant landscape. 3 But the picture gains 1 Ceneda, high altar of Santa Maria del Mesco. To the left in a room the Virgin at a desk bends her head humbly towards the angel kneeling with the lily in his hand. A large double window arched at top opens on a landscape of hills in which a cock is attacked by a wolf. The arch of the window is filled with round glass panes ; below the sill a bas- ket, cage, and book-case; signed on the Virgin's desk: " . ndreas Bergomensis joanis . ellini disci- pulus pinxit;" wood, oil, m. 1*65 long by 2*61 high, figures half- size of life. This picture in a bad condition, is now scaling, has been cut down at top and added to at bottom; the colours are dull and opaque from restoring; they are in high relief. 2 Late Davonport-Bromley coll. wood, oil, half-lengths, 2f. 2 long by 2f. 8. To the right behind the Virgin a red curtain intercepts the landscape. The legs of the child are crossed. The Virgin is a little heavy and square, the co- lour primitive, strong, and uni- form. 3 San Giobbe, sacristy, wood, oil, half-lengths, a little more than half life-size. The child on the Virgin's lap holds out the ring to S l Catherine in a violet damasked dress and pearl embroidered net cap; left, the Baptist; distance, a landscape of brilliant tone like that in the Giovanelli Madonna. 18* 276 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. more than usual interest from its being the counterpart in every respect of a marriage of S l Catherine in the collection of the late Sir Charles Eastlake, certified with the words: "1504, Andreas Cordelleagij dissipulus Jovanis bellini pinxit." When passing under the hammer of the auctioneer at Stowe ; the panel bore the forged words: "Joannes Bellinus;" bat when the surface was cleaned, the old inscription was recovered together with a monogram usual in later masterpieces by Previtali. 1 We are thus inevitably led to the conclusion that Andrea when at Venice occasionally called himself Andrea of Bergamo, or Andrea Cordeliaghi, or Cordelia, the more as these are apparently the only names under which he is known to Vasari, Zanetti, and Boschini. 2 Under these names, too, he left many unsigned pictures — the Virgin, This piece is engraved, as Bellin Bellini by Zanotto. (Pinac. Ven. Fasc. 25.) 1 London, late Sir C. Eastlake. Wood, oil, half-lengths, counter- part of the marriage of S l Cathe- rine at San Giobbe, but touched over all, and more than usually hard and vitrous in consequence. The ciphers "24,"" described in Waagen Treasures, II. 265, as fol- lowing the signature, are nothing else but the monogram of which we shall see a repetition in Pre- vitali's pictures of 1510 and 1515. 2 In his Venetian period Pre- vitali must have been known to chroniclers under the name of Cordeliaghi or not at all. Sanso- vino can hardly be alluding to him when he writes of Andrea (?) Bellini's Christ in glory, a tem- pera bust at the Carita in Venice. He commits perhaps a lapsus calami, Boschini (Le Ric. Min. Ses. di D. Duro, p. 36) assigning the same picture to Gio. Bellini; but it is curious that the Anon. (p. 89) repeats Sansovino's statement, and it may be that Andrea Bellini is Previtali just as Vittore di Mat- teo was called Bellini or Belliniano because he was Bellini's assistant. Let us remember at the same time that in - speaking of Cordeliaghi Vasari (VI. 101) gives him the christian name of Gianetto, assign- ing to him a S l Peter disputing with other saints in San Panta- leone at Venice, of which the pre- sent hiding-place is not known. Boschini knows of none but Cor- delia, the pupil of Gio. Bellini, assigning to him a head of Christ still in the sacristy of the Salute at Venice, but so injured as to preclude an opinion, and a por- trait of Bessarion at the Carita, now above a door in the Palazzo Ducale, but likewise so injured as to be beyond criticism. As for the altar-piece assigned by the same author (Le Ric. M. Ses. di S. Marco, page 112) to Cordelia at San Giuliano of Venice, it is a well-known Boccaccino. The ma- donna below S ts Joseph, Louis, Anthony and Francis, once in the Magistrato dell 1 Estraordinario (Le Ric. Min. S. di D. Duro, 24) is no longer to be found; and this is also true of the nativity at Santa Fosca. (Le Ric. Min. Ses. di C. Reg. p. 55.) Chap. X. PREVITALI. 277 child, and two saints in the Berlin Museum, which are not to be distinguished from those of Previtali, 1 and others, so injured as to forbid an expression of opinion on their genuineness. 2 As the century grew older Previtali underwent new and not unimportant changes. A Virgin and child between S l Sebastian and S l Thomas Aquinas, painted in 1506, and now in the Lochis Carrara Gallery, almost requires the signature which it bears to prove that Previtali was still the disciple of Bellini, the short figures and drapery being reminiscent in a greater degree of Carpaccio or Mon- tagna than of any other artists. 3 In 1510, the date of a Virgin and child, and small Baptist in Mr. Bar- ker's collection, he still clung to a peculiar mould of 1 Berlin, Mus. No. 45, marriage of S l Catherine, wood, If. 10 high by 2f. 6'/ 2 , from the Solly collec- tion. To the left S l Peter; dis- tance a landscape. The types, character, movement and treat- ment are those we see in the same subject at the late Sir Charles Eastlake's and in Previtali. Ro- sini (Stor. della Pitt. Italiana) has supposed this Berlin piece to be identical with a Virgin and child noticed by Zanetti (Pitt. Ven. 66), in the Casa Zen, and still in that palace in 1813 (Moschini, Guida di Ven. I. 673), but both these au- thorities state that the madonna of Casa Zen was signed: "Andreas Cordelle agi," and no such signa- ture is on the picture at Berlin. We must, therefore, suppose this madonna and that of Signor Monza at Vicenza signed: "Andreas C. A. discipulus Jovanis Bellini" (Mosch. ub. sup. I. 673) to be missing. 2 See in a foregoing note the piece under the name of Cordelia. But besides, let us notice a small panel of the Virgin and child with S* John and S* Catherine, No. 110 in the Aca- demy <>t' Venice. This piece com- bines all the elements of progress in the Venetian school at the opening of the career of Giorgione and Titian. There is something still of Bellini's serious compre- hension of form, but the colour and landscape are Titianesque. The pict. has not the powerful handling of Giorgione, yet seems by some one under his influence. We do not think Previtali could diverge from his habitual manner to paint a thing of this kind. Zanotto (in Guida di Ven. p. 397) assigns to Cordegliaghi a Virgin with the child giving a benediction to S l Peter Martyr, No. 49 in the Correr Museum. The catalogue of% this museum, however, justly assigns the piece to Bissolo. In the museum of Mayence a head of Christ, No. 139, has the round shape, the colours have the reddish tone, of Bellinesque works of Previtali and those called Cor- deliaghi. 3 Bergamo, Lochis Carrara, No. 142, wood, oil, m. 0'73 high by 0-57, inscribed: "Ihs MCCCCCVI Andreas Bergomensis discipulus Jova. Bellini pixit." The types- are a little vulgar, the colour dim and red, and unrelieved by shade. This picture has passed through many hands. (See Tassi. ub. sup. 42, 3.) 278 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. face/ whilst in a later example of the Virgin and child with saints belonging to the Conte Baglioni at Bergamo he imitates the Luinesque regularity of features and cleanness of surface already noticed as distinguishing Basaiti. 2 We can only mention, as the most important things in this class the madonna and donor of the National Gallery, 3 the Ecce Homo of Mr. Layard, 4 the Virgin and child in the study of Signor Paolo Fabris at Venice, 5 and the Christ carrying his cross in the house of Signor Carlo Valentino at Gemona. In this Christ, the regular features of which create a very pleasurable im- pression, the soft edge of substantial impasto is quite as much derived from Palma as the fresh green landscape from Palma and Giorgione; but the cold and patient treatment reveals an imitator of both, as at Rovigo the so-called Leonardo betrays the hand of Basaiti. 6 At 1 Mr. Barker's collection, Lon- don, wood, oil, half-lengths, half- life-size, inscribed with the mono- gram and the mutilated signature: "MDX Andre ens . . pinxit." The landscape here is bright and green, the child out of balance, and the heads as in pre- vious examples. 2 Conte Baglioni, Bergamo, wood, half-lengths, all but life-size. The Virgin holds the child which reads ~~a book between S l Anne in prayer and a saint reading a book, on the cover of which one reads in a round inscription: "Andreas Ber. pinx." To the right is a lodge, to the left a landscape like Palma's; colour as usual horny and red, hard and reminiscent of Lotto, clean and recalling the Lombard Andrea da Milano. 3 National Gall. No. 695, wood, If. 9 h. by 2'3, originally in the Manfrini Gallery; Virgin and child, the former placing her hand on the head of a monk in prayer; distance landscape, with S l Cathe- rine near a ruin to the right. The child in benediction holds a flower. a pleasing figure for Previtali. The colour is entire and of high surface, like Boccaccino's. 4 Mr. Layard, London. Ecce Homo, wood, oil, bust, originally in Bergamo, a figure and face of regular shape, a little lifeless, Lombard in air, as Basaiti was, and of a strong reddish hue. Size half- life. 5 Signor Paolo Fabris, Venice, wood, oil, half-lengths. The Vir- gin wears a cap embroidered with pearls. The child is on her lap, holding with his right the hem of her bodice. His feet are flat and ill-drawn. To the left and behind the Virgin green trees ; to the right a house and trees; on a cartello to the left the words: "Andreas Bergomensis jovanis B. D. P." The landscape is more modern Pal- mesque than before; the hues of flesh are glassy and empty, other- wise the style is like that of pre- vious examples. 6 Signor Carlo Valentino, Ge- mona, wood, oil, half-length; dis- tance trees. The hand is slightly retouched. Chap. X. PREVITALI. 279 the Brera, where Previtali's panel of 1512, a Christ on the moimt ; is preserved, we almost forget that he has been at Venice, his colouring having assumed a local Lombard look. 1 This phase, however, was mo- mentary, for Previtali now settled at Bergamo, and, in contact with Lotto, himself a worshipper of the Vene- tian colourists, resumed the manner of Catena and Basaiti. For the first time also, in a great altarpiece dated 1515, at San Spirito of Bergamo, he took the title of Previtali, establishing his identity by intro- ducing into the cartello the monogram already used in pictures with the surname of Cordeliaghi. The saint whose glorification Previtali depicts is S l John the Baptist, standing on a pedestal in a portico, attended by S l Nicholas of Bari, S l Bartholomew, S l Joseph, and Jacopo da Bergamo. Nothing is more marked in these figures than the uniform tinting and careful execution; the round heads and small dry shapes being like those of Catena and Basaiti, whilst the even tinge of grey flesh tone reminds us of Lotto. 2 From this moment, indeed, Previtali may be said to have ceased to change. Whether in 1522, at which time he finished the Virgin and child with saints in the Casa Bonomi at Milan, 3 or in 1524, when he delivered the glory of S* Benedict in the duomo, and the crucified Saviour in Sant' Alessandro, of Bergamo, 4 his style remained the same; 1 Brera, Milan, No. 219, origi- nally in San Benedetto of Ber- gamo, wood, oil, all but life-size; inscribed on a cartello to the right: "Al nobil homo, M. Andrea dipintor in Bergamo, MDXII." The colour is cold and disagreeable. 2 San Spirito of Bergamo, can- vas, oil, inscribed on the pedestal of S l John: "Andreas Previtali pinxit MDXV," with the mono- gram; a gay landscape is seen through a colonnade. 3 Casa Bonomi, Piazza S l Gio- vanni at Milan, canvas, figures half the size of life. The Virgin holds the child on a parapet betw. S ts Joseph and Jerom, half-lengths. This is a very washy, feeble, and diaphanous picture, once we be- lieve in possession of Monsignor Rosales (Lanzi II. 123), inscribed in the screen: " Andreas. Previtalus faciebat 1522.'" This is the pic- ture noticed in private hands by Ridolfi. (Marav. I. 184, and Tassi, 40.) 4 Duomo of Bergamo, arched canvas with figures all but life- size, signed: "Andreas Privitialus 280 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. and we should be dealing in mere repetition were we to dwell upon the numerous specimens of this period in the galleries of Bergamo and Berlin. 1 The marked decline apparent in the large altarpiece of 1525 at San Spirito 2 p. MDXXIIIL" At the sides of S l Benedict enthroned, S l Bona- ventura and a bishop — an inani- mate picture, in style and colour like the foregoing, and without strength in the shadows, as is the case indeed from henceforward. (See Tassi, 39— 40, and Ridolfi, Mar. I. 184.) Sant 1 Alessandro of Bergamo, sacristy, Christ crucified between the Virgin and Evangelist, small canvas, misty in the contour like Cariani, signed: "Andreas Privitt. pinxit MDXXIIII." In the same place, a small figure, on panel of Christ carrying his cross, warm, and a little reminiscent of Costa. 1 These form a goodly list as follows : Bergamo, Sant 1 Andrea, arched canvas of nine figures represent- ing the deposition from the cross, an empty fiat picture of Previtali's latest time. Lochis Carrara Gall. No. 199, votive altarpiece of the Casotti family, having passed in course of descent to the Marquis Solza, from whom it was obtained. (Tassi ub. sup. I. 42 states that there is a date of 1532 on the picture, an error the more remark- able as Previtali died in 1528.) This canvas represents the Virgin with the child on a cushion on her lap between Paul and Agnes Casotti, the patron saints of both who are half seen at the lower sides of the picture. There is a want of strength in the shadows which gives the work a washy appear- ance. The flesh of the Virgin and child is injured by restoring. In the same declining manner we have in this gallery, No 164, a lunette canvas with life-size figures repre- senting, full-length, the marriage of S l Catherine, S l Joseph, S l Koch, S l John Evangelist, and S l Fran- cis. The treatment as above, washy, soft, and cold. Again, No. 146, a Virgin and child in front of a green curtain, behind which (right) a landscape. The flesh of both figures is injured by abra- sion, and that of the Virgin by restoring (wood, figures half life- size). The manner is, like the- foregoing, that of Previtali's last period. Berlin Museum, No. 42, canvas, 4f. 5y 4 high by 3f. 9 : y 4 , from the Solly collection. S l Lucy between the Magdalen and S l Catherine. Of gay feeble colouring, but grey and empty flesh, this picture recalls Girolamo da Udine's manner as derived from Cima; but the hand may well be Previtali's in his later years. No. 1187, the dead Saviour lamented by various saints, a very feeble work, the authorship of which must remain undecided. 2 San Spirito of Bergamo, wood, oil, lower course, the Virgin and child between S ts Lucy and Anna, Catherine and Ursula, with the signature on the centre panel: "IHS. Maria. Andrea Previtalus pinxit MDXXV;" upper course, Christ in resurrection between S ts Bartholomew and John the Bap- tist, Peter and James. Before its last restoration this picture was much injured, and the upper part in a wretched state. The figures are about one-third of life-size, short in stature, clumsy, and co- loured in a flat, feeble, rosy tint, recalling Palma and Lotto. The upper part seems exclusively by an assistant, who may be Caver- segno. In the latest phase, perhaps, of Previtali's art we might class the following: Padua Communal Gall. Chap. X. PREVITALI. 281 is due no doubt to injury and the employment of an assistant who probably finished a picture left on the stocks, if we may use the expression, by his master. We may at some future time treat of this assistant, whose name is Caversegno. Of Previtali himself we know little more than has been related in these pages. The annals of Bergamo tell us of numerous canvases com- pleted by him in 1511, 1513, and 1517, and of altar- pieces in country churches and private galleries, all of which are mislaid or lost; 1 they relate incidents of the year 1521 in reference to a competition for a monument in high relief at Santa Maria della Misericordia, during which our artist had consultations and gave an opinion in conjunction with Andrea Riccio, Bernardino Zenale, under the name of Palma, and signed, " Jacomo Palma," a Virgin and child between two patrons, male and female, half-lengths, half life-size. This picture, once in the Capo di-Lista collection, on being cleaned presented the signature above given, which however is an addition of no authority. The art is that of Previtali imitating Palma, but more in Palma 1 s expanded form than usual. The colour is vitrous, flat, rosy. Better than this is a full-length Virgin between a donor and donatrix. No. 122 in the Her- mitage at S l Petersburg. The child is a repetition of Previtali's in its earliest form, slender, short-necked, and large-headed; the touch rich, and almost sloppy; lights and shades well contrasted. This is probably Previtali's at a moment when he had some resemblance with Cariani. Unhappily the sur- face here is greatly injured. The donor to the right is completely renewed, and the flesh in all parts restippled to a tomato red. The distant landscape is the best pre- served bit in the picture. 1 Bergamo. These are: a Virgin and child in Casa Terzi, with the painter's name and the date 1511, a transfiguration inscribed: "Nob. Paulus et Jo. fratres de Cassettis trino obtulerunt hsec 1573," in Santa Maria dell' Grazie. (Tassi, ub. sup. 42, and Anon. 51.) A Tri- nity dated 1517 is described in the church of Sant 1 Agostino at Almenno. (Tassi, 43.) Further without dates: Bergamo, Sant' Agostino, altarpiece of S l Ursula and her companions. (Ridolfi, Mar. I. 184, Tassi, 40.) Duomo, Virgin and child between two saints (Anon. 47.) San Domenico, an- nunciation, a fresco. (Anon. 49.) Santa Maria di Sotto, S l Sigis- mund between two saints. (Tassi, 41. ) San Bernardino di Borgo Sant 1 Antonio, Predellas, 1°, Ecce Homo ; 2°, S l Lucy ; 3°, S l Jerom. (Tassi, 41.) S.S. Trinita, S ts Sebas- tian, and Fabian in armour, figures at the side of a statue of S l Roch ; above, the Virgin and angel an- nunciate; below, two small rounds. (Tassi, 41.) San Benedetto, S l Stephen between S l Nicholas and a bishop. (Ib. ib.) Casa Vailetti, and Casa Tomini, portraits (Tassi, 42. ) Serinalta (church of), S* Peter Martyr between S l Augustin and | Nicholas. (Annot. Tassi, 42.) Lonno I (ch. of), Virgin and child. (Ib. ib. 282 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. Zilioli, and Lorenzo Lotto; 1 they describe how he made plans for rebuilding the choir of that church ; 2 they tell us at last that Previtali died of plague in 1528. 3 Just as under the pseudonym of Cordeliaghi we assume the presence of Andrea Previtali, so under the names of Bellin Bellini and Vittore Belliniano, we believe we find Vittore di Matteo. We should have been puzzled to distinguish Vittore from Carpaccio, but that both are noted as companions in documents of the 16 th century. We know of Vittore di Matteo that he was one of the masters chosen by Bellini, together with Carpaccio and Lazzaro, to value Giorgione's frescos at the Fondaco in 1508 ; and that in 1515 he was Giovanni Bellini's assistant in the Great Hall of Council. 1 As we never hear of any painter called Vittore di Matteo in the chronicles and guide-books, whilst we have notice of works of art by Vittore Belliniano, and Bellin Bellini, we must either admit that there are no pictures of the one and no records of the other, or that they are identical; and as the dates coincide, we may favour the theory of identity. Of Bellin Bellini, who is men- tioned by Boschini, Kidolfi, and Lanzi, 5 there are but vague accounts to this purport, that he was a relative of Giovanni, and a mediocre craftsman following his kinsman's manner. Of Vittore Belliniano we have more explicit information. He is called u Vittore Bellini" by Vasari, who praises his martyrdom of S' Mark, dated 1526, now in the Academy of Vienna ; 6 Belliniano by Boschini, who says Vittore is a pupil of Cima. 7 Kidolfi saw his coronation of the Virgin in a church near Mestre. 8 ib.) Cusio (church of), altarpiece. (Tassi, 43.) 1 Tassi, pp. 43, 69, 74, 87. 2 Ib. 42, 43. Virgin and child, in the hall of the Misericordia, was done about the same time. (Ib. ib.) 3 Tassi, 43. He died on the 7th of November at his house in Ber- gamo. 4 See the documents in Gualandi ub. sup. serie, 3, pp. 91, 92. 5 Boschini, .Le Ric. Min. Pref. 9. Ridolfi, Marav. I. 103. Lanzi, II. 107. None of his works are men- tioned. 6 Vas. VI. 104. 7 Boschini, Le Ric. Min. Ses. di Castello, p. 71. 8 Marav. I. 103. Chap. X. VITTORE DI MATTEO. 283 These are the only pieces of any authenticity, by an artist the scarcity of whose works almost proves that he spent his life as a journeyman. The coronation to which we have just adverted may still be seen in the parish church of Spinea. It is an arched canvas with life- size figures of the Eternal giving* his blessing to the Saviour, who crowns the Virgin on a throne guarded by stone griffins. Looking up from below or pensive, as an angel plays upon the lute, stand S l Peter, S l Jerom, $' Augustin and S 1 Paul; the types reminding us of Cima and Girolamo Santa Croce; the attitudes, of Palma and del Piombo. An inscription tells us that Vittore com- pleted the altar-piece in 1524. 1 It is injured by restoring, but still in better condition than the martyrdom of S l Mark in the academy of Vienna, the centre of which is completely obliterated, leaving little more to be seen than the group of the execution and the heads of some spectators. Bold composition in the spirit of Car- paccio, and a certain monotony and uniformity of colour, betray an effort made by a man of third-rate talent to emulate the freedom of the Titianesques ; 2 of Cima not a sign, yet as we are told that he learnt something from that master, we may assign to Vittore a share in schoolpieces bearing the general air of Cima's, with a feeble drawing and a cold execution; and, as such, notice the Virgin and child between S ts Bartholomew and Prosdocimo in San Leonardo of Treviso, 3 a S l Erasmus 1 Spinea, near Mestre (church of). Figures life-size, signed on the foot of the throne: "MDXXIIII Victor Belli." The composition is that which Benedetto Carpaccio used in 1537 for his altarpiece at Capo d'Istria. 2 Vienna Academy depot, figures life-size, inscribed: " MDXXVI Victor Bellinianus." 3 San Leonardo of Treviso. (See passim in Gentile Bellini.) The panels have been reset, the Eternal and an angel at the base being | additions of the 17 th century. The figures are paltry, the colour raw and red, and coldly shaded. S l Erasmus, in the same church, is assigned to Giovanni Bellini. (Crico. up. sup. p. 56, and passim.) This is a damaged and repainted pic- ture with life-size figures, the head of S l Erasmus short and square, the draperies broken, the colour of substantial impasto, but semi- lucid and horny. The griffins sup- porting the arms of the throne are similar to those in the coro- 284 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. in glory in the same church, a John the Baptist amidst saints at San Fior near Conegliano, 1 and other things of still less value. 2 With smaller claim to attention than Vittore, Pasqualino' s pictures at Venice afford examples of the manner in which Giovanni Bellini and Cima were imitated by fourth-rate men. In a Virgin and child with the Mag- dalen dated 1496 at the Correr Museum, Pasqualino appears to us as a poor draughtsman and worse colourist, aping Cima and Previtali; and with the aid of this one example we trace many more under ambitious names in various galleries. 4 nation at Spinea. The art recalls not merely Vittor Belli, but Pier Maria Pennacclii, yet if it be by the latter, he is the true master of Vittor Belliniano. 1 San Fior, near Conegliano, under the name of Cima (see passim). In the same style: San Germano or Zermen, church of San Dionisio. Virgin and child between Dionysius and another saint, under the name of Cima (see passim). Rome, Palazzo, Bor- ghese, No. 27, room XI, assigned to Gio. Bellini, and inscribed: "An sb. XXIII. 1510. 1 ' See also passim. Virgin and child with a donor in profile in the Casa Gera at Cone- gliano, assigned to Giovanni Bel- lini. 2 Boschini (Le Ric. Min. Ses. di S. Marco, p. 112) assigns to Vit- tore a coronation of the Virgin in San Giuliano at Venice, which is signed by Girolamo Santa Croce. 3 Venice, Correr Museum, No. 35, wood, m. 0*75 h. by 0*60, in- scribed on a scroll to the left: "Pasqualinus Venetus 1496," half- lengths, in a distance of sky and hills, recalling Cima and Previtali. The forms are defective, the colour in flesh of a yellow brown sha- dowed in olive. 4 In the same gallery, No. 15, assigned to Gio. Bellini (see pas- sim). Virgin between S ts Jerom and Catherine, same style and execution as No. 35. At the Liver- pool Institution, No. 31, a Virgin and child (see passim in Gentile Bellini), is either by Pasqualino or some other imitator between him and Vittore Belliniano. In the Communal Gallery at Padua is a half-length Virgin and child on panel. The sky is seen through an opening to the left. Pasqualino may well be the painter. Under the name of Cima in the Manfrini Gall, at Venice is a Vir- gin and child (No. 239) probably by Pasqualino ; and in the Leuch- temberg Gallery at S E Petersburg, a copy of Cima's Virgin and child. No. 300 in the National Gallery is also probably by Pasqualino. The same authorship might be correct for the Virgin giving the breast to the infant Christ; a small panel ascribed to Giovanni Bellini in the church dell 1 Redentore alia Giu- decca in Venice (see passim), and a Virgin and child with S* Jerom and two female saints under the name of Gentile Bellini in the Leuchtemberg Gallery at S l Peters- burg, a Virgin and child, No. 58 in the Barberinr Gallery at Rome (see passim in Gio. Bellini); but here the name of Marco Belli might not be unsuitable. / Chap. X. MARCO BELLI. 285 Marco Belli, a more respectable follower and dis- ciple of Bellini , is the author of a circumcision at Rovigo, which, we have already seen, is a copy from the master's original at Castle Howard. 1 Characteristic in this copy is the exaggeration of Giovanni's broken outline, bony form, and a disagreeable dryness, defects already observed in Marco Marziale. We shall not venture to assume absolutely that Belli and Marziale are one person — it may be so. They have certainly the same stamp; they are both patient draughtsmen; they are careful and minute in their outlines, but unfamiliar with nature; and of Belli we possess this specimen only; but there are records of his existence besides, and we have evi- dence that he was married to the daughter of the sculptor Domenico da Tolmezzo, and that he was at Udine in 1511. 2 Last and least in this catalogue of fourth-rates we have Andrea Busati, composer of an enthroned S 1 Mark, executed about 1510 at the Venice Academy, and a saint in the Communal Gallery of Vicenza, both of which display an acquaintance with the atelier of Basaiti. 3 1 Rovigo Gallery, No. 80, wood, oil, 2f. 9 long- by 2f., inscribed: "Opus Marci Belli discipuli Jo- annis Bellini." The colour is bricky, flat, and hard, and related to that of Pasqualino; the impasto and treatment remind us more of Cima than Bellini. Marco Belli's name is suggested in connection with the execution of a marriage of S l Catherine in the gallery of Ro- vigo ascribed to Giovanni Bellini (see passim), and repetitions of that subject in Dudley House, in the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cam- bridge, and the Communal Gallery at Padua, (ib.) He might claim, perhaps, the Virgin and child, No. 134, attributed to Gio. Bellini in the Stuttgardt Gallery, and 423 in the Venice Academy, a Virgin and young Baptist under his name, but very feeble. 2 In the Archivio Notarile of Udine is preserved the will of Gio. q. Domenico da Tolmezzo, dated Sept. 11, 1511, wherein Giovanni bequeaths a house to his sister Franceschini, wife of the painter Marco Belli. In the same Archivio is a record of the same date, wherein appears as witness, "Ser Marco Belli Pittore q. Ser Giorgio Belli di Venezia, 11 in company with Giovanni Martini of Udine. 3 Venice Acad. No. 404, canvas, with figures half the life-size, of S l Mark enthroned between S l Francis and S l Andrew, inscribed on a cartello, "Andrea Busati, 11 beneath which the shields of the families of Badoaro, Diedo, and 286 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. We all but exhaust the list of the Bellinesques when we have mentioned Pier Francesco Bissolo, the fellow- labourer of Catena and Marco Marziale at the Venetian Hall of Council in 1492. 1 Our notices of this artist are as scanty as they can well be. He was born, it is said, at Treviso, 2 from whence he wandered to Venice, acquir- ing there sufficient experience to take rank among the better pupils of Giovanni Bellini. He soon showed that he could enter into the spirit, as well as imitate the manner of his master; and he probably helped Giovanni in more than one of his pictures. He was of a soft and tender fibre, like Sassoferrato, very careful and conscien- tious, and, amongst Venetians, a sort of Spagna. We may believe the more readily that he was a Trevisan, as in art he was apparently affected by the example of Catena ; and the first specimens of his industry are akin to Vin- cenzo's in the small character of the personages and a hard high texture of colour. We know of no earlier or more authentic work by Bissolo than the annunciation in the Manfrini Gallery at Venice, in which the broad features above described are discerned. The angel stands to the left on the chequered white and yellow floor of an apartment, opening out upon the country, the Virgin to the right at a desk. In both figures the shape is Gabriel. Zanotto (who engraves this piece in Pinac. dell' Accad. Ven. Fasc. 25) makes a statement tending* to prove that this picture must have been executed between 1490 and 1509, when Marco Diedo, Bernardino, Gabriel and Andrea Badoaro were in the office of the Magistrato delle Ragioni Vecchie, to which this picture belonged. The only weak point in his argu- ment is that S l Bernardino, who ought to be one of the patron saints according to his theory, is not in the picture. Boschini (Le Pdc. Min. Ses. di S. Polo, p. 26) notices this piece under the name of Andrea Basaiti, and Zanetti (Pitt. Ven. 77) under that of Marco Basaiti. The period of execution, if judged technically, would be circa 1510. The picture at Vicenza repre- sents a saint with a book and a lily, life-size (wood, oil). The treatment is the same as at Venice, but the inscription leaves some doubt. It reads: "Andreas l.us- satis in Venezia pinxit;" and one cannot say whether the first letter is a B. or an L. 1 His wages were two ducats a month. Gaye, Carteggio, II. 71. 2 Federici (Mem. Trevig. I. 229) asserts this without giving the proofs. Chap. X. BISSOLO. 287 puny, and the extremities are thin and pointed. Strong light and strong shadow are alike wanting, and there is a lack of strength in every part. It is curious indeed to mark the mixture of hardness and mistiness which contributes to the effect. The tones of flesh are dry and empty, yet clouded so as to lose precision. The land- scape is sharp in tint, yet undefined in contours. The colour at the same time has a thick enamel surface of vitrous half transparence reminding us of Boccaccino. 1 In this style we have three saints called Carpaccio in the Brera, 2 and a very careful pallid portrait in the National Gallery. 3 Without any very material change at first, Bissolo continued in this path when working as a journeyman; and_ so, we think, he executed the replica of Bellini's circumcision now in the Doria Gallery at Rome, 4 the Virgin and child between John and S l Peter, of the Casa Mocenigo in Venice, and its original under Bellini's name in the sacristy of the church del Redentore alia Giudecca. 6 Though technically unaltered 1 Manfrini Gallery, small panel, inscribed on the desk; Franciscus Bissolo." 2 Brera, Milan, No. 63, S l Stephen, m. 0'58 long 1 by P10 high, wood. No. 180, S l Augustin, wood, m. 0*42 long- by 1-12. No. 182, S l Anthony of Padua, wood, m. 0*33 long" by 1*12, all under the name of Car- paccio. Here is the same lively colour as at the Manfrini Gallery, the same thin misty tone and clear coloured landscape of clouded forms. Bissolo here is very close to Ca- tena in style. 3 National Gallery, No. 631, por- trait of a lady, wood, oil, If. 2'/ 2 h. by If. from the Beaucousin collec- tion, once under the name of Gentile Bellini, a very careful Bellinesque portrait, of empty colouring, and therefore without the firmness of touch or of purpose conspicuous in both the Bellinis; hard, pallid, rosy in the semi-trans- parent colour. 4 Doria Gallery, room V. No. 5, wood, figures half size of life. Five figures (see passim), raw, reddish, and empty in colour. In the same style a half-length Virgin and child, half-lengths, in Venice, San Gervaso e Protasio, under the name of Bellini (see passim), and engraved in Za- notto (Pinac. Ven. Fasc. 15.), the colour as in the immediately fore- going. But we are also reminded here of Bartolommeo Veneto, of whom a word later. 5 Venice, Casa Conte Alvise Mo- cenigo a S l Stac, Virgin and child between S l John and S l Peter, half-length, on a dark ground. The colour is of a glowing enamel, the Virgin and child copied from that of Bellini in the sacristy of the church del Redentore at Venice, the touch and treatment Bissolo's. 6 Venice, church del Redentore alia Giudecca. (See passim.) This 288 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. he is now more Bellinesque, but inferior to Bellini in spirit, in correctness of outline and brilliancy of colour. At the opening of the century BissoiVs art assumes the freedom of the rising Venetians; and in a glory of S l Eufemia at Treviso, not improperly ascribed to the year 1504, he becomes Giorgionesque in contour and in drapery, and gives some expansion to the human shape. 1 Of this period, but with a touch of Palma, is the holy family, with a donor, lately in the Northwick collection, 2 and a portrait assigned to Giorgione in the Pitti at Florence. 3 A little later came Titianesque in addi- tion to Giorgionesque imitation, and in this phase the best example out of Italy is the warm sombre but uniformly toned resurrection at the Berlin Museum, in which as usual there is something pleasing in the soft- ness of the forms and the gaiety of the tints to counter- balance the absence of massive light and shade, and the is the original of the fore- going 1 as regards the Virgin and child, the saints in attendance (half-lengths) being here S l Jerom and S l Francis. Still more in Bissolo's manner in the sacristy of the same church, and also under Bellini's name (see passim), is a Virgin and child between S l Catherine and S l John Evangelist, half-lengths, feeble and empty, with drapery in straight lines, and something heavy and uniform in the colour. 1 Treviso Duomo. The saint on a pedestal in front of a red cur- tain, between S l John the Baptist recommending the donor and S l Juliana; six cherubs to the right and left; wood, oil, figures of all but life-size, inscribed: "Francis- cus Bissolus." The patron is stated by Federici (Mem. I. 229) to be Francesco Novello who died in 1504; the flesh is here, as before, rosy -yellow and uniform, the drapery broader in cast than heretofore, yet too full of de- tailed lines. 2 Late Northwick Gallery, and No. 880 of its catalogue; wood, 3f. 3 long by 2f. 6'/ 2 , inscribed: " Franciscus Bissolus;" subject, the Virgin, child, and S l Joseph, with a patron (half-lengths) in a landscape, of the same class and kind as the foregoing, but a little less free, much use of ochre in the flesh and of bitumen in the sha- dows, done at one painting with liquid varnishy medium. 3 Florence, Pitti, No. 222, can- vas, half-length, m. 1'4 long by 0*19; bust of a female in a red open dress, and striped turban on a dark ground. This is an empty imitation, feeble in drawing, cold in shadow, and wrought up with dirty scumbles. It is not painted on the broad principles of Titian, Giorgione, or Palma. We might hesitate between Bissolo and Paris Bordone, but that the execution is too feeble for the latter. Vol. I p. 289. J RON AT ION OF ST. CATHERINE OF SIENNA; altarpiece. by Pietro Francesco Bissolo. in the Academy at Venice. Chap. X. BIS SOLO. 289 flat tilling of the contours. 1 It would be easy to regis- ter in succession numerous examples of Bissolo in all these stages of his development, many of them in Venice/ 2 others in England; 3 we might cite one instance in which a portrait evidently by him at Rovigo is made to pass under the name of Raphael. 4 One of the largest, if not one of the most powerful altarpieces by Bissolo in Venice is the coronation of S l Catherine of Sienna, originally in San Pietro Martire of Murano. The scene is laid in a landscape, where the principal group is surrounded by attendant saints. A calm religious spirit pervades this piece and gives it a special charm. The drawing and colour are feeble and nerveless as before. 5 1 Berlin Museum, No. 43, wood, 5f. 10 high by 2f. 9, from the Solly collection; at the foot of the tomb a sleeping-guard, in rear to the left, a frightened soldier. This is one of Bissolo's most agreeable works; pleasing in type and regu- lar in form, but homely, and of a clouded uniform warmth of colour. There is much strength of impasto and gaiety of tint. 2 Venice, first altar to the right in Santa Maria Mater Domini, arched at top, with figures half life-size, subject: the transfigura- tion, with the apostles Peter, James, and John in the foreground; from a statement made by Sanso- vino (Ven. Desc. p. 204 — 5.) done for Girolamo Contarini in 1512. A cartello on the right side of the. picture is bare, but San so vino and Boschini (Le Ric. Min. Sest. della Croce, p. 18) justly assign the work to Bissolo. It is now of a flat dull tone and almost completely repainted. In the same class is a glory of S l Andrew between S l Jerom and S l Martin at San Giovanni in Bragora. (See passim in Anton. Vivarini.) 3 Mr. Layard, in London. Wood, small subject, the Virgin and child VOL. I. between S ts Michael and Veronica, and a donor in prayer; this is a bright picture of fair proportions in the figures (half-lengths). Col- lection of the late Sir Ch. East- lake, Virgin and child between S l Catherine of Alexandria and S l Joseph, a green curtain intercepting a distant landscape; wood, oil, 2f. 8 1. by 2'l 3 / 4 ; a little hard in co- lour, but imitating Bellini in his clear phase of tone, as at the Casa Mocenigo Bellini is imitated in the dusky phase. The child is also Bellinesque in form. 4 Rovigo, Gall. Commun. No. 24, once in the Casa Casilini, (Bartoli Guida di Rovigo) wood, oil, If. 4 long by If. 6'/ 2 , the right hand in benediction, the left on the edge of a stone screen at the base of the panel. The type is regular, the colour of a clear rosy tint, but uniform and empty (bust). r ' Venice Acad. No. 541, m. 3'65 h. by 2 "50, originally arched at top; S l Catherine kneels before the Saviour, who places the crown of thorns on her head. In atten- dance are the angel Raphael and Tobit, S ts Mary Magdalen, Peter, James, and Paul. In the sky the 19 290 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. As in his first period Bissolo imitated a particular class of Bellinesque pictures, so now lie copies Bellini's last manner, adding figures here and there to Giovanni's compositions without attending to the laws of distribution that guided his master, and thus producing a series of unsatisfactory performances. The presentation in the temple, placed on the altar of the Capello family at San Zaccaria in 1524, and assigned to Bellini, is one of these ; 1 a repetition of it in the Venice Academy, thrown out of balance by the introduction of two saints and a donor, being authenticated by Bissolo's own signature. Many panels of this time in the Venetian collection will be found to confirm this judgment of Bissolo's character at the close of his career. 3 It was chiefly towards the end of his years that his practice became extensive. He painted in 1528 at San Floriano near Castelfranco, a large madonna with saints, which Crico Eternal and cherubs. This was no doubt once a most pleasing' production of Bissolo. It is now altogether repainted. It was Bis- solo's masterpiece as a composi- tion. (Engraved in Zanotto, Pinac. dell 1 Accad. Ven. Fasc. X.) It is signed: "Franciscus Bissolo." 1 Venice, San Zaccaria. (See passim in Giovanni Bellini.) To the left behind the Virgin a female saint, between her and Simeon (right) S l Joseph. This picture has not Bellini's firmness of touch nor his force in tone. Zanotto, who engraves it -(Pinac. Ven. Fasc. 8.), states that it was placed on the Capello altar in 1524. This alone might prove that Bellini is not the author (half-lengths). 2 Venice Acad. No. 435, wood, m. 0'77 h. by 1*17; originally in the Casa Renier (Lanzi, II. 109); same composition as above, with S l Anthony behind the Virgin, to the left the prophetess carrying the doves, and a kneeling donor (half-lengths) inscribed: "Fran- ciscus Bissolus." The addition of two figures spoils Bellini's com- position. The colour is of stiff impasto, clear in tint, uniform, and glazed all over. In the same character: Venice Acad. No. 337, Virgin, child, and saints, wood, m. 0*68 h. by 1*0, greatly injured by restoring, but originally imitating Bellini's broad manner after the fashion of Basaiti. No. 5 in the Acad, of Venice a lunette of the Eternal is falsel}' assigned to Bissolo, being by Diana (see passim). 3 Venice Acad. No. 186, wood, oil, m. 0'83 h. by 0'64, inscribed: "Franciscus bissolo;" Virgin and child abraded and cold, but once an agreeable piece. No. 117, wood, oil, m. 0-40 h. by 0*71, Christ's dead body supported by angels; same as the foregoing enfeebled by glazes and restoring. Venice, Correr Museum, No. 50, Virgin and child, wood, m. 0*68 h. by 0-62, doubtful— possibly by Giro- lamo Sauta Croce. No. 49, Virgin and child, and Peter Martyr, feeble Bissolo (see passim in Cordelliaghi). Chap. X. BISSOLO. 291 has minutely described; 1 in 1580 a similar piece and a glory of S 1 Boniface at Lavada near Oderzo. 2 In Sant' Andrea of Treviso, in the churches of Martellago and Paniga, in the duomo of Lendinara, he has left exam- ples that pass for works of earlier and greater masters. 3 In foreign galleries too we stumble on pictures of this kind; in Leipzig, for instance, where the Virgin and child with saints and a donor affords a fair specimen of his Giorgionesqne and Bellinesque style. 4 But this production is of value in directing our attention to an artistic puzzle. There are two madonnas with saints in Berlin and Venice, which bear inscriptions interesting to historians. That of Berlin is a Virgin and child between S l John the Baptist and a female saint, the Magdalen and S l Anthony of Padua. On the parapet 1 San Floriano, Virgin and child enthroned between S ls Florian, Liberale, Catherine, and Barbara, not seen by the authors. (Crico. Lett. u. s. p. 137—8.) 2 Lavada, near Oderzo, canvas. Virgin and child between S l Law- rence and a saint recommending' a young patron, inscribed: " Domi- nions de Rovertulo sacelli hujus antistes aram hanc suis erexit sumptibus ac deiparae Virgin d. MDXXX, Franciscus bissolus.' 1 — This is a washy and feeble piece. — In the same church S l Boniface on a pedestal between S ts Peter, Appollonia, Barbara, and Anthony the Abbot, signed: "Franciscus bissolus," canvas, much injured. The figure of the principal saint is agreeable in outline but feeble, and the art is like that of Bissolo's picture at Treviso. 3 Treviso, Sant' Andrea. (See passim in Gentile Bellini.) Martellago martyrdom of S l Stephen. (See passim, ib. ib.) Paniga; altarpiece in two courses with S' Martin between four saints, and an Eternal in benediction be- tween four saints in the upper course. In the church of Gaio, S l Bartholomew between S* Andrew and S l Peter by a follower of Bis- solo (see passim in Giovanni Bel- lini). Lendinara, duomo, sacristy. Virgin and child between S ts Law- rence and Anthony,' a modern bust of S l Carlo Borromeo at the base. This is a feeble and much injured work of Bissolo. Besides the fore- going, we have the following: Padua, Gall. Communale, originally in the Capo di-Lista coll. Virgin and child between S l Lucj^ and S l Ca- therine. This panel called Bissolo I is injured, but seems by Galeazzo Campi or some other scholar of Boccaccino. Pordenone, Casa Mon- tereale. Virgin and child enthroned, panel with an abraded signature possibly by Bissolo, but almost completely repainted. Perugia, Gall. Virgin and child and saints. (See passim in Giov. Bellini.) 4 Leipzig Museum, No. 5, wood, 3f. 2 h. by 4f. 9, in the style of the coronation of S l Catherine at the Venice Academy (No. 541) of rich impasto, with rubbed glazings but greatly repainted — at the Vir- gin's sides, S ts Paul, Joseph, An- thony the Abbot, and Francis. 19* 292 THE VENETIANS. Chap. X. ?Ct the base are the words : "Petrus de Inganati p." 1 In the Casa Gatterburg Morosini at Venice, the Virgin is attended by the Baptist and a female saint; the panel is signed: "Petrus de Inganatis p." 2 Without these signatures we should say the artist is Bissolo, the author of the Leipzig Madonna. Is it not likely that Pietro Francesco Bissolo and Pietro de Inganatis are identical? This question may and perhaps should be answered in the affirmative, and we can well suppose Bissolo to have deceived some cotemporaries by an imitation of the Gior- gionesque and Bellinesque manner, and to have pro- claimed his victory by the signature in question. We close the list of the Bellinesques with Bartolom- meo of Venice, a painter of whom but four authentic works have been preserved — a Virgin and child dated 1505, in the Lochis Carrara collection; 3 a picture be- longing to Colonel Carew in Somersetshire, inscribed: "Bartholomeus de Venetia 1506 ;" 4 a portrait of a female dated 1530, in the hands of Mr. Barker, but previously in the Manfrini Palace; 5 and the likeness of a man in the National Gallery. What Bartolommeo did in the 1 Berlin Museum, No. 41, wood, 2f. 2 l / 4 h. by 3f. 2'/ 4 , from the Solly collection (half-lengths). 2 Gatterburg Morosini, wood, half-lengths. This is of a later style than the foregoing, and more in the manner of Girolamo Santa Croce. 3 Lochis Carrara, No. 209, wood, small kneepiece, distance a land- scape, inscribed: "1505, Bartholo- m£eus Venetus faciebat." The figures are slender and paltry, the drawing careful but broken, the colour thin, and the landscape reminiscent of Cima. It is the art apparent in a Virgin and child at San Gervaso e Trovaso (see passim in Bissolo). Judging by this piece, we may assign to Bartolommeo a Virgin and child in a landscape with a man and two deer in the distance; a small panel belonging to Signor Luigi Tescari at Castelfranco. 4 Exhibited at Leeds — not seen by the authors. 5 Mr. Barker, London, bust of a female in a yellow, green, and white turban, and yellow dress, a glove in her left hand, signed: "1530 Bartolomei Veneti, f." The colour is sad, but treated in the mixed manner of the Palmesques and Giorgionesques. 6 National Gall. No. 287, wood, 3f. 5y 2 high by 2f. 4, inscribed: "Ludovicum Marti, setatis sute an. XXVI. Bartolom. Venetus faciebat MDXXX. XVI Zun," bought from the heir of Conte Girolamo Mar- - tinengo, and a portrait of a mem- ber of that family. A good likeness, reminiscent of Giorgione and Boni- fazio, of solid impasto and dusky hardish tone. Chap. X. BARTOLOMMEO OF VENICE. 293 interval of twenty-five years, it is impossible to say. So far as one can judge from his style, he was a careful 16 th century Venetian, without power as a draughtsman, somewhat hard and wooden in his model- ling. His finest production is the likeness in the National Gallery, in which the touch reminds us of Palma, the reddish dusky colour recalling that of Polidoro Lan- zani. 294 THE FADUANS. Chap. XI. CHAPTER XI. SQUARCIONE, M ANTEGNA ; AND THE CHAPEL OF THE EREMITANI. The birth and growth of the Venetian school have been treated in these pages as an independent part of the history of Italian painting ; but constant reference was made to the principles and teaching of the Paduans as affecting the progress of their more insular neighbours. We shall find it necessary to devote considerable attention to these Paduans; first of all for the sake of reconstruct- ing their lives in a manner agreeable to historic truth, and next to strip their earliest masters of a fictitious importance. During the 14 th century Paduan art was a mere exotic. The men who throve were Altichiero, Avanzi of Verona, and Giusto of Florence-, Guariento being in practice a Venetian. Wherever remains of local craftsmen are found they exhibit an humble and unpresuming me- diocrity; 1 and as the 14 lh century closes, Giottesque 1 Amongst the older works about Padua, there are some which, having previously escaped notice in these columns, may now be mentioned. Vienna, Czernin Gallery. Coro- nation of the Virgin, with twelve scenes from the passion, in three courses at the sides; a lunette over the -centre containing the crucifixion and eight figures of saints in pinnacles; wood, gold ground, inscr. : "MCCCXXXXIII tepore nri archip Aberti." This large work, originally in a monas- tery near Padua, and of the 14 th century, has been assigned by Dr. Waagen to Giusto of Padua. (Kunstdenkmaler in Wien, I. 302.) Chap. XI. SQUARC10NE AND MANTEGNA. 295 is supplanted by Umbrian feeling. Here, as at Venice and Verona, the influence of Gentile da Fabriano and Pisano for a time prevailed; but that influence was faint and dubiously extended to the works of Jacopo di Nerito. It was fortunate under these circumstances that Yet the work seems beneath his powers. Koncaiete near Padua (church of), small altarpiecc, wood, gold ground, in two courses. Below, the Virgin and child between S ts James and Lawrence presenting a kneeling patron, Fidenzio and Bar- tholomew; above, the crucified Saviour bewailed by the Virgin and evangelist between an arch- angel and S l John the Baptist, S l Lucy and another female saint. This is a coarse work of the middle of the 15 th century. Piove, church of San Niccolo, Virgin and child, on gold ground between S ts Martin, John the Bap- tist, Nicholas and Francis, an altar- piece of five pointed gables, inscr. : "Gisielmus de Veneci pinxit hoc opus." The figures are lean, of poor shape, and defective in nude form; the colour is of greenish olive, and the author a man of the stamp of Lorenzo of Venice. Same place, church dei Penitenti, fresco of the assumption with the kneeling apostles below, by a feeble Giottesque of the rank of those whose works we see about Ravenna. A lunette with the Eternal and angels is of the 18 th century. In the sacristy of the same church, an altarpiece of the Virgin and child adored by a male and female donor, with six saints, two of which are S l Francis and Santa Chiara in trefoil niches at the sides and five pinnacles, with the Ecce Homo between the Virgin and S l John, and the angel and Virgin annunciate. This is a greatly injured piece with figures one-third of life-size, of sombre flesh-colours, and remarkable for j the sharp contrasts, and staring eye of the period of Semitecolo and Lorenzo. It is a work of the close of the 14 th or rise of the 15 th cen- tury. Amongst local Paduans we may also notice one of whom nothing* else is known but the following. Venice, belonging to a dealer, Giacomo Cassetti, living at the Campo Santa Marina. Two lunettes with busts of bishops, one of them reading a book, in the thick- ness of which we read the words: " Ops Campagnola pa. 1-174." These two pieces are stated to have been in the church of the convent de' Miracoli at Venice. They are painted in the coarse manner of a cotemporary of Guariento, and have no relation to the Paduan style of the Squarcionesque school, though the name, which appears genuine, seems to be that of a Paduan artistic family. 1 Of Jacopo di Nerito it is said in Moschini (Vicende della Pittura in Padua, 8° Pad. 1826, p. 19—20), that he painted a picture once in San Michele of S l Michael in gigantic proportions, trampling Lucifer under his feet. On this picture was the inscription: "Jaco- bus de Neritus discipulus Gentili de Fabriano." There are pictures in Padua which have the stamp of Gentile, and may for want of a better name be called by that of Nerito; ex. gr. Padua, Marchese Galeazzo Dondi-Orologio, S l Michael en- throned with the dragon under his feet, natural in pose, round-headed, with crisp locks and a jewelled diadem. His dress is that of an eccle- siastic with much embossment. The manner of the artist is a mixture of Guariento and Michele Giambono, perhaps a little better than that 296 THE PADUANS. Chap. XI. a study was at last founded by Squarcione, in which the rudiments of education might be attained. At the time when we may suppose this novel institution to have been started, the fervent religious spirit of an earlier age had begun to fade, and classics were about to revive under the patronage of the Universities. A man like Squarcione, whom we may credit with intelli- gence and a spirit of enterprise, might and probably did gather a number of youths together for the purpose of teaching them an art in which he was himself but a slight adept. That there was a large demand for pic- torial creations is proved by the employment of strangers as well as by the constant increase in number of the members of the Paduan guild. But the steady obscurity in which the masters of this guild remained is as remark- able as the disappearance of their labours. The regu- lations under which members were affiliated were exceptionally liberal, enabling Italians of southern and of the pictures by the latter. Were not our attention called to Nerito, we should say this was a work by Giambono. It may, however, be the missing 1 piece mentioned by Moschini. But in addition to this, we have a standing figure of S l Michael trampling on the dragon and piercing it with his lance in the parish-house of the church del Torresino near Padua. Of this piece we are told that it was once in San Michele of Padua. Its style is that of a man of later date than we can assign to Nerito, a pupil of Gentile da Fabriano, and would more properly be as- cribed to Lazzaro Bastiani had he lived long enough. This, how- ever, may be an old copy exten- sively repainted of Nerito's original. Of the same stamp as the imme- diately foregoing is an angel Ga- briel, part of an annunciation, a canvas (No. 99), in the Communal Gallery of Padua under Nerito's name. It is injured, and almost entirely repainted in oil, yet in better condition than the S l Mi- chael of the church del Torresino. The figure is heavy in frame and head, with a high forehead and large hands and feet — little, in fact, to remind us of Gentile da Fabriano. Further, S l John Bap- tist, S l Peter, and a bishop, oblong- panels, in possession of Conte Galeazzo Dondi-Orologio, S l Gre- gory, and a Franciscan bishop, once in the Capo di-Lista collec- tion, now in the Communal Gall, at Padua, all forming part of one picture; small slender figures with coarse feet, clad in tortuous dra- pery with heavy embossments. These panels reveal something of the style of Giambono, the tem- pera being treated in the fashion of Gentile da Fabriano. Here the name of Nerito would be more just than in the foregoing, the work being like Gentile's, and only a little below his powers. Chap. XI. SQUARCIONE AND MANTEGNA. 297 northern birth and even Germans to compete, yet the result as regards Paduan painting was not 'the less in- finitesimal ; 1 and if we take Squarcione as the repre- sentative of the Paduan standard of his time, he was neither better nor worse than local men of poor talents in Italy or Germany. In dealing with Francesco Squarcione, however, it will be necessary to remember that the produce of his ate- lier w r as probably seldom absolutely his, but rather that of his numerous disciples. There is nothing more curi- ous, indeed, than that a man himself unskilled should have acquired a name as the founder of a school. It appears that he was born in 1394, 2 and in 1422 inherited from his father Giovanni, a notary of Padua, so much as enabled him to pursue the trade of a tailor and em- broiderer. 3 At a period when guilds were large and comprised many branches, the business of the embroi- derer was naturally allied, especially in the North, to that of the designer; and we may yet have occasion to describe the rise of Giovanni da Udine, one of Ra- phael's journeymen, from a family in which embroidery was hereditary. "Before he came to manhood (we quote Scardeone's antiquities of Padua) Squarcione had been attracted to the study of painting; and he had scarcely left the school forms, as he himself has written, than he determined to see the world and visit distant countries. In this wise he became acquainted with the provinces of Greece, from whence he brought back 1 Moschini, Vicende lib. sup. pub- lishes the names of most of the artists registered in the guild of Padua, and of others who prac- tised as painters. The list is too uninteresting for repetition. 2 Scardeone (de Antiq. Urbis Pat. 4° Basila3) says he died, aged 80, in 1474. 3 Selvatico, Scritti d'arfce," 8° Flor. 1859, p. 34, speaks of re- I cords in which it is proved that Squarcione on the death of his father in 1422 bought a house and five fields in the contrada di Ponte Corvo. In a later document of Dec. 29, 1423, the opening para- graph is said by Moschini (Vic. p. 27) to run thus: "M. Francis- cus Squarzonus sartor et reca- mator Alius q. 8. Jobaunis Squar- zoni, notarii civis et abitator Padue in contracta Pontis Corvi." 298 THE PADUANS. Chap. XI. useful reminiscences and memoranda. 1 He also went the circuit of Italy making friends of noble persons chiefly by affability and honesty. Once settled at home, and widower of a first wife, who died childless, he married a second, who bore him two sons, and he gained the reputation of being the best teacher of his time. Not content with the acquirement of knowledge for himself he delighted to communicate what he knew to others, and in the course of his career he taught no less (as he tells us) than 137 pupils, and won the name of father of painters. The practical result to him, how- ever, was not so much wealth as fame; he lived with fair means in his own house at Padua, in the neigh- bourhood of the Santo, hiring lodgings when he visited Venice; he was a man of great judgment in art but of small practice, 2 instructing youths not so much by his own example as by placing before them models and panels. " 3 From whence these models came we learn distinctly from Vasari, who says they were casts from the antique or pictures imported from various places, but chiefly from Tuscany and Kome. 4 Squarcione, in fact was an impresario, who formed a collection for 1 Verbatim as follows: "Quo — circa annavigavit in Grecia, et to tarn illam provinciam pervagatus est: unde multa notatu digna turn mente, turn cliartis, quse ad ejus artis peritiam facere visa sunt, inde domum secum detulit." (Scar- deone, ub. sup. p. 370.) Out of this passage, and none other, Selvatico and many others extract more than can reasonably be con- ceded. The former says, for in- stance: "C'e ragione, di credere che in questo amore (the love of the classic) lo rasodassero i viaggi che in virile eta egli intraprese per Tltalia e per la Grecia, e le molte pitture marmi e disegni che da quelle regioni egli trasporto in patria." (Scritti ub. sup. p. 8.) Ridolfi (Marav. I. 110) follows Scardeone more closely, saying: "Passo in Grecia disegnando in carte le piu curiose cose vedute." 2 Vasari is still stronger. He says: "Si conosceva lo Squarcione non esser il piu valente dipintor del mondo." (V. 159.) 3 Here too not a word is said of statues or marbles. The words are : " Signa aut pictasq tabellas plurimas habuit, quaru magisterio et Andrea et reliquos condiscipulos instruxerat, magis quam editis a se archetypis, aut ditatis (?) seu novis exemplis ad imitandum prae- bitis." (Scardeone, ub. sup. 371.) 4 Vas. V. 159. Chap. XI. SQUARCIONE AND MANTEGNA. 299 the benefit of persons desirous to follow the artistic profession, and then chose the most promising to carry out his commissions. He was clever enough to discern the precocious talents of Mantegna, and, having adopted him, to register him at a tender age in the Paduan guild. He numbered amongst the attendants of his study Niccolo Pizzolo, Matteo Pozzo, Marco Zoppo, Dario of Treviso, Bono of Ferrara, and Ansuino, and gave them work to do on his account ; but, says Scardeone, what he painted is quite 1 uncertain, unless we should say (though we dare not affirm) that his are the monochromes inside the western portal of the Santo. 1 What Scardeone did not know in 1559, has been revealed to us by the archives of Padua. It may be true, though we doubt it, that Squarcione went to Greece. He was certainly settled in 1423 at Padua, keeping shop as a tailor and embroiderer after the death of his father. In the spring of 1439 he finished a crucifix for Fantino Bra- gadini, a "Venetian noble, in the detached chapel on his estate of Terrassa, near Padua. 2 In 1441 he was employed at the organ of the Santo, and his name first appears in the lists of the Paduan guild. 3 He con- tracted, as Vasari informs us, to decorate the chapel of San Cristoforo at the Eremitani, and entrusted the execution to Pizzolo, Mantegna and others. In 1444 he laid in with plain colours several ceilings at the Santo.' 1 There is a payment to him in the cathedral registers of 1445 at Padua, for a figure in the sacristy of Corpus Chris ti. 5 In 1446 —49 he was constantly engaged Tn the commonest house work at the Santo, and delivered a sub- ject piece for an altar in the choir. 6 An agreement 1 Scard. ub. sup. 371. 2 The record at length is in Campori, Lettere art. ined. pub. di G. Campori, Mod. 8°, 1866, p. 348. It is dated May 19. dova. Padre B. Gonzati, ub. sup. I. Doc. XXXIV. 4 lb. ib. 5 Moschini, Vicende, ub. sup. p. 27. 3 Moschini, Vicende, ub. sup. 27. 6 La Basilica ub. sup. Doc. La' Basilica' di S. Antonio di Pa- XXXIV. 300 THE PADUANS. Chap. XI. exists in which Squarcione, on the 2nd of January, 1449 (old style), promises to Leone de Lazzara an altarpiece for his oratory at the Carmine of Padua; and an entry in the accounts of the house of Lazzara, dated March 28, 1452, determines the date of its completion. 1 In 1449, the fore cloth of the high altar of the Santo was fur- nished by him for five lire and a fraction ; and in 1462 he delivered a series of designs for tarsias carried out twelve or fourteen years later by Lorenzo of Lendinara. 2 In 1465 he received a formal exemption from taxation from the Great Council of Padua, in consideration of his casting a model of the city and territory of Padua ; 3 and in 1474 he died, a respected citizen of his native place. 4 At uncertain dates he accepted orders to paint the cloisters of San Francesco of Padua, in green earth or monochrome, 5 and a madonna for the Lazzara family. Of all these creations the majority have perished, the altarpiece and madonna of the Lazzara being alone pre- served. From these and from the chapel of the Eremi- tani, we judge of Squarcione's style, rejecting as a falsification of the 16 th century the Virgin, child, and patron with his signature in the Manfrini Palace at Venice. 6 1 Scritti d'arte, by Selvat. ub. sup. p. 34; and see the facsimile in Gaye, Cart. I. 2 La Basilica, ub. sup. I. 55, and Doc. XXXIV. The tarsie done by Lorenzo of Lendinara on Squarcione's design in the sacristy of the Santo were taken down a few years ago, after cartoons had been made of them; they were all but destroyed and manufactured anew. Hence these works have now lost all historical and artistic value. Yet we may still discern in a S l Jerom a Squarcionesque character, and the outlines taken from the tarsie have also the general character of Squarcione's work in 1452. 3 The record in full is in Cam- pori Lett. Ined. ub. sup. 348—9. In 1466 Squarcione witnessed Cal- zetta's contract to paint the chapel of Corpus Domini at the Santo. Moschini, Vic. p. 67. 4 He was buried at San Fran- cesco. (Scardeone ub. sup. 371.) 5 Ridolfi, Marav. I. 110. There were some remnants of these frescos in Brandolesi's time. (See Pitture di Padova, note to p. 247.) 6 Venice, Manfrini Palace, can- vas, with figures half the life-size, of the Virgin seated, and the child on her knee blessing a friar in prayer to the right (half-lengths). This canvas inscribed: "F. Squar- cione 1442 (?7") exhibits a style Chap. XI. SQUARCIONE AND MANTEGNA. 301 The first thing to be noticed in these two works is their utter dissimilarity 5 that of 1452, now in the Communal Gallery of Padua, exhibiting defects unpardonable in a second-rate Muranese, the second revealing talents such as Mantegna would respect. Assuming both these pieces to issue from the same hands, they baffle our compre- hension ; nor can we conceive how Squarcione could pass them both for his own, unless we suppose the public to have known that he was in no case the author, the real name concealed under his being that of some disciple in his atelier. The subject in the first instance is a glory of S l Jerom between S ls Lucy and John the Baptist, Anthony the Abbot and Giustina, each of the saints ^standing on a pedestal in a niche with a frilled border. A heavy frame with twisted pillars resting on a panelled skirting encases the whole. For a long time this important work lay forgotten in a corner of a dormitory at the Carmine, a melancholy instance of carelessness and neglect; 1 and now that it hangs in the Paduan Gallery we observe with regret the injuries which it has received. The nimbs have all been repainted in red and yellow; the face of Lucy and portions of her figure are scaled away, and large pieces in each niche have suffered in a similar manner, showing the bare canvas glued to the wood beneath- the gesso. It is no light task to reproduce in fancy the original condition of these panels. S l Lucy, a slender female apparition holding with curious daintiness a couple of eyes in a plate, is minutely drawn with the tenuous of coquetry and affectation in the Virgin's pose and character that betrays a painter of the 16 th cen- tury, and of Raphael's following. It is a work of the time when artists of many climes, and amongst them the Flemings, imitated Sanzio ; when, in fact, there was a general blending of Italian and foreign schools. The medium is oil, and the colour reminds us by its tex- ture of the Veronese workshop of Giolfino. The signature is a for- gery. 1 It was re-discovered by Bran- dolesi in 1789. (See Pitture di PadoVa, note to p. 187.) 302 THE PADUANS. Chap. XI. outline which distinguishes Marco Zoppo; the wrists and fingers being affectedly bent in the fashion of Crivelli or Quiricio; a thick crop of uncurled hair covers her high rounded skull, her dress is cast in soft and simple folds, and the flesh is of a dull yellow, coldly modelled with fine hatching; S l John in his camePs hair stands quaintly with the left hand in his waistcloth. A strange jumble of lines assuming " various resolute forms, as horse-shoes, disks, and the like, serve to designate the depressions and projections of flesh in a face grimacing with coarse passion, as if the artist had tried to generalize the features like a Chinese, with a traditional abhorrence of nature. The frame displays an equal contempt of the reality, and the drapery is tortuous and confused. Here again, the person whose name is most suggested is Zoppo. Much apparent seeking is shown in the pose of S* Jerom resting his head on his wrist; but the drawing and the flatness of the coffee-coloured flesh are alike repulsive. S l Anthony in profile holds a book and looks a meditative hunchback. S l Giustina with Byzantine almond-shaped eye and pouting lips, has the brow of a person diseased in brain, and a projecting head copiously covered with thorny locks; and her movements have the coquetry of those peculiar to Qui- ricio^ females. 1 The painter of such a picture as this would never have struck us as a traveller fami- liar with Greek examples. The architecture which he depicts is as childish as that of fifteenth century minia- tures. Unselect types, false shapes, deformed heads, exaggerated details of muscle and veins may abound in the work of one bred in the confined circle of the 1 Padua, Communal Gall, origin- ally at the Carmine. The pillars and their bases are renewed, as well as the frieze above the capi- tals. The pieces scaled are, in the S* Lucyv nose and forehead, right hand and arm, skirt of blue tunic and part of the pedestal; in the Baptist, two large pieces of the torso, the right leg below the knee, and the left leg; S l Jerom, the face; S l Anthony, the black mantle and its white cape. Many parts of drapery are newly repainted. Chap. XI. SQUARCIONE AND MANTEGNA. 303 antiquated schools, but would hardly be found in that of a man who studied the classic. Squarcione, if he be the author, is a poorer draughtsman than any of the cotemporary Venetians; he is far below Jacopo Bellini, inferior even to Quiricio. His colour has the dull- ness which marks the Paduans, the melancholy hard- ness of Zoppo, Schiavone, Bono, Ansuino, and Dario of Treviso. Painters such as these might issue from an atelier capable of producing the Lazzara altarpiece; a purer source must be discovered for the art of Pizzolo, Mantegna, and the Canozzi. At the very time when the disciples of Squarcione were producing this paltry example, Mantegna was giving to the world the S* Luke and attendant saints at the Brera, and the S l Euphemia of the Naples Gallery, both remarkable emanations of a spirit nurtured in the love of the genuine classic. It was not under Squarcione that Mantegna could acquire this superiority but rather in contemplating the master- pieces of Fra Filippo, who had left great frescos in Paduan churches ; 1 of Uccelli, whose scientific creations decorated Paduan edifices; of Donatello, long a resident at Padua. We shall have to inquire, not whether Squarcione taught Mantegna, but whether Mantegna did not teach at last in the atelier of Squarcione. Nor must we omit to observe that a constant intimacy united Man- tegna with Jacopo Bellini and his sons, who were then living at Padua, and that they too would be inclined to promote the reform of old and worn-out styles by means of the Florentines of the revival. That Squarcione, in his polyglot workshop, watched the growing change in Paduan art, and took advan- tage of it, is proved by the Virgin and child still pre- served in the house of the Lazzara family at Padua. 1 Fra Filippo, it is now proved beyond a doubt, worked at Padua in 1434. See the records in Gon- zati. La Basilica, ub. sup. I. note to Doc. XXXV." 304 THE PADUANS. Chap. XI. Without stopping to examine dubious examples related to the earlier productions of 1452/ we shall find in this new creation of the Squarcionesque workshop ample reason for believing that the Florentines had not come to Padua in vain. Behind a screen of stone, but in front of a red curtain with a rich festoon of leaves, of figs, and of pears, the Virgin in profile presses to her bosom the infant Christ. Some outer object has struck the child, for he looks back and springs with a run- ning action into his mothers arms. The thought is happy and well carried out, the distribution good, and the drapery of simple cast. The Virgin's eye is clear and open. Form is rendered with softness and re- gularity, with a plump and pleasing fleshiness. The hands are delicate, and indicate a gentle birth and blood; the colour was once no doubt solid, and of a fair transparence. On the screen are the words: "Opus Squarcioni pictoris." 2 But for this we should say the 1 In the class of Squarcionesque art peculiar to the altarpiece of 1452, we may register the follow- ing: Villa di Villa near Padua (curacy). S l Jerom kneeling be- fore the crucifix on gold ground, tempera. Padua, Via del Vesco- vado, No. 1648, house front with distempers, the name of Christ be- tween two female saints in niches. The drawing and painting of these much-injured remains are quite those of Squarcione's altarpiece. Of a ruder style on a house in the Via Rialto, corner of Via San Luca, a Trinity, S ts Margaret, Catherine, Barnabas (legs only preserved), Andrew, John Baptist, Bartholomew, Jerom and Nicholas. 2 Padua, Casa Lazzara, panel, tempera, a little warped; to the left of the red curtain a repainted sky, with a landscape and a leaf- less tree. The Virgin's blue mantle is repainted in oil, also the border hanging over the left arm. There are repainted spots beneath, the Virgin's eye and on the child's left cheek, mouth, and breast; in fact, the whole work has suffered from restoring and varnishing, and most of the outlines have been done over afresh. There is an interesting panel tempera of the Virgin and child in possession of Signor Malaman, a photographer of Padua, which has been assigned to Squarcione. It is a kneepiece representing the standing Virgin with the infant Christ in her arms, on gold ground. The Virgin's frame is full, the head firmly outlined, and of very marked aquiline features. The drapery seeks the form, and is looped up so as to gain a double fall; the child is a good nude. This seems the work of a man who has studied bas-reliefs, and chiefly those of Donatello. The olive flesh tone is broadly hatched with red in the old Venetian Chap. XI. SQUARCIONE AND MANTEGNA. 305 artist is Mantegna, and even in the face of this we might incline to the opinion that Mantegna had a share in the work as journeyman to Squarcione. We thus explain the contradiction so eloquently suggested by two pictures proved to have been executed in Squarcione's atelier. We do so by supposing that the first was due to the feebler class of Squarcionesques to which Marco Zoppo belongs; the second to Mantegna, Pizzolo, or one of similar fibre, to whom the lessons of great masters imparted a novel power. 1 The public exhibi- tion of the madonna of the Conte Lazzara would alone account for Squarcione's 'celebrity, and it is easy to conceive that a man who claimed by virtue of his signature to possess talents borrowed from Mantegna, should have been angered when Mantegna determined to exhibit under his own name. That he did this at some period of his career is very obvious, but from that hour he incurred the enmity of the impresario; and this we believe is the secret of the sworn hostility which divided Squarcione and Mantegna, and which Vasari has attributed to another cause. Before they parted, more than one creation worthy of comparison with that we have described may have been furnished by the industry of Mantegna and swelled the triumph of Squarcione; 2 but the youthful Paduan soon became manner, producing a brownish shadow. The lights are hatched up also, the modelling being sug- gested by the hatchings. The work is different from that in Conte Lazzara's madonna, but of the same date, and might be by one of the Bellini under the superintend- ence of their father. 1 That Squarcione commonly used the work of his pupils is perfectly evident from a contract of the year 1466, in which I 'iero Calzetta agrees to paint an altarpiece for Bernardo de' Lazzara of Padua, VOL. I. ! promising to work on a design not his own, and to imitate a sketch annexed to the contract, taken from a "drawing of Squar- cione's done by Pizzolo.' 1 See the contract in Mosch. Vic, p. 66. " In la dicta tavola de depenzer el dicto maistro Piero una historia simile al >S4.) Mantegna painted a portrait of Squarcione as an obese archer — the second figure to the right from S l Christopher — and other por- traits, for which see Vas. (note to V. 134.) 2 Parma. Gall. Reale, on paper, in oil, the same mentioned in Anon. (p. 84) in the gallery of M. Michiel Contarini. A large copy of the martyrdom of S l Christopher ordered by the city of Padua from the painter Signor Gazotto is still unfinished. The Arundel Society has partly issued a chroinolithographic series of the frescos. VOL. I. 22 338 THE PADUANS. Chap. XII. acquainted with Mantegna's lofty position amongst artists. Here we mark how much more gifted he was in some senses than the celebrated men of the following century. We compare his giant figure with Titian's David and Goliath ; or death of Abel in the ceiling of the sacristy at the Salute in Venice, and we perceive that the great Venetian lives on the achievements of the Paduan, content to enjoy the fruit garnered by Mantegna, who for his part fixes rules indispensable to the future expansion of art. What indeed would have become of that art had not some one sacrificed the end to the means ; and dwelt with severe patience and solemn pleasure on the dryest pro- blems ? 1 It was necessary that some one should be found, to level the road leading to perfection; and such an one we justly recognize in Mantegna, who without sense of spontaneous or ideal grace, and without feeling for colour, had the power and indomitable will of Donatello and Buonarrotti. We spoke of three profiles of spectators in the martyr- dom of S l Christopher; they differ so essentially in form and treatment from others in the fresco that they might be due to a different painter. In appearance the central one is the oldest of the three, a man with strongly marked features, a bald head and padded cheeks, with his hands crossed over his waistband; to his left a younger person in a red cap, about forty years old ; to his right, one still younger. A bright flesh-tone, a soft style of modelling, an outline free from ruggedness, and delicate hands, extreme individuality, and constant consultation of nature remind us of late creations by Gentile Bellini. Mantegna, who had never exhibited any of the portrait character peculiar to the Venetians, suddenly seems to favour simple nature in drawing and in tone. Had a single fresco of the Bellini been preserved, we might perhaps be able to hold some strong opinion as to the author of these figures; but without this certainty we can only See Selvatico. (Com. in Vas. V. 235.) / Chap. XII. ANDREA MANTEGNA. 339 say that the Bellini might have painted so. More curious perhaps than the variety between this and other parts of the martyrdom is the coincidence; that in the two youngest heads we trace a likeness to the medal portraits of Gentile and Giovanni. We may acknowledge the difficulty of distinguishing accurately between heads in their natural state and those which Venetian fashion encumbered with wigs; but so far as it is possible to judge, there is a resemblance between the nearest person- age of the group to the medal of Camelio, and it might be that the next one is Jacopo Bellini, and the third Gio- vanni. If this should be admitted, we may presume that at the time of producing this piece, Mantegna was already wedded to Jacopo's daughter, and the four pain- ters were bound together by ties of relationship. We might then suppose that the change, wrought in Man- tegna after the completion of the James going to martyrdom, occurred under the auspices and encourage- ment of the Bellini, who, as rivals of Squarcione, 1 would be interested in bringing their brother-in-law to a proper admission of the exaggerations of which he had been guilty. We are ignorant, as has been said be- fore, of the exact period when this marriage took place; we may believe without any violation of historical data that it was celebrated when Mantegna was at work in the chapel of the Eremitani; and nothing can pre- vent us from thinking that Jacopo Bellini had a share in directing the career of Mantegna. We may assume that the full force of the Bellinesque influence was exerted when Andrea began the martyrdom of S 1 James. Amongst the riders there we see something akin to the action and foreshortening of those in Jacopo's sketch- book ; and the general softening of his style as a colou- rist and draughtsman is perhaps due to the same cause; nor is it unlikely that the portrait character and soft impression conspicuous in the three figures we have 1 Vas. V. 162. 22 * 340 THE PADUANS. Chap. XII. noticed may have been the fruit of some transient but powerful expression of Bellinesque opinion in Mantegna, when stung by the criticism of Squarcione. Meanwhile it is but fair to say, that what Mantegna might have gained from the Bellini, he repaid to them in kind; and for many a year, as we are now aware, Giovanni Bellini held truly to the standard which his brother-in-law had set up, and did honour at once to the lessons of his father, his relation, and Donatello. The time was now approaching when events of great influence on the future expansion of North-Italian art were to take place. Having become celebrated in the Lombardo-Venetian territory by the works which he had finished, and by others which had not as yet been brought to perfection, Mantegna attracted the attention of the Marquis of Mantua, who used uncommon per- suasion to induce him to leave Padua. Jacopo Bellini was removed by death from the scene, and his sons were in- duced to withdraw to Venice. From that moment the Paduan school lost its importance, and was overshadowed alike by the Venetian and the Veronese. Premising that there are no genuine pictures by Mantegna at Padua except those which we have described, 1 and reserving to 1 We may cite the following as pictures assigned or assignable to Mantegna. Padua. Dr. Fusaro. (formerly belonging to the Barbieri family), half-length of the Virgin with the child on a parapet; a festoon of apples hangs from the upper corners; a head of an em- peror in a medallion is in the parapet;- and two scutcheons — distance sky, wood, tempera, half life-size. This panel might be called Mantegna with more pro- priety than any of the so-called originals at Padua. It is so rubbed that the wood is bared in many places. The movement and drawing are exact counterparts of those in a panel at Berlin (No. 27), but without the frame and ornament of angels' heads. The outlines are broken and sharp, and if this be a genuine Mantegna, it is a mere relic. Padua, Conte Miari, Christ at the column, see postea, Antonello. Padua. Casa Antonio Gradenigo, lunette panel with three angels carrying the emblems of the passion, see postea. Liber ale of Verona. Padua originally in Casa Capo di- Lista, now in the Communal Gal- lery, small panel tempera of the resurrection, Christ rising with the banner and the guards, one of them extended on the centre of the foreground and looking at the Saviour from under his arm. This is a Mantegnesque composition Chap. XII. ANDREA MANTEGNA. 341 ourselves the pleasant task of following Mantegna later to Verona and to Mantua, we shall devote a short space to the examination of the lives of the painters who imitated and carried abroad the pure ugliness of the school of Squarcione. copied from a print, and similar to the panel of the same subject in the Lochis Carrara Gallery at Bergamo. Padua, Casa Maldura, 1. Virgin adoring" the child, a small injured panel with figures half the life-size by Luigi Vivarini. 2. Holy family and Magdalen, wood. For a time this piece bore the forged name of A. Mantegna. The old in- scription on a cartello has been recovered as follows: "Marchus Palmiza Foroliviensis. " Padua Casa Antonio Nordio. Adoration, between the annunciation and cir- cumcision, a triptych by a German of the 16 th century. Piove, in possession of the apothecary Signor Mangini, nativity, see postea (An- tonio da Pavia). Amongst the lost works of Mantegna at Padua are the following: San Benedetto, S l Benedict on canvas in the choir (Anon. 24). Spirito Santo. Christ sends the apostles to preach the gospel. (Ridolfi Marav. I. 113.) 342 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIII. CHAPTER XIII. THE SQUARCIONESQUES. It has been the habit of some very great historians to crave the pardon of their readers for introducing them to dull but necessary fragments of history. There is no page in artistic annals more calculated to test the patience of the writer or the constancy of the reader than that which treats of the genuine pupils of Squar- cione. Yet in every species of inquiry there is some- thing to create interest, and the melancholy works of the Squarcionesques will not be described in vain, if they serve to prove the real mediocrity of a master hitherto honoured beyond his deserts, and of a school encircled by an artificial halo. That Squarcione is not to be judged by such works as bear his signature, has become evident in the course of this narrative; that the true character of his teaching has been misconceived, may be illustrated by the career of his disciples. Of these the earliest is perhaps the Dalmatian Schiavone, whose Christian name, according to Scardeone, was Gregorio. 1 The rude freedom and bold- ness to which he attained, is shown in two figures of S l Jerom and S l Alexius in the Lochis Carrara Gallery at Bergamo, where we recognize the style of 1 Scardeone Antiq. Pat. u. s. p. I at Venice, and calls the painter 371. But Sansov. (Ven. Des. p. 286) | Giorgio Schiavone allievo di Squar- describes a tempera of Christ on the I cione, and Ridolfi (Marav. I. 110) mount in the Scuola di San Marco calls him Girolamo. Chap. XIII. GREGORIO SCHIAVONE. 343 Squarcione's altarpiece of 1452. 1 So quaint is the ugliness of these saints, that one hardly eonceives how they could have been seriously accepted as sacred pictures. It is not that patrons were ever wanting for artists of a low class, who might rival the wooden rigidity and coarseness of forms, the lame action of extremities, or the paltry style of drapery conspicuous in these pieces ; but there is something so childish in the . exaggerated character of the heads, in the awkward pattens of S l Jerom, in the black boots of S l Alexius, in the grotesque architecture and the dry landscape, that an involuntary smile must needs overspread the features of the spectator. Yet these hard and solid temperas are honoured with the name of Mantegna, and are the necessary precursors of others inscribed by Schiavone. The oldest of these temperas in point of time is a Virgin and child enthroned between two angels in the museum of Berlin, 2 in which a marked absence of nature in the shape of the faces and frames, and a stark stiffness of limb are but slightly compensated by affected grimness and solemnity. In this poor work Schiavone calls himself the pupil of Squarcione, and there can be little doubt that he finished it, as he finished the previous one at Padua, after his introduction in 1441 to the guild of that city. 3 That Schiavone was utterly un- aware of his weakness, is proved alike by the earnestness with which he labours and the patient minuteness of his 1 Bergamo Lochis Car. Gall. N os . and 46 under the name of Man- tegna, wood, tempera, the sky of the latter darkened. 2 Berlin Mus. No. 1102, wood tempera, 2f. 7 h. by If. 10. from the Solly collection, inscribed: '^Opus Sclavoni Dalmatici Squar- cioni." This no doubt is the centre of an altarpiece which the Anon, describes in San Francesco at Padua. It had S l Jerom and three other saints at the sides. In the time of Branclolesi (Pit. di Pad. p. 252) the central madonna alone remained. When Moschini wrote his Guida di Padova (p. 85) in 1817, the panel was in the archi- episcopal palace, and when he wrote the Vicende della pittura in 1820 (p. 04) it had been sold. The blues of sky and dress are in part renewed. 5 We assume that Schiavone is the painter inscribed under the name of Gregorio. (See Moschini I Vic. u. s. p. 23.) 344 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIII. outlines. He is not free from the error of preferring the motionless character of stone to the flexibility of flesh 5 his shading is made with straight hatching and his sur- face is raw and dull. No pupil of Squarcione can more justly claim to have painted the seraphs and angels in the soffits of the chapel of San Cristoforo at the Ere- mitani; and if under all circumstances it may be still doubtful whether he really carried out that work, the only person capable of contesting the authorship is Zoppo, who comes very near him in the technical treatment of tempera, and who might dispute with him the four saints in the sacristy of the canons of Padua, but that they are the side panels of the madonna at Berlin. 1 There is no more important altarpiece by Schiavone than that now preserved in the National Gallery, a Virgin and child with four saints, a little better handled than the Virgin of Berlin, and not without re- semblance of manner to the creations of Girolamo da Camerino and even of Crivelli. 2 The most affectedly quaint of his pictures, however, is the Virgin and child belonging to a gentleman at Sinigaglia, in which tasteless 1 Padua. Sacristy of the canons, small panels answering 1 the de- scription of those seen by the Anonimo as side pictures to the madonna in San Francesco. (Anon, p. 12.) On one of them S l Louis and Anthony of Padua, on the other S l Jerom and S l Francis, both in landscapes, the skies re- painted, the colour hard semi- transparent, the outlines very careful. 2 National Gallery, No. 630, in ten compartments, the central one of the Virgin and child inscribed on an unfolded scrip: "Opus Scla- i voni discipuli Squarcioni S." When in the Dennistoun collection ! this piece was set up in a different form from the present one, the I upper course being 1 Christ in the ' tomb between S l Anthony of Padua and S l Peter Martyr; the second, the Virgin and child between S l Bernardino and S l John the Baptist, the predella containing half lengths of S ts Anthony the Abbot, Cathe- rine, Cecilia and Sebastian, wood, tempera, centre, 3f. 6 h. by If. l 3 / 4 , sides 2f. 2 h. by 9 inch. br. The altarpiece was in the Beau- cousin Gallery before coming into the National Gallery. All the figures are on gold ground, the Virgin and child in the same atti- tudes as at Berlin. We note an imitation of a fly near the in- scription, and mark common features in this and in the imi- tation of fruit-garlands between Schiavone and Crivelli. Chap. XIII. MARCO ZOPPO. 345 architecture and garlands of fruit and flowers are duly commingled after the Paduan fashion, and an attempt is made to copy the strained action of Crivelli and the drapery of Donatello. 1 Marco Zoppo holds a higher place than his comrade in the ranks of the Squarcionesques. 2 He also is vain of 1 Sinigaglia. Signor Benucci Buenaventura, wood, tempera, one- third of life-size, well preserved, and probably the same picture as that noticed at Fossombrone by Lanzi. (II. 116.) It represents the Virgin and child behind a window, imitat- ing grotesquely enough a classic style of architecture, the arch above being hung with a garland of fruit and flowers, about which are two angels with trumps. Be- hind the Virgin a marble screen and a landscape. Outside the win- dow and nearer the spectator than the infant Christ, who sits on the sill, two little angels each of them with a dish in his hand, on the one to the left a fly. Between the two a bronze platter with fruits and two vases. On a cartello the words; "Opus Sclavo- nic! dalmaticiSquarzonis." Nothing is more curious than the careful- ness of the overcharged details or the variegated tinting of the marbles, reminding us of the pecu- liarities of the Ferrarese school. The movements of the head and hands are daintily awkward as in Crivelli, the dress tucked with girdles as in Giovanni of Pisa's imitations of Donatello. Very little relief is produced by the patient hatching of the parts, and the colour has a Ferrarese redness of enamel. We may note in continuation:— Louvre, Muse'e Nap. III. No. 162, school of Mantegna, Virgin and child between two playing angels. This is a panel combining the styles of Schiavone and Zoppo, and more Ferrarese in tempera than those of Schiavone generally. Ve- nice Academy, No. 318, Virgin and child from the ex-monastery of Santa Croce. This picture recalls Crivelli in the landscape and figures ; it is a very careful Vene- tian piece. (See the engraving in Zanotto, Pinac. dell Accad. Ven. Fasc. XXXIV.) England, Mr. Ful- ler Maitland, of Stanstead House, Virgin and child in front of a bridge, and two angels. The painter affects to have drawn this group on a worn parchment, the sides of which are nailed to a panel; on the left a fly, which suggests to some one who writes on the back of the picture the name of the painter Mosca. The style is that of Schiavone, and be- tween his and Zoppo's. There is much of the Ferrarese in the affected movement and the intro- duction of accessorial detail. In the style of the immediately fore- going, an enthroned saint, part of an altarpiece, and a Virgin and child, surrounded by a halo of cherubs' heads, a S 1 Catherine, full-length, small panels, more or less preserved, in the collection of the Conte Riva at Padua. Finally, a Virgin and child in a highly ornamented arch between two angels, with the initials A. P. in the pilasters, in the collection of Mr. Barker in London. The style is very like Schiavone's, but the initials point to Antonio da Pavia, of whom postea. Moschini men- tions a picture at the Brera, ori- ginally in San Prosdocimo of Padua (Vic. 63). No such picture is to be traced. 2 Malvasia, Felsina, u. s. 33 — 4, tells us, we know not on what . 346 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIII. having visited the famous atelier of Padua; and informs his patrons on every occasion, that he is Zoppo di Squarcione. Having taken part, as we conjecture, in frescos at the Eremitani, 1 he resided for a time in Venice, where he painted altarpieces in considerable number. That of Santa Giustina, which has perished, was done in 1468 ; 2 another ordered for the Minorites of Pesaro, is preserved and bears the date of 1471. A little later Bologna was the place of his habitation, and there he is said to have lived at least till 1498. 3 Peculiarly characteristic of Zoppo' s style is the tendency to imitate the stiffness and reflected modelling of brass, and simultaneously to realize something like veneering or tarsia. Had he been employed alternately by Gio- vanni of Pisa, and by Lorenzo of Lendinara, he might have obtained exactly the manner we have described. Nor is it improbable that sculptures should have been objects of his attention on the one hand, and the cutting out of tarsia a part of his professional acquirements on the other. Both Giovanni and Lorenzo were cotempo- raries at Padua, and the latter Zoppo's fellow-pupil under Squarcione. The brass epoch in Zoppo is his first, the tarsia his second; towards the close and par- ticularly during the Bolognese stay, a better art deve- lops itself, with a local stamp distantly reminiscent of Cossa's or Costa's. We shall be able to observe, that Zoppo was employed with Costa and many others in the decoration of the Schifanoia at Ferrara. The greatest honour which he now enjoys is undeserved. He never, we think, directed the studies of Francesco Francia. 4 authority, that Zoppo is the pupil of Lippo Dalmasio. 1 See passim. It is obviously an error of Vasari (V. 177) to say that Zoppo painted the "Loggia," used as a chapter-house in the Santo of Padua, the frescos there having been recently relieved from whitewash, and proved to be by Giotto. 2 Sansovino, Ven. Desc. ub. sup. 42. 3 Malvasia speaks of one of Zoppo's pictures in Casa Colonna at Bologna, dated 1498, but this picture is now missing. (Felsina, 35.) 4 This is stated by Malvasia (Felsina, ub. sup.), but is not proved by Francia's works. Chap. XIII. MARCO ZOPPO. 347 There is no picture more truly characteristic of his first period than the Virgin giving the breast to the infant Saviour in the Manfrini palace at Venice. 1 One can scarcely conceive, without looking at such pieces as these, the serious childishness of this peculiar class of painters. From the niche in which the Virgin is confined, a double garland of apples and other fruit depends, having just been placed there by angels. Below these, half a dozen naked or half-clad boys play the quaintest instru- ments. As if this were the most natural and appropriate conception that fancy can suggest, Zoppo carries it out with a most loving carefulness and finish of outline, hatching up the parts with consummate care, forgetting neither shadow nor reflection, but producing a dull twilight of tone with a crystalline surface; nothing more curious than the unvarying nature of the texture, be it flesh or drapery, except perhaps the tortuous turn of the contour, the ugliness, affected classicism, and perfect rigidity of the forms. Equally % remarkable is the gaudy yet melancholy tint of the dresses. A second specimen of this kind is the Virgin of Mercy, attended by two donors and saints in the palace of Prince Napoleon at Paris. 2 The tarsia phase is more completely illustrated by the Virgin amidst saints in the gallery of Berlin, a panel ordered, as we have seen, for the Minorites of Pesaro in 1471. 3 There is something distressingly gro- 1 Venice, Manfrini, canvas, tem- pera, m. 0*73 broad by 0*89 high, injured by repeated varnishing 1 , inscribed on a cartello: "Opera del Zoppo di Squarcione." A second cartello to the right is bare. Behind the throne a land- scape with leafless trees. The Vigin wears a crown over a white veil, the Saviour is dressed in a light-yellow cloth. Zopo di Sqarcione," on the pilas- ters of the Virgin's throne. The Virgin, with the infant on her knee in benediction, opens out her cloak, in front of which are the male and female donors kneeling. At the sides S ts Louis, Francis, and Jerom, Bernardino, Anthony of Padua, and a bishop; a garland above is supported by two angels carrying censers. The tone of 2 Paris, Prince Napoleon, once this piece is less dull than that belonging to Mr. Weber at Venice, of the Manfrini Palace, and to Mr. Mundler in Paris, small 3 Berlin Mus. No. 1170, wood, panel inscribed: "Madonna del , 8f. 5 h. by 8f. 1 from the Solly 348 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIII. tesque in the colossal coarseness of the figures and the disharmony of crumpled and serpentine drapery. Lean parched flesh in aged figures is made to contrast with a brassy pinguidity in the child; and as much care is bestowed on the veins and muscles of the one as on the laps of flesh in the other. One can easily fancy such a piece to have been done by an artist affected in a puerile way by the models of Donatello at Padua or those of Giacomo della Quercia at Bologna. The whole surface at the same time presents the appearance of a map set up in various particoloured sections, semi- tone being altogether wanting, shadow green, and light of a rosy pallor. This is the style of a ma- donna surrounded by saints in courses in the sacristy of the Collegio de' Spagnuoli at Bologna, where a Virgin annunciate in a round distinctly recalls the doctors of the church in the cupola of the Eremitani chapel; 1 of a crucifix in the choir of San Giuseppe de 1 Cappuc- collection, previously in San Gio- vanni Evangelista and the Osser- vanti at Pesaro, inscribed on an unfolded paper: "Marco Zoppo da Bolognia pinsit MCCCCLXXI i" Vinexia." The Virgin is in a stone chair with festoons and in a hilly landscape; at her sides, standing, S l John the Baptist and Francis, Paul and Jerom. The Virgin is in the act of giving an apple to the infant. Mark the affected daintiness of the hands and their conventional anatomy, the false classicism of the throne with a griffin supporting the arms, and a conch on the arm itself doing duty as a flower-pot. 1 Bologna, Collegio de' Spagnuoli, sacristy, composite altarpiece in twenty-three parts. In the centre the Virgin on gold ground be- tween saints in niches, Andrew, Gregory, James and Jerom; in pinnacles, the Eternal between the Virgin and the angel annunciate; in pilasters, S ts Anthony of Padua, Catherine, John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, Anthony the Abbot, a female, and another saint. In the pre- della, rounds of the Virgin adoring the infant and S l Joseph, S l Je- rom penitent, and Christ in the boat with the fishermen; four small pilasters parting the predella sub- jects contain S ts Roch, Dominick, Francis, and Sebastian. On a car- tello at the foot of the Virgin's throne: "Opera di Zoppo da Bo- lognia." The largest figures are ahout two feet high, some of them, ex. gr. the infant Christ and pi- laster saints, the S l Sebastian es- pecially rubbed down to the wood; the predella piece in a great measure injured by scaling and stains. The upper rounds are fairly preserved, with the exception of the latter, which are better done than usual, and recall the style of the Canozzi of Lendinara; the figures are paltry, with thin spider legs, and the tempera of a dull and hard enamel. Chap. XIII. MARCO ZOPPO. 349 cini outside Bologna/ and of a "Man of Sorrows" at San Giovanni Evangelista of Pesaro. 2 The improve- ment of Zoppo is shown in a foreshortened head of the Baptist in the same place/ 3 and his approach to Cossa and Costa in a S l Appollonia at San Giuseppe. 4 There are examples of his manner in considerable numbers at Bologna and elsewhere/ but the principal 1 Bologna, San Giuseppe fuori porta Saragossa. This crucifix is in the old Siennese form with the tearful Virgin and evangelist on the arms of the horizontal beam, and a skull beneath the Saviour's feet. The principal figure is of the size of life, with a vulgar grimacing face. The finish of this hideous work is quite remarkable, the art displayed in it being not above that of the Siennese Gio- vanni di Paolo, or Simone de' Crocefissi. 2 Pesaro, San Giovanni Evang. sacristy, Christ in the tomb sup- ported by two angels, an ill- preserved and split panel, m. 0'75 square, very carefully outlined, the angels with white head-cloths, Mantegnesque, and mouthing; the face of Christ a little less repul- sive than in the foregoing crucifix, the tempera of a thin dry yellow in lights. The same subject in the National Gallery } under the appro- priate name of Tura (No. 602), is very like the above in every sense, and might show, if really by Tura, how closely he and Zoppo resem- bled each other as painters. 3 Pesaro, San Giovanni Evang. sacristy, round, wood, foreshortened head of the Baptist looking up and cut off at the neck (10 inches in diameter). This is a Manteg- nesque, and not inelegant face, with long frizzled hair about it, minutely detailed in the features, the form better rendered than of old and better modelled ; on the back of the panel a modern sentence as follows: "II pit tore che ha fatto questa testa fu Marco Zoppo da Bologna, 1415 (?)." 4 Bologna, San Giuseppe, f. d. Porta Saragossa, altar of sacristy. The saint is erect in front of a hanging which conceals a land- scape and sky, holding the palm and pincers. In the frame of the period, gilt in broad flat surfaces, small panels are let in representing scenes from the saint's life, half- lengths of the Virgin and angel annunciate and two saints; beneath the chief figure a coat of arms, canvas. S l Appollonia is under life- size. There is more true realism in the drawing of extremities than before; the flesh tint is a little flat and reddish, but the movement is still rigid and statuesque. This is an example of Zoppo's broadest and best manner; the small panels at the side, especially that of the saint before the judge having her teeth drawn, being animated com- positions of reddish flesh tone. b Oxford University, under the name of Signorelli, half-length of S l Paul, a present of the Hon. Fox Strangways, a panel with gold ground. This is a rude tempera by Zoppo. (See Hist, of Ital. Painting III. 35.) Bologna, Gall. Ercolani, No. 155, small panel of the cruci- fied Saviour between the Virgin and evangelist, the Magdalen at the foot of the cross. The vehe- mence of the movement and ex- pression recall the Mantegnesque and Crivelli. But Ercole Roberti Grandi might have a claim to the authorship as well as Zoppo. In the same category, No. 44, ft' Do- 350 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIII. occupation of his brush at Bologna seems to have been the painting of house-fronts ; and we regret that none of these decorations have been preserved, that we might compare thern with those executed by Dario, the comrade of Zoppo at the study of Padua. 1 Dario is perhaps one of the oldest of the disciples of Squarcione; being mentioned in the accounts of the church of the Santo in 1446 as "discipulo de Squarzon." 2 None minick and his brethren fed by angels, assigned to Squarcione. (See passim.) Ferrara, Costabili Gallery, No. 40, Christ cruci- fied between the Virgin and evan- gelist, on gold ground, No. 93 — 94, Virgin and angel annunciate, rounds. These pieces are in style like the work of Zoppo at the Collegio de 1 Spagnuoli, and the cru- cifixion at the Ercolani College at Bologna. The figures have the vehemence already noted in these pieces. (Note, that the Costabili collection is diminishing every year, as pictures are constantly sold by its owner, and these may already have passed into other hands.) Bologna Gallery, No. 209, Virgin and child between S l John the Baptist and S l Augustin. This common piece is now called Zoppo. Rome, Palazzo Barberini. Two panels with subjects Ave cannot ex- plain, are here assigned to Botticelli. In one an interior with persons of both sexes; above, the Virgin and angel annunciate ; in the other, a baptism of a new-born child, the mother in bed to the right. The figures are long and slender, the architecture imitates the classic, the drapery is crumpled and false; all this more in the character of Zoppo than of Botticelli. Verona, Mus., room II. No. 44, Virgin, child, and youthful Baptist, and two angels. The name of Zoppo here is misplaced, the work being by Francesco Benaglio. In the Academy of Venice (No. 12) there is a panel represent- ing S' 1 James, assigned to Paolo Zoppo. Such a person has been named in the life of Bellini, and may be the miniaturist of Brescia, who lived some time at Venice. (See Darco. delle arti di Mant. ub. sup. II. 60.) The painting in ques- tion, greatly injured as it is, recalls a third-class work of the followers of Girolamo Santa Croce. In the Berlin Museum, too, we have a nativity (No. 131) assigned to Rocco Zoppo, of whom Vasari speaks as a pupil of Perugino. (VI. 51.) The picture is that of an Umbrian of the following of Pal- mezzano and Signorelli. 1 There are none of these deco- rations standing, though they are mentioned by Malvasia (Felsina, p. 35), nor are any traces pre- served of the following pictures mentioned by the same author. Bologna, Osteria della Sega de Acqua; portico, half-length, Virgin and child, small. Signori Bianchi, Virgin and child, Signor Bartolom- meo Musotti, Virgin and child, signed: "Marco Zoppo da Bolognia opus." This is the same noted in the house of the picture-dealer Zampieri, by Annot. Vas. V. 177. Casa Camillo Scoppi, Virgin and child. Casa Balli, ditto. Casa Bolognetti, Christ on the mount, also signed. (Annot. Vas. V. 177.) Of the portrait which Zoppo did, according to Vasari, of Guidubaldo of Montefeltro (V. 178), we know nothing. 2 Gonzati, La Basilica, ub. sup. I. 55, and Doc. XXXV. Chap. XIII. DAEIO DA TREVISO. 351 of his pictures exist except a Virgin of Mercy in the gallery of Bassano, one of the poorest productions imaginable. The Virgin stands erect in the middle of the canvas, holding back her mantle, which covers a number of devotees. She is adored by a small kneeling donor, and attended by the Baptist and S f Bernardino. 1 Margaritone in the 13 th century was not inferior to Dario, who seems to have been a mere house-painter. His faces are monstrous, his forms put together in defiance of nature. Simon da Cusighe, one of the most elemen- tary artists of the Trevisan March was his equal, Bellu- nello of San Vito his superior. Yet we are told that the Venetian Signoria employed him in 1469 to take the portrait of Catherine Cornaro. 2 To what labour could Squarcione put such a man, except whitewashing or rude patterns for embroidery? At the Eremitani he might have carried a hod; there is no fresco there but is too good for him. After the breaking up of Squar- cione's atelier he wandered home, and there are copious examples of his industry in house-fronts at Serravalle, Conegliano and Treviso. It is not the art which these decorations display, but the necessity which dictated the use of it, and the spirit which it displays, that may interest us. We see that throughout the North, there was as great an abhorrence of white walls in the 15 th century as in Egypt and in Greece at the remotest periods. Every one who could afford it concealed the simplicity of architecture under imitations of carved objects and tracery of more or less taste. Fable, folk- lore, ancient history furnished subjects, and where orna- ment even of this kind became too costly, proverbs or 1 Bassano Gallery, formerly in S;m Bernardino, canvas, all but life-size, much injured and restored, hut still bearing the remains of a signature which Verci (Notizie della citta di Bassano, ub. sup. 23) testifies to have been "Darius p." We note especially the large disproportioned extremities, the false forms, and the ignoble masks, also the dull and dirty tempera. The Virgin's face alone has some regularity. 2 Ms. Istoria di. in Verci, u. s. 23. Catt. Cornaro, 352 THE PADUANS. Cahp. XIII. mottos were used in its stead. One of the best dwell- ings in the high street of Serravalle with balconied win- dows and bays, is covered with graffits and with friezes of foliage and vases, of which the authorship is boldly claimed by Dario. From his inscription beneath a projecting balustrade we learn, that he carried out this work in 1469. 1 Similar friezes of pomegranates and other fruits are to be found on the town-hall front, where a grotesque profile of a man, with a stick held to his lips is shown sitting at an opening. On the balcony above the figure are the ciphers 1476, and a long Latin inscription attributes the building of the hall to a member of the Venetian family of Venier. 2 Beneath the first floor windows of a house in the high street bearing the date of 1499, a dog is the only pictorial adornment, but one reads in panelled compartments, "the son's good works are a father's joy." "Laus Deo, honor et gloria." "La suberbia regna neli poveri chativi." 3 A florid classic style reminding us of Mantegna, is displayed in another house, opposite that of Dario, where Roman me- dallions are surrounded with ornament of cornucopias and dolphins, and the larger spaces are filled with allegories of justice and of love. This is too modern for Dario, but is the continuation of his art 4 and the fruit of his example. In Borgo della Madonna at Conegliano, a large edifice of three stories is covered with Mantegnesque vases and tracery of divers colours. In the spandrils of the lower colonnade two knights before a judge, whose grim face peers out from a parapet; a female playing a viol, and 1 The inscription runs thus: " 1469 Desideriu Impioru pibit (peribit), Darius p." The house is No. 829—849 Contrada Grande. 2 "Aula fait turpi genio con- fecta ruinas sepe prius testata graves; Max Gabriel omni virtutum splendore nitens, quern clara pro- pago Veneris genuit, sterni fun- damine ab imo jussit et inde novam quam spectas summere formam." 3 Serrav. 833, Contrada Grande, dated: "MCCCCLXXXX Villi, die IIII. mensis julii." 4 Serravalle, opposite No. 749, Contrada Grande. The ornaments are mostly on a red ground. Chap. XIII. DARIO DA TREVISO. 353 another partially effaced standing looking on in a charac- teristic attitude. Higher up beneath a window an ox holds a scroll on which is written: "Son losteria del bo; che vol del pol e del Vidello," elsewhere, an angel supporting a coat of arms, and in large letters, "Darius;" the art is that of Dario at Serravalle. 1 Other specimens are to be found close by in the contrada Santa Caterina; 2 in the Casa Biadene, where subjects and mottos are commingled; 3 in Borgo Sant' Antonio, 4 and Strada Grande; 5 but here and in the contrada del Duomo 6 a later hand and better taste are apparent, though all dis- playing the Paduan style brought by the Squarcionesques to Treviso. From Conegliano we wander to Pordenone. We there find house-decoration as frequent as elsewhere, Manteg- 1 Conegliano, No. 323, Borgo della Madonna. Under the arches | of the colonnade are remains of painting's, and chiefly of an annun- j eiation. Inside the house, too, cornices and festoons are painted in some of the rooms in the same [ style as the front. 2 Conegliano, Casa Matiuzzi, No. 17. Here the wall is made to imitate a front with pillared re- cesses, the recesses being filled J with helmets and shields or foliage, the pilasters with leaves and I flowers, the friezes with medallion | heads and vases, all in a rude sort of monochrome. 3 Conegliano, via del Teatro. j Here are friezes with sports of j children with wild beasts, vases and cornucopia; a female in a foreshortened attitude is repre- sented as if supporting one of the balconies, and children are shown bearing the weight of long chimneys clinging to the walls. There are also figures on horse- ! back, and a harbour with a galley. Beneath the latter one reads: "Io me sforzaro di navecar tanto achorto che al dispeto di nimis spero entrar in bon porto;" and VOL. I. under another subject: "Lo homo solecito che il bon se prochaza sempre la fortuna con lui se abraza." In one of the rooms of this house are distempers, repre- senting a female on an elephant, a car drawn by sea-monsters, women on dolphins, &c. all in the character of Dario's art. There are also more modern decorations in other rooms. 4 Conegliano, Borgo Sant' An- tonio, No. 407. Here are rude monochromes on parti- coloured grounds of sacrifices, birds and single figures with friezes of leaves, fruit, and monsters. 5 Conegliano, No. 237, Strada Grande. Dario's style is here im- proved, and the ornament better, but the figures are still rude and ill rendered. The whole consists of children riding on dragons, shields, lances, centaurs, all in mono- chrome in yellow and blue. () Conegliano, Contrada del Du- omo, No. 86. 1 The ornament here is still better, than in the fore- going example. The friezes repre- sent weapons offensive and defen- sive, arabesques and cupids, and full-length figures. 23 354 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIII. nesque in spirit, and above the level of Dario ; 1 we revert to his rude and unattractive style in colossal figures on the main square and some private buildings of Bassano. 2 At Spilimberg the old palace of the Counts Manaco is covered with scenes derived from ancient fable and history; amongst the rest a judgment of Paris, a rape of Ganymede, and the constancy of Scgevola; 3 and on the face of the old castle, allegories of virtues which are not to be confounded with the fragments left by Pordenone. 4 Treviso itself furnishes the most modern specimens of house-decoration, giving proof of a deep study of the greater Mantegnesque examples; and in one house, at least, a clever attempt is made to represent in correct perspective imitations of brackets and cornices, openings, pedestals, statues of men and horses, and ara- besques interspersed with gambols of children, as they might look if they were real and seen from the street. 5 When the Trevisans at the close of the 15 lh century attempted more serious painting, such as that of a S 1 Nicholas, on the front of a house near San Niccolo, 6 1 Pordenone, No. 419. Contrada San Marco, office of the old Im- perial Government is covered with eagles, and foliage, and shields. — No. 28 in the same street is con- spicuous for a chain ornament, festoons, masques, prepeired in monochrome on a blue ground, the art, Mantegnesque of 1500, and about equal to that of the latest at Conegliano. In the same man- ner and reminiscent of Girolamo da Treviso and Pennacchi, a fight of horsemen and figures, No. 95 in the Contrada di San Marco. 2 Bassano, Piazza, close to the clock-tower, chain-ornament, and figures, and two large warriors with swords at the side of a win- dow, like Dario's work in the Virgin of Mercy. House contigu- ous to the Porta Prato ; sacrifice of Abraham, judgment of Paris, &c, in the style of followers of Dario. 3 Spilimberg, Casa de' Conti Manaco. These wall-paintings are coloured and not monochrome) similar in art to those of Bassano. 4 Spilimberg castle, winged lion, fortitude, temperance, and other subjects. Pordenone's is a war- rior's head, with a winged helmet in a round held by two children. 5 Treviso, No. 520, Contrada sotto portico Forabosco in Scor- zeria. 6 Treviso, front of No. 1050, Contrada Isola di Mezzo. Beneath the figure which is placed between two pillars, to which four angels cling, one reads : " . . . dela scuola de Sancto Nicolaus a fate depen- zere questa figura 1471, adi 16 Marzo." There are pieces of the face and dress of the saint (who Chap. XIII. GIROLAMO DA TREVISO. 355 they were very much below the mark; so much so, indeed, as to show that Tommaso of Modena, who tilled several churches with frescos, was superior to his suc- cessors, amongst whom Dario, Girolamo the elder of Treviso, Pennacchi, and a sixth-rate named Antonello are to he numbered. Of Pennacchi we shall not speak at present, as he surrendered local art for that of the Bcllinesques; but Girolamo the elder may arrest a moment's attention. Federici, in his notices of Treviso, is at pains to adduce proofs that Girolamo was the son of respectable parents, and the brother of Lodovico Aviani, a poet; but pedigree makes no painter, and Girolamo was a very humble member of the profession. The earliest reference that has been made to his works is one to the effect that he finished an altarpiece and frescos for a chapel in San Niccolo of Treviso in 1470; 1 but his oldest known production is that possessed by Signor Fabrizio Pieriboni at Lonigo, which bears traces of the date 1478. It is a small arched panel represent- ing the death of the Virgin, with a multitude of dry figures of an ugly livid tint. Outlines of angular break, rectilinear drapery with cross lines to indicate folds, and loud contrasts of tertiary colours are its conspicuous defects. 2 More distinct evidence of Squarcionesque in- fluence on Girolamo is afforded by a picture ordered in 1487 for one of the chapels in the Treviso cathedral by the canon Pietro delle Laste. His subject is the Virgin holds a lily and book) scaled away. Federici Mem. Trevig. I. 216, assigns this to Girolamo the elder of Treviso. 1 Treviso, San Niccolo. The altarpiece represented the Virgin, child, S ts John the Baptist, Gre- gory, Anthony the Abbot, and James, and bore the following in- scription: "Hieronymus Tarvisio, p." (Federici, Mem. Trevig. I. 216.) Both altarpiece and frescos are lost. 2 Lonigo, Signor Fabrizio Pieri- boni, small arched panel in tem- pera with figures about a foot high. The Virgin lies in her tomb surrounded by the apostles. In the sky the Redeemer; inscribed: "II Tarvisio pinsit 1 Federici, who saw the picture when it belonged to the Canon Carlo Adami of Treviso, gives the date as 1178. (Mem. U.S. I. 217.) The colour is gone in many places, and what remains is discoloured. 23* 356 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIII. and child enthroned in a portico, with S l Sebastian at the pillar on one side, S* Roch on the other, and two angels playing instruments. 1 The only praise to which Girolamo is entitled in reference to this creation is that of clever and appropriate arrangement. His architecture is in the shape and taste of Zoppo 7 s, and of good pro- portion; but the figures, though correct in size and in place, are wooden and rigid, and frequently out of drawing. They are of a coarse peasant grain, cutting in outline, hard and uniform in colour, and, worse still, un- relieved by transitions of any kind, reminding us occa- sionally of Ercole Roberti Grrandi in the withered cha- racter of the limbs. The lights and shadows are both flat, and pitted sharply against each other. Quantitative balance of tones is preserved in dresses and accessories, but the contrasts are not the less violent. At San Sal- vadore of Colalto in 1494 Girolamo again illustrates his skill in the distribution of space, and sets a madonna with four saints in fit attitudes within a court, but he fails to overcome the principal defects of his style. Here, however, his composition recalls that of the Vivarini; the outline being minute and careful, the flesh rosy and slightly shaded with olive brown, and hardness or immobility less conspicuous than before. Striking is the oval head of the madonna, with its regular division of features, small eyes, mouth, and rounded chin; striking the angular character of the drapery. It is here if anywhere that we trace the source of Catena's art. 2 Similar to this of Colalto, and per- 1 Treviso Duomo, wood, figures life-size, inscribed on a cartello: " Hieronymus Tarvisio pinsit, MCCCCLXXXVII." The S l Se- bastian somewhat recalls Grrandi; the S l Roch is a common person- age, nearly related to those with which we are regaled by Marco Marziale. The architecture is simi- lar to that of Zoppo in the pic- ture of Berlin, the tempera rough and uneven. 2 Colalto, San Salvadore, near Conegliano, wood, tempera, figures three-quarters the size of life; Vir- gin and child between S ts Francis, Basil, Nicholas and Anthony of Padua. On a cartello at the step of the throne: "Hieronimus Tar- visio, p. MCCCCLXXXXIIII." The Chap. XIII. GIROLAMO DA TREVISO. 357 haps more delicately handled, is the Virgin with saints at San Vigilio of Montebelluno ; fair in the same style is the S l Martin sharing his cloak in the church of Paese near Treviso. 1 Better and suggestive of greater power, the Christ at the column in Casa Rinaldi at Treviso. 2 In this quaint panel, to which the painter s name is not affixed, there is an echo of Antonello da Messina. The Saviour stands grim and threatening in his pain, with long hair rolled into curls, falling down the sides of his cheeks. His frame is lean and bony, and drawn with decisive angularity; his face is coarse and vulgar, but there is a wild expressiveness in the look and glance that testify to a rugged sort of strength. 3 panel is much damaged and scaled, and in part discoloured; and strong varnishes are gradually cracking up the whole surface. 1 Montebelluno, ch. of San Vigi- lio. Panel, tempera with figures as above; Virgin, child, S ts Vigi- lius, Anthony the Abbot, Chiara and Lucy; inscr. : "Hieronymus Tarvisio, p." This also is a greatly injured piece. Paese parish church, arched panel, with a view of San Niccolo of Treviso iu the distance ; inscribed: "... onymus . arvisio p." The figures are large as life, the whole scaled and retouched. 2 Treviso, Casa Rinaldi, wood, bust, behind a parapet, on which a cartello without a signature is fastened; blue ground. The colour is no longer pure tempera, but mixed in the new method and enamelled; the lights yellow, and the shadow, such as it is, grey. 3 The catalogue in the text may be extended as follows: — Lovere, on the lake of Iseo, Gallery of Conte Tadini, Virgin with the dead Christ on her lap, an ugly and injured panel of small size, in- scribed : " Hieronymus Tarvista pinsit." Turin, Signor Orlandi. Here some years ago was a Christ supported in the sepulchre by two angels, small, with the painter's signature, and well preserved. This may be the work mentioned by Federici erroneously (Mem. I. 218) as in the gallery of Turin. Tre- viso, fragment of a fresco, trans- ferred from Santa Caterina to the church of Sant' Agostino ; subject, a saint (? Sebastian) and two an- gels in flight. This is the only painting related in style to Giro- lamo in a church said by Federici to have contained an altarpiece representing S l Sebastian, a patron, the podesta, Pietro Tron, and a Servite friar. (Mem. u. s. I. 216.) The inscription on the piece de- | scribed by Federici was as fol- lows: "Hoec palla facta fuit per scolam S. Sebastiani de elemo- sinis plurium personarum anno MCCCCXCII." Girolamo probably painted house-fronts in Dario's fashion. As such we may notice: Treviso, Pescaria Vecchia. House- front with gambols of children and two horses on brackets; one of the latter not unlike that in Girolamo's S l Martin dividing his cloak at Paese. Piazza del Duomo, No, 1548, trophies in fresco; but here the ornament is Mantegnes- que, and in better taste than that of Girolamo. 358 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIIL Squarcionesque art thus extends, as we perceive, to a considerable distance in the direction of the Alps, differ- ing essentially from that of the Friulans ; and producing works less able than those of cotcmporaries of the same school at Verona, Vicenza, and Ferrara. Whilst Dario carried the influence of Squarcione to the North, a man of no greater merit than himself contributed to prolong it in Padua. This man was Parentino, whose earliest creation is a religious allegory in the museum of Modena, and whose latest wall- paintings were left unfinished in 1494, in the second cloister of Santa Giustina at Padua. The allegory bears Parentino's signature and the Christian name of Ber- nardino, 1 and represents the Saviour carrying his cross, S l Jerom penitent before the crucifix, and a kneeling bishop in a landscape. Dario, feeble draughtsman as he was, might have jested at the drawing of this piece, which combines the faults of the Byzantines with an imitation of the classic. We may look in vain for spe- cimens of a similar kind by one taught to feel the beauties and appropriate character of movement in classic statues. One should think that a painter conscious of these beauties would transfer them to his canvas ; but Bernardino has the wish and none of the skill to attain this object. His figures are an exhibition of skin and bone, false in anatomy, unnatural in action, raw and flat in tempera-, his draperies are tortuous and crushed into the most minute and meaningless folds; and the only details he succeeds in giving are those of rock and hill in distance and of reptiles on a foreground. 2 A slight 1 He is called Lorenzo Paren- tino in Anonimo, but the elegy in liis praise by Don Rafaello of Pia- cenza (Armeniados, 8° 1518, Cre- mona in Anon. 255) calls him Bernardo; and as this elegy was written by a Benedictine, and pro- bably at the close of Parentino's life, we may assume that "Lorenzo" in the Anon, is a lapsus calami. (See Anon. 11.) But as the Anon, also says that Parentino entered the Benedictine order, it has been supposed that he assumed the name of Lorenzo on taking" the frock. (See Morelli's notes to Anon. 110.) 2 Modena Gallery, No. 40, can- ClIAP. XIII. PARENTING. 359 improvement on this unpleasant style may be seen in three scenes from the life of S l Anthony the Abbot and S l Louis at the Doria Palace in Rome, a series which reveals the influence of Mantegna, and is for that cause assigned to him, 1 but greatly beneath the powers of that master. In similar pieces belonging to the collection of the Marches e Pianciatichi at Florence, 2 a new feature intro- duced into subjects of a sportive and every-day character is vas, tempera, m. 1*12 h. by 1*52, originally in the country-seat of Cataio. On the cartello are the words: "Bernardin Parecan pixit." 1 Eome, Doria Palace, great room, No. 17, small panel. S l Anthony receives offers of wealth. He stands In a hilly landscape enlivened with incidents, between three quaintly-dressed personages, one of whom offers a plateful of gold, the others tempting him with wands of office. Room II. No. 15, S l Anthony's dream. He is tempted by devils, and lies extended on the foreground of a cavern; small panel. Great room, No. 8; S l Louis distributing alms, wood. These are three panels forming part of one predella, the last named com- prising a figure (to the left be- hind S l Louis) extremely like the portrait of Mantegna, and bearing the letter A on its cap. Hence no doubt the name of Mantegna given to the picture. The style, however, is that of Parentino at Modena slightly improved. The figures are vulgar, ill-proportioned, and very ill-drawn, but in a more Mantegnesque spirit than at Mo- dena; the action is sometimes well intended, and foreshortenings are attempted. Very rich details are given in the landscape, and classic models are followed in depicting vases and ornament. There is even a copy of an antique relief of a fight in the almsgiving of S l Louis; the tempera is dull, and of a brownish grey. The figures are all about one-fourth of life-size. 2 Florence, Galleria Pianciatichi, No. 333, canvas, tempera, on a red priming. To the right a man blows a horn; children play instru- ments and dance in the middle distance, and in front of them a man reclines and sports with a monkey. No. 334, a male and female seated on rude plinths play instruments; a square fountain to the left is decorated with a bas- relief. We note the same skinny and bony figures here as at Mo- dena, and the same dull tempera. The forms are also incorrect and coarse as before. These canvases are under Squarcione's name; they illustrate the effort of a feeble hand to imitate the antique, to set forth animated and not ill- conceived groups; the artist, how- ever, tries for more than he can carry out. The spirit which we discern in the pictures of the Doria and Pianciatichi collections might lead us to assign to Parentino an engraving now in Casa Lazzara at Padua, in which some have seen the hand of Squarcione. It represents a man to the right blowing a horn, another to the left doing the same, dancers, and a female with a leg of pork and sausages in each hand. This genre subject takes a classic air from the ornaments of an antique tomb, on which the player to the right is seated. (See Zani, Materiali per servire alia storia dell 1 origine de 1 progressi dell' Incisione, 8°, Parma, 1802, p. GO.) 360 THE PADUANS, Chap. XIII. that of an arabesque frieze with figures of females and skulls of oxen in good classical taste, showing that Parentino, as he advanced in years, might have been the competitor of Dario in a rude sort of art chiefly applied to the decoration of houses. That this was his peculiarity we might infer from the glowing description given by Father Delia Valle of the scenes from the life of S* Benedict in the cloister of Santa Giustina at Padua, a series partly executed by Parentino and partly by Girolamo del Santo, of which a few fragments are still preserved in a passage leading from the monastery to the church of that name. Delia Valle, following the example of a Benedictine, who calls Parentino, in the usual poetic strain, Parrhasius, Zeuxis, and Apelles, launches out into fulsome eulogies of this work, in which we "may admit some slight improvement upon the earlier pieces we have described; 1 but what he says of the 1 Padua, Santa Giustina. These frescos were minutely described in 1609 by Girolamo da Potenza, a monk of Santa Giustina, and sub- sequently by Brandolese (Pitt, di Pad. 99), and Delia Valle (Delle Pitture del Chiostro Mag-, di Santa Giustina, without imprint), both writers using 1 the MS. of Girolamo da Potenza. The southern wall of the cloister and one compartment adjacent were painted by Paren- tino with scenes from the life of S l Benedict, one of them bearing the date of 1489, another that of 1194, and the pilaster at the side of the last space (death of S l Be- nedict), the name: "Opus Paren- tini." The ornaments of the pilas- ters and framings interspersed with heads of Benedictine popes have been engraved, and exhibit taste in selection, but Morelli (Anon. 111.) warns us not to trust to these as exactly corresponding* to the originals. In 1542, 4, G, the cloister was finished by Girolamo del Santo, and the fragments which remain are no doubt rem- nants of his and Parentino's work. These fragments represent chiefly heads of men and women, but also small parts of figures .of men, birds and animals, some of them like Parentino's work at Modena, outlined in his tortuous manner and incorrectly drawn; others more Mantegnesque, and such as Girolamo del Santo might have done; others again, though still of the vulgar type common to the Paduan, attributable to a cleverer painter, not below Jacobo Mon- tagnana in power. Amongst these ruins we also see parts of a cru- cifixion which may have been that painted by Agnolo Zoto in 1489 (Moschini, Guida di Padova, u. s. 134), though we still see a cru- cifixion in the old refectory which fully justifies (in grimace, coarse vulgarity and defective art) the opinion of the Anon. (48) that Zoto, if he be the painter of it, was an "ignobile pittore." Chap. XIII. MONTAGNANA. 361 ornament surrounding the subjects, and what we see of that ornament as engraved by Mengardi, justifies the belief that Parentino was little more than a decorator/ and one whom we may believe incapable of painting the panels assigned to him in the sacristy of the canons of Padua, 2 in the academy of Venice, 3 and in the museum of Berlin. 4 A Paduan, whom Vasari classed amongst the disciples of Giovanni Bellini is Jacopo Montagnana, a Manteg- nesque painter, altered to some extent during the expansion of his style by the study of Bellini and Carpaccio. He was born before 1450, and enrolled amongst the members of the Paduan guild in 1469. 5 His frescos in the town- hall of Cividale 6 are mentioned by historians with the same respect as those which he finished during 1476, in 1 As to the date of the death of Parentino we know nothing", and we attach little credit to the so- called epitaph in Faccioli, which records the death of an Augustinian friar called Lorenzo Parentino at Vicenza in 1531, though we are bound to admit that Parentino and the friar have usually been con- sidered one person. See Faccioli in Lanzi III. 412. 2 Padua, sacristy of the canons, Pieta, tempera, on panel, 7f. 4 long by 2*8 high. The Saviour lies at full length in his winding-sheet, which is raised at the head by the evangelist. The Virgin wails over the body, and the Magdalen wrings her hands at the foot. The scene is laid in front of the sepulchre of white marble. This is a dull distemper, with grey high surface shadows, Mantegnesque in cha- racter, and in the style of Andrea da Murano and Lazzaro Bastiani, ex. gr. in the upper part of the altarpiece at Trebaseleghe, and Pieta at Citadella. 3 Venice Acad. No. 348, nativity, for which see passim, Lazzaro Bastiani. 4 Berlin Mus. No. 48. See passim in Mansueti. 5 Vasari, V. 17, and Moschini Vicende, 65. We describe him as born before 1450, on the supposition that he was twenty when he en- tered the guild. 6 These frescos no longer exist; with reference to them is the fol- lowing: " 1475. Era podesta in Cividale, Lorenzo Veniero . . . . al qual tempo fu clato principio alia fab. del. palaz. del comune sopra la piazza Maggiore . . die fu poi con bellissime pittuve ornato, tra le quali viene con molto admiratione risguardato un Cadavcro del Gi- gante Golia senza il capo. Fu opera del Montagnana, pittore fa- mosissimo che depinse ancora la stantia dove se reduce el Maggior Consiglio di Cividale." (Historia di Belluno di Giorgio Piloni, Ven. 1607, lib. VI. p. 245.) We thus correct an error of Miari Dizionario Bellunese, 4", Belluno, 1843, i>. 51, who confounds the hall at Belluno with that of Civi- dale. 362 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIII. competition with his brother-in-law Calzetta, Matteo del Pozzo, and Agnolo Zoto, in the Gattamelata chapel at the Santo of Padua. 1 The mutilated remains of orna- ment in the niches of the monument sacred to the memory of that chief and his son, if proved to be his ; would entitle him to a certain rank amongst the better class of Mantegnesques. His constant employment at the Santo in later years, the designs which he fur- nished for certain- candelabra in I486, 2 the wall-paintings entrusted to him in the whitewashed cloisters of the novitiate in 1487, 3 are evidence of the esteem in which he was held. Engravings of classic subjects with which he covered the town-hall of Belluno in 1490, and frag- ments which were saved from the ruins of it a little more than twenty years ago, create the impression that he was one of the second-rates, who most faithfully preserved the traditions of Mantegna in his early haunt of Padua. We find it difficult to understand why the town-council of Belluno consented to the destruction of frescos valuable as works of art, and interesting in the highest degree as authentic productions of a rare though well-known master. As examples of a peculiar taste they were almost unique; they might lack many qualities of selection, of form, of drawing, and of colour, for they were due to men who had many superiors in other schools, but they were very fairly composed and powerfully conceived, and they gave coj)ious illustrations of the manner in which the influence of Mantegna and that of the Venetians became commingled at the close of the 15 lh century. All that we can guess from the frag- ments preserved at Belluno and Padua, is that the 1 Anon. 5, Gonz. la Basilica, u. s. I. 59, and Doc. XLIII. The mo- nochromes here and the arms of Gattamelata are classical, in the Mantegnesque style, and recall the detail of Andrea's triumphs at Hampton Court; the rest of the chapel is whitewashed. See also Scardeone, Antiqu. Patav. 373. . 2 Gonzat. u. s. I. 66. 3 lb. I. 295—6, and Doc. CXLII. A marriage of S l Catherine still in this cloister may possibly have been by Lorenzo Canozzi or da Lendinara. Chap. XIIL MONTAGNANA. 363 outlines were rough, wiry, and coarse, as compared with those of the great Paduan, that the flesh was metallic in tone, and that it was painted with liquid tints in a resolute and hasty method. 1 We might easily be led by comparison to assign to the same hand the ma- donna crowned by angels in the Communal Gallery at Bassano, a fresco once in the Pretorio of that town. That such a work should have been attributed to Man- tegna is natural when we look at the form and archi- 1 Belluno town-hall. Of this hall, rebuilt twenty years ago on a modern scale, we are told by Piloni (u. s. lib. V. p. 200) that it was first erected in 1409. In a calendar of records preserved in the Municipio of Belluno (Dizio- nario di Francesco Alpago, 30 8bre 1773, p. 210) we read: "No. 10, 1490, 12 Nov. nel libro delle Provigioni Let. L. (The book it- self is missing.) Pitture sopra la facciata del Palazzo Vecchio e nella Comunita (Hall of Council) di Giacomo da Montagnana. Cos- torono Due. 280 d'oro ..." Miari [Florio] Dizionario & a Bellunese, u. s. p. 53 — 4, gives an exact account of the town-house, the ground-floor of which was divided into two principal spaces ; the fore-hall decorated with paint- ings, which still exist, by Pom- ponio Amalteo (1529); the council- hall with pictures by Jacopo da Montagnana. The wooden ceiling was framed with a cornice con- taining the cognizance of several Bellunese families, and chiefly those of Girolamo da Mula, podesta in 1490. On the wall opposite the chimney was a fresco of the Saviour erect in benediction be- tween the Virgin and evangelist, assigned to Mantegna (and en- graved as such) but by Montag- nana, if we judge of it by the engraving. (Is it necessary to say that Mantegna was not at Belluno in 1490?) On the chim- ney was an inscription: "Non hie Parrasio non hie tribuendus Apelli, hos licet auctores dignus habere labor. Euganeus vix dum impleto ter mense Jacobus ex Montagnana nobile pinxit opus." In half-lengths between the windows were half- lengths of Zeno, Hesiod, Atlas, Pythagoras, Cicero, and the pro- phetess Nicostrata. On the walls were five scenes from Roman his- tory, illustrating the story of the Horatii and Curiatii. 1°, the fight; 2°, the triumphal return; the deeds of Mutius ScEevola; 1°, he kills the secretary of Porsenna; 2°, he burns his hand in the fire; 3°, sub- ject obscure, each incident copi- ously illustrated with classical detail of architecture and costume. Nineteen small fragments of this important work are preserved, viz. four containing heads from the triumph of Horatius, and the profile of Cicero, in the hands of Signor Bucchi at Belluno ; ten in possession of Conte Agostino Agosti of Belluno, in part from the triumph, ex. gr. the bust of two children on the extreme right of that composition, in part from the frescos of Scsevola; five belong- ing to Professor Catullo at Padua. Lanzi (II. 113) speaks with due commendation of these frescos; and the commentators of Vas. (V. 18.) err, as we see, in blaming him for confounding works of Amalteo with those of Montagnana, being un- aware that the latter are lost and the former preserved. 364 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIII. tectural decoration of the composition; but spiritless outline, stolid types, and rough treatment too surely mark the handywork of a later Paduan ; and we may consider thein due to Montagnaria with the more propriety as we possess numerous authentic paintings in a similar' manner at Padua. 1 In the hall leading to the Curia - Vescovile,. in the episcopal palace, a dull and much repainted fresco of the resurrection of Christ, above a door, is doubtless by Montagnana, as well as the heads of emperors and captains on the beams of the hall- ceiling, 2 and the old chapel in the same building is covered throughout with legendary and scriptural sub- jects, certified by Montagnana' s own signature to have been executed in 1495. Looking at the more conspicuous parts of this complicated decoration, such as a S l John the Baptist, a Christ in benediction, a crucifixion, and half-lengths above the door, we shall be struck by the square forms, the coarse aspect and bold spirit of the figures, and we see the germs of a vehement art like that of Bartolommeo Montagna. 3 We may be less 1 Bassano. Communal Gallery, j No. 32, fresco transferred to can- vas with life-size figures, of the Virgin and child on a throne of porphyry in a painted recess of florid classic architecture. An angel at her feet plays a viol. Two others hold the crown above her head; in a lunette the Eternal, half-length, in benediction. A chain ornament and festoons behind the principal group remind us of si- milar accessories in the palace of Mantua. The left side of the picture is wanting. Especially Mantegnesque are the angels, so much so as to suggest not only Montagnana but Bonsignori. It may be that the fresco was ex- ecuted by Montagnana from a car- toon of Mantegna. Note the me- chanical outline of a coarse black sharpness, the bricky flesh, and dark shadows. 2 Padua. Palazzo Vescovile. Half the form of the Redeemer is con- cealed by a wooden shield; at the corners are two soldiers guarding the sepulchre and looking up. This fresco is repainted and of a dull red tinge. That Montagnana is the painter is proved by the style, but also by Scardeone who says (Antiq. Patav. 373) : "Pinxit Christi resurrectionem super portam in prima aula episcopatus." The heads on the vertical faces of the beams of the ceiling are mono- chromes on blue ground. 3 Padua, ex-episcopal chapel in the Episcopal Palace. This is a rectangle, with scenes from the lives of the martyrs in the lower courses, figures of apostles in second courses, and monochromes in five lunettes indistinct from age and other causes. In the ceilings are the symbols of the four evan- Chap. XIII. MONT AON AN A. 365 certain as to the authorship of the annunciation in the new episcopal chapel, an altarpiece of pleasant Paduan shape, reminiscent of Lippi's earlier style rather than of that peculiar to Montagnana. 1 It may be difficult also to trace his hand in the Bellinesque crucifixion on one of the pilasters at the Santo, which indeed is said to have been finished in 1518 by Girolamo del Santo, 2 but we may find character akin to his in the por- traits of bishops, forming the upper frieze of the great hall in the episcopal palace at Padua. 3 These bishops are all accompanied by canons and stand or sit in couples conversing or in thought. They seem to have been drawn with great care from nature; what they want in historical value as likenesses is compensated by gelists and the four doctors. High I up between the two lunettes to | the left, as you enter the chapel, ! is a repainted inscription as fol- lows: "Jacobus Mont na pinxit MIIIIXCV." All these wall-paint- ings are more or less altered by i time and repainting 1 . The best sub- ject is that of the flaying of a ] martyr, a spirited composition with the vehemence of Signorelli in its I chief figures. The principal per- sonages are about life-size. 1 Padua. Episcopal Palace chapel. 1 The annunciation between the angel and Tobias, and the archangel j Michael holding a balance. The scene of the annunciation is laid in a street, the Eternal in bene- diction (repainted) appearing in the sky in an embossed halo. The figures are a third of life, the Virgin's mantle, that of the arch- angel, in part renewed. This seems the careful production of a young man, the composition pretty, and the tempera very careful. The only Paduan feature is the colour; the style is not that of Montag- nana, as we see it in the old chapel. 2 This crucifixion is on canvas and assigned by all guides to Montagnana, but it is stated, on what authority is not said, that it was finished by Girolamo del Santo in 1518. (Isnenghi [Padre Antonio] Basilica di S l Antonio, 12 '. 1863, p. 61.) We see no trace of two hands here, and if Girolamo finished, he also began the work. The Saviour is crucified on a tree from the branches of which sprout the heads of the twelve minor pro- phets. Below are S ts Sebastian, Gregory, Ursula and Buonaven- tura. The Christ is well* propor- tioned and Bellinesque, the S l Se- bastian likewise so, and the figures generally slender; the art displayed is not that of Montagnana. 3 Padua, Episcopal Palace. Great Hall. These portraits fill the four sides of the hall, the last of them having been done in 1494. (Mo- schini Vic. u. s. p. 65.) The whole of those on the wall facing the chief entrance are completely re- painted and those above the door itself partly so. Many bits in the rest are also new. Each bishop is accompanied by a canon. The lower walls and ceiling are modern, having been renewed under Cle- ment XII. in 1759. 366 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIII. their importance as illustrations of Paduan painting at the close of the 15 ,h century. The perspective is judi- ciously calculated in each piece to suit its altitude; the movements are natural and various, and the drapery well and simply cast. A marked superiority in treatment distinguishes this work from that of Belluno ; for though, in faces and in form, the coarseness and realism of Montagnana are occasionally apparent, the cloths have a novel lie of fold and strong harmony of tones; and the outlines exhibit power akin to that of Bartolommeo Montagna; and it is hut fair to presume that this and other productions of the same kind were carried out chiefly by the Vicentine, whom we shall learn to know as a master combining the vehemence of Signorelli and Carpaccio with the sterner character of the Veronese. 1 We shall be the more disposed to maintain this opinion as the frescos, representing the Eternal and apostles, scenes from the creation, the nativity and the finding of the madonna of Mont' Ortone, in the church of that name near Padua, are traditionally of a later date than those of the episcopal hall, and executed by Montagnana in 1497, in the ruder and more common manner already noticed in earlier and equally genuine pieces. 2 We might now 1 We shall sec (in Montagna) that there is a fresco at, Praglia, very like the portraits at the Episcopal Palace in its style and treatment. There is also a house -front, No. 385 — G, via San Francesco at Padua with allegorical figures of the seasons in monochrome, and friezes containing children and monsters much in this manner likewise, yet ruder and perhaps by Jacopo. 2 Santa Maria di Mont 1 Ortone near Padua. Choir: In the semi- dome eighteen monochrome rounds representing nine saints greatly injured, and nine scenes from the creation. In the semidome front the Eternal in a glory of cherubs and the twelve apostles beneath him. In the ceiling of the choir the four doctors of the church; and in the two side-lunettes 1°, the discovery of the miraculous picture of S l Mary of Mont' Ortone, and 2°, the nativity of the Virgin. These frescos, duly noted in the Anon. (31 — 2.), who leaves the painter's name in blank, are mentioned by Scardeone (Antiq. Patav. 373.), who assigns them without any reticence to Montag- nana. They are defective in form and disagreeable in colour, and seem to have been hastily done; but we must remember that their present appearance may be due to their having been recovered from Chap. XIII. MONTAGNANA. 367 describe a considerable number of productions on wall or on panel, exhibiting some of the features of Mon- tagnana's style, or that of his school; but their enume- ration may be left to the compass of a note, and we shall be content to know that Montagnana made his will in 1499 ; and is not supposed to have long survived. 1 whitewash. In the choir the mi- raculous image, which is the sub- ject of one of the frescos, was preserved, covered by two side- panels, signed according' to some authorities (Tommasini in Moschini Vicende, p. 66) with Montagnana's name and the date of 1497. We may enquire whether Vasari in- tended to allude to this piece when he wrote, that Bartolommeo Mon- tagna painted an altarpiece in the church of Santa Maria d'Artone at Padua (Vas. VI. 104). 1 Padua Communal Gallery, No. 535, rude tempera of S ts Agata, Francis and Jerom of the same art as a nativity, unnumbered, in the same collection; and a Virgin and child amidst four saints from the convent of Salbono, now in possession of Signor Giacomo Mo- schini at Padua. In these three pieces we see the decline of Mon- tagnana's art, vulgar faces and forms, short and thickset frames, and in each case damaged surfaces of tempera, due in part to time, in part to restoring. Padua, Casa Lazzara. Four small panels re- presenting scenes from the story of S l James, much damaged but recalling at a distance Mantegna and Carpaccio. Casa Papafava. S' Peter in ^benediction, attributed to Squareione, see passim; a figure commingling the style of Mon- tagnana and Bart Montagna, of good chiaroscuro and firmly touched, (wood, tempera, l'/ 2 f.by2.) Through the opening behind the saint a neat landscape reminiscent of Antonello and the Bellini. At the saint's feet a kneeling patron and his dog. In the same style as the foregoing, two small saints, Paul and Peter in niches, attri- buted to Mantegna, in possession of Lord Elcho in London; Prato della Valle, near Padua, house, N°. 2692, annunciation, a mere relic in fresco, suggesting the name of Montagnana, less than that of Canozzi; if to the latter we could give the granting of the rules to S l Francis in the great cloister at the Santo. Padua, side-portal of the Servi, lunette of the Virgin and child between S l Jerom and Anthony of Padua and angels. This is a better fresco than those of Mont 1 Ortone and perhaps one of the earlier ones of Montagnana. A large piece of it is wanting. Padua, house-front, N°. 3195, via del Santo, monochrome of a winged statue and a monster on a bracket, a wall-painting of the period under notice more artistic than Dario, andMantegnescpie in aspect. Padua, Casa Dondi-Orologio, copy of a fresco of the martyrdom of S l Se- bastian once in the church of that name, attributed to Mantegna, but seemingly an exaggeration of the style of Montagna. Remnants of the frescos themselves are in the Communal Gallery of Padua. N°. 11 and 54, a single figure tying his shoe, S l Mark, S l Peter Martyr and three kneeling personages, transferred to canvas, part of a half- length, too, of rude workmanship, belonging to Signor Gradenigo ;it Padua, and a bust head, now belonging to Dr. Tescari at Castel- franco; all these pieces are by one hand and show the decline of Man- tegna's art in the hands of Mon- tagnana and his followers. Padua, 368 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIII. If it were desirable further to extend the notice of the Squarcionesques and Mantegnesqnes at Padua ; we might also dwell upon the lives of Matteo del Pozzo, 1 Agnolo Zoto, 2 and Pietro Calzetta, 3 but it is better to deal lightly with these distant and feeble offshoots of the Paduan school, and to close the notice of it with a few words on the merits of the Canozzi. Servi sacristy, Virgin of Mercy between S ts James, Christopher, a monk and Jerom, half ruined and effaced. This is a fiat tempera of mixed Venetian and Paduan style, recalling chiefly theVivarini's school. A still ruder specimen is the Virgin and child between S ts Sebastian and Prosdocimo in the sacristy of Ognissanti at Padua, a very ill preserved bit, and without character. Venice Academy, No. 461, Virgin and child between S ts Prosdocimo, Lawrence, Stephen and Liberale, from the suppressed con- vent of San Stefano of Padua. Here again is a Mantegnesque picture, recalling Liberale of Ve- rona and the Canozzi, but too in- jured to allow of a decided opinion. Padua Santo, 10 th pilaster in the left aisle, Virgin adoring the infant between a female saint, recommending a kneeling friar and S l Joseph, life-size, injured and greatly repainted, dated 1494; the style seems a mixture of the Ve- netian of B. Vivarini and Man- tegna. ' Pupil of Squarcione, according to Scard. (Antiq. Pat. 371.) He was in the Paduan Guild in 1470 (Mosch. Vic. 25), worked in the cappella Gattamelata at the Santo in 1469, 70 and 71, died in 1472, author of a S l Francis in one of the pilasters of the Santo. (Anon. 7.) Not one of his works is known. See Gonzati La Basilica Doc. 35 — 7 and 43. 2 Agnolo Zoto is registered in the guild of Padua in 1469 (Mo- | schini Vic. 25), and is recorded as I one of those who painted in the Gattamelata chapel at the Santo in 1472 (Gonz. La Basilic. I. 58 and Doc. 37); he painted a S l Paul on a pilaster of the same chapel (Anon. 8) and some of the seasons and zodiacal signs in the Salone (see antea in Giotto). His name seems to have been confounded by Vasari with Giotto's. 3 Calzetta (Pietro) was son-in- law to Montagnana (Anon. 7.) and contracted as early as 1466, in presence of Squarcione, to paint the chapel of Corpus Cristi at the Santo, and an altarpiece from a drawing made by Pizzolo from a sketch by Squarcione. (Contract in Moschini Vicende p. 66.) In 1470 he restores certain works by Stefano of Ferrara at the Santo, having contracted in that year to join Matteo del Pozzo and Mon- tagnana in painting the chapel of Gattamelata (Gonz. La Basilica I. Doc. 36, 7. and I. 58). There are still payments for the latter work in 1476. (Ib. ib.) In 1481 he gilds the chapel of Sant' Antonio (ib. ib.), and in 1500 he was still employed at the Santo. (Ib. ib.) An Ecce Homo under glass on the left side of the chapel of the Santo near the 14 th altar, iind near the door of the chapel of the Reliquie, is by Calzetta, but so injured as almost to defy criticism. Apparently in this style is a pieta in a niche in a pilaster of the right aisle, of the vulgar Mantegnesque manner peculiar to the Paduans of this period. Chap. XIIT. THE CANOZZI. 369 The Canozzi 1 were not Paduans. Lorenzo, the oldest, was born in 1425 ; Cristoforo, the youngest, a little later, at Lendinara. Their father was a carpenter and they naturally followed the paternal trade; but being men of considerable enterprise they established themselves at Modena and Padua, Lorenzo being chief partner in the former, Cristoforo chief partner in the latter, place. Vasari states that Lorenzo was Mantegna's rival at Padua; we may consider him to have been Mantegna's companion in the school of Squarcione; and we have seen how likely it may be that he had a share in the frescos of the Eremitani. He was a painter, a maker of tarsia, a modeller in terra cotta, and a printer of books, and Paciolo declares him to have been completely master of perspective. Between 1460 and 1470 2 the firm oi Lorenzo and Cristoforo at Padua finished the carving and inlaying of ninety stalls in the choir of the Santo at Padua, 3 and in 1465 of stalls in the choir of the cathedral at Modena. 4 Matteo Colatio minutely describes the first in a volume printed during the year 1486 at Venice, 5 enumerating the various subjects intro- duced and praising the beauty of the design, the woods employed being mulberry, mountain ash, cypress, willow, maple, lentisk, liquorice, box, cherry, ebony, tamarisk, and white varieties occasionally dyed. 6 The stalls perished by fire in 1749, and of all their decorations 1 It may suffice to say that copious notices of these artists are to be found in Campori (Gli ar- tisti & a u. s. p.p. 229 and following"), in Gonzati (Basilica), the Anonimo ed. Morelli Vas. V. 175. Brando- lese (Del Genio dei Lendinaresi Bad. L795), Luca Bacioli (in De I'roportione) and Scardeone (Ant. Batav. 373). 2 The tarsie at San Marco in Venice, assigned to "the Canozzi" by Sansov., are really by Antonio and Baolo da Mantova, and ex- ecuted (see Zanotto, Guida di Ven. VOL. I. p. 49) in 1520—30. In a similar manner the choir-stalls at the Frari assigned to the Canozzi, are (Zanotto Guida p. 473) by Marco di Giampietro of Vicenza. July 1468. 3 Gonzati, Basilica I. 70 — 1. and Doc. 44. 4 Campori Gli artisti, 230. 5 Matteus Colatius Siculus doc- tissimo viro Antonio Siculo da Yen. 1486. fi Records in Gonz. Basilica. I. 70-1. 24 370 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIII. a single figure of S* Buonaventura and a view of the Santo have been preserved as dossals to the confes- sionals of the Luca Belludi chapel; they might alone prove the master's proficiency in perspective; and his natural clinging to Paduan or Mantegnesque form. At Modena where the choir has undergone change, there remain four panels representing the doctors of the church, in which natural shape and good proportions are com- bined with a certain individuality highly to be com- mended in works so difficult of execution as these. 1 So clever indeed is the arrangement of parti-coloured woods in the flesh-parts, that the transition from light to shade is by no means so abrupt as one might suppose. Angularity is to be found in the outlines, and a broken character in the drapery, but nothing more in this respect than might be due to the peculiar schooling of the artists. At the time when these pieces were being completed, Guttenberg's Bible was reprinted (1462) by the same enterprising firm, and was followed by the books of Aristotle with the comments of Averrhoes. Between 1472 and 1476 Lorenzo and Cristoforo under- took the tarsie of the presses in the sacristy at the Santo of Padua, on designs furnished ten years earlier by Squarcione. 2 Till quite recently they were origi- nals, comprising six standing saints and four views of streets, more or less in Squarcione' s style of 1452, the details of shelves, cup-boards and niches being much akin to those in the rounds of the scmidome at the Eremitani chapel. 3 1 The Saint Ambrose is signed as follows: "Hoc opus fatu fuit p Christopho P. et La Vrentius fra- tres de Lendinaria, 14G5." Besides these figures there are panellings with tarsie, containing imitations of doors, shelves and utensils, birds, cups, mitres and the like. 2 See passim and Gonzati, Basi- lica Doc. 133—34. 3 Being damaged by worm-holes, these tarsias were taken down quite lately and inlaid afresh from outlines taken with trans- parent paper on the old work. The new tarsia is more polished but has not the character of the old, and Padua has thus lost a set of very interesting relics by the officious zeal of persons insuffici- ently experienced to deal with matters of art. The saints are Chap. XIII. THE CANOZZI. 371 That Lorenzo Canozzi undertook painting is certain, though no specimen of his skill exists ; 1 but if we bear in mind his character as a tarsia-maker, we could assign to him some second-rate wall- distempers, such as the "glories" of S l Francis and S l Chiara in the first cloister of the Santo, 2 a Virgin and child, like veneering in the Comune, 3 and some eight fresco portraits of churchmen in the ex-library of the canons of the La- teran at Padua. Though very incorrectly drawn, and poor productions by different hands, the last mentioned are remarkable for the application of vanishing points to details of lodges, houses, ceilings and shelves; and the angular character of the drawing as well as the mapping of the lights and shadows betray the hand of men accustomed to inlaying. 4 At Lendinara, the birth-place of Lorenzo, 5 we look in Bernardino, Jerom, Anthony, Louis, Buonaventura ; the head of S l Jerom being one of the few that has retained the old style. Four perspectives of streets in tarsia are also in a room at the Santo between the sacristy and chapter- house. But even these are in a great part remounted. 1 "El San Zuan Battista sopra il Pilastro secondo a man manca (in the Santo) fu de man di Lo- renzo di Lendinara. 1 ' Anon. p. G. 2 Padua Santo. Lower course, S l Chiara erect in prayer between twelve females kneeling in prayer. In a lunette above, S l Francis (effaced) between ten kneeling Franciscans; parts of the fresco are scaled, others discoloured, others again renewed. The outlines are sharp and rude, the flesh bricky, the figures generally paltry and rigid; the whole mapped in the style of inlaying. 3 Padua Comune, half-lengths panel, gift of Dr. Antonio Tolomei. The child sits on a stone, upon the face of which an unicorn is painted. This is a rough tempera, tarsia in treatment. 4 Padua. Ex-library now annexed to the chapel of San Giovanni di Verdara. The drawing is very minute, the drapery broken, the flesh bricky and hatched over in dull-grey — the forms incorrect, the perspectives good and true. The style is lower, but akin to that of a portrait of an Augustine monk in possession of Dr. Fusaro, assigned to Mantegna (see passim) ; there is something German too in the draperies. 5 Brandolese assigns to Lorenzo a S l Anthony between S ts Chris- topher and Onofrius in San Biagio of Lendinara, but this altarpiece is missing. (Del genio & a p. VI.) He also ascribes to the same a Virgin and child between S ts Law- rence and Anthony of Padua, in the duomo of Lendinara. It is, however, by Bissolo. At Santa Maria Nuova near Lendinara there is a pannelled loft for the singing-choir painted with ornaments that might be by the Canozzi, but it is in bad condition. There is a canvas of Christ and the Marys in the house of Martha, No. 312 at the Venice Academy, 24* 372 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIII. vain for pictures, but find a terra cotta, not unworthy of attention. 1 After Lorenzo's death in 1477 ; 2 his brother Cristoforo carried on the business partly at Parma, partly at Mo- dena. He had already exercised a rude sort of talent in tarsias executed for the duomo of Parma in 1473/ or for private patrons at Modena in 1477 *, 4 but these are of less interest than the Virgin and child with his signature and the date of 1482 in the royal gallery of Modena, a panel, in which broken or continuous outline betrays the tarsiatore, and wooden form or in- correct drawing the feeble powers of a third-rate Pa- duan. 5 Not that these or other pieces whether of paint- inscribed: "Opus Laurenzi Cha- nozio patav. ..." But this is a work of the 16 th century with a false signature. 1 Vasari says, V. 175, that Lo- renzo modelled terra cottas. That which may be seen at Lendinara is a Virgin and child mutilated and whitewashed above the door of a shop, No. 150 in the Contrada del Duomo. The Virgin's nose is gone, likewise the infant's toes. 2 See his epitaph in Scardeone, Antiq. Patav. 373, or in original on the wall of the first cloister near the door leading to the second cloister at the Santo. He died on the 13 th of April. 3 Parma, Duomo, stalls of choir with perspectives as usual, a bearded S l Mark (bust), a S l Jerom, d° reading, S l Luke, and a bishop, inscribed : " Opus ChristoforiLendi- narii miri artincisMCCCCLXXIH," the first of these figures recalling Marco Zoppo and the local painter Casella, whose education was partly Venetian. There is also a tarsia (round) of a youth reading in the sacristy of the duomo, where the wood having fallen, we see the original design cut into the ground. On a bench in the sacristy one laso reads the following: "Luch. Blanch. Parm. gratus Crist. Len- den. cultor forulum hunc prot. hoperis perfecit." Date illegible. 4 Cristoforo was made citizen of Modena in 1463 (Campori Gli artisti, 231), and there are records in the Modena arch, proving his presence at Modena in 1475, 7, 8 and 83; the tarsie are four evan- gelists, on one of which one reads : "Christoforus de Lendenaria hoc opus f. 1477;" similar in character to the foregoing. 5 Modena Gallery, No. 45, wood, life-size, originally in the chapel of San Giovita, near Modena. The Virgin is seated in a landscape and holds in her left hand a cross and chaplet, a transparent veil is bound to her head with a cincture. Below her feet are two inscrip- tions, one as follows: "hac ima- ginem de Gaspar de Sillingardis Episcopus mut. donavit Jovanni Bollino S.S. Faustini ac Jovitae Rectori nec non suo familiari anno Dm MDCV Die XIII Februarii," another so: "Christophorus de Lendenaria opus 1482." The high surface shadows of strong enamel are scaling, though the picture has been restored, and is thus dulled in tone. The parts are mapped and drawn as tarsia, the drapery angular in lines. Chap. XIII. THE CANOZZI. 373 ing or tarsia, which might be attributed to the same hand, are of themselves attractive, 1 but because they lay bare the track followed by Paduan art, and show how the manner and example of the Canozzi, having already affected Zoppo, extended to most of the cities in the valley of the Po, mingling with the Umbro- Florentine at Ferrara, and with the Venetian at Parma. In some cases we discover the pupils of the Canozzi, for instance in a Pieta of 1485 in the gallery of Modena by Bartolommeo Bonasci, 2 and we see the continuation of their teaching crossed with that of Francia or Costa in the works of Francesco Bianchi Ferrari, Giovanni An- tonio Scaccieri, 3 Marco Meloni of Carpi, 4 and Bernardino Loschi. 5 1 Lucca, San Martino. Five pieces of tarsia are preserved here, four representing perspectives, one a bishop less than life-size. On one of the perspectives one reads: " Christophorus de Can- noccis de Lendinara fecit opus. MCCCCLXXXVIII." Modena Gall., No. 33, panel of the crucifixion with the thieves and usual scenes. In the fore- ground S 1 Francis receiving the stigmata, and S l Jerom. This piece with figures a third of life-size was first called Mantegna, and after it was brought from La Mirandola by the Duke Francesco IV. it was called Gerard of Harlem. The real author may well be Cristoforo Canozzi, the style being that of a tarsiatore partly Mantegnesque partly Ferrarese. The figures are dry and bony and motionless, the features being mapped out, and the draperies cut straight by lines. The vehicle is high in enamel like that of the Ferrarese and of Ca- nozzi in his picture of 1482; the finish is very great, the colours gaudy and intense, the masks ugly and repulsive. 2 Modena Gallery, No. 46, can- vas, Christ in the tomb between the Virgin and Evangelist, in- scribed: "1485. Hoc opus pinxit Bartholomeus de Bonasciis." The face of the tomb imitates that of an antique sarcophagus with hip- pogriffs and vases. The contours generally are rectilinear, which shows that the painter was used to inlaid work. The Christ is not undignified, and is Bellinesque in a certain measure. This painter in- deed is cleverer than Cristoforo Canozzi, commingling the character of the followers of Piero della Francesca with those of Bellini and Mantegna: the flesh in this picture is injured. 3 F. Bianchi Ferrari is mentioned by Lanzi (H. 346) as the author of an altarpiece once in San Francesco of Modena, and as the alleged master of Correggio (Spac- cini in annot. Vas. VH. note to p. 95). There is one picture by him under Francia's name in the gallery of Modena (No. 36), the annunciation, a panel executed for the church of the Santissima An- nunziata at Modena. From records recently discovered in the archives of the brotherhood of that name under the dates of 1506, 7, 8 and 1511, 12, it appears that this piece 374 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIII. Of Ansuino da Forli we can say no more than that his name is undiscoverable anywhere but on the walls of the Eremitani chapel. There is indeed a profile as- signed to him in the Correr gallery at Venice, but the fine character of its drawing and expression, and the blended modelling of its flesh, reveal the hand of an Umbro-Ferrarese ; and the S l Christopher at Padua does not prepare us for the comparative perfection of the portrait at Venice. 1 Bono, the author of one of the frescos at the Eremi- tani, is rarely noticed in the annals of art; but we may fairly believe that he was taught by Pisano, and we know that he painted S f Jerom in the desert, a small panel once in the Costabili gallery at Ferrara, and now in the National Gallery. In this curious old tempera, the saint reposes on a stone in a rocky landscape, the signature on a cartello indicating that Bono was of Ferrara and a disciple of Pisano. We shall accept its genuineness the more readily as the cold and solid was left unfinished at his death in 1510 by Francesco B. Ferrari, and finished by Gio. Antonio Scac- cieri in 1512. (See "Intorno al vero autore di un dipinto attri- buito al Francia; Nozze Venturoli- Bianconi, by Andrea Cavaz. Peder- zini, 8°, 16 pages. Modena, 1864.) The style here is a mixture of Francia, Costa and Panetti, with a patience of execution exceeding that of Mazzolino. The figures are slender, the colour bricky and mapped, shadows bituminous, and flesh horny and light. The painter is obviously a follower of the Ca- nozzi, influenced by the school of Francia. The Duke Francis IV. paid 500 secchins for this alleged Francia in 1821. 4 Marco Meloni is the painter of a picture in the Modena Gall. (No. 54) representing the Virgin between S ts John the Baptist, Bernardino, Francis and Jerom; two angels support the crown above her head. On the throne one reads: "Habes mi Divi Ber- nardini confraternitas Marci Me- lonis opus, anno Domini 1504, Kalendas Juni peractum. " This picture was in San Bernardino of Carpi. Its figures (all but life- size) are wooden in form, but there is also here a distinct imi- tation of Perugino and Cima. 5 Of whom there is a Virgin and child with saints in the Mo- dena Gallery (No. 51) ; he is also a painter indulging in defective drawing, lame movements, recti- linear outlines and absence of feel- ing for colour; but see postea in the painters of Parma. 1 Venice, Correr, wood, tempera, m. 0-49 h. by 0'35. Profile of a man at a curtained window, through which one sees a castle, water, and ships, and a servant before two men on horseback. Chap. XIII. BONO OF FERRARA. 375 treatment of the subject and the hummocky outline of the distance heightened with gold, indicate a Ferrarese affected by the lessons of Umbrian teachers. 1 There is copious evidence in cotemporary records that Bono was paid by the dukes of Ferrara to decorate their castles at Migliaro and Belfiore during the years 1450 to 1452. 2 We are led to think that he was in the service of the superintendents of the cathedral at Sienna in 1461 ; 3 but there is no vestige of his works in any of these places. It is not doubtful that a pupil of Pisano, capable of paint- ing the S l Jerom of the National Gallery might, at a later period, and especially under the control of another master, produce the S l Christopher of Padua. The stamp of that manner is impressed on a nativity with a false inscription in the gallery of Dresden ; 4 and two or three pieces com- mingling Ferrarese with Mantegnesque peculiarities in London, 5 Ferrara 6 and Munich; 7 and it might be that his fourth or fifth-rate powers were employed in the decoration of the Schifanoia palace at Ferrara. 1 London, National Gallery, No. 771, previously in the Costabili collection at Ferrara, afterwards belonging' to Sir Ch.Eastlake, panel, tempera, If. 8 h. by If. 3, inscr.: "Bonus Ferariensis Pisani discipu- lus." The saint wears a yellow cap, and holds a scapular. His face is wild, like that of S l Anthony in a Pisa no of the National Gallery. 2 We are indebted to the Mar- quis Carnpori for notices of the fact that Bono in 1450 painted the lodge of the palace del Migli- aro and chimneys in the house of the Castaldo of Casaglia near Ferrara. In 1451 he painted in the palace of Migliaro; in 1452 a studio, probably at Belfiore. 3 Vasari annot. notes to IV. 1». 175. 4 Dresden Mus. No. 11), nativity with the forged inscription: "An- tonius Florentinus MCCCXXXIII. 1 ' Note the inky shadows and raw contrasts of line in this picture. 5 London. Mr. Layard, pre- viously in the Costabili collection, Ecce Homo. The Saviour sits under an arch, through which a landscape is seen. Though not free from scaling and abrasion, this piece can still be judged of. The forms are dry and bony, and not unlike those of Galasso Galassi, the colour dim and raw, and the landscape Mantegnesque in its minuteness. 6 Ferrara. An Ecce Homo like the last belongs to the Conte Massa at Ferrara and may be taken for a work of the same hand. The general tone here is dull brown, but enamelled and high in surface. A third specimen of the same kind in Casa Canonici at Ferrara represents the Saviour in white with the cord round his neck and the Magdalen at his feet. 7 Munich, Pinac. No. 549. Saale. Virgin and child between two bishops and two Franciscans, one 376 TPIE PADUANS. Chap. XIII. The pictorial creations of Pizzolo have altogether dis- appeared. Assuming that he is one person with Niccolo "depentor/ ? journeyman to Donatello, we learn from records that he did various bits of tinting and gilding for the Florentine in 1446, 1, 8. 1 We know further that he painted in the chapel of the Podesta an Eternal, 2 and that a house-front supposed to be by him existed at a recent date in Padua. 3 of them S l Anthony of Padua with the lily. This picture is called Man- tegna, chiefly because the abbre- viation of the word Maria on a pilaster has been read as a mono- gram of Andrea Mantegna. The forms are angular and dry, the flesh of a dull brown, the general tint of the picture dark and glowing, perhaps on account of varnishes, the dresses are in strong primary contrasts. The style is a mixture of that of Ga- lasso and Tura, and recalls that of the foregoing examples. We may therefore class this piece under the name of Bono. 1 Gonzati Basilica, I. Doc. 81. 2 Vasari V. 162, and Anon. 28. 3 Moschini Vicende, p. 60. This front was inscribed; "Opus Nico- letti." Chap. XIV. MANTEGNA LEAVES PADUA. 377 CHAPTER XIV. MANTEGNA AT MANTUA. Towards the close of the year 1456, Mantegna was visited on several occasions by an agent of the Marquis Lodovico Gonzaga, who sounded him as to his willingness to leave Padua and take service at Mantua. The terms offered to him were most tempting — fifteen ducats a month ; lodging, corn and fuel, and the expenses of the journey. For a time he hesitated. His friends wished to keep him at Padua, 1 but the brilliant prospect of a residence at court, the flattering tone in which the Mantuan agents spoke, made a deep impression on his mind; and in January of 1457 he had gone so far as to declare that he would entertain the idea of coming, though bound before doing so to complete an order from the protonotary of Verona. 2 During the whole of 1457 the painter was in no condition to move; he had no doubt much work on hand and a list of unfulfilled promises to settle; but Lodovico did not lose sight of his object, and at last succeeded in inducing Mantegna to fix a date for the transfer of his family 1 "Non obstante le molti per- suazione claltri in contrario deli- berai totaliter venire a servire la vostra Exc." Mantegna to Lodo- vico Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, May 13. 1478. Baschet, A. Do- cuments sur Mantegna. Gazette des Beaux Arts, 8° Paris, I860, vol. XX. p. 338. The same in Italian with variations under the title of Ricerche. 8°. Mantova. 47 pages, 1866, p. 38. 2 Lodovico Gonzaga to Andrea Mantegna. Mantua, Jan. 5, 1457. Gazette des Beaux Arts, ub. sup. Vol. XX. p. 322; Kicerche p. 18. 378 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. and workshop to Mantua. It was arranged that the commissions of the protonotary of Verona and others should be attended to during the summer and autumn of 1458, 1 that three months should be given for the despatch of private affairs, and that the Mantuan service should begin at the opening of 1459. 2 A letter in the Marquis's own hand expressed his extreme pleasure at this prospect of a settlement. The summer and autumn had gone, and winter was partly spent, yet no signs of Mantegna's coming were observed*, the Duke wrote in December to remind him of his promise. 3 Mantegna asked for eight weeks more to finish the work of the protonotary. When this was granted, the podesta of Padua begged the Marquis for still more time, that Mantegna might finish a u little piece" for him. With great courtesy the Marquis acceded to the podesta's desire, but in April Mantegna was still at Padua, thinking less of moving than ever. 4 It was of no avail that the Marquis, in May, sent twenty ducats by a trusty messenger for a boat to take the painter to Mantua; 5 the old excuse was constantly repeated, the protonotary's altarpiece was incomplete. Lodovico now wrote to the latter to ask him whether he would not allow his picture to be finished at Mantua, and informed Mantegna that he had taken this step ; 6 but the protonotary was far too wary to consent to this arrangement, and insisted on the despatch of the panels to Verona, subsequent to which it was suggested, Andrea might be spared to visit Mantua for a day. 7 1 To this time we may assign the missing 1 portraits of Galeotto Marzio of Narni and Gian Pan- nonio. See Gian Pan. Poemata, 1784, cit. Selv. Com. Vas. V. 213 and 237, and Anon. 144. 2 Lodovico Gonzaga to Andrea Mantegna, Mantna, April 15, 1458. (Gaz. des B. A. 323.) 3 Same to same. Mantua, Dec. 26, 1458. (Gaz. des B. A. 325.) 4 Same to the same. Mantua, Feb. 2, 1459, and March 14, 1459. (Gaz. des B. A. 325—6.) 5 Same to same. Mantua, May 4, 1459. (Gaz. des B. A. 327.) 6 Same to same. Mantua, June 28, 146*). (Gaz. des B. A. 327.) 7 Same to same, undated. (Ib. ib.) Chap. XIV. MANTEGNA'S WORKS AT VERONA. 379. That Mantegna soon after left Padua to visit Verona is probable. How long he remained there is uncertain. His employer, Gregorio Corraro, was a dependent of Eugenius IV. and nephew to Cardinal Anthony of the old family of Correr, appointed abbot in commendam of San Zeno at Verona, and apostolic protonotary in 1443. For the adornment of the abbey-church, he caused a new altar to be erected in the choir, and ordered the altarpiece at Padua. 1 If we consult historians, they tell us that Mantegna adorned the fronts of several houses at Verona and finished a couple of pictures besides, and it has generally been assumed that his stay there was a lengthened one. Under these circumstances it is impor- tant to note that the madonna of San Zeno is the only Veronese masterpiece of which we can prove the genuine- ness; and it was not executed at Verona. Had we not undoubted testimony of this, we should have guessed it from the style of the compositions themselves; 2 the side compartments recalling Andrea's beginnings at Padua, the predella, Donatello, and the martyrdom of S l James as well as the Virgin, productions of a later and still bolder phase. It is unfortunate that this noble collection should have been removed from the principal altar of 1 Verona, San Zeno. "La Pala nella cappella maggiore in Coro e in tre partimenti . . . opere bellis- sime del Mantegna. Oltre Taltare la detta pala fu fatta a spese di Gregorio Corraro abate comenda- tore eletto da Eugenio IV. l'anno 1443. Le sedi del Coro furono fatte da' suoi eredi in virtu del suo testamento." (Ricreazione pit- torica ossia notiz. univ. delle Pitt. &a di Verona. 12°. Verona, 1720, p. 179—180.) That Gregorio Cor- raro was protonotary we learn from Giovanni de 1 Agostini (No- tizie delle opere degli serittori Ve- neti), in which there are notices of Progne, a tragedy and other li- terary prolusions by this author, who died patriarch at Venice in 1461. 2 Vasari (V. 165— G) states that Mantegna painted a picture "for the altar of San Cristofano and Antonio," but in what church he omits to say. He also "painted the altarpiece at Santa Maria in Organis" (V. 166), but the only altarpiece there in a style ad- proaching that of Mantegna is that of the Bonalini chapel, described by Vasari himself (IX. 211) as by Girolamo dai Libri. We must therefore suppose, that Vas. assigns the same picture to two artists, or assume that the Mantegna is missing. 380 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. San Zeno and hung at a great height in the choir; a mischance that the predellas should be scattered in the museums of Paris and of Tours, but we are content to know that they all exist and are well preserved. Of the subject there is nothing to say but that it is the Virgin and child, of life-size, amidst angels, attended by eight saints in a classic portico, with festoons of fruit overhang- ing the square pillars of the court and the marble throne in which the Virgin sits. Six parts forming one com- plex, seem to have been finished at distinct intervals. To the left S* Peter stands with the book in his hand, S l Paul at his side, leaning on a two-handed sword; beyond them the young S l John Evangelist with a classic face and figure reading, and S* Augustin with mitre, psalter and crook of office; to the right S l John the Baptist also reading, heedless of the vicinity of S l Law- rence and S* Benedict; on the throne the Virgin in front of a marble bower, through the pillars of which the sky appears ; on the steps, amidst garlands by the side of the Virgin's chair, and about a wheel halo modelled after the rose in San Zeno, angels gambolling, singing and playing instruments; below, in the form of a predella, Christ on the mount, Christ crucified, and the ascension. If we confine our attention 'to the left side of the picture we notice a group of men remarkable for grandeur of proportions and sternness of mien, clad in sculptural draperies, but reminiscent in mask of the old and solemn impersonations of the mediaeval time. They alternately recall aged types, to which Bartolommeo Vivarini was partial, 1 or antique models with finely chiselled lineaments and articulations, familiar to the student of the Greek age. 2 There is less of flexibility and elasticity in move- ment, less rotundity in modelling than we are accustomed to in Mantegna's expanded style. The period of execu- 1 This especially in S l Peter and I 2 Ex gr. in the S l John Evan- S l Paul. I gelist. Chap. XIV. MANTEGNA'S WORKS AT VERONA. 381 tion may have been that in which the "call to the apostle- ship " was completed at the Eremitani. Turning to the right, we have a S l Benedict, like that of the Brera, 4 S l Lawrence with a head that might he taken for a youthful pagan hero carved by Donatello, a mitred saint that seems to have issued from a relief by Ghiberti, a S l John of grim wildness. In each personage a line individuality 5 in each figure studied action and correct shape of limb, of muscle and extremity; drapery of searching finish in the fold, yet of statuesque grandeur in cast. In treatment and colouring we see the hand of the fresco-painter, a thin distemper of an iron tinge in flesh, shadowed with grey, lights and darks worked in over a ground surface of neutral red, a vehicle of subtle texture sufficiently resinous to hold, not too viscous to project; absence of half-tone, severe correctness of defini- tion in balanced mass of chiaroscuro, occasional sharpness in the peach on a lip, and a warm metallic hue in re- flections. All this points to the time when Mantegna composed the S l James proceeding to martyrdom at the Eremitani. Some of the angels singing about the Virgin seem quite Florentine in air, others have the full-blown mask and rotund cheeks and eyes imitated by the in- discriminate dependence of Caroto and Liberale; the Virgin herself supports the child erect on her lap, and has an undulating movement and free action, revealing a still later phase in the development of Andrea's manner. Highly characteristic in every part is the introduction of medallions in the pillars of the court and in those of the throne. Here is an emperor crowning some favorite, a group of legionaries on foot and horseback, a Minerva ; then; a female on a dolphin, a duel, or a colossus like that of Montecavallo. In the predella of the crucifixion now at the Louvre nothing can exceed the polish of the figures; nowhere except in the fresco of the Eremitani has Mantegna further pushed the boldness of foreshorten- ing. His art in balancing the groups is great. On one side grief and lamentation contrasted with the calm of 382 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. the Redeemer and repentant thief; on the other careless- ness and gambling, and the unrepentant thief in his agony; fine is the gang of dicers, grand the episode of the fainting Virgin, a wonderful mixture of the dramatic and sculptural, here and there grimace, from which Man- tegna is never free when he indicates pain; in the Sa- viour one of the finest nudes produced in central Italy since Jacopo Bellini's crucifixion; Donatellesque the writhing thief, equally so the repentant one, who seems modelled on the Marsyas of the Uffizi. 1 But whilst Mantegna was busy at this piece, he was also working in 1549 at a smaller one for Giacomo Marcello, podesta of Padua, 2 which in our opinion can be no other than the Christ on the mount in the collec- tion of Mr. Baring. Here the Saviour kneels on a rock before the angels that bring him the symbols of the passion; in the distance, Iscariot and his band hasten out of the town, which for this once is a view of Padua, with the city gate and the church of the Eremitani; and the apostles sleep calmly in the foreground. 3 At this source Giovanni Bellini first imbibed his fond- ness for the Mantegnesque; here he studied the sculp- tural in attitude and in drapery, and the realistic in expression, without reaching to the scientific level of his brother-in-law. No creation of Mantegna shows more 1 Verona, San Zeno. As to the condition of this piece, we shall mark a bit scaled out in the dress of the S l John Evangelist and other little injuries of a similar kind; and, besides, a disagreeable lustre produced by varnishes, and a certain dullness of tone caused by age. The figures in the body of the principal pictures are life- size; the predellas, of which one is No. 249 at the Louvre, the others (not seen) in the museum of Tours, m. 0'G7 h. by 0*93. When the altarpiece was taken to Paris in 1797, the predellas were sepa- rated from it, and were not re- turned at the peace. There are copies of them in San Zeno. In the predella at the Louvre the nimbuses are abraded and the sur- faces washed over with some brown preparation. The Marsyas alluded to in the text is an an- tique restored by Donatello. 2 See passim. 3 London. Baring collection, previously in the Fesch and Coningham Galleries, inscribed: "Opus Andreae Mantegna." Mark the round heads and protruding bellies of the angels. Chap. XIV. MANTEGNA AT VEKONA. 383 science in distribution and drawing, nowhere do we find a more startling contrast between imitation of the plastic in drapery and of nature in faces. An excessive, a coarse and vulgar realism are combined with the hardiest foreshortening in the sleeping apostles ; a brown transparence covers the surface, and the picture makes on the whole the impression of a potent bitter. That these and perhaps other masterpieces should all have been finished at Padua on the eve of Andrea's settlement at Mantua, might make us doubt that he ever stayed for any length of time at Verona, yet his influence in the Veronese school was great and lasting, and there are marks of his brush at least on one fresco, which might prove his stay there. We must remember, however, the proximity of Mantua to Verona; we must bear in mind that Goito, where Mantegna frequently resided, was a castle stronghold of the marquises and dukes of the Gonzaga family, from whence the painter might occa- sionally visit Verona, and where he could receive Vero- nese artists. The facade of a house near San Fermo, on which traces of frescos remain, is made to imitate stone panelling with round openings, a sentinel with lance and shield, an equestrian statue and fragments of heads, of children, and monsters. These fragments dis- play the style of Mantegna at the moment of his retirement from Padua, 1 but it is a solitary example, and other ornaments of the same kind on the fronts of houses and in Sant' Anastasia, as well as temperas in private collections at Verona, fail to convince us that they should be classed amongst the productions of his pencil. 2 1 Verona, San Fermo in Pesche- ria; parts of the front white- washed. 2 Verona, Casa Giolfino a Porta Borsari. Square spaces in the upper part of this house contain figures of soldiers on foot and horseback, and a fight of horsemen in monochrome. The colour is so abraded that the character of the work can hardly be distinguished ; but the painter may be Giolfino. Lower down on the same front is a Virgin and child and part of an angel, clearly by Giolfino. Verona, Piazza San Marco, No. 384 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. The paucity of Mantegna's productions at Verona might be favorable to an opinion, accepted by many, that he finally entered the service of the Gonzagas in 1460/ an opinion strongly confirmed by circumstantial evidence, though no positive testimony proves it. But in 1463 the painter began residing at Goito in the ser- vice of the Marquis Lodovico, and he complains, as artists always complained in these days, that he had had no pay for more than four months. 2 From shreds of a correspondence which now took place, we discover that Lodovico was making use of Mantegna's designs to decorate one of the rooms in the castle of Cavriana, and ordering panels for a chapel. The panels are men- tioned in a letter addressed by Mantegna to the Duke on the 26 th of April 1464 from Goito, and we can only regret that the records which throw light on this in- teresting period should not be accompanied by corre- 854. The frescos on this front are, as we shall see, by Falconetto. Verona, Casa Tedeschi, pre- viously San Bonifacio, near the chapel of Santa Maria della Scala. The paintings of this front are also by Falconetto. Verona, Sant' Anastasia, frescos above the altar of S l Vincent Ferrerio, assigned to Mantegna. These frescos may be by Fran- cesco Benaglio, Liberale, or Falco- netto. See postea. Verona, Casa Bernasconi, can- vas, tempera, with figures one-third of life, of Christ carrying his cross (busts). This, we shall see, is in the manner of Francesco Man- tegna. Same place, panel, tempera, with figures half life-size, of the Virgin and child full-length, in- scribed on the hem of the Virgin's dress: "Andrlias Matenia." This is a picture with a suspicious signature, and probably by one of the Benaglii. Same place, arched piece with figures all but life-size, of the beato Giustiniani and a mitred saint, kneeling. This dull toned production with its grey shadows seems a cross between Mantegna and B. Vivarini, and may be by Antonio da Pavia. 1 Certain notices gathered by Signor Giuseppe Arrivabene (MS.) state: "A letter of Albertino Pa- vesi, dated Oct. 11, 1460, shows that Mantegna was then lodging at the court of the Marquis" (Darco, Delle Arti di Mantova ub. sup. I. 26.), but a more tangible proof is Mantegna's letter to Lo- dovico Gonzaga, dated Mantua, May 13, 1478, in which he reminds his patron that he "has been nearly nineteen years at his service." (Gaz. des B. A. p. 338.) 2 Mantegna to Lodovico Gon- zaga, Dec. 28, 1463, from Goito. (Gaz. des B. A. 329.) The Marquis replied at once from Cavriana, sending him thirty ducats. (Ri- cerche ub. sup. 27.) Chap. XIV. MANTEGNA VISITS FLORENCE. 385 sponding notices of pictures. 1 Complete darkness indeed covers tins and the next two years, till we alight on a despatch in which Aldobrandini, the Marquis's agent ; writing from Florence in July 1466 ; tells Lodovico Gon- zaga that Mantegna has been there, conducting certain business with great credit to himself and honour to his master. 2 Looking round amongst Mantegna' s works at divers epochs, we are struck by a small triptych in the Uffizi at Florence, which might, we think, have been done at Goito in 1464. 3 This triptych once adorned a chapel belonging to the Gonzaga, and was sold to Antonio de' Medici, prince of Capistrano. The centre-panel repre- senting the adoration of the magi was a favorite of Mantegna, and he began an engraving of it; the sides are the circumcision and the resurrection. In the first the Virgin sits to the right in a choir of angels, attended by the aged Joseph, A kneeling king bends before her, having deposited a rich casket on a stone projection. In rear to the left are the two magi and their suite in a rocky landscape, and a glory of pretty cherubs fills the upper air. The masculine and sculptural character of the Virgin is attenuated by the pleasing form of the child; great animation and cunning perspective give life to the groups ; and a perfect harmony of tone imparts a general charm to the piece. There is on the whole 1 Mantegna to Lodovico Gon- zaga from Goito, March 7, 1464, speaks of designs for the four walls of a room in the castle of Cavriana; and Lodovico to Man- tegna, March 12, 1464, from Belgi- oioso in reply, and also Giovanni Cattaneo, overseer of Cavriana to Lodovico, Cavriana, March 12; further: Mantegna to Lodovico peleta." (Gaz. des B. A. ub. sup 329, 330.) 2 Giovanni Aldobrandini to Lo- dovico Gonzaga, Florence, July 5, 1466. (Darco Delle Arti di Mantova ub. sup. II. p. 12.) 3 Florence, Uffizi, No. 1111. That a picture answering the de- scription of this was in the chapel from Goito, April 26, 1464, saying | of the castle of Mantua in Vasa he will have done his work in a I ri's time, is known from his notice few days, and he talks of "post- of the fact. (V. 167, 8.) Small poning the varnishing' 1 of certain figures on panel, all in good pre- pictures on panel for the "cha- j servation. vol. i. 25 386 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. a curious mixture in this work of northern realism and Florentine plasticity. A grander composition and one more Italian in its lines is that of the circumcision, where the Virgin attended by the prophetess and a female of noble air holds the child in presence of Simeon beneath the arches of a temple; a boy kneels to the left with a plate in his hand 7 and S l Joseph, a tall appa- rition looking on, reminds us by his naturalism of the searching creations of Diirer. Bas-reliefs in the arched recesses re-echo the old traditions of scripture, and present to us the sacrifice of Abraham, and Moses breaking the tables of the law. The rising Christ in the resurrection is less perfect, and recalls the strained attitude and crumpled draperies peculiar to Crivelli, whilst the slender worshippers below are occasionally disfigured by coarse and vulgar masks. 1 Nothing can exceed the exquisiteness of these three pieces, in which the lights are frequently heightened with gold. Of the same or very nearly the same period is the Virgin and child with a pretty framing of angels in the Berlin Museum, in which we may detect the present which Mantegna once made to his friend Matteo Bosso, Abbot of Fiesole-, 2 and the noble presentation in the same collec- tion, a picture of antique simplicity in its types, grandly contrasting with the Socratic ugliness of those peculiar to Giovanni Bellini. 3 Perhaps, too, we see at Berlin the 1 This slenderness suggested to Selvatico (Vas. V. note to p. 108) that Pizzolo might have had a part in the work, and there is no doubt the style of drawing is very like that of the assumption in the semidome of the Eremitani chapel at Padua. 2 Berlin Museum, No. 27, wood, temp. 2f. G h. by 2f. 1%, from the Solly collection. This is an ill- preserved panel, the Virgin and child being both injured. The Virgin is graceful, holding the child on the parapet, on which a book lies. On the perpendicular face of the parapet is a coat of arms ; a festoon falls over from the upper angles; the composition is the same as that of Dr. Fu- saro's madonna at Padua (see passim), ground blue. The pic- ture answers Vasari\s description of a madonna at Fiesole. (V. 167.) That Matteo Bosso was abbot of Fiesole is stated in Poliziano. (De veris ac salutaribus animi gaudiis, Flor. 1491, ap. Com. Vas. note to V. 167.) 3 Berlin Mus. No. 29, canvas, Chap. XIV. MANTEGNA AT MANTUA. 387 likeness of Matteo Bosso, whose familiarity with Man tegna is proved in a letter preserved by Scardeone. 1 A masterpiece of this time is surely also the small and highly-finished S l George in armour at the academy of Venice, whose spare and well- proportioned body is capped by a classic head like that of S l Lawrence in the altarpiece of San Zeno. 2 Nor can we assign a later date to the martyrdom of S 1 Sebastian in the Belvedere of Vienna, where contortion and pain are rendered with the same fidelity as repose in the Venice example. 3 We might be tempted to assume that this beautiful little figure with its cold silver grey tones was undertaken by Andrea on his return from one of those expeditions in which inscriptions and antiques were sought for and discovered, the name being written perpendicularly in tempera, 2f. 2'/ 4 h. by 2*8%, from the Solly collection. The Virgin presents the child in swaddling- clothes to Simeon in presence of Joseph, the prophetess and another. This piece was once in the Bembo collection (Anon. 17), afterwards in that of the Gradenigo at Padua. (Giovanni de 1 Lazzara to Giovanni Maria Sasso. Padua, March 3, 1803, in Campori Lettere, 351, and notes to Vas. V. 190.) The Simeon is a noble type, grave and digni- fied as one of Leonardo's, the other figures are very select; great is the finish of every part, but the colour is very thin and has been darkened by repeated varnishes. 1 Berlin Mus. No. 9, wood, If. 5 high by P0 3 /,, tempera, bust, on green ground. This is also grey from time, but well rendered, not free from rigidity, sharp in con- trasts of light and shade. That Mantegna painted Bosso's por- trait is stated by Selvatico (Com. Vas. V. 190), who cites authori- ties. There is a replica of this portrait, less finished, perhaps, '■mm! embrowned by varnish. It i was till lately in London, having formed part of the Bromley col- lection. On the back of the can- vas are the words : " Ludov. patav. S. R. E. Tit. Slaurindam presb. card. Madiarot, archiep. Flor. et patr. Aquilei," which may be modern. We shall return to this gallery to state that No. 28, the dead Christ and two angels cannot be by Mantegna. (See postea in Bon- signori.) 5 Venice Acad. No. 273, wood, tempera, m. 0-GP/ 2 high by 0*32, formerly in the Manfrini Palace. The saint holds the stump of his lance, and the dragon is at his feet; distance a hilly landscape, seen through an opening from which a festoon depends. The shadows here are thin enough to show the underground, yet the colour has the lustre of enamel. 7 Vienna, Bclv. room 0, [tal. School, No. 46, wood, 2f. 1 high by 11 inches, inscribed: " To Egyov tov avdQSovy The colour is dry and spare, but harmonious, the con- tortion of the frame powerful, as in Michael Angclo's slaves at the Louvre; distance a landscape; the lights of the architecture touched in gold. 25* 388 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. Greek letters on the pillar of a round arch, while frag- ments of sculpture, two colossal heads, a foot, and two boys in marble lie on the parti -coloured floor. In December, 1466, Mantegna had settled down with his family in Mantua; with such resolution to reside there permanently that he borrowed a hundred ducats from the Marquis to enlarge and improve his lodging. 1 There during the winter months, and in summer at Bus- coldo, whither he retired during the heats to a purer and higher air, he attended to the orders of his patron, furnishing, as the fancy of Lodovico might dictate, pic- tures of a secular nature, portraits, or designs for arras. In June, 1468, he was busy with some subject of an unknown character, derived from a book to which mysterious allusions are made. 2 In July, 1469, he is asked for a turkey and turkey-cock for the Marquis's arras-makers, the originals to be found strutting in the gardens of Mantua. 3 In 1471, he finished two portraits which have been identified with more haste than judg- ment with those in the Hamilton collection near Glasgow. 4 From that time till 1474 we may suppose him absorbed in the execution of the wall-distempers of the camera de' Sposi, in the castle of Mantua. As a painter, we ob- serve, his life is obscure; as a man he is revealed to us with great clearness in the correspondence of these and subsequent years. With some regret we perceive 1 Mantegna to Lodovico, Mantua, Dec. 2, 1466, in Baschet (Gaz. des B. A. 331), but note that in the text the date of this letter is given as the second, and in the copy of the letter itself as the eleventh of December. 2 Mantegna to Lodovico, June 28, 1468. (Gaz. des B. A. 332.) 3 Lodovico to Mantegna, July 11, 1468. (Ib. 333.) 4 Same to same (ib. ib.). The two portraits at the Duke of Hamilton's are those which were sold in 1666 at the lottery of the Kenier collection. They are, it is said, life-size busts of Lodovico Gonzaga, and Barbara of Branden- burg. In their present condition they certainly have not the appear- ance of pictures by Andrea Man- tegna. They are in oil, in the style of Francesco or Lodovico Mantegna. See Sansovino. (Ven. Des. 378, and Anon. Morelli's notes, p. 145.) Cuap. XIV. MANTEGNA AT MANTUA. 889 that he never succeeds in living quietly with his neigh- bours ; and after quarrelling with them he involves the Marquis in the dispute, and loudly calls for justice. Of this there are two curious instances in 1468 and in 1475. On the first occasion he makes enemies of a gardener and his wife living near his town-lodging in the via Praclella, and he never walks out with or without his wife but he is pursued by this enraged couple, who ex- haust the vocabulary of abuse against him. In communi- cating this to the Marquis, Mantegna goes so far as to say that but for his respect to his Excellency he would be led to commit some folly. 1 On the second occasion Mantegna charged Francesco Aliprandi with stealing five hundred quinces from his garden at Buscoldo, which gave the accused an opportunity of writing to the Marquis deny- ing the theft and upbraiding Mantegna for bad language. "Besides/' adds this incensed individual, with whom Andrea was engaged in an action for trespass, "there is not a single person in the vicinity with whom he agrees; he is at law with Zohan Donato de' Preti, with Gaspar of Gonzaga, with Antonio of Crema, with the arch-priest of San Jacomo, with Messer Benevoglia." 2 It is pleasant to turn from these bickerings, which exhibit Mantegna in no amiable light, to an episode of another kind. One of the Marquis's sons, the cardinal Francesco Gonzaga, was a collector of gems and antiques, and a passionate admirer of music; he writes from Foligno on the 18 th of July, 1472, telling his father that he is going to the baths and intends to stop two days in the beginning of August at Bologna. There he begs 1 Mantegna to Loclovico, July 27, 1468, and Lodovico to Carlo Agnelli, and to the Vice-Podesta of Mantua (exc. in Gaz. d. B. A. 333). The gardener and his wife were effectually stopped from fur- ther objurgations. 2 Mantegna to Lodovico, 30 th June, 1474. Lodov. to Mantegna, July 2, 1474. Mantegna to Lod. Sept. 22 and 29, 1475; and Fran- cesco Aliprandi to Lodovico, Sept. 27, 1475. The end of this quarrel was that Mantegna could not I prove that Aliprandi had stolen his quinces. (Gaz. des B. A. 335, 0, 7.) 390 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. Mantegna may be sent to him with the player Mala- giste, that he may show the first his collection of cameos, bronzes, and antiques, whilst the second dispels the tcdiousness of a watering-place by his singing and play- ing. Lodovico did not hesitate for a moment to accede to this request, and Mantegna started at a short notice for Bologna, returning a fortnight after with the cardinal to Mantua. 1 It was not long after this that the Mar- quis displayed his benevolence by exempting Mantegna' s property from the land-tax. 2 When we read the story of the sack of Mantua by the imperialists in 1630, we find it natural enough that treasures of art should have become rare in that miser- able city. It was hardly possible that three days of plunder, preceded by a siege of three months and a capture by storm, should leave a single monument in its original state. We are, therefore, almost agree- ably surprised to find that an entire chamber facing the Lago di Mezzo in the old castello, and a second one looking out on the Piazza del Pallone, called the Schal- cheria > should contain frescos by Mantegna. By a lucky chance it happens that the first of these rooms is fairly preserved, and that the frescos are authenticated by a signature. The name by which the place was known is, according to Ridolfi, " Camera degli Sposi," though in its configuration and arrangement resembling a dining- hall. The northern side is most completely filled with paintings; above the door leading to the suite of ducal apartments now occupied by the Mantuan records, a flight of winged angels in a landscape supports a tablet with an inscription alluding to the Marquis Lodovico, his wife Barbara and Mantegna, and dated 1474. To 1 Cardinal F. Gonzaga to Lodo- vico, Foligno, July 18, 1472. L6- dov. to Mantegna, July 1472, from the country-seat of Gonzaga (Gaz. d. B. A. 334—5. 2 Parco, Arti di Mantua, II. 13. The property of Buscoldo was ex- empted in Nov. 20, 1472. In 1474 another property at Goito was ex- empted from "dazio e Gabella" likewise. (Ib. ib.) North Italy. Vol. I. p. 391. THE MARQUIS OF GONZAGA AND HIS FAMILY; a fresco in toe Castello of Mantua, by Andrea Mantegna. Chap. XIV. MANTEGNA AT MANTUA. 391 the left of the door a groom holds the Marquis's charger, and servants a brood of large white hounds in leashes. To the right the Marquis, accompanied by his children, meets his son the boy cardinal, Francesco Gonzaga, near Home; the followers of both being arranged in a formal, but not ill-conceived group. On the western face a shield is supported by four children. 1 The northern wall is bare. On the eastern above the chimney, Lodovico, in an arm-chair, receives a message from his chamberlain in a garden decorated with a classic temple. He is sur- rounded by Barbara of Hohenzollern, her daughter and a female dwarf, and a suite of persons of both sexes. In a neighbouring compartment is a reception of guests on a staircase— all the figures over life-size. The ceiling of this 1 Mantua, Castello. The inscrip- tion, though repainted over an old surface corroded by time, is attested in its present form by one of the family of Lazzara, who thus rescued the original from oblivion ; and it is the more ne- cessary to bear this in mind be- cause Brandolese (Testimonialize intorno alia Patavinita di A. Man- tegna, Pad. 1805, p. 13) declares the date to have been 1784, in opposition to the testimony of Zani and many others. As it now stands the words are these: "111. Ludovico II. M. M. Principi optimo ac fide invictissimo, et ill. Barbae ejus conjugi mulierum glor. in- comparabili suus Andreas Man- tinia patavinus opus hoc tenue ad eoru~ decus absolvit anno MCCCCLXXIHI." This inscrip- tion does not exactly cover the previous one, the old ciphers being still visible beneath the new. There is room for more letters at the close; and the restorer has obviously not been content with retouching the date, but has altered its position. As to the treatment of the paintings, they have all the same air; the ceiling being, perhaps, looser and slovenlier than the rest, which may be owing to later additions. It had become neces- sary in 180G to restore the so- called camera de' Sposi with the aid of Francesco Mantegna. (Fran- sesco M. to the Marquis Francesco, Mantua, Oct. 2, 1506; Isabella, Marchioness of Mantua, to the Marq. Francesco, Sept. 24 and Oct. 20, 1506, in Gaye, Carteg. II. 00, Darco delle Arti, u. s. II. 68, 9.) This restoration by F. Mantegna is visible in the angels holding the tablets, of which large pieces are now wanting, but which were retouched in 1506, and in our day by Sabatelli. The heads of the two servants holding dogs near the door are modern and on a new piece of intonaco, but those of the groom and third keeper of the dogs are preserved, and treated like the foreshortened Christ in the Brera of Milan. In the reception at Rome, several parts, such as the Mar- quis's jacket, the cardinal's cap, and the dress of the boy taking his hand arc bleached while. It is in this fresco that we observe heads of the character of those by Piero della Francesca ; the hands, too, are small and slender. 392 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. apartment is curved and broken into groinings; in the sec- tions above the lunettes are scenes from the fables of Her- cules, of Orpheus, and Apollo, on gold ground; in those above the corbels medallions of emperors, eight in number. The centre imitates a circular opening looking out to the sky and protected by a parapet in perspective, at which laughing women stand and cupids sport; all this, unfortunately, in a very bad state of preservation. Nothing can exceed the finish and precision of the parts that have remained untouched by time or restoring. We admire the natural air and correct drawing of the ser- vant holding the charger; we count the hairs on the hounds in leash; we note the fidelity of portraiture in faces neither comely nor attractive; and wherever the hand of Mantegna is traceable, a bolder and freer system of wall-painting than that of Padua; colours of much body, dulled unhappily to a monotonous iron tone. 1 1 A large flaw and sealing have damaged the right side of the fresco representing the Marquis with his wife and family. A figure stooping over the Marquis's chair is all but obliterated, and both distance and foreground are much discoloured. To these causes and a general bleaching of the sur- faces we may attribute the com- parative hardness apparent here, for there is a raw iron tinge in the whole; and yet we observe freedom of hand united to a rougher contrast of light and shade, and less perfect perspective than usual. The outlines, too, are harder, anH the modelling worse than they ought to be. In the lunettes there never Avas any other ornament than shields of arms. Some of the coves above them no longer contain more than traces of the subjects that once adorned them. The subjects that are preserved are monochromes, of which we can still distinguish Hercules killing Antaeus, leading Cerberus, shooting his arrows, and fighting the lion; Orpheus play- ing; Apollo charming the monster ; rape of Dejanira, and others. Amongst the medallions of emper- ors, are those of Galba (hair new), Otho, Julius Caesar, Octavius (re- touched), and four others too in- jured to be distinguished. There are also monochromes on gold ground, in garland framings. Amongst the figures in the centre, we may note a boy-angel leaning against the parapet, and fore- shortened so as to show the soles of his feet; near him another looking over from the inner side, like that of Raphael in the Six- tine madonna (restored in 1506); near that again an angel fore- shortened holding an apple, and the head of another peeping through the open work ; a boy playing with a peacock, others presenting their back or looking through ; then a female with a comb, and two others looking down and laughing (re- stored), a basket projecting over the balcony (new), a female with a jewelled head-dress, and a ne- Chap. XIV. MANTEGNA AT MANTUA. 393 With every allowance for the necessities of the occa- sion; avc cannot consider this decoration attractive. The Marquis, his wife, their children, and the dwarfs — of which they kept a peculiar breed in lodgings built for the purpose — were the plainest people imaginable-, some of them downright ugly and deformed. The short jackets and tights, and the round caps of the period formed an awkward dress ; the scenes depicted were homely and uninteresting to all but those immediately concerned. It was, therefore, out of Mantegna's power to exhibit variety, or do more than enrich each episode with copious detail of landscape and architec- ture. In the ceiling he was free to use his fancy, and there he revels in some sort of gaiety, solving problems of perspective with great cleverness, and creating models of arrangement subsequently carried out by Melozzo and Peruzzi. There is a strong contrast between the gam- bols of naked children on the cornice hung with garlands 5 the laughing air of the inferior mortals — amongst them a negress — looking down from their altitude, and the starched appearance of the Gonzaga on the walls. Man- tegna indeed seems to feel some ease in doing this ; he plays with the difficulties of perspective, and betrays none of the anxious searching noticeable at Padua; he takes the light from the windows in the North and East faces, giving each part the projection it would have in real relief. The corbels and the ornaments which spring from them are tasteful, and the angels which support the tablets and medallions are in good and lithe action; the blue sky in the central opening cleverly broken gress. On the pilasters of the hall, monochrome arabesques on mosaic ground (repainted mostly in yellow). It has been assumed that the camera de 1 Sposi was still unfinished in 1484; and this on the strength of a letter of Feb. della Kovere, saying that Man- tegna cannot work for .him (the cardinal) being busy at a camera, for the finishing of which the Marquis is waiting. But this, no doubt, is some other camera than that of the Sposi. See the letter 1484, from Lodovico Gonzaga, ; in Darco. (Delle Arti. II. 194.) Bishop of Mantua, to the Cardinal 394 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. with white clouds. The artist is in the full swing of his art, though uncongenial in his hardness, and ill- favoured by the nature of his subject. It was not till ten years later, we think, that he painted in the Sehalcheria, where the central portion of the ceiling gives evidence of his presence ; 1 but, subsequent to that period, the rounds of emperors above the corbels and the hunts in the fourteen lunettes of this room were renewed by some one of the stamp of Costa or Caroto. If we seek to ascertain what other labours Mantegna undertook in his leisure hours, or at his country-house during the period subsequent to 1474, we should say he produced that wonderful figure of the dead Christ bewailed by the Marys which now adorns the Brera, having long adorned the palace of the Gonzaga, and once formed part of the collection of Cardinal Mazarin. It remained unsold in Andrea's possession till his death, and was disposed of in payment of his debts. It is a picture in which Mantegna's grandest style is impressed, fore- shortened with disagreeable boldness, but with sur- prising truth, studied from nature, and imitating light, shade, and reflection with a carefulness and persever- ance only equalled by Leonardo and Diirer; displaying at the same time an excess of tragic realism, and a painful unattractiveness in the faces of the Marys. 2 1 The centre figures of a man and child holding 1 arrows seem Mantegnesque; and we have the evidence of Eaffael Toscano that Mantegna painted here. (Darco, delle Arti. II. G9.) There is also notice of a frieze by our artist in a hall near the Archivio Se- creto (ib. ib. citing Codde'), and of portraits of the emperor Frede- rick III. and the King of Dacia in a camera of the castello. (Ib. ib. cit. Marco Equicola.) 2 Milan, Brera, No. 225, wood, tempera, m. 0*66 h. by 0'8 1. The flesh is reddish and shadowed with a dull grey, and looks almost like a monochrome. The hands are contracted, the belly fallen in, the forms of the legs and knees marked through the white cloth covering them; almost re- pulsive is the detail of the wounds in the feet and hands. The tem- pera is in part faded and abraded, ex. gr. in the shadow of the white sheet. To this picture Lodovico alludes in a letter to the Marquis Francesco, dated Oct. 1506 (Darco, delle Arti. II. 70), and in a second from the same to Isabella in Nov. 1507 (Gaye, III. 564). It was taken possession of by the Bishop of Mantua, and was carried off v Chap. XIV. MANTEGNA AT MANTUA. 895 We might suppose Mantegna to have finished also the two monochromes in the gallery of the Duke of Hamil- ton near Glasgow ; one of them representing a female carrying a basin, the other a female looking up and drinking, 1 and the death of the Virgin at the Madrid Museum, in which the apostles surround the bed of Mary, and perform the funeral service in a colonnade looking out upon the lake and city of Mantua. 2 The Marquis' gift to Mantegna of a piece of land in 1476 enabled him to lay the foundations of a villa, and to launch into a current of extraordinary expen- diture. Being extremely vain and possessed of the belief that no Italian prince enjoyed the services of a painter like him, 3 Mantegna Avished to make a dis- play of his importance by raising an edifice remarkable for its decorative beauty, yet at the time when he most brooded over this design he was in debt to a consider- able amount, and persecuted by the original owners of his property at Buscoldo, who had never" been paid. The Marquis, it is true, had frequently promised to satisfy this demand; he had even consented to help Man- tegna to the settlement of his affairs, and to the building of his house; 4 but the promises of a military chieftain from the Gonzaga Palace in 1G30. It was in Cardinal Mazarin's palace at Koine in 1G96 (Felibien Entre- tiens, Paris, 1G9G, II. 168), bought by Giuseppe Bossi at the begin- ning of this century and taken to Milan. 1 Duke of Hamilton, Glasgow. These are two very grand per- formances of classic air, highly finished and heightened with gold) yet broadly carried out; they re- call the allegories of the castello. 2 Madrid Museum, No. 887, and formerly in the collection of Charles I. (see Virtue's catalogue), wood, If. 9 by If. 4'/ 2 - Here some of the types recall those of the Ercmitani. This is one of three small panels by Mantegna, once in the Mantuan collection, and subse- quently purchased by Daniel Nys for Charles I. ; the two others re- presenting the Virgin and child between six saints, with incidents from the lives of S ts Christopher, George, Francis, Jerom and Do- minick in the distance, wood, If. 9 by If. 5, and the adulteress taken before Christ, half-lengths, If. 9V 2 by 2f. 4 are missing. 3 Mantegna to Lodovico, May 13, 1478. (Gaz. d. 15. A. 338.) 4 The house still exists, and bears the following inscription: " Super f undo a Do. L. Prin. op. dono dato, An. C. 147G, And. Mantinea haec fecit fundamcnta, XV Kal. Novembris." It was still 396 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. in these days were usually dependent on his successes, and Lodovico at the close of his reign was habitually needy. Mantegna, who was not a man to take a serene view of matters in general, in a querulous mood one day in 1478, penned a long letter of complaint to Lodovico reminding him of the assurances made nineteen years before, recalling his claim to eight hundred ducats for the property of Buscoldo, his expectations of help to liquidate charges amounting to six hundred ducats more, and his well-founded hopes of assistance in the erection of his villa, winding up with the assertion that though aged and burdened with boys and girls in a marriage- able state he was now in worse circumstances than when he first came to Mantua. 1 Lodovico was disposed to be angry with this missive, but he did not hesitate to reply, admitting with soldier-like frankness that he had not done all that he intended, but urging that he had done as much as he could considering the poor condition of his finances, and concluding with asseverating that though his own income was diminished by the increase of arrears and the pawning of his jewelry, he would pay all that he had given his word for. 2 Less than a month after this Lodovico Gonzaga ex- pired at Goito, leaving his marquisate and its encum- brances to his son Federico. 3 With the opening of the new reign Mantegna 1 s hopes of improving his fortune rose, and it is to the honour of the Marquis that he fulfilled all the engagements of his father, confirming the painter in the freehold of the land formerly given to him at Goito and Mantua, and burdening his exchequer with the sums due for the property of Buscoldo. 4 unfinished in 1494. (Darco, delle Arti, u. s. II. 31). Ridolfi tells us the house was covered with paint- ings, which the imperialists de- stroyed at the sack of Mantua. (Marav. I. 115.) 1 Mantegna to Lodovico, May 8, 1478, u. s. 2 Lodovico to Mantegna, May 15, 1478. (Gaz. d. B. A. 339.) 3 See Barbara of Brandenburg to Federico Gonzaga, June 12, 1478. (Basch, Gaz. d. B. A., u. s. 339.) 4 Both records dated June and August, 1481, are in Darco (delle Arti, &c. u. s. II. 15, 16). Chap. XIV. MANTEGNA AT MANTUA. 397 Mantegna had thus reason to be convinced of the favour of Federico, the tone of whose letters, when con- doling with him on his bad health, or treating of the pictorial works in the palaces of Gonzaga and Marmirolo, was always condescending-, 1 and he was kept in good humour by acknowledgments of his talent from some of the most influential families of Italy. From the Duchess of Milan came a note in 1480, requiring that he should paint her portrait from a likeness, but our artist was by no means flattered with the commission, and Federico replied in June communicating his refusal, and observing that "these excellent masters were so capricious, we must be content to get from them what they were willing to give." 2 In February, 1483, Lorenzo de' Medici, passing through Mantua on his return from Venice, was induced to stop there and accompany the heir apparent, Francesco Gon- zaga, to the atelier of Mantegna; the Florentine prince was pleased to admire all that he saw there, the "heads in relief," and other antiquities which formed the ar- tist's cabinet. 3 Little less than a year after, Giovanni della Rovere, Governor of Rome, wrote to Lodovico Gonzaga, Bishop of Mantua, and brother of the Mar- quis Federico, asking him to use his interest with Mantegna to furnish a picture for him; but Lodovico replied that Andrea had no time to spare for such an undertaking, being pressed to finish for the sum- mer a camera in which the Marquis was anxious to 1 Federico to Mantegna, from Gonzaga, Oct. 16, 1478, inviting him. Thig is followed by Andrea's excuse, being sick, and a kind re- joinder of the Marquis regretting his illness, which may, he hopes, not prevent the furnishing of cer- tain designs. Federico to Giov. da Padua (Mantua, April 24, 1481) mentions the coming of Mantegna to Marmirolo to superintend works there. It is needless to say there are no paintings left cither at Gonzaga or Marmirolo. (See Gaz. d. B. A. 478—9.) 2 Francesco Gonzaga to Bona, Duchess of Milan, Mantua, June 20, 1480, (II). ib. 480.) and Selvat. Annot. Vas. V. 200. 9 Francesco Gonzaga to Federico, Feb. 23, 1483. (Gaz. des B. A. 480.). 398 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. reside. 1 Federico, it would seem, was in poor health, his correspondence being carried on chiefly by his bro- ther. He died before midsummer 1484 ; leaving the go- vernment in the hands of his son, Francesco the II nd . A more serious blow than the death of this prince could not have befallen Mantegna. He could scarcely conceal from himself that it would be vain to expect from a youth, as Francesco then was, the services which he might have derived from Federico and Lodovico; yet his necessities were such that he required assistance. We, therefore, see him at this time in considerable trepidation as to the means of keeping up his old style of living, and supplicating distant patrons for that which he had thought to find at Mantua. He addressed, amongst others, Lorenzo de' Medici, who had pro- bably given him commissions before, explaining the loss he had incurred by the successive deaths of the two marquises, the burden imposed on him by the furnishing of his new house, and the want of a subsidy. 2 In the 1 Lodovico Gonzaga to Giov. della Rovere, Feb. 25, 1484. (Darco, delle Arti, u. s. II. 194.) 2 1484, Mantua, Aug. 2G, A. Man- tegna to Lorenzo de 1 Medici (un- published) : — "Magnifico signore et benefac- tore mio singulare. (Da poi le debite recommandazione.) La vos- tra magnificencia e optimamente informata de lo amore mi era portato da K doi miei 111. Sign' la gratia de li quali mi pareva havere in tal forma vendicato che mi persuadevo de loro ogni bene in ogni mia opportunity. Per la qual eosa presi animo in volere fabricare una casa, la quale spe- ravo mediante le loro servigie, non havendo facolta da me, con- seguire lo optato mio desidcrio de fornirla. Mancommi la prima speranza non senza grande jac- tura; mi e mancata la seconda, la quale mi augumentava l'animo a major cosa; tante erano le di- mostrazione de la sua felice me- moria verso di me. II perche non dico ch 1 el mi para essere desti- tute per la perdita facta ho demesso alquanto de animo. Non obstante che la indole di questo novello signore mi fa pilgiare qualche restauratione, vedendolo tutto inclinato a le virtu; per mi bizogna far qualche pratica, la quale fin tanto non se perviene al fine, fa stare sempre Thomo, dubioso; et e causa ch'io pilgi reffugio dove son 1 eerto non mi sia essere denegato sussidio, al quale reputo per el piu vero quello de la vostra magnificentia, ben'che io habia fatto perdita di molti signori con li quali tenevo servitu et da loro non vulgara- mcnte amato mediante le sue humanita et lo adminiculo di Chap. XIV. MANTEGNA AT MANTUA. 399 meanwhile, however, his relations with the young Mar- quis took a pleasanter turn; distant protectors continued to crave his services, and pecuniary distresses were for a time forgotten. Amongst his first patrons at Padua, Mantegna once numbered the Duke Borso of Ferrara, whose portrait was ordered of him in 1459. 1 His connection with the Ferrarese court ceased when he accepted the Mantuan appointment, yet the memory of his talent outlived this temporary estrangement; and when the Marquis Francesco became intimate with the house of Este, and meditated marriage with Isabella, 2 the Duchess's desire to have a madonna from the painter s hand was eagerly favoured. About 1485 this piece was finished and delivered, 3 and we may identify it with the beau- tiful half-length of that subject which adorned the col- lection of the late Sir Charles Eastlake, or with the less pleasing example of the same kind belonging to qualche mia operetta. Onde ha- vendo indubitate speranza in la magnificencia vostra ricorro a quella, si volg'ia dignare per sua liberalita darmi qualche adiuto et accontentarsi volere participare in essa cosa, prometendoli fame tal rhemoria, cite in me non sara mai imposto macule de ingratitu- dine : et questo mio fiduciale scri- vere non lo imputo a me ma a la vostra magnificentia la quale per la sua benig'nita e sempre solita far bene non tanto a quelli sonno suoi dediti, ma chi ella non vi Andreas Mantinia, V. "ad. magnifico et generoso viro domino Laurentio de medicis ma- jori honorando Florentie." Fav d by G. Milanesi. 1 In the account-books of the Ferrarese court there is an entry, dated 1459, of payment for a panel bought by Duke Borso to be painted by "Andrea of Padua," with Borso's likeness on one side and that of the favourite Folco da Yillafuora on the other. This is the only allusion to Mantegna as yet discovered by the Marquis ( lampori in the Ferrarese household records. 2 Francesco was twelve years old, and Isabella nine when they were betrothed in 1 l$0. Schi- venoglia in Darco. (Delle Arti. II. 23.) 3 Francesco Gonzaga to Man- tegna, Nov. G and 14, and Dec. 12 and 15, 1485, from Goito. (Gaz. B. A. p. 481.) 400 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. Mr. Reiset in Paris. 1 Our preference for the former may be due to its better preservation; but, apart from this, its character is more nearly assignable to Man- tegna's best period; and it is rare to find in his works so much comeliness and feeling allied to grand form, broad modelling, and brilliant tone. The infant erect on the Virgin's lap is completely naked, and throws his arm with charming flexibility round his mother's neck. The form is antique in its simplicity; there is great affection in the pressure of the Virgin's hands on hip and breast. The boy Baptist to the right points upward, and accompanies the gesture by an expressive glance; S l Anna above is grave and severe; S l Joseph to the left of Leonardesque regularity. 2 We can easily suppose this noble canvas to have been thrown off at the period when the triumphs were first begun. Between 1485 and 1488 we may assume that Mantegna devoted all his energies to this, the greatest — and for him evidently the most enticing — of his works. 3 He was only induced* to interrupt its completion in consequence of Francesco Gonzaga's wish that he should visit Rome. Inno- cent VIII. had about this time completed the erection of a chapel for his private use in the Vatican, and asked Francesco Gonzaga to let Mantegna adorn it. This request Francesco did not think it politic to refuse, and he accordingly sent the painter with a knighthood and a flattering letter of introduction to the pope in mid- summer of 1488. 4 During the two years which followed, Mantegna laboured with little intermision at the frescos 1 Paris, Mr. Reiset. Virgin, child, and three figures, a female and two males, inscribed: "Andreas Manten;" very carefully executed on canvas, but injured. 2 London, collection of the late Sir C. Eastlake, canvas, If. 8 h. by 2f. 4'/ 4 . This may also be the picture noticed by Ridolfi as be- longing in his days to Bernardo Giunti. (Marav. I. 116.) It is slightly changed in tint by var- nishes, and there is a slight re- touching in the S l John. 3 See postea in a letter from Rome, where he speaks of the triumphs being incomplete. 4 Francesco Gonzaga to Inno- cent VIII. June 10, 1488. Gaye, Cart. III. 561; Darco, Delle Arti, II. 19. Chap. XIV. MANTEGNA AT ROME. 401 entrusted to him, composing a baptism of Christ and other subjects, and leading the while a life of privation rather than of pleasure. 1 Being frequently visited by the Pope at his labours, but little used to feel the effects of his generosity, he is said to have imagined an artifice for the purpose of insinuating that he wanted money. Having introduced into his monochromes a figure with- out any of the known attributes of the virtues, he forced Innocent to inquire what the meaning of it might be, and said it meant " discretion." The Pope rejoined: "Put her in good company, and add patience," a recommendation which Mantegna found it useful to follow. 2 But what he dared not tell the Pope directly he confided to the Marquis; and it is very amusing to catch from the tone and context of his letters a reflection of the intercourse between both. Mantegna writes with the full confidence of one ac- customed to gracious treatment. On the 31 st of January, 1489, he declares that his Holiness only gives board- ing-expenses; were he not assured indeed that by his diligence he is duly serving the interests of his Lord, he would prefer being at home, for there is a great difference between the habits and customs of the Vatican and those of Mantua. He begs the Marquis to send, if but a line, to one who calls himself a child of the house of Gonzaga; asks him to see that his triumphs are not spoiled by rain coming in at the windows, for he is proud of having painted them and hopes to paint others; he recommends the brigata, — his family at Mantua — concluding with a wish for a benefice for Lodovico. 3 To this Francesco vouchsafes a friendly 1 Berlin Museum, No. 21. To this period is assigned a Judith with the head of Holofernes in the Berlin Museum. This panel, a tempera, dated 1489 (not 1488, as the catalogue erroneously states), is by a scholar of Ghirlandaio. VOL. I. 2 Vas. V. 172, IX. 258. Ridolfi, Marav. I. 114. 3 Mantegna to Francesco Gon- zaga, Rome, Jan. 31, 1489, Bot- tari, Raccolta u. s. VIII. 27, Darco, Delle Arti, II. 20. 26 402 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. though not over-warm answer at the close of February, urging him to more speed in the chapel ; in order that the beautiful triumphs may be completed, con- cluding with a vague wish that a place may be found for Lodovico and with a curt assurance of service. 1 In June again Mantegna despatches an epistle saying that he has tried to do honour to his Lord by ex- erting himself to the utmost in his professional duties; he is in favour with his Holiness and the whole court; he alludes again to the matter of the benefice, and to the frescos at the Belvedere, which he de- scribes as no small matter for a man without help, anxious to do his best and win the prize; enters into a description of the Sultan's brother, a prisoner at that time in the Vatican, of whom he promises to send a drawing, and ends with a hope that his Excellency will not consider him too facetious. 2 On this occasion Francesco made no instant reply, but in December he wrote to Mantegna and the Pope simultaneously, requesting that the painter might return in time for the festival of his marriage with Isabella d'Este. 3 Mantegna, however, was ill in bed when the courier came, and declined to move — a resolution in which he was encouraged by the Pope, who meanwhile reported to the Marquis confirming the statement of Andrea's sickness. 4 In the following month, while Francesco was going through the solemnities of his wedding, the Bel- vedere chapel, so shamefully sacrificed at a subsequent time by Pius VI., was finished, and a madonna produced for Francesco de' Medici. 5 1 Francesco Gonzaga to Man- tegna, Mantua, Feb. 23, 1489, Bot- tari, VIII. 27; Darco, II. 20. 2 Andrea M. to F. Gonzaga, Rome, June 15, 1489; Darco, II. 21—22. 3 F. Gonzaga to A. M., Mantua, Dec. 16, 1489, and same to Pope Innocent VIII., same date in Darco, II. 22—3. 4 A. M. to F. Gonzaga, Jan. 1, 1490, and Innocent VIII. to F. Gonzaga of same date, Darco, II. 23, 24. 5 Vasari, V. 172, 3. and annot. ibid. Chap. XIV. MANTEGNA AT ROME. 403 If we had any doubt that Mantegna at this period was in the fullest expanse of his talent, we should be convinced of it by this beautiful little canvas, which we still admire in the gallery of the Uffizi ; 1 it is sur- prising that Andrea should have compelled his usually hard and rugged pencil to so much softness. The Vir- gin sits on a stone supporting the sleeping infant upon her knee, her glance downcast, tender, and mournful; she seems to hush the half-dying and flexible child into* slumber; about her a fine cast of sculptural drapery; behind, a ragged shred of rock tunnelled by quarrymen; a road with shepherds and their flocks, a distant hill and a castle — for Mantegna's stern habits a wonderfully tender performance. Of the same phase, if not done at Rome and at this time, is the "Man of Sorrows," enthroned with angels in the gallery of Copenhagen; a splendid exhibition of skill in the reproduction of nude and accessorial detail, but too realistic to produce abso- lute pleasure. 2 We are accustomed to grimace in Man- tegna's rendering of grief, and grimace is not wanting in this instance; yet the expression is striking for its power, and we know of no picture of the master in which form is given with more purity, drapery with more studied art, and chiaroscuro with more Leonardes- que perfection. With the summer of 1490 Mantegna's stay at Rome 1 Uffizi, No. 1025, small figures on canvas, fairly preserved. 2 Copenhagen Museum, No. 45, wood, tempera, If. 6 3 / 4 br. by 2f. C/g- This picture was formerly in the collection of Cardinal Va- lenti, secretary of state under Be- nedict XIV. at Rome. The Saviour is on his throne, showing the stigmata, two angels behind him holding the corners of his winding sheet. To the left Jerusalem at sunset, to the right Golgotha, and at different planes in a highly finished distance a variety of in- cidents. On the ground to the right the words in gold letters: "Andreas Mantinea." The colour here was no doubt once very clear and transparent, but the picture has been abraded, and is injured especially in the right arm of the Saviour, the wings of the angels and the sky. The flesh is warmly tinged and relieved with cool sha- dows, the Saviour's head large for the frame. 26* 404 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. came to an end, and the Pope dismissed him with "valet" and a handsome note of acknowledgment to the Marquis of Mantua. 1 From the close of September to the opening of the next year, and during the whole of 1491, the painting of the triumphs was resumed at Mantua, 2 and when the Marquis rewarded his artist, in February of 1492, with a fresh gift of land, he declared the present to be justified by the works of the castello and the triumphs of Caesar, then in course of comple- tion. 3 It has frequently been asked for what purpose these canvases were intended, and . various suggestions have been made at sight of them, as they hang irrepa- rably injured on the walls of Hampton Court Palace. The mystery is partly explained in a letter dated 1501 from Sigismund Cantelmo to the Duke of Ferrara. Cantelmo was a gentleman of the Ferrarese court who afterwards perished in the service of his lord. He was on a mission at Mantua at the opening of the 16 th century, and kept the Duke informed of the gossip as well as of the politics of tjie Gronzagas. He writes, on the 24 th of February, 1501, describing the perform- ance of the Adelphi of Terence, and comedies of Plautus in the castle of Mantua. 4 The theatre, he says, was a long rectangle figuring the interior of a classic dwelling- house with colonnades along the sides, the pillars faced with arabesque reliefs, simulated capitals and bases. 1 Innocent VIII. to Francesco Gonzaga, Rome, Sept. 6, 1490, in which Mantegna is entitled knight. Moschini, Vic. 43, and Darco, II, 24. 2 There is a splendid drawing by Mantegna at the Uffizi, dated 1491, from which it has been said that a picture of Judith with the head of Holofernes and a slave holding the sack, in the collection of the Earl of Pembroke is done. This is a mistake. The panel in question, 7 inches br. by 11 high (engraved, we believe, by Mocetto), is not taken from the drawing at the Uffizi, and is different from it. The treatment is oil, probably by a Fleming copying an engraving, and a Fleming, we should add, of the 16 th century. 3 Moschini, Vicende, p. 43. 4 Sigismund Cantelmo to the Duke of Ferrara, Mantua, Feb. 23, 1501. (Campori, Lettere ined. ub. sup. p. 3.) Vol. I. p. 4C4. 'ompartment from the TRIUMPH OF JDLIUS CfiSAR; a series of watercolour paintings by Andrea Mantegna, in tl~.e Gallery at Hampton Court North Italy. VOL I. p. 404 Compirtment from the TRIUMPH OF JULIUS C2ESAR ; a series of watercolour paintings by Andrea Mantegna in the Gallery at Hampton Court, Chap. XIV. MANTEGNA' S TRIUMPHS. 405 The space was divided diagonally into two equal parts ; one half being occupied by the stage, the other half filled with seats for the audience and for the orchestra. The stage was hung with golden tapestry and greenery; it was decorated on one face with six pictures of the triumphs of Caesar by Mantegna ; there was a grotto in the angle formed by the two sides of the building with a sky illuminated with stars, and a circle inclosing the signs of the Zodiac, about which the sun and moon revolved in their several orbits. Inside, too, was the wheel of fortune, the goddess herself on a dolphin; on the parapet of the stage, the triumphs of Petrarch, also by Mantegna; a pair of candelabra; and at the sides, the arms of the empire, of the Pope, the Emperor, the Duke Albert of Ger- many, and the Duke of Ferrara; above the whole a blue heaven, with the emblems peculiar to the season. We have every reason to believe that the triumphs of Petrarch alluded to in this letter were done by Francesco Man- tegna, in imitation of those of his father, and that they were finished at Marmirolo in 1491-2 ; x both together would form an appropriate decoration for a theatre, being on canvas and easily moved; but they can scar- cely have been intended for this express purpose, their paleness and finish of tone being calculated for the daylight of a palatial chamber rather than for the glare of lamps and candles. Under all circumstances, how- ever, they were such as to attract attention, and Mantegna might well be proud of his share in them. They were an embodiment of all that he had learnt and acquired from youth upwards; they illustrated his love of scien- tific perspective, his fondness for plastic examples, his deep and untiring study of the antique. 1 Bernardino Ghisulfo to Fran- cesco Gonzaga. Marmirolo, July 10, 1491. Francesco (? Mantegna or Bonsignori) and Tondo together are about to begin painting the triumphs on canvas, £ as Messer Mantegna has done, as they will thus be better and more durable. (Darco, II. 24 and Gaye, Carteg. II. 29.) The triumphs of Petrarch have perished. 406 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV- In a series of nine canvases of the finest texture, once divided by pilasters inlaid with martial ornament, we have a varied representation of the different parts of a Roman triumphal procession. First, come the heralds with a flourish of brazen horns, then the standard- bearers and attendants holding aloft the pictures of Caesar s victories; the cars, with their horses, drivers and leaders laden with the spoils of art and of war, statues, busts, catapults, helms, shields; these are fol- lowed by stretchers on men's shoulders heavy with the weight of vases, cups and bullion; on the heels of these again a band of trumpeters heralding the advance of tribute in kind, oxen, sheep and elephants bedecked with flowers; more soldiers staggering under loads of trophies, captives, males, females, and children, moving past the grated windows of the prison where their fellow- sufferers have perhaps been butchered ; then Caesar himself in chariot of state surrounded by officers raising high the busts of captured cities. In countless articles of common use in ancient times ; in the statues, shields, helms and breastplates forming the peculiar feature of these pictures, we think we see Mantegna copying the treasures of that rich collection which Lorenzo de' Medici and Francesco Gonzaga admired and envied, and exhausting the catalogue of antiquities discovered throughout Italy. His horses, kine and elephants are natural, his costumes accurate, to a sur- prising degree. He was the only artist of this period, not excepting the Florentines, who was pure and ac- curate in the attempt to reproduce the semblances of a bygone time; surpassing alike Botticelli and Piero della Francesca, and reducing the Siennese to pigmies. With a stern realism which was his virtue, he multiplied illustrations of the classic age in a severe and chastened style, balancing his composition with the known economy of the Greek relief, preserving the dignity of sculptural movement and gait, and the grave masks of the classic statuaries; modifying|them, though but slightly, with the Chap. XIV. MANTEGNA'S TRIUMPHS. 407 newer accent of Donatello. 1 His treatment was the re- verse of that which marked the frescos of Padua, more akin to that of the portraits in the castle of Mantua; he no longer drew with a black and incisive line, nor modelled with inky shadow, his contour is tenuous and fine, and remarkable for a graceful and easy flow; his clear lights shaded with grey, are blended with extraordinary delicacy: his colours are bright and variegated, yet thin and spare, and of such gauzy sub- 1 Hampton Court. N os 873 to 881. The triumphs are in such a condition that we do not inquire what parts are injured, but rather are there any bits uninjured: No. 873. Here we note, as in part preserved, the banner beneath the Roma Victrix, part of the yellow drapery of the trumpeter nearest the spectator, the buskin of the next figure to the right, the gold body-piece of the Ethio- pian, and part of the skirt and sleeve of the standing figure on the extreme right. No. 874. Part preserved: wheel and ornament of car to the left, blue jacket, and red scabbard of standing figure in centre of foreground, bust of Cybele (retouched); — on the tablet of the car to the right: "Imp. Julio Csesari ob Galliam devict. militari potencia triumphus decre- tus invidia spreta superata." No. 875. Part preserved, the shield in the left hand trophy, with a fight of centaurs, satyrs, and others about a female, and the ornament of a shield in the centre of the picture. No. 876. Face of the youth on the extreme right, in which the outlines are kept, lights being retouched on the cheek, and the hair and neck new. This is a splendid and broadly handled head, like that of the Evangelist at San Zeno of Verona. Head of the youth behind the face of the bullock, the nose and mouth being retouched, the neighbouring am- phora. No. 877. In part preserved the head of the female leading near the bullock, the colour superposed by the restorer having fallen out and left the original bare. This beautiful figure was copied by Rubens in his picture at the Na- tional Gallery (No. 278). Part of the elephant is thus likewise vi- sible, as well as a piece of the head of the Indian sheep to the right. No. 878. Preserved; — the hair of the first figure to the left, and his yellow hose, and bits of the head next to the right, a breastplate and helmet in the middle of the canvas, and a head-piece on the right. No. 879, No. 880 all re- painted. No. 881. In a slight degree preserved, the shield above the wheel of the car and the lower semicircle of the wheel. The mo- nogram M. on the hind quarters of the horse is new, but no doubt repainted on the old lines. On the arch behind the figures is the colossus of Montecavallo. Amongst the many copies of these triumphs are those of the Belvedere at Vienna, N os . 42 to 50, some of them much injured (No. 42). They were reduced from the prints, as we see from the interlacing on which the drawing was taken. There is another copy on copper at Schleissheim, N os . 1145—8. It is hardly necessary to say that these triumphs were purchased for Charles I. of England, sold after his death for £1000, and repurchased at the restoration. 408 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. stance that they show the twill throughout. After much use, no doubt, and frequent rolling for the sake of transport, the surfaces became injured*, the canvases lost their brightness and required repair, and what now remains is with slight exceptions the daub of a most ruthless and incompetent restorer. It is characteristic of the works which Mantegna now undertook that they more or less betray the aid of his assistants, of whom he had several in the persons of his sons Francesco and Lodovico Mantegna, Francesco Bonsignori and Caroto. 1 We detect their presence by observing -that the bitterness of the master is frequently attenuated by the mildness of his disciples, yet in the years which immediately followed 1492 we have several fine productions; a bust-portrait of a person of station treated in a soft and greatly blended manner with some feebleness in the silhouette and shading, and a Virgin and child of smiling aspect and careful execution in the Lochis Carrara gallery at Bergamo, 2 and an allegory of Parnassus, and u wisdom victorious over the vices " in the Louvre. We are ignorant of the history of the former; the latter were ordered for the private rooms of the 1 Vas. states (IX. 187) that Ca- roto was Mantegna 1 s pupil and assistant, adding that Mantegna sold Caroto's works for Ms own. In the same place Vasari tells us that Bonsignori was also Man- tegna's pupil, and we know Bon- signori was in Mantua in the pay of the Marquis of Mantua. See postea. 2 Bergamo. Lochis-Carrara. Life- size bust of a man in a red dress and red conical cap with a gold chain and locket, on which the monogram is written. The brows are bushy, the hair plenti- ful, the mouth, nose, and cheek slightly injured. The ground is repainted in oil and of a green tone, Virgin and child, No. 187, half- length, half the size of life. The Virgin holds the face of the infant to her own, and smiles; her mantle is blue embroidered with gold. This is a very careful light- toned tempera on canvas, a present to the gallery from the Count Carlo Marenzi. In the same gallery the resur- rection, No. 200, much injured panel, which may have been ori- ginal once, if it be not a copy from a print. We have already noticed a feeble replica in the Capo di-Lista collection at Pa- dua, passim in Squarcione. The piece at Bergamo may be that mentioned as by Mantegna in a Mantuan inventory of 1627. (Darco, II. 165.) Chap. XIV. MANTEGNA's ALLEGORIES. 409 Marchioness Isabella and were part of a series completed by Perugino and Costa. In the first, Mars and Venus on a rocky arch of natural formation stand in gentle dalliance, whilst Cupid sends his darts into the cave of Vulcan; the muses dance to the sound of Apollo's lyre, and Mercury leans on Pegasus and listens 5 in the second, Minerva and other goddesses expel the vices from a garden, and welcome the approach of justice, force, and temperance from heaven. With all the finish of the triumphs these subjects are drawn with classic taste and correctness, they are delicately modelled and heightened with gold; and we see the ground painted up to a firm but somewhat dark incised contour. There is some very beautiful detail of trees, a warm hue and pleasant har- mony, in the " expulsion of the vices." Gayer tints than Mantegna's usual ones enliven the Parnassus, and this we may attribute to the co-operation of Bonsig- nori; but the fanciful composition, the faultless outline and flying drapery are due to Mantegna alone. 1 In a sadder mood, but still with great power, the lean S l Sebastian of La Motta was added to the treasures of Andrea's own gallery; 2 and the assumption, belong- 1 Louvre, No. 251, with a piece added on all round, and so m. 1-60 h. by 1-92, canvas, the Par- nassus; the sky is retouched and the colour dulled by varnishes. No. 252. Expulsion of the vices, enlarged likewise, of similar size and in similar condition. These pictures formed part of a series in the boudoir of Isabella, Marchio- ness of Mantua, an apartment called in cotemporary records, the studio near the grotto on the ground floor of the castello. The studio contained, besides the fore- going, several Mantegnas, now missing: ex gr. a panel imitating a bronze relief with four figures; another panel of the same kind | representing Jonah cast into the sea; two pictures by Costa, one | by Perugino, Michael Angelo's cupid and several antiques. The two Mantegnas of the Louvre were removed at the sack in 1630, and were for a time in the palace of the Duke of Richelieu at Riche- lieu. See Darco's inventory of the "Studio;" in Delle Arti IX, 134—5. 2 La Motta in Friuli gall. Scarpa, tempera, 2f. 10 '/ 4 b. by 7f. 1 high. S l Sebastian, in a hip cloth with his arms bound behind his back, pierced by several arrows, on the foreground a lighted taper, above, a double string of corals, on a cartello: "Nil nisi divinum stabile est, caetera fumus." This lean and I spindle-shanked figure was in the ; painter's atelier at his death, and I was originally intended for the 410 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. ing to the Marquis Trivulzi at Milan, was finished in 1497. 1 During these days also Mantegna began the Madonna della Vittoria, perpetuating with his brush a pious fraud not uncommon in that age. It was in 1495 that Francesco Gonzaga commanded the forces of the Venetians and fought the battle of Fornovo. He was beaten by Charles VIII. of France, with a loss of three thousand men, and to celebrate the event he caused the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria to be erected at Mantua, and ordered Mantegna to design the altarpiece. It may be seen at the Louvre representing the Mar- quis armed in proof at the Virgin's feet in a bower of green leaves attended by the archangels, S l Lon- ginus and S l Andrew, and comforted by the interces- sion of the young Baptist and S l Elizabeth. 2 There is no doubt a fine realism in the kneeling Marquis; great research and minuteness in the details of the bower, and in the reliefs which adorn the throne; but the composition is crushed by the heavily wigged archangels, and the drapery is no longer cast in the flowing style so admirable in creations of an earlier period. It is probable, indeed, that the disproportion of the figures and the poverty of form in the children, as well as the broken character of the dresses are due to the helping hand of Francesco Mantegna, Bishop of Mantua. (Lodovico Man- tegna to Francesco Gonzaga, Oct. 2, 1506, in Darco, II. 70.) It be- came the property of Pietro Bembo (Anon. 19), and wa.S sold by his heirs in 1807 to one of the Scar- pas. The flesh of the breast of the figure is abraded, and the whole dimmed by varnishes. 1 Milan. Marquis Trivulzi, can- vas, with life-size figures, repre- senting the Virgin and child in an elliptical glory in the sky, above a landscape and groups of lemon-trees, at the sides, S ts John the Baptist, Romualdo, Jerom and a bishop and three boy angels in the centre of the foreground. On a square page the words: "A Mantinia p. an. gracie 1497, 15 Augusti." The Virgin is fine and the saints are sculptural in shape and attitude; but we revert here to a less pleasing art than that of the triumphs. This piece indeed is one which influenced the later Veronese. It is now dimmed by varnishes. 2 Louvre, No. 250, canvas, m. 2-80 b. by 1'66. The art here, especially as displayed in the S l Elizabeth, reminds us of that in the chapel of Sant] Andrea at Man- tua, by Francesco' Mantegna. J Chap. XIV. MANTEGNA'S LAST DAYS. 411 whilst the taste for minutiae and the searching method in which the parts are made out are the result of Man- tegna's frequent use of the graver. It was, we think, after his return from Eome that Andrea gave himself up to the task of engraving his own works ; 1 and it is very likely that the time he spent over copper-plates forced him to employ assistants on paintings which of old he would have carried out in person. To this cause, and to this alone, we may assign the comparative feeble- ness of such late productions as the triumph of Scipio, belonging to Mr. Vivian, and the Virgin and child between the Baptist and Magdalen in the National Gal- lery. The latter is a rosy pallid piece in which strange contrasts are created by the juxta-position of bright clear tints in flesh and drapery with strongly marked foliage and vegetation, the disharmony being increased by the strong shadow in the trees, and the absence of it in the dramatis personse. 2 The triumph of Scipio is a monochrome fanciful after the fashion of Botticelli, and far less chastened in style than the great series of Hampton Court. It was begun in Mantegna's old age for Francesco Cornelio, a friend of Pietro Bembo at Venice, and we know from a note of the latter to Isabella in 1505 that Cornelio was very indignant at not receiving it, though advances had been made for its completion. 3 But whilst the hoary artist 1 The reader is referred for Mantegna's engravings to the pages of Vasari, Bartsch and Passavant. 2 National Gallery, No. 274, having formed part of the col- lections of Cardinal Monti (1632) and Mellerio at Milan, canvas, 4f. 6 1 /., h. by 3, 9'/ 2 , inscribed: "An- dreas Mantinea c. P. f. " Note the disproportions here; the feeble frame of the Virgin, the large torso and spindle legs of the Baptist. a London, collection of G. Vi- vian, Esq. This is a monochrome on a canvas, 8f. 10 long by 2f. 4y 2 h. roughly executed, wanting in the usual delicacy of Mantegna and blackened by retouching. It was taken at Mantegna's deatli by Sigismund Gonzaga, Bishop of Mantua, out of the atelier (Lodo- vico Mant. to Isabella d'Este. Gaye, III. 564), yet passed ultimately into the house of the Cornari, for whom it was intended, i. e. Casa Cornaro Mocenigo a S. Polo in Venice. See Bembo to Isabella d'Este, Jan. 1, 1505, in Gaye, II. 71. Lodovico Mantegna to Fran- 412 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. alternately devoted his attention to the composition of pictures, the superintendence of his atelier, and the finish of his copper-plates, he was also consulted on many points involving judgment in professional matters, and it was very nearly his good fortune to see a statue of Virgil erected after his design on some square in Mantua. At a court occasionally visited by men skilled in literature and in art, the subject of Virgil might naturally be expected to be mooted. That a sovereign who prided himself on his patronage of letters, and lived habitually at Mantua, should do something to honour the author of the iEneid, had no doubt often been suggested. One prince, it was said — an Italian, and a man of experience and education- — had put his country to shame by casting a bronze of Virgil into the lake. 1 What more beautiful halo could be thrown around the family of Gonzaga than that created by a monument to the memory of the greatest of Latin poets. This idea germinated in Mantua, and in 1499 a friend of the Marchioness Isabella consulted Pontanus and Vergerius at Naples as to the best form to be given to a statue of Virgil, the appropriate turn of an inscription, and the person most competent to furnish the sketch. 2 As we might expect, the name of Mantegna was at once mentioned, and he furnished a drawing so fully in the spirit of the classic time that it seems a copy from the antique. 3 cesco Gonzaga, in Darco, Delle Arti II. 70. The art in the piece is quite reminiscent of that of Botticelli, just as at times that of Botticelli has recalled Mantegna, ex gr. in a picture of one of the seasons, once belonging to Mr. Baldeschi at Rome, and since pur- chased by Mr. Reiset in Paris. (Annot. Vas. V. 193 and Hist, of Ital. Painting, Vol. II. 428—9.) 1 Carlo Malatesta occupied Man- tua in 1397, and committed the act here alluded to. 2 J. Dhatri to Isabella d'Este, March s of Mantua. Naples, March 17, 1499, in the archives of Man- tua, but lately printed in Gaz. des B. A. Vol. XX. ub. sup. 3 Paris, collection of Mr. His de la Salle. Virgil is drawn on a pedestal, holding a book in both hands, in splendid draperies, his head crowned with laurel, on the plinth a tablet, held by two angels, with the words: "P. Vergilii Ma- ronis se teniae sui memoriae imago." We have only seen a copy of this drawing and a reduced facsimile in the Gaz. des B. A. ub. sup. Chap. XIV. mantegna's LAST DAYS. 413 The later years of the century, especially those sub- sequent to the Roman stay, had been good ones for Mantegna. He sold his property at Padua in 1492, 1 furnished his house at San Sebastian about 1494, 2 settled all the disputes with his neighbours at Buscoldo, and married his daughter, Taddea, with a large dowry in 1499. 3 Lodovico, his son, had a good place as overseer and agent to the Marquis Gonzaga at Cavriana in 1502. 4 Mantegna thus enjoyed the prospect of an easy and undisturbed old age. But misfortune overtook him again. Having become a widower he fell into illicit amours, and had an illegitimate child, whom he christened Gian' Andrea. 5 He sold his house at San Sebastian and lived in lodgings; 6 his son Francesco incurred the dis- pleasure of the Marquis and was banished in 1505 to Buscoldo, neither the tears of Andrea nor the interces- sion of Isabella availing to remit the sentence; 7 but even under these trials Mantegna's courage did not for- sake him. He made a will in 1504, assigning a con- siderable sum to his favourite son Lodovico, with the charge of bringing up Gian' Andrea, securing a com- petence to Francesco, and leaving a legacy of 200 ducats for the endowment and decoration of a chapel in the church of Sant' Andrea. 8 He then entered into a con- tract with Sigismund Gonzaga, Bishop of Mantua, and 1 Darco, Delle Arti II. 225. 2 Andrea Mantegna to Francesco Gonzaga, Mantua, Sept. 2, 1494, in which the painter notifies that his son Lodovico has caught and wounded an officer of the Mar- quis's household, whilst stealing 1 the stones in the yard of the house. Gaye, I. 325. Darco, II. 31 (gives date Sept. 3). 3 Moschini, Vic. p. 49. Darco, II. 43—44. 4 Lodovico M. to Franc . Gonz. Jan. 16, 1502, from Cavriana. Gaye, IH. 563. 5 See will in Moschini, Vic. 50. 6 This is evident from the fact that he lived in the contrata Bovi at Mantua in 1504, and states in a letter to Isabella d'Este in 1506, that he has bought a new house in order to be spared continual change of hired lodgings. See records in Darco, Delle Arti II. 52 and 61—2. 7 Isabella to Francesco Gonzaga, April 1, 1505, and Francesco Man- tegna to Francesco Gonzaga, June 3, 1506. (Darco, II. 58, 65.) 8 Moschini, Vicende 50. Darco, II. 50. 414 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. the canons of the church, to furnish and adorn the chapel, to erect a monument for his family in it, and to lay out a garden in its proximity; and he spent upon these baubles a considerable amount of money. 1 Not content with this, he bought a new house for which he promised to pay 340 ducats in three instalments. 2 These were unfortunate and imprudent ventures. When the day came to pay the instalments Mantegna's means were exhausted, and his health was seriously impaired. 3 A plague visited the country and drove all persons of good and middling fortune from Mantua— a merciless quarantine being kept up between the infected locality and the neighbouring country. 4 Sick as he was, Man- tegna still struggled on. He had a commission for a masque of Comus from the Marchioness Isabella, 5 and he tried hard to finish it; but his strength was not equal to the task, and he was obliged in January, 1506, to apply to his protectress for aid, and offer for sale his precious bust of Faustina. 6 She did not answer as she had been used to do, and thus offended the pride of the old master. She even bargained with him for the Faustina, and got it from him through her agents. 7 No incident is more affecting than this. Man- tegna could sell land and houses, and live in lodgings, but to part with his antiques was exquisite torture. When he gave the Faustina to Jacopo Calandra to be sent to the Marchioness, he did so with such reluctance that Jacopo said he was sure Mantegna would die of the loss. 8 From that time, indeed, his heart seems to have been broken. He lingered on through the summer, 1 Gaye, IV. 565. Darco, 54, 70, 71. Codde, Pit. Mantov. 108—9. The will was modified in favour of Gian Andrea by a codicil, dated Jan. 24, 1506. (Darco, II. 62, 3.) 2 See note 6 previous page. 3 lb. ib. 4 See Darco, II. 64, 5. The mar- chioness withdrew to the villa of Sacchetta near Cavriana. 5 See the subject described by Calandra, Darco, II. 65, 66. 6 Andr. Mant. to Isabella, Jan. 13, 1506. Darco, II. 61, 2. 7 Jacopo Calandra to Isabella, July 14, 15, August 1 and 2. Bottari Raccolta, VIII. 30, 31, 33, 34. 8 Ib. ib. The bust is now in the museum of Verona. Chap. XIV. MA^TEGNA^S LAST DAYS. 415 and expired on the 13 th of September. 1 His last wish had been that the Marquis should see him, but Francesco was bent on matters of more interest to his ambition; and whilst Mantegna was drawing his last breath, met Julius the II nd at Perugia, and became generalissimo of Holy Church. The Marchioness, too, wrote coldly to her husband on the 21st: "You know Andrea died suddenly after you left." 2 The news had already been communicated in letters of melancholy import from Mantegna 1 s children. Francesco Mantegna, from the place of his exile, beg- ged for help especially to satisfy the Bishop of Man- tua in the matter of the .chapel. 3 Lodovico in October with more explicitness declared that the debts of his father were 200 ducats, that he owed 100 ducats ^for the chapel, which must be paid, and as the Cardinal Gonzaga had put an embargo on the contents of the atelier, he asked permission to sell the Christ "in scurto" and the triumph of Scipio, which together with the S l Sebastian and the two pictures for the chapel might pro- duce enough for an honest liquidation. 4 So perished in the midst of pecuniary troubles the greatest artist of his age, the favourite of princes temporal and spiritual, the titular painter of a court, and the presiding genius of the North Italian schools. 5 1 Francesco Mantegna to Fran- cesco Gonzaga at Perugia. Mantua, Sept. 15, 1506. Codde, Pit. Man- tov. 164. 2 Isabella to Francesco Gonzaga, Sept. 21, 1506. Darco, II. 67. 3 Francesco Mant. to Francesco Gonz. Sept. 15, 1506. Codde, Pit. Mantov. 164. 4 Lodovico Mantegna to Franc. Gonzaga. Mantua, Oct. 2. (Darco, Delle Arti II. 70.) 5 There are of course numerous pieces assigned to Mantegna which are by other hands. A list of these may be made as follows: Bassano, Communal Gall., No. 32. Virgin and child, fresco. (See passim in Montagnana.) Belluno, town-hall. (See passim in Mon- tagnana ) Belluno, Casa Persicini. Virgin and child between two angels, an injured piece with em- bossed ornament, of the school of Gentile da Fabriano. Bologna, Galleria Zambeccari, No. 49. Christ liberating Adam from the limbus, perhaps the same panel registered in the Mantuan inventory of 1700. (Darco, Delle Arti II. 189.) Six long lean figures of repulsive shape and face, coloured in a brownish tempera, unfinished and probably copied from a print. Galleria Ercolani, No. 155. Crucifixion, small panel. (See passim, Zoppo.) Cremona, Casa Ala-Ponzoni. Bacchanal, tempera, copy from 416 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. It has been supposed that the altarpieces in the chapel at Sant' Andrea were finished by Mantegna before his death ; but the handling does not confirm this belief. They Mantegna's print, as Selvatico (annot. Vas. V. 188) has justly observed. Ferrara, Conte Cano- nici. Christ in the tomb, signed: "Andreas Mantinea," a forgery, see passim in Carpaceio. Florence, Galleria Pianeiatichi, No. 298. Two small panels representing severally S l John the Baptist and S l Peter, by Cosimo Tura, see postea. Uffizi, No. 1121. Portrait of Isabella d'Este, Marchioness of Mantua, see postea in Bonsignori. Hampton Court. The annot. of Vas. quote Dr. Waagen's Works of Art and Artists in England, for four pictures by Mantegna in this collection in addition to the triumphs, but the subjects given are those of pictures in the catalogue of the gallery of Charles L, one of which is at Madrid. Liverpool, Institution, No. 29. Virgin with the dead Christ on her lap. This may be a part of a predella by Ercole Roberti Grandi, of which two pieces are in the museum of Dresden. (See postea in theFerrarese school.) London, Earl Dudley. The Pieta. (See pas- sim, Crivelli.) Lord Elcho. Two small panels of S l Peter and S l Paul. (See passim in Montag- nana.) Mantua, Santa Maria degli Angeli. The assumption, tempera, on panel high up in the choir, a solitary figure of the Virgin in a glory of cherubs. This seems to be the centre of an altarpiece by some feeble co temporary of Man- tegna; the types are poor, the colour rosy. Of the same period and style in Santa Maria delle Grazie, frescos of the nativity and of a Virgin of Mercy between S l Christopher and S l Onofrio. San Sebastiano, on the front of this church we see traces of a fresco of the Virgin and child, S l Se- bastian, a bishop, and two kneel- ing personages. Susanni (Nuovo Prospetto di Mantova. 8°. 1818, p. 75) assigns this to Mantegna, but of this opinion nothing can be said in confirmation. There are also here two half-lengths of apostles in rounds, but they are totally re- painted. Mayence, we look in vain for pictures assigned to Man- tegna in the museum of this town. (See annot. Vas. V. 203.) Milan, Ambrosiana, Daniel and the lions, monochrome by one of Mantegna 1 s disciples; nativity, assigned at dif- ferent periods to Squarcione, Piz- zolo, and Mantegna; this piece has a Lombard character and might recall the works of Braman- tino. Modena Gallery, No. 27, Lucretia with the dagger, two soldiers in rear. (See postea, Er- cole Roberti Grandi.) No. 498. Bust of Mantegna, not genuine. No. 48, crucified Saviour, Virgin and Evangelist; school of Van der Weyden. No. 54. Christ guarded by angels and two sleeping soldiers, not genuine. Munich, Pinac. S. 549. Virgin, child and saints (see passim in Bono of Ferrara). London, ex-Northwick collection (now dispersed), No. 98 of the ca- talogue. Small triumphal proces- sions, on panel, 4f. 9 by 2f. 4, similar in style to another panel of the same size at Cobham Hall, see postea, in the Friulan school; other so-called Mantegnas in this collection were not genuine. Ox- ford, Christchurch. Christ carry- ing his cross. (See postea Fran- cesco Mantegna.) Canvas, with two heads on gold ground of R. van der Weyden. Pa via, Galle- ria Malaspina. Virgin, child, S l Anthony Abbot, and S l Anthony of Padua, with the signature: "Andreas Mantinea pata-vinus pin. 1491," judged a forgery by Selvar tico, and not to be seen when the authors visited this gallery. (See Chap. XIV. MANTEGNA'S SONS. 417 were probably by his pupils. One of them is a canvas in oil representing the Virgin and child and S 1 Elizabeth with the young Baptist ; Joseph to the left, S l Zacha- rias to the right, a repainted example of the decrepitude of the Mantegnesque school*, the other, likewise in oil, is a baptism of Christ, overdaubed in most parts and perhaps by the sons of Mantegna. 1 They foreshadow the decline Vas. Annot. V. 201.) Rovigo, Gall. Com. No. 73, small panel of Christ going to Golgotha, a cari- cature of the manner of Alunno. Rome, Gallery of the Capitol, No. 98, canvas, with figures under life-size of the Virgin and child, S ts Peter, Lucy, and another female saint, feeble' picture by some fol- lower of the manner of Catena. Doria Palace, No. 5, Christ carry- ing, his cross, bust of hard thin colour, probably by Bonsignori, of which there is one replica at the Hermitage called Palmezzano, and a second with the true name of Bonsignori in the collection of Marquis Campori at Modena. Same gallery, great room, No. 17 and No. 8. ; room II, No. 15. (See passim in Parentino.) Rome, Va- tican Gallery, No. 5. Pieta. (See passim in Gio. Bellini.) Treviso, Gall. Communale, Virgin and child, half-length, by Gio. Bellini. Tu- rin Museum, No. 97. Virgin, child, and young Baptist with five saints, a fine picture and greatly re- painted, may have been by Man- tegna. Library, circumcision, mi- niature by Francesco Mantegna or Caroto. Venice, Correr Mus. No. 28, Christ crucified between the Virgin and Evangelist, panel. (See postea, Ercole Roberti Grandi.) San Giobbe, half-length of the dead Christ. This is by one of the Vivarini. Vienna, Lichten- stein collection, bust portrait of a man in a red coat and cap, not by Mantegna, though of the 15 th century. Amongst pieces recorded by VOL. I. historians as works of Mantegna we miss the following: Venice. Spedale degli Incurabili, sacristy. Virgin and child, S l Joseph, and the Magdalen. (Boschini, Le R. Min. Sest. d. D. Duro, 21.) Study of Ottavio de Tassis, pictures by Mantegna. (Sansov. Ven. Des. 377.) Casa Francesco Zio, Mutius Scse- vola burning his hand (Anon. 84), perhaps the same piece that after- wards came into Charles I.'s collection at Whitehall. (See Bathoe's catalogue, London, 1757.) Padre Anselmo Oliva. Christ at the limbus. (Ridolfi, Le Marav. I. 116.) Jacopo Piglietta, Virgin and child in monochrome. (Ib. ib.) Mantua Ducal collection in 1627. Half-length of Christ, carrying his cross (yet this may be the picture at Christchurch Oxford which is mentioned postea). Head of S l Jerom, David and Goliath. Four pieces with Tobias, Esther, Abra- ham, and Moses. D° inventory of 1665. Flight into Egypt, a portrait, a Virgin and child, and Christ at the limbus (Darco, II. 160, 164,165, 183, 188, 189.) Mantua, San Fran- cesco, portrait of Louis XII. (? by Francesco Mantegna.) A flagel- lation, executed for Barbara of Brandenburg. (Darco, II. 271.) Bo- logna, Casa Zacconi. A Christ by Mantegna. (Lamo Graticola di Bo- logna, 30.) 1 In the same church is a can- vas of the entombment, a lifeless creation of the 16 th century, and a salutation, without a trace of the I art of Mantegna. 27 418 THE PADUANS. Chap. XIV. of Mantuan art to the level which it held before Man- tegna's arrival. 1 A better specimen of the manner taught by Mantegna, is that displayed in the four evangelists at the angles of the ceiling in the chapel of Sant' An- drea, 2 in which Mantegnesque character is mingled with something that reminds us of Costa. Were this the pe- culiar feature of the style acquired by Francesco Man- tegna, we could assign to him with some propriety the Christ carrying his cross under Mantegna's name in the museum of Christchurch at Oxford, 3 a modification of the same subject also under Mantegna's name in pos- session of D r Bernasconi at Padua, 4 and Christ appear- ing in the garden to the Magdalen in the National Gallery. 5 Another craftsman who signs a limited number of Man- 1 The reader may look into Darco, Delle Arti, &c. for notices of Mantuan artists previous to the coming of Mantegna. In the Torre della Gabbia, now a private dwelling, there are remnants of pictures of Giottesque character, dating from the 14 th century — sub- jects: the marriage of S l Catherine, the crucifixion, Christ amongst the doctors, and an adoration of the magi, all by different hands. Va- sari says, Stefano da Verona, dis- ciple of Agnolo Gaddi, painted at Mantua. Are these frescos by him? They are more Giottesque than those assigned to Stefano at Ve- rona. There is further a rude fresco, half-length of the Virgin and child, and S l Leonard in the chapel of the Incoronata in the duomo of Mantua, a rude work inscribed: "Don Btolomeus de ar- tusis de Cremona fecit fieri die 26 8 . . . 1432. 2 They are greatly injured and reveal the influence, if not the hand of Lorenzo Costa. 3 Oxford, Christchurch. Christ carries the cross, followed by a soldier in a helmet, and preceded by three men, canvas, 2f. 6'/ 4 br. by 2f. 0'/ 2 > the Saviour open mouthed with a dry bony face and thorny hair, the helmeted soldier heavy and reminding us of the masks of Costa; the drapery crumpled in zigzags, the tints of dresses sharply contrasted; the flesh tints dull. This may be a piece mentioned in the Mantuan inventory of 1627, Darco, II. 156. 4 Verona. D r Bernasconi. Can- vas, tempera, with figures one- third the life-size. Christ carries his cross; behind him a man in a yellow cloth head-dress. The art here is that of the foregoing, but perhaps a little better; the colour is dim and brownish. 5 London. National Gallery, No. 639, from the Duroveray and Beau- cousin collections. Christ is in profile, the treatment is fair, the colouring lively and rich. Fran- cesco Mantegna may find a com- petitor for the authorship of this piece in Caroto. Of a Mantegnesque character, but not exactly like the foregoing. Casa Susanni at Mantua; two angels on green ground, carrying Chap. XIV. ANTONIO DA PAVIA. 419 tuan pictures at this time is Antonio of Pavia, whose productions, however, are not worthy of any particular attention. 1 the symbols of the passion. They recall the portraits in the Duke of Hamilton's collection. Santa Maria della Carita at Mantua, a saint, erect in a niche, canvas, tempera as above. In these three pieces the form is angular, and the colour of thick surface. Of the lives of the Mantegnas, it may be sufficient to say that Francesco, the date of whose birth is unknown, painted much for the marquises of Mantua, and espe- cially in their summer-residences of Marmirolo and Gonzaga. He survived Andrea Mantegna more than ten years. Lodovico does not seem to have resumed the brush after the death of his father. The bust of Andrea Mantegna, by Sperindio of Mantua, was put up in the chapel at Sant' Andrea by his grandson in 1560. (See Darco and Codde'.) 1 Darco justly says of this painter that he reduced Mantegna 1 s art to a mere form. He is regis- tered amongst the workmen at the palace del Te' in 1528. (Darco, Delle Arti, I. 50.) There is a can- vas tempera, by him in the Museo Virgiliano at Mantua re- presenting the Virgin and child between S ts Jerom, Anthony, Peter Martyr, and another saint. The forms of these figures are heavy; the tempera is raw and mapped off in loud contrasts of light and shade, the style a mixture of Bar- tolommeo Vivarini and the Man- tegnesque. The piece is signed: "Ant. Papiesis p." In this manner we have the conversion of S l Paul, an ugly piece in the museum of Verona, No. 22, room II, and a rude nativity under the name of Mantegna, belonging to Mr. Man- gini, an apothecary at Piove. Fi- nally we notice an annunciation between four saints, an altarpiece in double courses with scenes from the life of the Virgin and of Christ in a predella, assigned to Antonio of Murano in the church of Santa Maria di Castello at Genoa. In this, as in the Mantua piece, we see something akin to the manner of Andrea of Murano, such as we find it in the altarpiece of Musso- lone. 27* 420 THE VICENTliNES. Chap. XV. CHAPTER XV. THE VICENTINES. It is difficult to realize the extent of Mantegna's in- fluence on the painters of North Italy without a special study of the various schools which derived their import- ance from his teaching. The Venetians reformed their style in part on the models which he created; the Pa- duans clung to his system with melancholy pertinacity; and the Vicentines, the Veronese, and the Ferrarese adopted his manner with avidity. Of the Vicentines, we think, history has said less than they deserved; they were not artists of the highest class, nor were they men to achieve an European fame, but they had a genuine native power, which it is our duty to acknowledge and explain. Verlas, whose pictures, as we have had occa- sion to observe, betray an approximation to Pietro Peru- gino, was not entirely devoid of Mantegnesque peculiari- ties ; 1 and his countrymen Giovanni Speranza, Bartolom- 1 We have to add to the list of Verlas 1 pictures already noticed in Vol. III. of the history of Italian painting the following: Padua, Casa Piovene, but originally in the family chapel at Lugo in the province of Vicenza, canvas, with figures two-thirds of life-size, re- presenting the enthroned Virgin between S ts John the Baptist, Au- gustin, Francis, and Jerom. This is an Umbrian creation with the Peruginesque smorphia. Some heads are spotted, and the lower part of the picture is renewed. Trent, cathedral, high up in the right transept, Virgin and child en- throned between four saints, one of whom is S* Anthony the Abbot, much restored and repainted; in- scribed on a cartello: "F. Verbis. D. Vicentia pinsit MDXV." Chap. XV. VERLAS. 421 meo Montagna, and Giovanni Buonconsiglio were deeply imbued with them. No dates of Speranza 1 s life have been preserved; we only know that several churches at Vicenza boasted of his works in the 17 th and even in the 18 lh century; and Vasari states that he and Montagna were disciples of Mantegna. 1 Both it is clear were admirers of Man- tegna, but it is doubtful whether he was personally acquainted with them. Verlas produced his madonnas in the first twenty years of the 16 th century; Speranza was probably his cotemporary; it is, however, a moot question whether Verlas affected Speranza and Mon- tagna, or whether Montagna and Speranza took some Umbrian character from independent sources. Two altar- pieces by Speranza are in existence: one in the church of San Giorgio at Velo in the province of Vicenza, the other in the gallery of Vicenza; each of them inscribed with his name. At Velo the Virgin sits enthroned in a court, listening to the music of angels and attended by four saints: in a lunette, the "Man of Sorrows" and two angels; the figures distinguished by length and slenderness, and a strained grace not unknown to Verlas ; the flesh pale yellow without modulations, and ill re- lieved by spare dark shadow; the angels of the upper course rivalling in dryness those of Bartolommeo Mon- tagna and Buonconsiglio. 2 The second, larger still, is a quaint reproduction of the assumption assigned to Piz- zolo in the chapel of the Eremitani at Padua, with a couple of adoring saints in the foreground, one of whom seems obviously by Buonconsiglio. We infer from this that Speranza studied Paduan art about the time pf 1 Vas. XIII. 105. 2 Velo. Panel, tempera, figures half the life-size, inscribed: "Jo. Speratie do Vagentibus. " The saints are S ts George and Martin to the left, Anthony the Abbot and Sebastian to the right. There are large* pieces injured in the breast and leg of the Saviour, the blue dress of the Virgin and the dais behind the throne. The blue sky and part of the Virgin's mantle are repainted. There are marks of scaling and repainting in other parts also, and the colour is daily disimproving. 422 THE VICENTINES. Chap. XV. Jacopo Montagnana, and employed Buonconsiglio as his assistant. He vainly tries to acquire the vigour of the Mantegnesque school, imitating it coldly and carefully but with childish exactness, avoiding the squareness and vehemence of its figures, but repeating withered and an- gular shapes, and straight or broken drapery. His tem- pera has not the solid substance nor the metallic tinge of the Ferrarese, but a clear pallor and filmy surface of a dull rosy hue. 1 In other examples a closer relationship between Speranza and Montagna is manifested, especially in a half-length Virgin and child with a praying patron in the Casa Nievo at Vicenza, where Umbrian composure and staid movement are combined with undeveloped form akin to that which marks the youthful creations of Mon- tagna. In this piece Speranza is an oil-painter, nearly allied to the greatest of the Vicentines. 2 It puzzles us at last to distinguish his hand from that of Montagna; and there is a madonna, belonging to the Conte Agosti at Belluno, in which we hesitate to decide whether it be one of Speranza's last or an early one by his country- man. 3 With this admission it is not meant to be 1 Vicenza, originally in San Bartolommeo of Vicenza (Vendra- min Mosca's Guida da Vicenza, p. 7. Boschini Gioielli di Vicenza, pp. 86—87). This panel with figures about a third of life-size is inscribed: "Joannes S. pinxit." It is greatly injured and disco- loured. There is something very childish in the way angels sup- port the arras or feet or sides of the Virgin. To the left S l Thomas kneels with the girdle, a figure treated with the power and in the style of, Buonconsiglio, to the right S l Jerom. The whole piece is in a pilaster frame with ara- besques and grotesques. Above, the Eternal looks down. The blue mantle of the Virgin is injured. In the lower framing are figures of the apostles. 2 Vicenza, Casa Nievo, wood, oil, half-length of the Virgin be- hind a parapet on which the child stands with cherries in his tunic. A green hanging intercepts the sky and landscape; to the left a patron in prayer (bust). Done in oil at one painting with spare colour of a reddish yellow but clear tint, inscr.: "Joanne Sperancie pinxit" on the parapet. 3 Bel luno, canvas, tempera, re- presenting the Virgin (half-length) with the infant on a parapet, sit- ting on a white cushion and hold- ing his hand out to be kissed by a votary; a hanging of gold da- mask intercepts the landscape and sky (retouched). The execution is too good for Speranza, not good enough for Bartolommeo Montagna. The Virgin has a soft regular head Chap. XV. SPERANZA. 423 affirmed that Montagna was the pupil of Speranza. They may have been companions, and at some period have commingled their styles. It would be rash to assert any- thing where dates are absolutely wanting. At Santa Corona and Santa Chiara of Vicenza two or three more specimens of Spera.nza are preserved; 1 there is also a madonna with his name in the Casa Piovene at Padua/ 2 and a Virgin with the child and S l Joseph in the col- lection of Mr. Vernon in England; 3 but they afford no further clue to his career. Bartolommeo Montagna had a larger grasp of prin- ciples than his Vicentine contemporaries. A born Brescian, or of Brescian parents, he began life indepen- dently between 1470 and 1480/ having finished altar- in Montagna's character, the vo- tary seems by Speranza, and the child is poor in form. 1 Vicenza, Santa Corona. Two panels at the sides of the first altar, left of the portal. Each contains a saint (Dominick and Bernardo da Campo), one-third of life-size, the latter signed: "Joaries Sperancia pinsit." In both the ground is repainted. The style here again is an approach to that of Bart Montagna. Vicenza, Santa Chiara. (See Vend. Mo sea's Guide, p. 23, and Gioielli, p. 51.) Virgin and child enthroned, between S ts Francis and Bernardino, or Anthony of Padua. Much injured and restored, with a doubtful inscription on a car- tello: "Opus Joannes Speraza 1441." (?) 2 Padua, Casa Piovene, half- length, with a patron in prayer, signed: "Jo. Sperancia pin." but greatly repainted. 3 No. 295 at Manchester Exhi- bition of 1857, inscribed: "Gio- vanni Speranza," belongs to G. E. A. Vernon, Esq. In the style of Verbis and Spe- ranza we have: Padua Comune No. 20, Virgin .adoring the child between S l Catherine and another saint. No. 40, small panel of the Virgin and child. These are feeble clear pieces of careful execution. Missing. Vicenza, San Tommaso. Incredulity of S l Thomas with a kneeling nun. (Boschini Gioielli, p. 54.) San Francesco, Virgin and child between S l Joseph and S l Anthony of Padua with a small nativity in the Virgin's throne. (Ib. ib. 86, and Vend. Mosca, p. 46.) San Giacomo (Carmelitani). Cruci- fixion of the child S. Simonetto at Trent. (Gioielli, p. 106. Mosca, 52.) San Bovo. Virgin and child be- tween S l Paul and S l Bovo (Gio. pp. 126, 7), San Bartolommeo (?) Virgin between S ts John the Bap- tist, Augustin, Jerom, and Ber- nardino, with a predella containing the baptism of Christ, the marriage of the Virgin and an Ecce Homo, also the ceiling of the chapel con- taining the altarpiece "in the style of Speranza." Gioielli, p. 88; but Mosca says, the ceiling is by Mon- tagna. Mosca, 7. 4 He is called Bartolommeo Mon- tagna q m Antonii ab Urcis novis, et habitator civ. Vincentise, in a will, dated 1480, to which he was a witness. See Magrini, Elogio di 424 THE VICENTINES. Chap. XV. pieces as early as 1483, 1 and dwelling in a house of his own purchasing at Vicenza in 1484. 2 At a moment when, as we now discern, his style had not ripened to the fullness which it afterwards acquired, he was known to patrons beyond the limits of Vicenza, and is noticed as taking employment at Bassano in 1487. 3 What he did at that time must necessarily have been of little account as compared with creations due to a more recent period. Amongst the earliest productions of his brush we count the madonnas of the Lochis-Carrara collection at Ber- gamo, of San Bartolommeo, now in the gallery of Vi- cenza, of San Giovanni Ilarione, once in San Lorenzo at Vicenza; the first of which seems to have been executed in 1487, and the last not much later. In these and some other examples Montagna does not issue from the formal path familiar to the painters of his vicinity. He places the madonna on a throne or in adoration between two standing saints, in cold or composed attitudes; he is very careful, and shows diligence in minutiae of foreground or distance; he has but little of the boldness of after years. At Bergamo his figures are firm in movement; they are outlined and touched without timidity or hesitation; but the frames are slender and stiff; dressed in broken drapery unre- lieved by broad shadow. The masks are in the quiet mould of Speranza's, and coloured in hard even tints of viscous tempera impasto. 4 The Virgin adoring Christ B. M. ub. sup. p. 43. Orzinovi is near Brescia. 1 In the will of Gaspar Trissino dated Vicenza, June 30, 1483, the testator orders a residue of five ducats to be paid to Montagna for a picture done by him for the church del Lazaretto. Magrini, p.p. 34, 43. 2 Deed of purchase March 5, 1484, and will, postea. Magrini, 34, 43-4. 3 9 th March, 1487, payment of 1. 6. soldi 4 arch. Com. of Bassano in Magrini, p. 44. We find no works of Montagna's at Bassano, but are reminded of his style in a Virgin and child between two saints, by old Bas- sano, in the Communal Gallery, a picture inscribed and with the date of 1518. (No. 15. Bassano Gallery.) 4 Bergamo, Lochis-Carrara. Small panel very much flayed. Virgin and child between S ts Sebastian Chap. XV. BARTOLOMMEO MONTAGNA. 425 between S* Monica and S l Mary Magdalen in the gallery of Vicenza/ and the madonna between S l Anthony of Padua and S l John Evangelist at San Giovanni Ilarione 2 are not less careful than that of Bergamo. An Umbrian repose dwells in the lazy calm of the dramatis personam, reminding us of Speranza and Cotignola; but the faces have peculiarities by which Montagna is always dis- tinguished, a long oval, though not a simple, shape, a thin barrelled nose, arched brows, a small mouth with a round projecting chin, and eyes of great convexity guarded by broad and drooping upper lids. Such works as these testify to Montagna s undeveloped power, as he first entered on his profession, and prove him to have been bred in the local school of Vicenza. In 1491 he was accounted the best amongst the masters of the town, and his name in public records is coupled with the flattering qualification of celeberrimus piclor. 9. In close proximity to Venice where the Bellini held pictorial sway, he soon learnt to appreciate the talents of its chief cele- and Roch, inscribed: "B. Motagna f.;" but on the back of the panel we read: "M r Btolomaeus Motagna brixianus habitator Vincetise hunc depinxit & a 1487." A cold toned curtain behind the Virgin, a pa- rapet behind the throne and through the openings behind, sky and land- scape. This picture belonged to Count Brognoli at Brescia in 1816. (Campori Lettere, 418.) 1 Vicenza Gall. No. 8, from San Bartolommeo of Vicenza, can- vas; the child lies on an elevation in a trellice through which a land- scape appears. A green hanging be- hind the Virgin is dark from time, whilst the red tunic of the Virgin is bleached from the same cause. The foreground is abraded. This picture is mentioned in all the local guides. 2 San , Giovanni Ilarione near Vicenza; done for the Balzi-Schia- vone^family, and originally in San Lorenzo of Vicenza (Gioielli, 104. Ridolfi, Marav. I. 141), wood, figures less than life-size. The throne is in front of a gilt pattern screen behind which sky and trees. The Virgin's head reminds us by its affectionate air of Filippino Lippi. S l John is soft, after the fashion of Pinturicchio. The co- lours are worn away and altered by damp; treatment, mixed oil and tempera, inscribed: "B . rtholomeus Montagna pinxit." Three or four pieces in the dress of the evange- list are scaled off. 3 A record of Dec. 16, 1488, re- lates to the purchase of lands near Vicenza by B. M. Magr. p. 34. His son Benedetto is noted as "magister pictor" in another re- cord of May 22, 1490 (ib. 34), and a third dated June 10, 1491, which is that cited in the text, refers to the sale of lands previously pur- chased. (1488.) Ib. 34. 426 THE VICENTINES. Chap. XV. brities; he became attracted by the charm of Bellinesque arrangement, and sympathized with the rugged nature of Carpaccio's art. A new force became apparent in him, he acquired skill in delineation, a tendency to realism in nude, and resolute action. Under these altered conditions he produced, we may suppose, the Virgin and child be- tween S l John the Baptist and S l Onofrio, a dusky brown picture, once at San Bartolommeo and now in the gallery at Vicenza, in which the leanness of his figures gains a strong significance. 1 But his style did not reach its true development till after he had visited Padua. In that city, to which he probably transferred his atelier for a time in 1491, he left broad traces. He painted a fresco of the crucifixion at Praglia, in which masculine development and overweight of head reveal his contact with Montag- nana; and he had a large share, we may believe, in the long series of portraits which decorates the hall of the episcopal palace. 2 With more versatility than Montagnana and greater facility for finish, he surpassed him also in truth and variety of movement, in a just application of per- spective laws, and in appropriate cast of drapery. At the Vescovado, especially, he excels in the management of dress, to which he gives the Umbrian branching fold ; he contrasts tints with a bolder harmony ; and though his forms retain something of the bony rigidity and coarse- 1 Vicenza Gall. No. 19, origi- nally in San Bartolommeo of Vi- cenza, wood, oil, greatly injured by scaling, inscribed: "Opus Bar- tholomei m . . . ." The scene is in a bower, as in No. 8 of the gallery of Vicenza. There are pieces wanting in „ the Virgin's mantle, the frame and limbs of the Baptist. 2 Padua. See antea in Montag- nana as to the period and author- ship of these portraits. Praglia, fresco in the refectory, representing the crucified Saviour between the Virgin and evangelist ; the Magdalen at the foot of the cross, and to the right a kneeling figure. The fresco had been white- washed and has been since re- covered; but the five lower figures are repainted, and the Eternal with angels in a lunette is but just visible. The outline of the Sa- viour is masculine and powerfully rendered in Montagna's fashion. The authorship of our Vicentine is affirmed by the Anonimo (p. 3). Vasari assigns to Montagna the madonna of Mont 1 Ortone, but see antea in Montagnana. Chap. XV. BARTOLOMMEO MONTAGNA. 427 ness by which he and Montagnana are both distinguished, they are animated with a peculiar spirit, derived after a lengthened study from Carpaccio. It was not unnatural that his residence at Padua should have brought him into companionship with the ablest follower of the Man- tegnesque style; but the models of Mantegna himself necessarily occupied his attention; and his admiration for them is reflected in all the frescos and altarpieces which he subsequently completed. Of these the most important at Padua is the Virgin and child between four saints at Santa Maria in Vanzo, where the sternness and force of Mantegna are united to the dryness, sharpness, and bold balancing of primary tints familiar to Carpaccio. Melancholy composure in the regular head of the Virgin is ably contrasted with calm severity of mien in the saints, and the vestments are cleanly moulded to the frames as if they were of bronze. 1 1 Padua. Santa Maria in Vanzo, high-altar. The Virgin is en- throned in a portico, between S ts Peter, John the Baptist, Catherine and Paul. Two angels play in- struments at the foot of the throne, and there are three me- dallions in a lower framing, in two of which are poor figures of S l Lorenzo and S l Francis. On the stem of a pear on the fore- ground a cartello with the words: "Opus Bar tolomei Motagna, " can- vas, oil, the flesh of a ruddy tinge laid in at one painting after Car- paccio's manner. The coronation of the Virgin, S l Lorenzo Giustiniani and other saints, a fresco in the apsis of Santa Maria in Vanzo has been attributed to Montagna, but looks of a later date and done in the style of Girolamo del Santo. (Bran- dolese Pitt, di Pad. 73.) As missing we note: Padua. Casa Marco da Mantoa. Head of the Virgin. (Anon. 25.) Padua, Santo. Fresco of S l Gius- tina on a pilaster. (Anon. 8.) The Anonimo (p. 10) also as- signs to Montagna frescos in the scuola del Santo. These frescos suggest some remarks. The subjects were given out to different painters at different times, some of them are by Titian; they are taken from the legend of S l Anthony of Padua, and the beato Luca Belludi. There are but three in the series likely to suggest any doubts as to their authorship. — 1°, S l Anthony admonishes Ezze- lino, 2°, S l Anthony miraculously averts a storm. These two frescos are a mixture of theSquarcionesque and German; the figures being coarse and vulgar, yet still dis- tantly like those of Montagna. If he did this at his first coming at Padua, he improved greatly afterwards; thecomposition is poor, there is a lack of life in the per- sonages, though resolute action and bold execution are not quite wanting; and the colours are red- dish and rough. In the admoni- tion some groups suggest the ar- tist's acquaintance with engravings 428 THE VICENTINES. Chap. XV. From Padua, where he produced much that has since perished, Montagna proceeded to Verona, whither he was called by the superintendents of an oratory founded in honour of San Biagio in the church of San Nazaro e Celso. In the summer of 1491 the first mass had been read in the new building, to which the relics of S l Biagio were to be translated, and it was proposed that the cupola should be decorated by Falconetto, whilst Mon- tagna furnished the picture for the altar of the apsis and the subjects on the walls and semidome. In 1493, at which time Falconetto was at his labour's end, Montagna also completed his part, and though damp has all but oblite- rated his compositions, and local jealousy induced the Veronese to substitute a work of Bonsignori's for his, the fragments of both are still in existence, and of con- siderable value as mementos of his manner. 1 In the sections of the semidome are S 1 Biagio and six companions, by Lucas of Leyden. 3°, S l An- thony appears to Lnca Belludi. This is a wall-painting of the be- ginning of the 16 th century, by a painter whose art recalls that of Philippo of Verona, or Michele of Verona. The vulgarity of the figures exceeds any thing of the kind in Montagna. 1 Verona, San Biagio. The chapel was founded on May 7, 1489, the first mass was read on the 23 d of June 1491, and the walls were ready for painting at the end of the following July. (Di Santo Biagio &c. venerato in SS. Nazaro e Celso di Verona, byLuigi Bruseo, 12°, Verona, 1834, p.p. 59 and foil.) We have the authority of Mos- cardo (Storia di Verona, 1668, p. 96) and of Del Pozzo, (u. s. Pitt. Veronesi, p. 255) to the effect that the frescos in San Biagio are by Montagna. The style alone proves it. That Falconetto's part was finished is proved by the account - books of San Biagio. (Bruseo, ub. sup. 65.) The altarpiece, of which the centre is missing, has been attri- buted without authority (Vas. annot. IX. 212) to Girolamo dai Libri. In the first fresco San Biagio, seated in a white tunic and red mantle, gives the blessing to a bird; he is surrounded by animals in a landscape. The figure is partly obliterated. In the second he cures a cripple, but much of the composition is lost. In the "torture" some heads are preserved and have a fine portrait character. The decapitation is quite ruined. Where colour remains it is in a reddish mono-tone. The parts of the altarpiece here preserved are panels in oil, with figures about half the size of life, the standing saints in a portico, the other panels half-lengths, one with S 4 Giuliana, slightly injured, that in possession of Dr. Ber- nasconi slightly abraded in the hand of the saint to the right (a friar). The head of Christ in the Pieta is spotted. Chap. XV. BARTOLOMMEO MONTAGNA. 429 whilst the four walls of the apsis contain remains of in- cidents taken from the saint's legend, his solitude on the Argean mount, where beasts and birds flocked round him for a blessing, his cure of a cripple when led to prison, his torture with the card, and his execution. In the dim figures which centuries have darkened or abraded, and in the graven outlines which survive the scaling of the colours, we note Montagna' s study of nature, his realism in portraiture, his firmness and precision in drawing. He reveals force without selection, and prefers wiry to fleshy models, though his contrasts of light and shade are still strong and well made out. To these we add the altar- piece, of which the wings and upper course are separately exposed in the aisle and transept of San Nazaro, and in the collection of Dr. Bernasconi. At the sides of an altar, S l John the Baptist, accompanied by S l Benedict and the S ts Nazaro and Celso; in the transept, the Saviour in his tomb supported by angels, S l Giuliana and a female martyr; at Dr. Bernasconi's S l Biagio and another saint. In the Redeemer's lean and macerated frame and face, great power and a vulgar but dramatic expression; in the saints strong relief and accurate proportion of shadow, finished form and serious energy of mien; the colours, as in Carpaccio, sharp but harmonic in juxta- position, the flesh tint low but fused and of enamel brightness. Bellini, Carpaccio, Mantegna, had all been studied by Montagna before producing this masterpiece; and Antonello, too, whose system of opaque treatment, with its metallic and glowing brilliancy is followed here, as it is by Montagna 1 s friend Buonconsiglio, with great cleverness and effect. At the close of 1496 Montagna returned from his wanderings and settled down to constant duty in his favorite residence of Vicenza. 1 He devoted two years to a madonna with saints for the chapel of the Squarzi In Sep. 1497, he is witness to a will at Vicenza. Magrini, u. s. 34. 430 THE VICENTINES. Chap. XV. family at San Michele of Vicenza ; 1 he delivered an altar- piece of considerable dimensions to the neighbouring church of Sandrigo, 2 and accepted a contract for a picture in the duomo from Cardinal Zeno ; 3 of these three pieces the madonna alone is preserved in the gallery of the Brera at Milan. If at first Montagna appears of timid local habits, he now bursts out into the full swing of exuberant strength. His figures have the size of nature; the ma- donna with the child in her arms sits on a rich throne in a vaulted portico, lighted by openings cut into lozenges or rounds; in couples at the sides, S l Andrew and S l Monica, S l Ursula and S l Sigismund; on the pediment three angels with instruments. Without deli- cacy in the rendering of form, Montagna strikes us here by energetic movement and bold expression. His out- lines are very decisive, occasionally sharp and angular; his drapery, broken by cross folds in the northern fashion, is artfully cast so as to leave flat planes at appropriate distances to suggest the under shape. His proportions are good; light and shade are well balanced; and the scale of tints in contrast, whether in dresses or in the marbles of the portico, is calculated with the raw sharp- ness and success habitual to Carpaccio. With this and with flesh of a reddish brown strongly relieved by dark warm grey, the altarpiece of the Brera seems to combine the vigour of Carpaccio and Signorelli with the muscular dryness of the Mantegnesques and of Diirer. 4 1 There are records of payment for the Squarzi altarpiece monthly in the accounts of the Squarzi reprinted in Magrini (u. s. 45 — 6, 47), and a final statement of debt on Sept. 26, 1499, in which Bar- tolommeo Squarzi cedes to Mon- tagna a piece of land in liquida- tion of all claims. The monthly payments above mentioned are made to Philip and Paul, sons of Montagna, who, however, are not mentioned in his wills. 2 Sandrigo. The altarpiece here represented the Virgin and child between S ts Philip and James, and is noticed by Moschini (Guida di Venezia II. 607), with the false date of 1449. It is now missing. 3 Vicenza. The altarpiece of the duomo represented the Virgin, child, John the Baptist, and other saints; it was finished in 1502, and is praised by Boschini (Gi- oielli, 4), and by Mosca (30). It is now missing. 4 Brera. No. 86, originally in the Squarzi chapel at San Michele VIRGIN, CHILD, AND SAINTS ; an altarpiece, by B.irtolommeo Montagi in the Brem at Milan. Chap. XV. BARTOLOMMEO MONTAGNA. 431 In this stem way Montagna now proceeds almost uninterruptedly to the end. 1 Within the province to which his practise was now chiefly confined, he found a constantly increasing number of patrons. He painted for San Rocco of Vicenza two altarpieces, now at Venice, in one of which the rude vigour , of his style is almost as potently marked as at the Brera; 2 for San Marco of Lonigo, a characteristic votive picture since transferred to the Berlin Museum-, 3 for the church of Monte Berico the Pieta ; dated 1500, one of those pieces in which models of rustic force are faithfully reproduced, and grimace accompanies the rendering of pain, and yet a strong feeling is created by impassioned action and clever drawing. 4 In a more quiet mood in the same year of Vicenza (see antea, Gioielli, 44—5. Lanzi, II. 118. Ridolfi, Ma- rav. I. 141). On the step of the throne: "Opus Bartholome Mon- tagna ICCCCLXXXXVIIII;" can- vas. In the same gallery No. 115, a Virgin and child between S* Fran- cis and S l Bernardino, classed as "an old Florentine," is by one of the Montagna, perhaps Bene- detto; the picture was in San Bartolommeo of Vicenza (see Gi- oielli, p. 95), it is now greatly damaged. 1 In Nov. (5) 1499, Montagna buys land at Citadella, and lets it to the former owner. Magrini, 35. In Feb. 1503, he settles some out- standing accounts at Vicenza in the matter of the property ceded to him by the Squarzi. Ib. 35. 2 Venice Acad. No. 361. Wood, m. 2-15 h. by 1-G3, inscribed with a retouched signature: "Opusbar- tholom . . Montagna." Virgin and child enthroned between S l Se- bastian and S l Jerom; the child in a dancing motion, the Virgin heavy in shape, S l Sebastian a disagreeable type of a strong realistic nature. Tone olive, colour viscous, the arrangements of dais and accessories Carpacciesque. The Virgin's dress is injured. Magrini states that this piece was in San Rocco of Vicenza. No. 535. Wood, m. 1*83 h. by 1*62, originally in San Rocco of Vicenza. Christ between S l Roch and S l Sebastian, dry lean figures of a less rugged class than the foregoing. In the same class : Venice, Correr Museum. No. 40, half-length of a female martyr in- jured and spotted. 3 Berlin Mus. No. 44, canvas, 6f. 6 h. by 5, inscribed: "MD. opus . . . .Montagna," originally in San Marco of Lonigo, afterw. in the Solly coll. Virgin and child between S l Omobuono giving alms to a man, and S l Francis, with a small S l Catherine and patron in front, a dark tinted picture with a certain mono-tone in the colours. 4 Monte Berico. Canvas, oil, figures less than life-size. The Virgin with the dead body of Christ on her lap, to the left Joseph, to the right the Magdalen and evan- gelist, distance landscape; sky and foreground new, and the figures all more or less injured, inscribed: 432 THE VICENTINES. Chap. XV. he finished the nativity of Orgiano, 1 and the madonna with saints at Sarmego; 2 in 1502 the madonna of the duomo at Vicenza ordered by Cardinal Zeno, and since lost; 3 in 1503 the Virgin and child of the Marchese Cam- pori at Modena. There is something half Bellinesque half Mantegnesque in the air of the Virgin here; a pleasing expression gives charm to her face, and it is a kindly thought to let the infant free the bird in its grasp instead of flying it with a string; 4 one hardly expects such a trait from a man so usually stern as Montagna. Another picture in the grand manner, is the Virgin and child attended by S l Onofrio and the Baptist, and three angels with instruments in the Certosa of Pavia; 5 yet another, of great mastery in the intertress of contrasted tints and the balance of light and shade, is the presentation of the child in the gallery of Vicenza. 6 A number of less im- portant examples might be cited: at San Bartolommeo "Opus Bartholom. Montagna. MCCCCC V Aprile." A fresco of the Saviour in the Virgin's lap in the sacristy of this church, much restored, seems by Montagna. 1 Church of Orgiano near Vi- cenza, canvas, figures all but life- size of the Virgin and S l Joseph praying at the sides of a cradle in which the infant Christ lies, land- scape distance, inscribed on a car- tello : " Opus Bartolomei Montagna MCCCCC." This is a repainted and injured work. 2 Sarmego. Virgin, child, the Baptist, and Evangelist greatly in- jured, and now in the canonry. Magrini speaks of a small picture at Vicenza, dated 1502 (not seen). See Magrini, u. s. 35. 3 See antea and Gioielli, p. 4. 4 Modena. Marchese Campori, half-lengths, panel. The Virgin holds the infant sitting on a pa- rapet; a green hanging intercepts the sky. With her left hand the Virgin holds a book on the para- pet. This is a well preserved picture in which the technical system of Antonello is applied, as it was by Buonconsiglio, in olive and semi-opaque but lustrous tones. Inscribed: "Bartolomei Montagna opus MCCCCCIII. XIII Aprili." 5 Pavia. Certosa, above thejsa- cristy door, originally in San Michele of Vicenza. (Gioielli, 45. Mosca, 88. Ridolfi, Marav. I. 141.) Figures less than life, abraded. 6 Vicenza Gall. No. 14, canvas. S l Simeon kneels as the Virgin, also kneeling, presents the child to him; behind the Virgin (left) S 4 Joseph, behind Simeon a kneeling patron; in a lunette S l Jerom. This picture was in San Barto- lommeo (Gioielli, 90. Mosca, 5) ; it is signed: "Opus Bartholomeus (sic) Montagna." The treatment is that of the school of Antonello da Messina, producing a low brownish semi-opaque surface of glowing aspect. Chap. XV. BARTOLOMMEO MONTAGNA. 433 of Vicenza, 1 at Mr. Layard's in London, 2 in the late Northwick Gallery 3 in the Louvre, at Santa Corona/ in the Communal Gallery, 5 in the cathedral, and at San Lorenzo of Vicenza. 7 The latest productions of the 1 Vicenza. San Bartolommeo. Virgin, child, and three angels on a pediment, between S ts John the Baptist, Bartholomew, Angus- tin, and Sebastian, inscribed : "Bar- tholomeus Motanea pinxit" on a predella, the fall of the idol, the casting out of a devil, baptism of a proselyte, S l Bartholomew beaten before the judge, decapita- tion. This piece is scaled, abraded and repainted, but still recalls Bellini in its arrangement, and Cotignola in the thinness of the forms. 2 London, M r Layard, 1°, small fresco with half-lengths of Christ between a bishop and a female saint. Not without retouching but strong in colour, signed: "Barto- lomeus Motanea pinxit," origi- nally in the Cappella Tanara at San Gio. Ilarione near Vicenza; 2°, a bust of S l John the- Baptist on panel in oil, brown in tone, warm in shadow, firmly touched, and well preserved. England. Late Northwick coll. Procession to Calvary, canvas, with figures half-size of life, red- dish in flesh tone. 3 Louvre, Muse'e Napoleon III. No. 188, half-length, Ecce Homo in the glowing tones like Buon- consiglio, fair if not select in nude ; — small panel, inscribed on a cartello : " Bartholomeus M6- tagna fecit." (Shadow of torso re- touched, ground dark, the signa- ture much rubbed.) 4 Vicenza, Santa Corona, second altar to the right. The Magdalen on a pedestal in an arched chapel between S ts Jerom, Mary of Egypt, Monica and Augustin, in a pre- della, the communion of Mary of Egypt? Noli me tangere, and the vision of S l Monica. The figures VOL. I. are not without grandeur, the drawing is clear and the tone warm and brown, inscribed: "Opus Bartholomei Montagna;" — canvas, with life-size figures. 5 Vicenza Gall. No. 57, formerly in San Biagio, predella with scenes from the life and martyrdom of S l Biagio, once part of a large altarpiece representing the Virgin, child, S ts Biagio, Francis, a bishop, Anthony of Padua, Bernardino and Buonaventura. (Gioielli, 91.) 6 Vicenza Duomo, chapel of S l Catherine. Virgin and child betw. S l Mary Magdalen and S l Lucy, canvas, with life-sized figures, signed: "O . u Montagna," a lunette representing S l Sebastian, Christ and the Bap- tist of the close of the 18 th century. This is a picture of Montagna's old age, perhaps in part completed by his son Benedetto. In the cappella Proto are rem- nants of a fresco of the Virgin adoring the child with S l Peter, S l Paul, S l Joseph and another saint. These remnants have been rescued from whitewash, and recall those of San Biagio at Verona; the forms are fair and very precisely reproduced, but the co- lours are greatly altered. In the same chapel a kneeling portrait on a pilaster, a ruined figure of S l Anthony the Abbot and a re- painted one of S l James. 7 Vicenza. San Lorenzo, Proto chapel. On the wall facing a tomb, itself of old decorated with paintings, are remnants of a scene from the martyrdom of S l Peter, apparently the removal of his body after crucifixion. The corpse is removed to the left, there are spectators on foot, a guard on horseback, and others in front of 28 434 THE VICENTINES. Chap. XV. master are the madonna and saints of 1517 in the Vi- cenza Gallery 1 and the nativity of 1522 in the church of Cologna; 2 both of them inferior to works of a pre- vious time. At intervals he painted small half-lengths of the madonna, of which several have been preserved, as if to prove that his vehemence could be tempered to a certain amount of delicacy and softness. Two of these are in Vicenza; two more are in Venice. 3 some houses. Little more than the outlines remain, and we are reminded of the later frescos of Mantegna at the Eremitani of Padua. Fragments of other frescos, once in San Marcello, are now in the Scuola Elementaria at Vicenza, and suggest the same remarks as the fragment belonging to M r Layard. Verona. Del Pozzo notices a Virgin between S l Sebastian and S l Jerom, dated 1507, in" San Se- bastian at Verona. It was re- moved in 1716 and is now missing. (Pitt. Veron. 56—7 and 262.) Mon- tagna was in Vicenza in that year, and received payments for work in the town-hall. (Magrini, 35.) In 1508 he sells certain lands. (Ib. ib.) 1 Vicenza Gall, depot, originally in the church of Breganze near Vicenza. Virgin and child between S ts Peter, Anthony the Abbot, Paul and a bishop, once signed and dated 1517. (Magrini, p. 36); much injured, and in part by assistants. In the same collection a Christ at the column, No. 65, reminiscent of that phase in Montagna in which he resembles Buonconsiglio and Antonello. 2 Cologna. We have the ac- knowledgment of debt from the Scuola di San Giuseppe to Montagna for the piece, from which it appears that it was ordered on the 21 st of April, 1520, for eighty ducats. The deed of acknowledgment is dated Vicenza, Nov. 4, 1521. The picture, a small canvas in the transept is inscribed: "Bartholo- meus Montagna MDXII. di XIII. Marti." It is much injured by re- storing, the colour of a reddish brown, the figures short and vul- gar. In the middle of the picture the infant Christ adored by the Virgin, at the sides S l Joseph, S l Sebastian, S l John, and the shepherds ; in a lunette Christ in the tomb between two angels, between S l Nicholas and another saint. In a predella the marriage of the Virgin, the circumcision and the flight into Egypt. 3 Vicenza. Signor Jacopo Ca- bianca. The infant is seated on the parapet before the Virgin. Two openings in the back-ground expose a view of sky and land- scape; wood, oil, figures half the size of life. Vicenza, Casa Tressino. Virgin and child in a landscape, inscr. : "Opus Bartolomei Montagna," pa- nel, much injured. Venice, Signor Felice Schiavoni. Virgin and child in a landscape, arched panel in a pillared frame of the period, in oil, and a little raw. This is feebly treated as if with the assistance of Benedetto, and reminds us, as all poor Mon- tagnas do, of the Cotignola. Same hand: Virgin and child in front of a green curtain. The Virgin prays with j oined hands ; the child holds a book. Marks of restoring are in the forehead and cheek of the Virgin and in the forehead of the infant. This, however, is a better picture than the foregoing. Chap. XV. BENEDETTO MONTAGNA. 435 In October 1523 Bartolommeo died, bequeathing the bulk of his property to his son Benedetto 5 1 he bequeathed to him also his practice 5 but from 1528 to 1541 , during which Benedetto is known to have produced numerous altarpieces in Vicenza and its vicinity, he did not ex- hibit anything like the talent of his father. 2 Rovigo. Galleria Communale, No. 136, Virgin and child with the boy Baptist; later than Mon- tagna and in the manner of Po- lidoro. Venice, Signor Rotameren- dis. In the hands of a gentleman of this name, Magrini mentions a Christ in benediction, inscribed : "Opus Bfmeus Motagna, Vincentia die 24 m. Otbres 1507. (Magrini 11. s. 38.) This is no doubt the same mentioned in Cicogna, Iscr. Venez. Vol. IV. 386—8, as having been in San Giorgio at Venice. There are several pictures of Montagna's missing; others are incorrectly named, some have not been seen by the authors: Bologna, Galleria Ercolani, Virgin and child and a distant landscape, inscribed: "Bartolamio Scholaro de Ze Be." This has been assigned to Mon- tagna, but is probably by another painter. (Magrini, p. 36.) It is now mislaid. Venice, Scuola di San Marco. " Vi fu anco comminciata un' area di Noe' da Bartol. Mon- tagna. (Sansov. Ven. Descr. 286.) Vicenza, chiesa degli Angeli. S l Sebastian between S ts Roch and Bellini; above, the Virgin and child, S l Francis and S l Anthony of Padua (Boschini, Gioielli, 75), missing, as are likewise: Vicenza, San Bartolommeo, four large figures, once on panels closing the great organ. (Magrini, 39.) San Biagio. Virgin and child between S ts Nicholas and John the Baptist, with two children playing instru- ments. (Gioielli, 92.) Nativity. (Ri- j dolfi, 1.141.) Carmelitani, chapter- house, Virgin and child crowned J by two angels, between S ls John the Baptist, and James; two angels, j San Girolamo, fresco of S l Jerom in the desert above the outer por- tal. (Gioielli, 83.) Casa Gualdo. The whole house was decorated internally with frescos by Mon- tagna. (Magrini, 40 — 41.) San Fe- lice. Here were four altarpieces of which the subjects are not given. (Gioielli, 125, but see Benedetto Montagna.) San Lorenzo, Christ appearing to the Magdalen, S l Je- rom and S l John Baptist. (Gioielli, 105.) Crucifixion. (Ridolfi, Marav. I. 141.) Oratorio de' Turchini. Virgin and child between S ts Peter, Paul, Dominick and Sebastian. (Gioielli, 72.) San Rocco. S l Roch, S l Sebastian land an angel. (Ri- dolfi, I. 141.) Scoletta di Santa Barbara. Virgin and child between a bishop S l Gothardo and S l Job. (Gioielli, 121.) San Tommaso. Vir- gin and child between S ts Thomas, Augustin, and a male and female patron. (Gioielli, 53.) 1 Montagna made two wills, one dated October 5, 1521, which is almost repeated in a second, dated May 6, 1523. There is no artistic interest served by the publication of either. The first was drawn up by a lawyer, Francesco Zanecliini, to whom Montagna: "pro solu- tione dedit unum quadrum Vir- ginis Marise." (In margin of will of 1521.) Magrini, 49. To the will of 1523 the same notary makes this note in chalk: "1523 die XI. Octobris. Ex hac vita migravit Dns Bmeus." 2 We have seen (antea) that Benedetto was the son (he has usually been called the brother) of Bartolommeo Montagna, and that he was master in his guild 28* 436 THE VICENTINES. Chap. XV. In Giovanni Suonconsiglio, commonly called "il Ma- rescalco, ;? Vicentine art offers a new variety. This painter having, we think, been assistant to Speranza, felt the influence of the Paduan school, and subsequently took Antonello da Messina for his model. He was the cotemporary of Montagna, with whom he had some gene- ral affinity of thought and of manner; and he practised alternately at his birth-place Vicenza, at Venice, and in the neighbouring provinces. Till very late in the 15 Ul in 1490. He seems to have acted as his father's assistant so long" as his father lived. His own works date after Bartolommeo's death. By him we have a Virgin and child between S ts Peter, Paul, Francis, and Anthony of Padua, in Milan, Brera, No. 116, inscr. : "Benedetto Montagna fecit, 1528," a dark coloured panel, ruined by restoring, and displaying little beyond the decrepitude of Barto- lommeo's art. There is a Trinity between S l Monica and S l John the Baptist, in Vicenza, duomo, canvas, oil, with figures all but life-size, in- scribed: "Benedictus Montagna f. 1535," dark in tone, but better than the foregoing. A Virgin and child between S l Christopher and another (female) saint, assigned to Bartolommeo (Kidolfi, I. 141), is in Lonigo: duomo (choir), inscr. with a new signature: "Benedetto Montagna m' a pense 1541," ruined. Further : Modena Gallery, No. 34. Vir- gin and child receiving a flower from S l John the Baptist, three angels, signed and dated 1548. M. B. ugly and mechanical work, and if by Benedetto, which may be doubted, singularly like one by Bernardino Loschi. Stuttgardt Museum. No. 114. Marriage of S l Catherine, assigned to Bartolommeo, but of the school and perhaps by the son. Missing: Vicenza. Servi, Trinity with S ts > Giustina, Christopher, John the Baptist, Anthony the Abbot, and another (female). (Gioielli, 38.) San Biagio. Coronation of the Virgin with S l Anthony the Abbot below, dated 1535. (Gioielli, 92, and Ri- dolfi, I. 141.) Nativity, dated 1534, with a conversion of S l Paul in a predella. (Gioielli, 93.) Virgin and child between S l Peter and S l John Evangelist. (Gioielli, 93, 94.) Virgin and child, S l Francis and S l Bernard. (? Milan, Brera. No. 115.) See Boschini (Gioielli, 95). Carmelitani. Virgin and child, angel on the throne-step with a lute, two angels hanging the crown above the Virgin's head, S' Sebastian and S l Anthony the Abbot. (Gioielli 106, 7.) San Rocco. Virgin and child between S l Se- bastian and S l Roch. (Gioielli, 118.) San Felice. Ridolfi assigns to Bene- detto here, 1°, massacre of the in- nocents; 2°, Virgin and child be- tween S ts Felix and Fortunatus; 3°, S ts Florian, Simplician, Pru- dentia and Perpetua; 4", a picture with saints. These seem the four altarpieces assigned by Boschini (Gioielli, p. 125) to Bartolommeo. | Monte Berico, (church of.) Adora- tion of the kings. (Gioielli, 61.) Verona. Private gallery at Sant 1 Elena al duomo. S l Jerom in the desert. (Del Pozzo, 284.) Padua. Sant' Agostino chapel by Bene- detto "fiol del Montagna." (Ano- nimo, 31.) Chap. XV. BUONCONSIGLIO. 437 century ho clung to tempera; and one of the most strik- ing of his works is that which he completed in that medium for San Bartolommeo of Vicenza. It is the production of a man well acquainted with the technical difficulties of his profession, familiar with the anatomy of the human frame, and so far advanced in study as to have acquired types and masks peculiarly his own. His subject is the favourite one of the Virgin, evangelist and Magdalen mourning over the dead body of the Saviour. He represents it in a sad sepulchral way, with great force of action and anguish of expression, and with strong realism. Endowed with searching powers and a truer feeling for colour than Montagna, he still wants attractiveness. The Saviour, in his conception, is an emaciated corpse, of good proportions and vulgar parts, rigid in death, and lean from suffering; the Virgin wailing with the head of Christ on her lap, a woman of every-day aspect; the evangelist wringing his lingers with violence, a man of coarse nature; the more placid Magdalen, a portrait. The heads are all short and square, and with horizontal lines out of proportion long; the features contracted into angles, and energetic as in Durer; the drapery clean in cast but broken like Man- tegna's. Skill is shown in chiaroscuro and reflections; and broad effects are attempted by an application of evening light, especially to the landscape and clouded sky. The picture thus produces an impression of power, and yet it is unpleasant, from the earthy tinge of the flesh, the greenish brown tone of the surface, and the common air of the figures. If there be any other peculiarity in addition, it is that the hands are thin and small, and awkwardly cramped. 1 The difference between Buoncon- 1 Vicenza Gallery, formerly in San Bartolommeo. (Gioielli, 90. Mo sea, 5.) Panel, tempera, in a frame with monoehromc arabesques, skulls, vases, tritons and ciipiils. In a pinnacle S* Catherine, ami in two medallions at the upper cor- ners the Virgin and angel annun- ciate; It is characteristic of the execution that there is no trace of stippling- or hatching- in the tempera. The landscape of hills 438 THE VICENTINES. Chap. XV. siglio and Montagna at first may thus appear to have been confined to technical treatment, Montagna' s colour being lucid,- unbroken, sombre and occasionally harsh ; Buonconsiglio's sombre likewise, but opaque. Their edu- cation in other respects seems to have been the same; but whilst Montagna improved by studying Carpaccio and the Paduans, Buonconsiglio changed under the in- fluence of Antonello da Messina; and about 1497, when he delivered the madonna with saints to San Cosmo e Damiano at Venice, of which a fragment is still pre- served in the academy, he had turned his back on the old practice of tempera with steady resolution. 1 His attention was now very exclusively given to the alter- ation in mediums, and his types thus retain all their early characteristics ; but they become brighter and more glossy from the use of brown high surface and semi- transparent shadows and full bodied lights. Practically, and rock is not without atmosphere, and has something in common with those of Lotto. The touch is re- solute and given with a full brush. The Magdalen wears a fillet with pearls, and a tassel and veil over her hair. Her yellow dress is slashed and the boddice laced in front, the same dress as in a portrait at the Louvre, which we may assign to the master. (Louvre, No. 577, postea.) On a cartel] o to the left: "Joanes Bonichosilii P. Mareschalcho." "We may add to this early work at Vicenza the following: Vicenza. San Lorenzo, right transept. Christ crucified between the Virgin and a kneeling saint; fresco. The Saviour is lean and bony, but drawn in the spirit of Buonconsiglio and Montagna. Two prophets in rounds, and three angels with the symbols of the Passion below the crucifixion are monochromes by the same hand, showing the influence of Paduan teaching on the Vicentines. Mosca, p. 56, has no name to append to this fresco, which he calls "me- diocre." 1 Venice Academy, No. 272, frag- ment of a large piece in San Cosmo e Damiano alia Giudecca, with the cartello containing the signature let into' the right corner as follows: "1497 a di 22 decebrio Joanes Bono Chosili Mareschalchus da Vicenza p." We have here half of three figures of S l Bene- dict, S* Tecla, and S l Cosmo, all but life-size; the faces short, broadly shadowed, and well out- lined, in the mould of the artist and of Montagna at San Nazaro at Verona. The outlines and sha- dows are high in surface aud laid in over the ground flesh-tone; lights ditto with copious fluid and semi-opaque colour. (See Zanotto, Pinac. Ven. Fasc. 3, for the vicissi- tudes which this picture under- went.) The above mentioned frag- ment was once in the Manfrini collection. Chap. XV. BUONCONSIGLIO. 439 indeed, Buonconsiglio may be considered to have made better and bolder use of the new system than Luigi Vi- varini, and to have been at least the equal in this sense of Basaiti, when Basaiti issued from the Vivarini atelier. There is every reason to believe that Buonconsiglio in- habited Venice constantly at this time, for he adorned several of its churches and public buildings, and his name has been read in the registers of the guild of S l Luke. It is unfortunate only that so many of his pictures should have been lost or mutilated. 1 To correct the absence or insufficiency of these we have the great madonna and saints of 1502, originally ordered for the oratory of the Turchini, but now in San Eocco, of Vi- cenza, 2 where we observe that he is not content to imi- tate Antonelhys works technically, but appropriates his types and forms and mode of expression. The Virgin and child are still broad in mask, with the vertical distances, shortened to excess, but they are also fleshy and plump, and the form of the latter is very like that of Antonello in the madonna of San Gregorio at Messina. 1 Venice Acad. N os 601 and 602, canvases, representing S l Mark and S l Jerom. These are part of a larger work, of which the life of S l Mark was the centre, de- scribed by Zanotto (Pitt. Venez. p. 68) as in the Magistrato della Masseteria. The missing parts are a Magdalen and S l John the Bap- tist. Size, m. 0'78 high by 0'65. Missing are the following: Venice. San Domenico, annun- ciation and saints in two com- partments. (Boschini, Le R. M. Best, di San Marco, p. 14.) San Gio. e Paolo. S l Thomas Aqui- nas and saints, called Gio. Bellini by Sansovino. (Sansov. Ven. Desc. 65. Boschini, Le R. M. Sest. di Castello, p. 60.) Same convent, re- fectory. S l Dominick disputing with heretics. (Boschini, Le R. Min. Sest. di Castello, 67.) San Giovanni Evangelista. Scene from the legend of the cross. (Sansov. Ven. Desc. 284.) The S l Thomas is the only picture by Buonconsiglio mentioned by Vasari (VI. 105). 2 Vicenza. San Rocco. (Mosca, p. 107.) Virgin and child in a chapel decorated with mosaics in front of a red hanging, between S ts Paul, Peter, Dominick and Se- bastian, wood, figures life-size, not free from restoring, inscribed on a cartello: "Joanes Boni-Chonsili pinsit ICCCCCIJ." This picture is sombre in tone and a little flat, and here and there neglected and puffy in outline. The shaded side of S l Sebastian's face is repainted, d° the breast. The outlines are all sharp, the extremities those of poorer class models. Treatmenl hard and horny from excessive use of vehicle, but still not without modulations. 440 THE VICENTINES. Chap. XV. The nude S l Sebastian is more muscular than that of Antonello, but quite in his mould and character. We may believe that Buonconsiglio, for some years of his life, performed the duties of Antonello's assistant and had a share in such pictures as the Pieta at Vienna/ the small head of the Virgin in the academy of Venice, 2 and some of the numerous figures of S l Sebastian pre- served in continental galleries. We might point out two of the latter especially as deserving of attention in this respect, the full-lengths in the Lochis Carrara Gallery at Bergamo, 3 and in the Casa Maldura at Padua. 4 Two votive altarpieces, S l Sebastian between S l Lawrence and S l Roch, in San Giacomo dell' Orio, and Christ between S l Jerom and S l Secondo in the Gesuati, at Venice, illustrate this period of Buonconsiglio's art, but they also prepare us for a further change in his manner. 5 1 Vienna, Belvedere, room 7. Venetian sch. No. 60. 2 Venice Acad. No. 356. 3 Bergamo, Loch. Carr. Small panel, with S l Sebastian in a hip- cloth, bound to a tree, the left hand behind his back, the right above his head; in a landscape with castellated houses. The figure is thin, and of a low tone in the flesh, the shadows high in surface. 4 Padua. Casa Maldura. S l Se- bastian bound to the pilaster of a portico, through the arches of which a landscape appears; panel transferred to canvas, oil, a little flayed, scaled and retouched. The landscape has the melancholy tinge of that in Buonconsiglio's Pieta at Vicenza. The figure is square and fleshy like his later ones. 5 Venice. San Giacomo dell' Orio, right of high portal. S l Se- bastian bound to a pillar in a chapel; near him, erect, the two saints; on a cartello the words: "Joanes Boni-Chosili dito Mare- scalcH. p." The outlines here are not clearly correct and the dra- peries seem flattened down as they might be in a bas-relief, the folds branching in Montagna's manner. S 1 Sebastian, a common mortal of bony but muscular shape, the head round and short. S l Roch flat- headed with a pleasing face. The whole is well relieved by equal light and shade, and of glowing colour treated after Antonello's manner. Venice. Gesuati, originally in San Secondo, where Boschini took it for a picture by the Vivarini (Le R. Min. Sest. della Croce, 63), afterwards at the Spirito Santo, and removed from thence during the restoring of the chapel. The Re- deemer in benediction stands on a pedestal, with the orb in his left, in a domed chapel; San Secondo, in armour holds a banner, S l Je- rom a book; wood, figures life- size: inscribed in a cartello on the pedestal: "Joanes bonichosilij dito Mareschalcho p.;" much re- stored and repainted and scaling in several places. Here we see the tendency (in the head of the Saviour), to imitate Romanino in the shortening of the vertical Chap. XV. BUONCONSIGLIO. 441 From 1510 to 1513, he was busy with the completion of three large works for altars in the cathedral of Montag- nana. One of them represents the Virgin and child be- tween S l Sebastian and S l Roch, and bears the date of 151 1, 1 another, with S l Catherine on a pedestal attended by To bit and the angel and S l Thomas Aquinas, is in- scribed 1513, 2 a third of greater size is the madonna, in a chapel of rich architecture, with six saints and two boys playing instruments. All three betray a revolution in style*, 3 Buonconsiglio loses sight in some measure of Antonello, and acquires a tasteful brilliancy of colours by studying, if not Titian at least Romanino. In the canvas of 151 1, the S 1 Sebastian reminds us of young Titian, the handsome S l Roch recalls Romanino 5 and the rosy flesh, and bright show of tints in dresses, prove acquaintance with Lotto. The same features proportions of the face. Especially repainted are the blue mantle of Christ and S l Jerom's red cloak. This piece is engraved in Zanotto (PinaCi Ven. Fasc. 3), who tells a long story of how it came to San Secondo. From this account it would be a production of a later date than those of Montagnana (1511 — 13), but the execution does not confirm this belief. 1 Montagnana, duomo, chapel to the left of the choir, two angels hold a crown over the Virgin's head; canvas, oil, figures almost of life-size, inscribed on the step of the throne on a cartello : "MDXI. Joaries Bonicosilis Mares- chalco ]>;" and on a lower place: "Vinccntius Montonus hoc. grat. obtent. ex voto obtulit;" and a shield with a coronet and griffin rampant on a field gules. The colour has been abraded and re- touched. 2 Montagnana, duomo, right of portal, 8* Catherine on a pedestal looking up in a portico, canvas, figures of life-size, inscribed in a cartello on the pedestal : "MDXIII. (? one cipher wanting) Joanes Bo- nicohli p." This piece is greatly injured by restoring. (1732), the head of S l Catherine recalls those of Romanino; the colours of copi- ous impasto and rich tone. 3 Montagnana, Comune. Virgin and child with two boy angels playing at the foot of her throne; left, S ts John the Baptist, Jerom and Peter; right, Paul, Augustin, and .Sebastian, inscribed: "Joanes Boni. cbsilij p;" canvas, figures life-size. The S ts Paul and Sebas- tian, as in San Rocco of Vicenza; the treatment, however, broader and more modern. Note the ill-drawn feet of S l Paul, the eyes of the Virgin out of place from restoring, and the mantle of S l Peter new. The flesh is of Romanino's brown tinge (ex. gr.), in the altarpicce of Santa Giustina of Padua. But this picture is ruined by restoring. Montagnana, Monte di Pieta. Here is a Virgin holding Hie child in a standing attitude on a parapet. It is called by the name of Buon- consiglio, but too injured to justify an opinion (size, half-life). 442 THE VICENTINES. Chap. XV. are more or less apparent in the S l Catherine of 1513 and in the larger madonna with saints, where great bold- ness and confidence are exhibited in the execution, and yet we notice occasional hardness not unnatural in a painter who imitates others. It is in considering this stage of BuonconsighVs practice, that we come to assign to him two very interesting portraits at the Louvre, which have puzzled criticism up to this time; a female in red velvet with slashes and favours, a glove in one hand, a chain falling from her neck in the other, a fillet with letters binding her long hair; a man in a black cap and dark green damask dress holding a letter addressed : "Dn° Briardo di Salla. 77 The sombre glow and hardish flatness of the flesh tint in the man, is produced by technical handling like that of Buonconsiglio. The warm and livid tone of the female's face, the modulation of the touch in the hands, seem to indicate a somewhat later execution ; something in the dress and colour suggesting Beltraffio or Costa, whilst the hands recall those of Francia; and yet the costume is that which Buonconsiglio uses in the earliest of his pictures, and the treatment is that of his middle period. 1 In 1519 we find our artist composing a madonna with five saints and a patron, for the parish church of Mon- tecchio Maggiore near Vicenza; but there are proofs of his existence at Venice till much later. He is the author of the plates in the "Triumph of Fortune" by Fanti, published in 1526; he is proved by a document of 1527 to have been living at Venice, and as late as 1530 his name still appears on the register of the Venetian guild of S l Luke. 2 1 Louvre, Nos. 517, canvas, m. 0*69 h. by 0*53; and 518, same measure, catalogued, "unknown." No. 517 has been assigned to Car- paceio, 518 to Catena and others. 2 Moschini (Guida di Venezia, II. p. 569) says that Buonconsig- lio 's name was on the register of the Venetian guild in 1530; the record of 1527 is a power of attor- ney drawn by the jeweller Calisto Aniehino of Ferrara, appointing Giovanni Buonconsiglio his agent at Venice (Cittadella, Doc. u. s. Chap. XV. FOGOLINO. 443 Isolated pieces in the much injured altarpiece of Mon- tecchio reveal a growing relationship between Buoncon- siglio's manner and that of a cotemporary Vicentine, Marcello Fogolino. 1 ' Fogolino is, we think, a native of the Friulan pro- vinces, being perhaps descended from a family of crafts- men of which there are traces at Udine at the rise of the 15 th century. 2 One of the few records to which we can trust for elucidating his life describes him as of San Vito, 3 in the neighbourhood of which he spent some of his later years; but his apprenticeship was made at Vicenza. His pictorial career is not dissimilar from Buonconsiglio's in this, that whilst at first he displayed much of the Vicentine, he afterwards lost something of that manner. His juvenile efforts are no doubt those p. 128). Buonconsiglio's sons, Vi- truvio and Tommaso, inhabited Ferrara (ib. ib.). 1 Montecchio Maggiore, seven miles from Vicenza, traditionally the birth-place of Buonconsig- lio, parish- church, arched, can- vas, oil, figures life-size, Virgin, child and two angels holding the crown in front of a hanging; the scene laid in a vaulted chapel. At the sides, left, the patron in pro- file in a black hat, S ts Gregory and Mary Magdalen ; right, a female, S ts Catherine and John Baj)tist; on a cartello the words: "I (D) XVIIII. Joaile. Bonij chos. . i." This picture is scaled, and almost entirely repainted, but some ori- ginal character is kept in the infant Christ and angels. These in a certain measure remind us of Fogolino. Tresto, province of Padua, ch. of Santa Maria, Virgin and child crowned by two angels between S ls Matthew and Jerom, with two kneeling friars; in a lunette, Christ in the tomb between three angels, j arched panel with figures under life-size. The character is that of a feeble Bellinesque, like Bissolo, but the drapery is curt, and the outline is given in the Vicentine manner, and this may be a very late creation by Buonconsiglio. Bergamo, Signor Rizoni. Virgin, child, S l Joseph and another saint, much injured and dimmed, and signed (? genuine): "Joanes Boni- chonsilij Marescalco;" an unim- portant piece. Dresden Museum, No. 212, Vir- gin, child and saints, half-lengths, wood. This picture is either by Palma Vecchio or an assistant in his school. We miss the following: — Vicenza, San Michele. Virgin and child (two angels holding the crown above her head), angel and To bit, S ts Gregory and Helen. (Mosca, 86.) 2 In the Archivio Communale at Udine, which, as well as the Archivio Notarile, has been tho- roughly searched for us by the kindness of Signor Joppi, we find a record of 1410, April 17, in which Giovanni Fugulini, painter of Udine, is described as possessed of certain lands. 3 See postea. 444 THE VICENTINES. Chap. XV. which remain at Vicenza; the adoration of the magi, a small tempera once commissioned for San Bartolommeo and now in the public gallery, and a predella with six saints in a private house. As a youth he was evidently brought up to admire the semi-Uinbrian models of Verlas and Speranza. Careful execution and patient finish are marked features in the adoration, into which he seems to have introduced his own portrait, but these praise- worthy characteristics are counterbalanced by incorrect- ness of drawing and absence of relief and atmosphere as well as by feeble monotony of types. 1 In the predella, originally at San Francesco of Vicenza, an improvement is apparent; and Fogolino, though still cold in his mode of treatment, already gains a glow of tone not unlike that of Buonconsiglio. 2 A Virgin and child with saints in the Berlin Museum ushers in a more settled manner. It was executed for a Vicentine church, and is a broadly touched picture with a substantial unbroken tint of a sombre shade; a certain fleshiness and curtness of pro- portions may be observed in the figures; and something in the modelling and air of the faces recalls Moretto da Brescia and Bernardino Pordenone. 3 Fogolino and his 1 Vicenza Gallery, No. 16, for- merly in San Bartolommeo. (Gioi- elli, 87; Mosca, 3; Ridolfi, Le Marav. I. 119—20.) To the left, the Virgin and child with one of the king's prostrate at her feet; the usual personages behind the scene, in a landscape not without Peruginesque character. A youth holds a horse, on whose collar we read: "IV1AR(5 (s) PltfOR;" and on a cartello fastened to the Vir- gin's seat are the words: "Mar- cellus fogollinus p.p." In a pre- della are the annunciation, birth of Christ, and flight into Egypt. Small panel, tempera, of washy tint, without atmosphere, treated much like Buonconsiglio's earliest Pieta. 2 Vicenza, Signor Luigi Robus- telli. In the middle of the picture S l Francis receiving the stigmata adored by the kneeling friar; to the left, S ts Chiara and Peter; right, Paul and another. This long predella is executed in the style of Buonconsiglio, and but for a certain rotundity in the types and coldness of execution, we might call it his. 3 Berlin Mus. No. 47, canvas, 8f. 2 3 / 4 square, Virgin and child between S ts Francis, John the Evangelist, Jerom, Anthony of Padua, Vincent Ferrerius, and Buonaventura. Note, the low un- broken mahogany tone, the short fat type of the child, the curtness of the figures generally, and the coarseness of the articulations. Signed: "Marcellus Fogolinus;" Chap. XV. FOGOLINO. 445 countryman Bernardino have indeed been occasionally confounded, as we see, in the academy of Venice, where a madonna and six saints in the style of the altarpiece at Berlin is catalogued under Licinio's name. 1 But the chief variety in Fogolino is observable in votive ma- donnas commissioned at Pordenone, and preserved to this day in the cathedral of that town. One of these was contracted for by the Scuola di San Biagio at Pordenone, on the 15 th of March, 1523, and represents the Virgin and child between S l Biagio and S l Appollonia; the other was delivered a little earlier to the superintendents of the cathedral, and is a glory of S l Francis between S l John the Baptist and S l Daniel. It is very clear that Fogolino here commingles Friulan and Vicentine features with others derived from disciples of Raphael. The heads in the glory of S l Francis are still reminiscent of Licinio, the handling is pastose and broad with swim- ming outlines and modelling, the drawing loose in flesh and in drapery. 2 In the altarpiece of San Biagio the Raphaelesque element is more marked, in the free motion of two angels crowning the Virgin, and in the action originally in San Francesco of Vicenza. (Gioielli, 8(3; Mosca, 46; Ridolfi, I. 120.) 1 Venice Acad. No. 527, said to have been in the Scuola de' Cal- zolai at Udine; canvas, m. 2*37 h. by 1*80, Virgin and child between S ts Anthony, Bernardino, Louis, Antonino and two others. The figures here also are square, short, and puffy; the types and treatment like those at Berlin. 2 Pordenone, duomo (San Marco), third altar to the right, S l Fran- cis holds a cross; the Baptist has the same symbol, and S* Daniel, in an orange dress, with a lion at his feet, points to a scroll on which is written: "cum veniet S. Sanctorum cessabit . . ." The figures all want shoulders. Here Fogolino may have been assisted by his usual journeyman, his brother Matteo. We trace this picture to him by the style and also indirectly by record. There is a contract dated June 29, 1523, in the Archivio Notarile of Udine, in which Marcello Fogolino of San Vito accepts a commission to paint, for Santa Maria di Vici- nato, near Prata, the Virgin and child between S t? John the Bap- tist and Paul, with the Eternal in a pinnacle; and this picture (now missing) is to be equal in every respect to that of S l Fran- cis in the church of San Marco at Pordenone. The surface of the altarpiece is dimmed by varnishes, the landscape dusky and re-touched; the colour lias the fat impasto of Bonifacio and the drapery is a styleless imitation of Palma's. 446 THE VICENTINES. Chap. XV. and shape of the Virgin and Christ, whilst the handling is bold as before. 1 It is not unlikely that Giovanni da Udine, who had been at Rome and was on the eve of returning thither (1523), had brought home a number of Kaphaelesque designs, and thus altered the current of ar- tistic fashion in Friuli. From Pordenone, Fogolino now revisited Vicenza, where he introduced his new manner into a frieze of angels in Santa Corona, 2 and a nativity in San Faustino, 3 combining in both examples, with the shallow boldness of an imitator, the plump forms and natural movements of the Raphaelesques with the broad treatment of the followers of Giorgione and Pordenone. In later days chance brought him back into the north, 4 and we learn from a letter in his own hand that he was living in 1.536 at Trent, and had been appointed in March of that year to make preparations of an architectural and decorative kind in certain edifices of the town and its neighbourhood for the coming of king Ferdinand. 5 This 1 Pordenone, duomo, of old in San Biagio. The contract for this canvas is in the Archivio Nota- rile of Udine, and dated March 15, 1523; the price was 14 ducats. The execution is not so good as in the foregoing, and betrays the hand of an assistant, probably of Matteo Fogolino. It is of a rosy unbroken flesh tone with little shadow scaled in parts and re- stored. There is something in the treatment recalling Pordenone's picture of 1515 in the duomo of Pordenone. 2 Vicenza, Santa Corona, fourth altar to the left as you enter. In the centre is an old Virgin of the 14 th century, around which is a number of Fogolino's puffy angels, imitating in movement those of the Raphaelesques; the colour is brown, even throughout, and of substantial impasto. 3 Verona, Signor D re Bernas- coni, formerly in San Faustino of Vicenza (Gioielli, 43, and Ridolfi, Marav. I. 120). The child in the foreground is very puffy ; the head like one of Mazzolino's, but the picture generally (it represents only the kneeling Virgin and S l Joseph in front of a house and -landscape) recalls Giorgione, Por- denone and Raphael alternately. We are reminded by the forms also of Gaudenzio Ferrari; can- vas, with figures under half life- size, not uninjured. In the same style, Louvre, No. 70, half-lengths of the Virgin and child; but like an earlier work in which Matteo Fogolino might also have a share. 4 We find him and his brother buying land at Pordenone in the last days of January, 1533. In the contract they are called: "M° Marcello Pittore e M° Matteo de Fogolinis Vicentini, abitanti in Pordenone." Acta Pier Ant. Tre- folino, Arch. Notar. Udine. 5 "Car mo m. infmiti saluti. Avi- sovi como fui arzonti ('? aggiunto) Chap. XV. FOGOLINO. 447 letter leads us to search the churches of Trent and its vicinity, and there, in truth, are copious traces of his presence. In the Santissima Trinita we see the madonna between S l Michael and five other saints adored by the kneeling figures of Andrea del Borgo, podesta of Trent (1530 to 1540), and his wife, Dorothea Tonno (Thun). This picture was for many years an ornament of the chapel of the Thun family in the convent of Santa Maria Maddalena, and has been assigned to Moretto of Brescia and Romanino, both of whom are known to have prac- tised in this part of Italy. We have already observed some common features in Moretto and Fogolino. There is no mistaking here the puffy forms of the latter, his affection for Raphael's models, and his peculiarities of hand which differ from those of Moretto. 1 Equally cha- racteristic and exactly similar in method is the Virgin and child between S* Andrew and S l Peter in the church of Bovo near Trent. 2 Nor is it improbable that frescos a treto (Trent o) Li Signori del R. SS. gardinale subito me manda aecrti (a certi)? casteli del R. SS. gardenale a far provisio de adornar e frabicar p la venuta 3 la maista de Re Fredinando el qual se dice che a questo mayo- venira a Trento. Et al presente son ritornato a Trento. Et no no posuto interogare la cossa me cometesi p mis alisandro. ma p lo primo meso le mandero al tuto eenza (senza) falo. Non altro — Dio sia convui. "Adi 3 Mazo 1536 in Trento. " Statj di bona volgia cK de curto sperocli mio fratelo matteo et tuti li soi compagni venira ha habitare a Pordeno" come da primo & & & Credo cli me intendati p cF mi veno movesto qualqne parola quado iro a Pordcno. Al presente lie in ordene vinti milia fanti to- declii (Tedeschi) et fa vinti milia ratione no altro. "Matteo si aricomada molto . . . "Marcelo Fogolino, p. "Vostro." (Address) "Al inolto mag c0 ns Bastiano Mantega car mo honorando in Pordeno (and in another but cotemporary hand) Lta de m° Marcello figolino." [We owe communication of this letter to the kindness of the Con to Pietro di Montereale, a great col- lector of Friulan records.] 1 Trent, chiesa della Santissima Trinita, arched canvas, Virgin crowned by two angels, between S ts Michael, Chiara, Catherine, Rosa and Buonaventura. In front kneeling, the Podesta to the right, his wife to the left; distance sky and landscape. Same style as in the later examples of Fogolino. 2 Bovo near Trent. In a lunette the Eternal; in a predella, the call of Andrew and James to the apostleship, the adoration of the magi, and the martyrdom of S l Peter; wood, arched; style as 448 THE V1CENTINES. Chap. XV. in the rooms of the castle of Trent, and particularly a couple of ceilings should have been painted by Fogolino, though assigned to Giulio Romano. 1 There is also an altarpiece in the duomo of Trent, very like a work of our artist, and a house-front near the cathedral likewise in his style. 2 before. Here again the brown unbroken line recalls Gaudenzio Ferrari. 1 Trent, Castello, round hall, four medallions, -with frescos of incidents from ancient history, lunettes with figures and tritons and allegories in the spandrils of each lunette, assigned to Giulio Romano, and no doubt Raphaelesque, but by Fogolino. In a room on the first floor within the court, and near the loggia, painted by Romanino, a ceiling divided like that of the Farnesina, with heathen divinities in the lunettes, and children in the central rectangle; all boldly and effectively foreshortened. The character generally is like that of the immediately foregoing, but there is something more Ferrarese on the whole. It may be that these frescos were done upon designs furnished by Giulio Romano, or some other Raphaelesque. 2 Trent, duomo, Cappella Manci, altar to the right, Virgin and child between S ts Nicholas, Catherine and Vigilio, • the latter presenting a wooden shoe to the infant Christ, canvas, very high up, assigned to Romanino, not uninjured, and as far as one can see really by Fogolino. Missing : Vicenza San Tommaso, altarpiece of high altar (? subject), Ridolfi. I. 120; house- front, opposite portal of duomo, with figures of horsemen. We may notice here amongst other Vicentines of small interest: Petrus Vicentinus, of whom we have the following.— Venice, Correr Mus. not numbered, bust of Christ at the column, a very ugly Man- tegnesque piece, of opaque and earthy colours, a poor tempera on panel, signed in a cartello on a parapet: "Petrus Vicentinus pinxit." Another artist of Vicenza is Girolamo Vicentino , respecting whom we have but the following: Bergamo, Lochis-Carrara Gall. No. 7, bust panel, Christ carrying his cross, in oil, a little better than the work of Petrus. This Girolamo may be the one who witnessed Bartolommeo Montagna's will in 1523. His panel is in- scribed: " Jeronimus Vicentinus In the same gallery is a minia- ture representing the celebration of a mass (engraved in Rosini, T. XCVIL), a careful and tasty little piece, of good execution, which may well be by Fogolino, to whom it is assigned. Chap. XVI. PISANO. 449 CHAPTER XVI. THE VERONESE. There are few cities of northern Italy in which art was more effectually changed by Mantegna's example than Verona. After a brilliant period of activity, during which the noble principles of Tuscan composition were illustrated in the works of Altichiero and Avanzi/ the traditions of the Florentines were neglected or forgotten, and the 15 th century opened without a single painter of genius. Whilst Turone and his comrades preserved in their ateliers the lowliest precepts of their craft, it was vain to hope for pictorial progress. 1 And yet there was 1 Turone was a man of more extensive practice at Verona than we should have at first supposed. Besides the Trinity and saints under his name in the museum, close observation may discover in addition to the crucifixion assigned to Cimabue in San Fermo, other works assignable to him, ex. gr. : Verona, San Siro e Libero, lunette of outer portal, Christ in bene- diction, between the Baptist and S l Mary Magdalen. Sant' Anas- tasia, cappella Cavalli, in addition to wall-paintings mentioned in Altichiero, a baptism in Turone's style, perhaps by one of his school. San Fermo , about the pulpit, above which we read the words: "Opus Martini," a series of inci- dents, ten in number, from the VOL. I. history of Elijah. These have a mixture of Umbro-Veronese cha- racter, and are feebler than the genuine Turones. Santa Maria della Scala, front; here is a coro- nation of the Virgin repeated from Turone' s in the museum. Sant' Anastasia, cappella Pellegrini; here is a continuation of the manner under notice in a Virgin and child with saints beneath the tomb of Tommaso Pellegrini, and in a Virgin, child, five saints and kneel- ing members of the family of Bevilacqua to the right of the entrance. This last fresco is fair for the period, being about equal to thjose round the pulpit in San Fermo, and possibly by Jacopo of Verona. San Zeno Maggiore (duomo). In the apsis a colossal 29 450 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. now, as there ever had been, a demand for pictures of a better kind. The question was how such a demand could be satisfied, and by whom. The Venetians, in a similar position, had employed Gentile de Fabriano, a stranger; the Veronese were more fortunate in finding one amongst their fellow-countrymen whose style bore the impress of Umbrian teaching. It has been held, indeed, that previous to the rise of Vittor Pisano, the Veronese rose to a fair level of eminence under Stefano da Verona, whom Vasari describes as a pupil of Agnolo Gaddi ; 1 but there is every reason to suppose that this opinion is baseless, and that Stefano da Zevio, the co- temporary or disciple of Pisano, is the only person of that name whose existence is beyond dispute. 2 Pisano's birth and education are involved in obscurity. On the one hand, del Pozzo mentions a madonna in his own possession inscribed with the date of 1406; from which it would appear that the painter called himself Vettor Pisanello de San Vi Veronese; 3 on the other Saviour on the cross, of deformed frame, between the evangelist and the Virgin, accompanied by S ts Paul, Benedict and Zeno, full- lengths in niches. These are rude works of the close of the 14 th or rise of the 15 th century, with the defects of the antiquated schools. Sant' Anastasia, above high por- tal, Trinity between the Virgin and evangelist, same style as the foregoing. Liceo Scipione Maffei, formerly San Pietro Martire; on the wall beneath an annunciation and allegories by Falconetto, are remnants of scenes from the Pas- sion, frescos, in Tu rone's manner. 1 Vasari, II. 155 and VI. 86. 2 All paintings under the name of Stefano at Verona, and in its neighbourhood are of the 15 th cen- tury, and are not of a style at all related to that of A. Gaddi. Had Vasari suggested Lorenzo Monaco or any other miniaturist as the master, he might find converts to the opinion that Stefano or even Pisano were taught in his school. Amongst the works which Vasari assigns to Stefano, there is not one in which we can trace as much Giottesque character as we find in those of Altichiero. We shall see that the theory of Veronese critics is untenable, according to which there are two painters of the name of Stefano, one the author of frescos of the 14 th , a second of frescos of the 15 th centuries. We shall enumerate amongst the works o% Stefano da Zevio the wall- paintings at Illasi which have been assigned to his older homonym. (See Studi sopra la Storia della Pittura Ital. del Dr. C. Bernas- coni, Dispensa VIII. 1865, Verona, p, 219.) 3 Verona, Casa de' Conti del Pozzo, Virgin and child between S ts John the Baptist and Cathe- Chap. XVI. PISANO. 451 hand, Vasari asserts that Pisano was journeyman to Andrea del Castagno at Florence. 1 Both statements are open to grave suspicion, the form of inscriptions in the 15 th century being unlike that which del Pozzo has preserved, the life of Castagno being in itself a contra- diction of Vasari's theory. There is no insuperable objection to believing that Pisano spent some of his earlier years at Florence, however little his method may reveal of Florentine schooling. Had it chanced that he followed the footsteps of Gentile de Fabriano, and after serving his apprenticeship in Umbria settled in the Tuscan capital, he would be the second of his class on whom the principles of the great Florentines made no impression. Pisano was considered by his cotemporaries to have given way to poetic fancy in representing forms and " motives," 2 but to have been of superior talent in depicting horses and other animals; 3 Guarino, his coun- tryman and panegyrist, used the license of a bard to affirm that Pisano could represent the waves in anger or at peace, the sweat on the labourer's brow, and the neighing of horses-, but he dwells chiefly on the power with which he reproduced portraits, scenery, birds and quadrupeds. 4 Porcellio, the scribe of Alphonzo of Arragon, Basinio of Parma, and Tito Strozzi, are un- animous in the same strain. 5 rine, and on a cartello the words: "Opera di Vettor Pisanello de San Vi VeroneseMCCCCVI." Del Pozzo, u. s. pp. 9 and 305. 1 Vasari, IV. 151, 2, In another place, Vasari says it was a tradi- tion in Florence that Pisano's early works were in the old ch. del Tempio at Florence. (IV. 158—9. 2 "In pingendis rernra formis sensibusque exprimendis ingenio prope poetico putatns est." Fa- cius (B.) DeViris Illnst. 4° Flor. 1715, p. 45. 3 lb. ib. 4 Gnarino Veronese, after having been in Constantinople, Florence and Venice, settled at Verona in 1422, where he was professor of Greek. In 1429 he was appointed by Nicholas the III d , Duke of Ferrara, private tutor to his son Lionel. He may have known Pi- sano at Verona and at Ferrara. His poem in praise of the latter is published in "II Pisano" etc. Memorie del Dott. C. Bernasconi," 8°, Verona, 18G2, p. 14. 5 Porcellio (Pietro) banished from Rome after 1434, by Pope Euge- nius the IV th , for an alleged part in a popular outbreak, was secre- tary to Alphonzo of Arragon, one of Pisano's sitters, in 1452. 29* 452 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. The high-flown character of this eulogy contrasts most curiously with the bare reality of Pisano's early style. In his youth, we think, he painted for the con- vent of San Domenico, the Madonna at present in the gallery of Verona. The Virgin sits in the middle of a court with the child on her lap, surrounded by a flight of diminutive seraphs ; the halo about her head is adorned with peacock's feathers ; roses cling to a bower at the sides of the court; a quail hops upon the Virgins dress, and peacock's strut along. In the foreground, S* Catha- rine with a crown of roses on her wrist, receives the palm of martyrdom, and listens to the chaunt of angels reading a psalter. The crowns, borders, flowers, and a fountain in the distance are embossed and gilt. Long and streaming draperies embarrass the frames, soft and tender harmonies of tint enliven the dresses; shadow is carefully avoided, and the drawing is minute to a fault. Affected elegance and slenderness are combined in impersonations of the sex; distorted action and short proportioned stature mark the angels; in every face and shape a puerile forgetfulness of nature. That Pisano had just issued from a school of illuminators, like Lorenzo Monaco, or Pietro of Montepulciano, we might readily believe. 1 Basinio, born in 1425 at Parma, was professor of eloquence at Ferrara in 1448, and afterward in the service of Sigismund Mala- testa of Rimini. He might know Pisano at Ferrara and Rimini. He died in 1457. Tito Strozzi was born at Fer- rara in 1422, and died in 1505. All these eulogists are therefore more or less connected with the Ferrarese court, where Pisano was a favourite. Facius, too, who wrote respecting him, was at Fer- rara at the wedding of Alphonso's (of Arragon) daughter with Lionel in 1444. At that ceremony are known to have been present Por- J cellio and Guarino. The rhymes of Porcellio, Basinio, and Strozzi in praise of Pisano, are in the Carmi Latini, ed. Cesare Cavat- tini, 8°, Verona, 1861, in Bernas- coni's II Pisano. Another poet, Gio. Santi, alludes to Pisano in his Rhyme Chronicle, lib. XXII. cap. 91. "E in medaglie ed in pic- tura il Pisano." 1 Verona Museum, No. 52, sala III. m. 30 h. by 0'98, wood, from the convent of San Domenico. The treatment is that of a minia- ture, the light of a rosy tinge, gently and minutely shaded to green by minute hatching. The child is defective in shape, the Chap. XVI. PISANO. 453 Of a more truly graceful character and somewhat less infantine in treatment; is a Virgin and child by Pisano, belonging to D 1 Bernasconi at Verona; 1 of little ad- ditional power the annunciation, S l George and S l Michael, on the sides of the Brenzoni chapel at San Fermo Maggiore. Having transferred the peculiar fea- tures of a miniaturist from parchment to panel, Pisano now extends a similar practice to wall-distemper, fol- lowing with melancholy exactness the path pursued a century before by the comrades of Lippo Memmi. We still observe the fashion of embossment, the fine tenuous outline, the slender air, and the shadeless flatness of previous examples 5 we notice a continued partiality for birds and animals; at the same time the germ of a new and important study. The regular proportions of the saints reveal Pisano 1 s growing acquaintance with antique carved work, and his wish to infuse into the tight dress of the period the simplicity of an older age. 2 In the cappella Pellegrini at Sant' Anastasia, where he displays foreheads generally are high and convex, the hands spidery and coarse at the finger-ends; the whole surface is now embrowned by time. 1 Verona, Dr. Bernasconi, small panel, gold ground. Two angels fly at the Virgin's shoulders, a quail is at her feet. The child is less lame than previously, and there is more genuine grace in the attitudes. This is perhaps the picture noticed by Persico (De- scrizione di Verona, u. s. II. 34) in the Galleria Sanbonifazio. 2 Verona, San Fermo Maggiore, cappella Brenzoni, the annuncia- tion is a fresco in the sections at the sides of a pointed tomb, on which we read the inscription: "Hie data Brenzano requies post fata Francisc. eadem marmora cor- pus abent Cristi hoc patrijs sanc- tissime legum junxisti cineres Bartolomee tuos quern genuit Russi Florentia Tusca Johanis istud sculpsit opus ingeniosa manus." The date of this tomb is vari- ously stated; traditionally as 1430, in Vas. Annot. IV. 156, note 2, as 1420; at the side to the right in a cartello are the words: " Pisa- nus pinsit." The Eternal sends the infant in a ray to the Virgin. In the side pinnacle are S l George in profile and S l Michael. The colour has faded away, and is partly scaled off, the wax embossments dropping, and dust clinging where it can. This is the art which in- fluenced Giambono. In this church are two frag- ments of fresco assigned to Pi- sano, above the entrance to the cappella degli Aggonizzanti," an adoration of the magi, of a period immediately subsequent to that of the painter; above the portal an annunciation, possibly by Falco- netto. 454 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. the prominent marks of his style, he seems to have acquired more ease in representing instant action, more correct- ness of outline, and a better knowledge of foreshortening. It is apparent that his attention was concentrated on heads ; and their portrait character, as well as the neatness with which they are finished, prepare us for the course which he afterwards took. We admire the spontaneity of movement in S l George with his foot in the stirrup, or the pleasing profile of the female saint near him, in a flowing dress and basket-cap; we may praise good perspective in the horses, and contrast it with the childish absence of the same science in the landscape. 1 The care and trouble which Pisano bestowed on his subject are illustrated by the designs for some parts of it in the collection of the archduke Albrecht at Vienna ; 2 and his conscientious study of nature in three figures drawn from life in the British Museum. 3 Subsequent to the employment of Gentile da Fabriano at Venice (circa 1422), Pisano was entrusted with the execution of a fresco in the hall of the Great Council, which at the close of the century was replaced by a canvas by Luigi Vivarini ; 4 he was also invited by Filippo Maria Visconti, to decorate some of the rooms in the castello of Pavia, 5 but he does not seem to have left Verona for 1 Verona, Sant' Anastasia, cap. Pellegrini. Vasari is all Avrong in his description of the subjects. S l George is here represented, mounting, to fight the dragon, who awaits him in the left hand corner of the composition; in the distance the sea and a ship, and incidents from S l George's legend. Beneath the principal scene is still a solitary figure of a pilgrim, the S l Eustachio mentioned by Vasari having disappeared. The fresco is high, and can be seen with difficulty; it is also covered with dust; a large piece above the dragon is wanting. Vasari mentions other frescos in the chapel which have perished. (IV. 155.) 2 Vienna, under the names of Niccola Pisano and (!) Berna. Vellums with female heads, females with dogs, falcons and quails. 3 British Museum. Three full- lengths in the quaint costume of the time, signed: "Pisanus f." Vellum, pen and ink. 4 See Facius, u. s. and antea, in Vivarini (Luigi). See also San- sovino, Ven. Desc. 325, and Hist, of Italian Painting, Vol. III. p. 99, for proof that Gentile had done work at the Hall of Council pre- vious to 1423. 5 Philippo Mario Visconti, be- Chap. XVI. PISANO. 455 any length of time till after 1435. His fame as a por- trait-painter was then considerable, and an order is still preserved in the accounts of the house of Este which proves that he took a likeness for Nicholas the III d Duke of Ferrara in 1435. 1 He afterwards visited Rome; and, during the pontificate of Eugenius IV., completed the series of subjects left unfinished at San Giovanni Late- rano by Gentile da Fabriano.' 2 It is not improbable that he followed Eugenius to Ferrara, where the me- morable synod sat in which the differences of the eastern and western churches were destined not to be appeased. 3 During his stay there in 1438, he was honoured with sittings for a medal by John Palseologus, 4 and he enjoyed the favour of the duke and his son Lionel, to whom he promised a picture when he should have settled at Verona. 5 It has been supposed and is by no means unlikely that this piece, to which Lionel alludes in a letter to his brother, is that which once belonged to the Costabili collection in Ferrara and is now in the National Gallery. Almost the only specimen of Pisano in England, it represents a vision of the Virgin and child in a round glory, with S l Anthony the Abbot and S l George in the foreground. There is no came lord of Pavia in 1412, and died in 1447. The frescos at Pavia are described by the Anonimo (ed. Morelli), p. 46, and mentioned by Cses. Csesariani, Vitruv, u. s. p. CXV. Breventano, in Anon, notes, p. 177, says this represented hunts and animals. 1 Precis of record furnished by the kindness of the Marchese Cam- pori. 2 Platina, lives of the Popes ad Martin V. Vas. IV. 152; Fa- cius, u. s. 47, 8. Vasari may be right in affirming- (III. 158) that Gentile da Fabriano and Pisanello were at Rome together with Ma- saccio, but this can hardly have been when Masaccio painted at San Clemente. 3 Feb. 28 to Oct. 1438. 4 Giovio (Paul) to the Duke Cosimo, Florence, Nov. 12, 1551 (BottariRaccolta, u.s. V. 82), thinks this medal was done at Florence, but it is more likely that the statement in the text is correct, for Pisano's connection was alto- gether with the Ferrarese and not with the Florentine court. 5 Lionel d'Este to Meliadusse, his brother (Maffei, Verona Illus- trata IV. chap. 6, p. 231 in the Classici Ital.) says: "Pisanus om- nium pictorum hujusce aetatis egregius, cum ex Roma Ferrariam se contulisset, tabulam quamdam sua manu pictam ultro mihi pol- licitus est, quum primum Vero- I nam applicui.sset." 456 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. denying the vulgar character of the infant, nor the tor- tuous cast of the drapery; but a grim wildness dis- tinguishes S* Anthony, and S l George is an exact repro- duction of a knight in the broad hat, short clqak, and armour of the time. Even* in the late phase of his practice, Pisano's fashion of embossing continues. 1 In his special walk as a portraitist, we admire at Mr. Barker's in London the likeness of Lionel d'Este, also a relic of the Costabili collection, a grave, even stern, profile of a youth with curly chestnut hair, co- loured in pastose and highly fused tints; 2 and we trace the influence of this phase of art by the imita- tion of Giovanni Orioli, which hangs in the National Gallery. 3 Having returned to Verona, Pisano paid occa- sional visits to Ferrara during the reign of Lionel. He received offers from the court of Mantua, as appears from a letter addressed by Paola Malatesta to Giovanni Fran- cesco Gonzaga in May, 1439, 4 and perhaps in consequence of these offers he came to Mantua, carved the medal of the marquis and his daughter, and painted the chapel and pictures noticed by Facius; 5 but even at the time of his connection with the Gonzagas he kept his interest at Ferrara, and there is an extant decree, in which 1 National Gallery, No. 776, pre- sented by Lady Eastlake. Wood, temp. 19 inch. h. by inscr. : "Pisanus p." Before its restora- tion under the care of the late Sir Charles Eastlake, the prepa- ration was laid bare in the cowl of S l Anthony and the armour of S l George. 2 London, Mr. Barker, wood, tempera, bust, half the size of life, and fairly preserved; the profile to the right. 3 London, National Gallery, No. 770, wood, tempera, If. 9'/ 2 h. by 1*3, also from the Costabili collec- tion; profile to the left outlined with less finish and more mechani- cally than that by Pisano. Above the head we read: "Leonellus Marehio Estesis;" on a parapet: "Opus Johanes Orioli," purchased from Sir Charles Eastlake's collec- tion. Orioli is obviously a pupil of Pisano, and keeps his style better than Bono Ferrarese. His flesh is warm and neatly finished with hatchings; his surface is harder than Pisano's, and has a glassy transparence like that of Matteo da Sienna. 4 Darco, Delle Arti, & a u. s., note to I. p. 38. The marchioness causes a promise of 80 ducats to be made to Pisano. s De v. Illust. u. s. 47—8. The medal of Cecilia Gonzaga, daughter of Gio. Maria, is dated 1447. Chap. XVI. PISANO. 457 Lionel of Este orders a vessel to be got ready to take Pisano, "pittore eccellentissimof to Mantua. 1 The paucity of works during these later years is but partially ac- counted for by supposing that leisure was required for making the dies of the numerous medals produced about this period. Of these we can only say that they are famous, and that they deserve to be so; for Pisano's pro- ficiency in frescos and panels was greatly inferior to that which he attained as a medallist. 2 It has been argued with almost successful ingenuity that Pisano did not survive 1455. 3 He certainly did not die before, as there are payments to him for a picture by order of the Duke of Ferrara in that year. 4 The last undertaking in which he may have been busy at Verona, is a series of greatly injured compositions in a chapel at Santa Maria della Scala, now used as a bell-room. Within a com- paratively short period twenty eight frescos there were recovered from whitewash, in a ruined or nearly rained condition. A signature was found which gave rise to animated debate according as the fragments were assumed to mean "Stefanus" or "Pisanus." To discuss the merit of the frescos in their present state is useless, and all we can do is to take them as representing the school 1 Record favoured by the kind- ness of the Marchese Campori. 2 There are 28 known medals by Pisano, 1, Nicolas Piccinino, 2 — 10, of Lionel d'Este, with different obverse (1444) 11 — 12, of Sigis- raund Malatesta (1435), 13, Pietro Candido Decerabrio, 14, Vittorino da Feltre, 15, Filippo Maria Vis- conti (died 1447), 16, John Palse- ologus, 1438, 17—21, Alphonzo of Arragon (1448), 22, Francesco Sforza, Lord of Cremona, 23, Gio. Fran- cesco Gonzaga, 24, Cecilia, daughter of the foregoing, 25, Lodovico Gonzaga III., 26, Novello Malatesta, Lord of Cesena, 27, 28, Inigo d'Avalos. Porcellio, in his verses, alludes to a medal of himself by Pisano. (Tre Carmi. u. s. 20.) , 3 H Pisano, u. s. pp. 6, 7, 8. 4 In a memorial of 1455, in the archives of Modena, we read: "Pixiano dipintore , de dare ad XVII. de Agosto Due' cinquanta d'oro." Payment for a picture ordered by the Duke. (Favoured by the kindness of the Marchese Cam- pori.) In a letter from Carlo de 1 Me- dici to Giovanni de 1 Medici, dated Rome, October 31, without the year, we find that Pisano's me- dals were on sale at Rome. Carlo writes that he has bought thirty in silver: "da un garzone del Pisa- nellu che mori a questi di." Gaye, Carteg. I. 163. It is a pity we do not know the year of the mis- sive. 458 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. of Pisano. One circumstance favours the belief that he had a share in them; the circumstance that four rounds in the thickness of the windows reproduce the medals of John Palseologus, Lionel of Este, Sigismund Mala- testa, and the freebooter Piccinino. 1 It was almost a necessary consequence of Pisano's im- portance in the eyes of artistic patrons, that other Vero- nese painters should be overlooked; and yet any amount of neglect would have been justified by the poverty which the Veronese school exhibited. Stefano da Zevio, when borne on the municipal register at Verona in 1433, was upwards of forty years of age; 2 he was therefore the cotemporary and follower of Pisano, rather than his pupil ; but unlike Pisano, who progressed, Stefano disimproved as he proceeded, so that his style at last became a caricature. A miniaturist and grandfather to Girolamo dai Libri, 3 himself a miniaturist, he left but few examples behind; 4 enough however to cast suspicion 1 We have seen what remains of all the paintings by Pisano. At Venice and Rome, as well as at Mantua, nothing is left; at Verona little. We register as missing the following, premising that panels assigned to Pisano at San Fran- cesco of Perugia, are, as has been shown, by Bonfigli or Fiorenzo. (Hist, of Ital. Painting, III. 150.) Facius mentions a S l Jerom ador- ing the crucifix and surrounded with animals. Guarino, in his eulogy, alludes to portraits as distinct from me- dals; and to a S 4 Jerom in his possession, which may be the same alluded to by Facius. (See the lines in II Pisano, u. s. 14 — 16. Basinio (Tre Carmi, u. s. 35) describes a portrait of Vittorino da Feltre as distinct from the medal, and speaks of medals of persons hitherto unknown to have been portrayed by Pisano, ex. gr. Giovanni Aurispa and Paolo Tos- canella. 2 By this register he is proved to have been born in 1393. (Ber- nasconi, Studi, u. s. p. 226.) He cannot, therefore, be the pupil of Agnolo Gaddi any more than he can be a disciple of Girolamo dai Libri. (See Vas. V. 89.) 3 In the Veronese census returns (Anagrafi) of 1492, we find Fran- ciscus Miniator, fil. q., Stefani a Libris, who is the father of Giro- lamo dai Libri. (Bernasconi, Studi, note to p. 30.) 4 Verona. We notice as miss- ing here : frescos at San Zeno, Sant Antonio, San Niccol6, in the choir and in the chapel of the Sacrament at Sant 1 Eufemia; pa- nels, S l Nicholas with saints and a predella in Sant' Eufemia. Mantua, frescos in SanDomenico, in San Francesco, and on a house- front, and a madonna in the ch. of Ognissanti, dated 1463 (?), Va- sari, n. 156, VI. 86, 87, 88. Del Pozzo, u. s. pp. 11, 12. Chap. XVI. STEFANO. 459 on the praise of Vasari and Donatello. There are frag- ments of a Virgin and child with S 1 Christopher and seraphs on the front of a house in the Strada di Porta Vescovo, 1 a Trinity and glory of S l Augustin, with copious attendance of saints and cherubs above the side- portal of Sant' Eufemia at Verona ; 2 at Rome and Milan, there are pictures on panel unmistakeably his ; a madonna in the Palazzo Colonna, 3 and an adoration of the kings dated 1435 in the gallery of the Brera; 4 in a church at Illasi near Verona, part of a Virgin and child in fresco. 5 From the contemplation of these pieces we rise with the conviction that the author was bred in a school of illu- minators of which Verona was the cradle and the nur- sery. Without the power to shake off the rigid rules of a very old craft, he blindly followed the beaten path, exhausted every trick of minute finish, and forgot the sound principles of draughtmanship, modelling, and selection; clinging to embossment as a means for simu- lating relief, he made no use of the simpler process of chiaroscuro; his canvases and wall-paintings were 1 Verona, Strada Porta Vescovo, No. 5303, inscr. to the left of the throne: " Stefanu pinxit;" the lower part obliterated. 2 Verona, Sant 1 Eufemia, S l Augustin sits in a recess, under a canopied throne, at the sides of which we read: "Stefanus pinxit." Some of the saints that are pre- served are in the soffit of the recess. The front of the wall above, and the lower part of the fresco are deprived of painting. The head of S l Augustin, too, is nearly gone. 3 Rome, Palazzo Colonna, small panel, tempera. The child takes a rose from the Virgin, angels in air seem to pray, others give offerings of roses and flowers, and one at each corner of the fore- ground plays a musical instru- ment. The light soft tempera seems to contain a mixture of wax. 4 Milan, Brera, No. 92. Panel, tempera, m. 0'70 h. by 0'45, in- scribed: "Stefanus pinxit (1435 (?)", and catalogued as Stefano Fioren- tino (!) This is the composition of which the original type was given by Gentile da Fabriano, with em- bossments and no relief by sha- dow. The draperies all end in trains; as usual, a multitude of animals. 5 Illasi, near Verona; Virgin and child and angels, and two saints in pattern framings, parts of fresco, now in a chapel to the right in the parish church. At the Virgin's feet a peacock. This is the lowest phase and the latest of Stefano's art, yet cited as a proof of the existence of an older Stefano. (See Maffei, Veron. Illust. and Bernaseoni, Studi, 220.) 460 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. wanting in correctness of drawing as well as in staid- ness and dignity of expression; and if ever they had attraction, they derived it from the rosy pallor of flesh gently heightened with grey ; or the frequent introduc- tion of birds and flowers. Beneath Stefano again are Giovanni Badile, Girolamo Benaglio, and Cecehino, who need only be mentioned in proof of the weak state to which the art of Verona was reduced at the time of Mantegna. 1 But it is im- portant to bear in mind, that small as the place may be to which they are entitled in the annals of Verona, some of these, such as Girolamo Benaglio and his followers, Francesco Benaglio, and Moroncinij intro- duced new models of proportion into the school, a larger cast of the human frame and limbs, a new tech- nical treatment, colour of more lively tints, and shadows of greater intensity than before. Of Badile, there are records extending from 1418 to 1433, 2 and an authentic picture in the academy of Verona. 3 Girolamo Benaglio, who was more prolific, inscribed one of his altarpieces with the words: ''Hieronymus Benalius q. Francisci 1 We might think also of Vin- cenzo di Stefano, of whom Vasari speaks as the master of Liberale da Verona, assigning- to him an altarpiece in Ognissanti of Man- tua, dated 1463, which we learn from del Pozzo to have been by Stefano. (Vas. IX. 166, Del Pozzo, 12.) If we accept Vincenzo as an artist who has existed, we may mention a fresco attributed to him at Verona. It is part of the decoration of the monument of Cortesia Serego, dated "Anno Do. MCCCCXXXIi; ' in Sant' Anastasia. Subject, the Eternal in the midst of cherubs, angels, of which some are obliterated, S ts Dominick and Peter Martyr. The style is that of Stefano exaggerated, as in Ne- rito, and is not unlike that of Giambono. 2 Bernasconi, Studi, p. 224, 5. 3 Verona Gall. No. 53, room III, originally in San Tommaso Can- tuar. Virgin and child between S ts Anthony, George, James, Peter Martyr, a bishop and Thomas; a kneeling patron at the Virgin's feet, inscribed: "Johes Baili," m. 0*94 h. by 2'0 long, wood. This is a light washy tempera with short and deformed figures, show- ing the art of Stefano in the last stage of its decline. In the same manner, same gallery and room, No. 66, S l Nicholas presenting a patron to the Virgin and child in presence of S 4 Andrew. No. 47, ins. : "Hoc opus fecit fieri sor Lucia de Frachanzanis, MCCCCXXVIII." Virgin and child between S ts Mar- tin and George; in pinnacles, the Virgin and angels and S l Michael. Chap. XVI. FRANCESCO BENAGLIO. 461 anno 1450, ,n and Cecchino's madonna in the cathedral of Trent is supposed to be of the same period. Of Francesco Benaglio it is stated that he completed a fresco at Santa Maria della Scala in 1476; 2 but there is no chronology of his life, and an altarpiece with his signature bears no date. We may gather from his works that he would not have forsaken the elementary manner of Girolamo but for the coming of Mantegna. In a fresco filling the principal space in the cappella Lava- gnoli at Sant ? Anastasia of Verona, a number of lanky saints is set in a stiff cluster before some houses and a landscape of water and islands. 3 The painter seems bred in the atelier of Girolamo Benaglio. Defying at once all rules of perspective and draughtsmanship, yet careful 1 Verona. This was a fragment representing four singing angels. (Del Pozzo, u. s. 10.) His man- ner is illustrated by the following : Verona Gallery, room II. No. 31, panel with a female martyr be- tween S ts Fermo and Rustico, under niches in front of a skirting into which medallions of emperors are let in. Room III. No. 56, S ts Rustico and Fermo; the figures slender and affected, of a dull tempera tone. No. 48, Virgin and child between S* s Catherine and Ursula. No. 49, Virgin and child between S ts Sebastian and Biagio. No. 59, Virgin and child between S ts Peter and James with the cru- cifixion in a lunette and a predella. No. 60, the entombment. All these are in the same feeble style. By the same hand, room II. No. 20, Virgin and child between S l Denis and Mary Magdalen, with the Eternal in a gable, catalogued; Antonio Badile, and of the school. Room II. No. 19, under the name of Francesco Benaglio, and dated 1487, a Virgin, child and angels from the church of San Silvestro. Recorded in the Ricreazione Pit- torica (u. s. 17) is a marriage of S l Catherine by Girolamo Benag- lio in the eh. of San Piero Mag- giore at Verona. (See also del Pozzo, u. s. 260.) Trent cathedral, sacristy. Vir- gin and child between S ts Vigilius and Sisinius, wood, tempera, in- scribed on the intermediate pilas- ter: " Cechinus de Verona pinxit." Dr. Bernasconi adds the ciphers 1454, which are not on the pic- ture. (Studi, p. 234.) 2 Del Pozzo describes it as representing four saints at the. sides of a miraculous Virgin, and inscribed: "Francescus Benalius pinxit, 1476." The four saints were S ts Bartolommeo, Zeno, Girolamo and Francesco. (Del Pozzo, X., and Ricreazione Pitt. 114.) The altar of the miraculous Virgin was renewed, and the figures were re- moved in 1738. (Persico, Descr. di Verona, u. s. P. I. 211.) Persico also says that there were frescos all but obliterated in his time on the facade of Santa Maria della Scala also by F. Benaglio. 3 Verona, Sant 1 Anastasia. The subject is obscure, the fresco in- jured; above it, a crucifixion and other things probably by Moron- cini — the rest of the chapel white- washed. 462 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. to a fault in his execution, he rises to the level of Dirick Bouts in the Flemish, or of Matteo of Gualdo in the Umbrian, school. He clings distantly to the traditions of Pisano, and has perhaps a dim notion of the budding greatness of the Paduans. If Francesco Benaglio be the author, he also left us the madonna under the portico leading to the Cortile dei Tribunali at Verona, 1 and the saints in the pilasters at the entrance of the Pellegrini chapel in Sant 1 Anastasia. 2 In a spirit more nearly related to the Paduan, and under the influence perhaps of Mantegnesque examples, he may have carried out the decoration of the altar sacred to S l Vincent Ferrerio in the same church, unless we should suppose it due to the bolder hand of Falconetto or Liberale. 3 That he gradually adopted Mantegnesque masks and accessories is clear in the madonna, with a choir of boys on a wall of the Via de' Scrimiari, 4 as well as in two figures of the Veronese gallery. 5 His last and most absolute phase of reproduction is that illustrated in San Bernardino, where a madonna with attendants and children is a counterpart of Mantegna's at San Zeno. He might claim, 1 Verona, portico leading from the Piazza de 1 Signori to the cor- tile dei Tribunali, fresco, Virgin and child, the latter curly-headed and in benediction; a long lean figure. 2 Verona, Sant' Anastasia, capp. Pellegrini , S l Bernardino and another saint in niches, with me- dallions of emperors and saints in the pediments and skirtings. 3 Verona, Sant' Anastasia, fresco of S l Vincent Ferrerius above "a carved crucifixion. At each side of S l V. S ts Peter and Paul imitat- ing statues on brackets; in an imitated recess soffit, angels; and on the imitated arch, medallions of emperors; below, at the sides of the crucifixion, remains of saints, as well as remnants of figures in niches on the imitated pilasters at the sides. The whole of this de- coration is assigned to Mantegna, but the art is that of a Veronese of the old school assuming the Mantegnesque. The colour is dull and dirty, and there is much ac- cessory ornament embossed. 4 Verona, via de' Scrimiari. Vir- gin and child in a throne with falling garlands of leaves and four children singing open-mouthed; to the right and left much injured and in part obliterated. (En- graved in Pietro Nanin's Affreschi di Verona fol. Verona, 1864.) 5 Verona Gallery, sala III. No. 61, 63. S l Francis and S l Bernar- dino, panel temperas, originally in San Clemente of Verona (knee- piece). The figures are thin and feeble, as in Sano di Pietro or Vecchietta; the tempera flat and light. Chap. XVI. FRANCESCO BENAGLIO. 463 indeed, as author of this and other pieces, the name of the Zoppo of Verona. 1 Still lower in the scale of Veronese art is Domenico de' Moroncini, whose signature is appended to a madonna in a house of the Contrada Cantarane at Verona, 2 and whose frescos, in the cappella Lavagnoli at Sant' Ana- stasia, give a sort of superiority to those of Francesco Benaglio. 3 From this point the Veronese school assumes a more decided character; and has marked currents and sub- divisions. Imitation of Mantegna, superficial in Liberale, Falconetto, and Giolfino, becomes searching in Bonsignori and Carotto. Domenico Morone, Girolamo dai Libri, 1 Verona, San Bernardino. Vir- gin enthroned; the child, adoring a kneeling figure of S l Bernardino ; at the sides S ts Peter, Paul, Fran- cis, Anthony, Louis and Buona- ventura. The throne and pillars of the court imitate those of Man- tegna; the figures are dry and unrelieved by shadow; the dresses in lively and sharp contrasts. The picture on the whole is half Ura- orian, half Mantegnesque. It is inscribed: "Franeescus Benalius pinxit." In the same spirit, under the name of Marco Zoppo, is the following: Verona Gallery, room II. No. 44, wood, tempera, half- length Virgin with the child and the boy Baptist on a parapet, and two boy angels. The red brick tone of thick substance has, no doubt,- suggested Zoppo's name, but the painter is Francesco Benaglio. Amongst missing pieces are the fol- lowing: Verona, San Lorenzo, the Virgin, Mary and disciples wailing over the dead body of Christ. (Persico, part I. p. 75.) 2 Verona, Contrada Cantarane, No. 5381, Virgin adoring the child between S l Christopher and Mary Magdalen, inscribed: "Opus Do- minici de Morocini." Wall-paint- ing, with some of the fanciful character apparent in Liberale. 3 Verona Sant' Anastasia, cap- pella Lavagnoli, crucifixion, and the call of James and Andrew to the apostleship. The drawing is very incorrect indeed. Besides the above we note: Verona Gall., room III. Nos. 54, 55, tempera on panel, representing S ts Bartholomew and Roch, pro- bably by Moroncini. His art is continued by Dio- nisio Brevio, of whom there is a Pieta, No. 58, and a nativity, No. 64 in the gallery under notice. Brevio is a painter of the middle of the 16 th century; and Del Pozzo notices an adoration of the shep- herds by him, signed: "Dionysius Brevius Veronensis fecit anno 1562." (Del Poz. u. s. Aggiunta, p. 5.) Less modern is Bernardino da Verona, of whom there are notices at Mantua (Darco, u. s. pp. 38, 9, and Gaye, Carteg. I. 334 — 6), and the possible author of a Virgin and^ child annunciate, S ts Zeno and Benedict in San Zeno, ascribed by old guides to Bernardino da Murano. The style is an approxi- mation to that of the Veronese Domenico Morone, or Liberale, so far at least as one can judge from the miserable condition of the surface. 464 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. Francesco Morone and Paolo Morando feel the spur of emulation, and strive as draughtsmen to rival Mantegna; whilst as colourists, their style is altered by the influence of Montagna. Liberale enjoyed advantages unknown to some of his cotemporaries. He was born in 1451, and trained to be a miniaturist. 1 Having left Verona at the age of 18, he went round the convents; found employment first amongst the Benedictines of Mont' Oliveto near Sienna, and then accepted service from the governors of the Sienna cathedral. For ten years previous to 1477, he pored over graduals and antifoners, painting all the subjects of the New Testament in succession, and wasting a prodigious amount of patient labour in minutiae and details. 2 His miniatures are justly considered masterpieces of their kind, being bright and careful, and unusually spirited in movement; 3 but when he came back to Verona, and abandoned vellums for panels, the faults evolved by his training became disagreeably apparent. We shall find little interest in following his progress step by step at 1 Liberale 1 s fall name is "Libe- rale di Magistro Jacobi a Blado de S. Joanne in Valle." In the account-books of Sienna (Doc. Sen. II. 384) he is commonly called "Liberale di Jacomo da Verona." Vasari's statement that he studied under Jacopo Bellini cannot be supported, for obvious reasons. (Vas. IX. 166.) He was born in 1451, as is proved by the registry ("Anagrafi") of Verona for 1492, in which he and his family are described as follows: "Liberalis pictor, aged 40; Zinevria, uxor, 25; Lucretia, filia, 2; Hieronyma, filia, 1; Joannes famulus, 16." (Bernas- coni, Studi, 245.) 2 Liberale and his apprentice, Bernardino, received from the monks' of Mont 1 Oliveto for three years 1 labour, to Dec. 28, 1469, 1,324 lire, and 15 soldi. (Vasari Annot. IX. 169.) From 1470, to April, 1476, Liberale received payments from the superintendents of the Sienna duomo. (Doc. Sen. II. 384—6, and Vas. Annot. VI. 180, 213—216, 219—221, 345 and foil. Particularly fine are the minia- tures of Mont Oliveto, now at Chiusi. There is also a very fine and animated miniature of Christ supported in the tomb by the Virgin and others, assigned to Mantegna, in possession of Don Domenico Ricci at Treviso. It shows Liberale's art more ad- vanced and expanded than at Chiusi. A miniature of the adoration of the shepherds by Liberale was of old in the Mocardi College at Ve- rona. (Persico, II. 34.) 3 Record in Bernasconi, Studi, p. 238. Chap. XVI. LIBERALE. 465 Sienna or at Chiusi, where the miniatures of the Bene- dictines are now preserved; to speculate on the course of his journeys, or inquire whether he visited Florence or Venice, would be as useless as it is to ask when he turned homewards. It is sufficient to state that Liberale was umpire for the municipal council of Verona on a question of art in 1493, and that there are dim signs of his existence till 1515. 1 Of all the pictures which he finished, one alone bears his name and the date of 1489, and it is obviously not the first that he undertook when he gave up miniatures. We may therefore assume that he was living between 1480 and 1490 at Verona, when he delivered the adoration of the magi in the duomo, to which Giolfino furnished the wings and lunette. One might fancy that the artist was a comrade of Lucas of Leyden, he exaggerates attitude and face so quaintly, and such is the fritter of his drapery. His action is strutting, his drawing very careful, yet unsound and puffy; his bright colours thrown together without atten- tion to harmony or distance; and the back -ground full of exuberant detail; 2 like most Veronese he is fond of introducing rabbits, dogs, and other animals. In the same violent and restless way Liberale composed the nati- vity, epiphany and death of the Virgin, a predella in the bishop's palace at Verona, reminding us of Filippino Lippi, in figures of the Virgin and child, of the northerns in homely ugliness of masks, and of Taddeo Bartoli in vehemence of movements and sharpness of tinting. As an executant he gains breadth and freedom, and the fault of minuteness seems to leave him. 3 His aim now is to copy Mantegna as faithfully as the peculiarities of 1 Vasari, and notes, IX. 170 and 166. 2 Verona, San Zeno capp. degli Emilii formerly Calcasoli (Del. Pozzo, 233, Ricreazione 7), small panel, oil. 3 Verona, Vescovado. In the VOL. I. nativity he shows that he has seen Filippino's pictures. The detail of a female with a fowl in her hand and a dog with a rat is very trivial. The passion and grimace in the death of the Virgin are almost German in their realism. 30 466 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. his style will allow; and of this we have a notable in- stance in the madonna of Casa Scotti at Milan, where but for the sombre olive of the complexions and the copious detail, we might almost admit that the name of the great Paduan is appropriate. It has seldom indeed been the good fortune of persons who gain a dishonest livelihood by forging signatures, to come so near the mark as in this case. With the words " Andreas Mantinea p. s. p. 1461, " in gold letters on the Virgin's pedestal, many persons might without incurring grave reproach be deceived, and yet it is very clear that Liberale was the painter. The composition, heads, and drawing are all Mantegnesque in Liberale's inferior manner; the arrangement is cold and formal, the outline lacks scientific correctness, the drapery is cut into zigzags, detail is minutely carried out and profuse, colour deep, hurtling, and in oil. 1 Still more marked in its imitation is the panel with three angels bearing the symbols of the Passion, in the house of Signor An- tonio Gradenigo at Padua; 2 what betrays Liberale is a shiny livid flesh tint, garish contrasts in dresses, and a rudeness of extremities to which Mantegna was 1 Milan, Casa Scotti, formerly in possession of the Duca Melzi, and assigned by Geheinirath Dr. Waagen to Mantegna, who says (Raumer's Taschenbuch, u. s. 526) it is probably that done by Man- tegna for the Abbot of Fiesole, though Vasari describes that of Fiesole, as "dal mezzo in su," and this is a full-length. (Vas. V. 1G7.) Arched panel, Virgin en- throned in a high stone chair, the back of which is capped with a medallion imitating bronze and re- presenting the presentation in the temple. In a frieze beneath the medallion an imitated relief of the judgment of Solomon, and in other parts of the same frieze which runs round the whole throne, other subjects, as ex. gr. the salu- tation at the base. On the arms of the chair four angels playing and singing; at the foot of the throne, a pink in a flower-pot, and two boys playing instruments; distance, sky and landscape. This is evidently the centre of a larger picture. In the sky some modern has painted in a Virgin and angel annunciate. 2 Padua, Casa Antonio Grade- nigo, lunette panel, assigned to Mantegna, but suiting the descrip- tion given by Vasari of part of an altarpiece by Liberale in the cappella del Monte di Pieta at San Bernardino of Verona. (Vas. IX. 166.) The colour is lustrous olive in flesh and horny. The heads recall those subsequently painted by Caroto. Chap. XVI. LIBERALE. 467 a stranger. As he gains confidence and enjoys an experienced freedom of hand, his style becomes more characteristic; his figures assume a better proportion and are more strongly relieved by shadow, his faces are less coarse, and the old incorrectness of drawing in some measure disappears. Of this improvement we have an example in the glory of S l Anthony at San Fermo; 1 in that of S* Jerom in the chapel alia Vittoria; 2 and even in that of S 1 Metrone at Santa Maria del Paradiso 3 at Verona. In some of the saints at the Vittoria, as in a S* Sebastian at the Brera, 4 and its replica in the museum of Berlin, 5 we are distantly reminded of wild types peculiar to Botticelli and Filippino, or of bony nude like that of the Pollaiuoli. It is only when we revert to subjects of grieving that the more disagreeable aspect of Liberale's art recurs. He is passionate, conventional and grimacing in three or four representations of Christ entombed, the best of which is in San Leo at Venice, 1 Verona, San Fermo, cappella Sant' Antonio. S l Anthony of Padua on a pedestal, between S l Nicholas of Bari, S l Catherine and S l Augustin, all but life-size, with a distance of sky and trees; wood, oil, with a good mass of shade, a bold easy handling, good propor- tions, and fair masks, the whole outlined without excessive angula- rity. 2 Verona, cappella del Comune alia Vittoria. S l Jerom on a pedestal between S l Francis and S l Paul, landscape distance, figures life-size, in panel, oil. Same cha- racter as above, but more man- nered in outline. 3 Verona, Santa Maria del Para- diso, often called San Vitale; arched panel, oil, figures life-size; S l Metrone on a pedestal between S l Anthony of Padua, and S* Domi- nick under an arch, through which a distance of sky is seen. The figures are greatly repainted, espe- cially in the flesh parts; but the character was evidently that of the foregoing. 4 Milan, Brera, No. 167, panel, in oil, figures life-size, m. 1'80 h. by 0*96. The saint is bound with his arms behind his back to a gnarled and leafless tree. In the distance a canal and gondolas, betraying Liberale's acquaintance with Venice. The hip drapery is papery, the form bony but freely drawn from a common model; the face looking up, well foreshortened. 5 Berlin Museum, not numbered, replica of the foregoing, same size. 6 Venice, San Leo, above the side-portal, panel in oil of Christ in the tomb, bewailed by four angels. This panel is probably the same which Vasari mentions in the cappella del Monte di Pieta at San Bernardino of Verona, and of which the lunette has been noted in Casa Gradenigo at Padua. The drawing is all in curves mannered and incorrect. (Vasari, IX. 194, 19G.) 468 THE VERONESE, Chap. XVI. the most careless in the Torrigiani gallery at Florence/ the most ambitious — a fresco— in Sant' Anastasia at Verona. 2 In the latest years of his career he was neglectful, and gave himself up to a conventional bravura that diminishes the value of his works. Of this class we might mention several, such as the assumption of the Magdalen in the sacristy of Sant' Anastasia/ 3 the Holy Family and nativity in the Verona Gallery, 4 the madonna with saints in the Berlin Museum, 5 and a couple of house-fronts. 6 Another example of the same kind, with a greater number of figures, is in Verona, San Lorenzo, wood, oil, greatly repainted and inferior to the above. 1 Florence, Casa Torrigiani, wood, very defective, but in- scribed: "Libalis V." The tone is dark olive ; had Liberale never done better than this, he might be called the Margaritone of Verona. 2 Verona, Sant 1 Anastasia, chapel de 1 Buonaveri, third altar to the right of the entrance. The subject here is done in fresco. The Sa- viour is about to be lowered into the tomb in a winding-sheet by eight figures. Above is a statue of the Eternal in a glory of painted angels; the whole in an imitated recess in the vaulting of which saints are placed at inter- vals. Of all the frescos in this chapel mentioned by Vasari (IX. 167), this is all that remains. The ceiling, or what there is of its paintings, is very much below the parts above described; but even this is damaged by dirt and dust. 3 Verona, Sant 1 Anastasia, arched panel, once on the altar of the chapel just described. (Vas. IX. 167.) The Magdalen on a cloud between two angels, all in tortu- ous movement. Below, S l Catherine and a female saint with a scapular. The colour is grey and brown without modulations, the figures life-size. There is something re- miniscent of Signorelli and the Siennese in the treatment. The foreground is slightly injured. In this church are assigned to Liberale an altar in the cappella Conti with gilt and coloured statues, and a basement on which there are three scenes from the passion; the road to Calvary, the Saviour dead on the Virgin's knees, and the sermon on the mount; and ten figures of saints. The altar is inscribed: "MCCCCCX mensis Marci." This is a very rough production in a very dark place, and not at present in the character of Liberale's usual pieces. (Persico, I. 18.) 4 Verona Gall. Room IV. No. 77. m. 0-75 h. by 0'70, wood, half- lengths of the Virgin and S l Jo- seph adoring the child between them on a red cushion; a poor specimen of Liberale. Same Gallery and once in San Fermo Maggiore, room II. No. 36. m. 1*40 h. by T55. Adoration of the shepherds, with S l Jerom to the left. Here too we trace an exaggerated reminiscence of Signo- relli's art. 5 Berlin Mus., No. 1183, wood, oil, 5f. 3 h. by 4f. 0'/ 2 . Virgin enthroned with the child erect on her knee between S l Lawrence and S l Christopher, in the foreground two kneeling monks, inscribed: "Liberalis Veronensis me fecit Chap. XVI. FALCONETTO. 469 It has been said of Giovanni Maria Falconetto that he was overrated as an architect and underrated as a painter. 1 In the former capacity he certainly acquired fame; in the latter the public of his time believed that he had no extraordinary merit. He was born in 1458 and died in 1534; 2 and during the long course of his career he never apparently handled the brush except when forced to drop the compass. Vasari illustrates this leaning to a particular study by relating that when Fal- 1489." This is an unpleasant piece, with much Siennese smor- phia, of an unbroken semi-trans- parent olive tinge. The forms are bony and defective, the masks ugly, the throne grotesque. We may notice also the follow- ing: Verona, Dr. Bernasconi, adoration of the magi. This is supposed to be one of the doors of the organ at Santa Maria della Scala, once painted by Liberale. (Vas. IX. 167.) It is now too much repainted to warrant an opinion. Of an adoration of the magi in monochrome in the sacristy at Santa Maria della Scala, there is nothing to be said. There are, however, other organ-doors (can- vas, tempera, with figures above life-size) in San Bernardino of Verona, assigned by Persico (I. 116) to Giolfino and by Dr. Ber- nasconi to Domenico Moroni (Studi, 240). They hang near the clock, on the wall of the church, are dated: "Ano Dmi MCCCCLXXXI" (not 83), and represent on one side S l Francis and S l Bernardino, on the other S l Louis and S l Buonaventura. The rude energy and the peculiar forms of the heads, as well as the air of the figures, are those of Liberale. Two angels playing in the imi- tated pediment above the first named saints, are also boldly thrown off like Liberale's in the cappella Buonaveri. Morone is more under control, than the painter of this piece. The two last named saints now hang apart; all four are repainted in oil. 6 Verona, fronts of houses on Piazza delle Erbe, engraved in Nannin, u. s. N os 9 — 10. 1°, coro- nation of the Virgin, and the tempt- ation of Adam and Eve; 2°, an Eternal and fragments above a Holy Family which is probably by Caroto. The first of these facades is very obviously by an illumi- nator. One mentioned by Vasari is lost. (Vas. IX. 170.) Of missing works the following is a list: Verona, San Bernardino, cappella della Compagnia della Maddalena, frescos. (Vas. IX. 168.) Santa Maria della Scala, Virgin, child, S ts Peter, Jerom, and two other saints. (Ricreaz. 113, and Del Pozzo, 251.) Sant 1 Elena, Virgin and child, S l Catherine and S l Elena, dated 1490. (Persico, I. 49.) San Giovanni in Monte, circum- cision. (Vas. IX. 169.) San Tom- maso Apostolo (?), panel. (Vas. IX. 169.) San Fermo, cappella S l Bernardo. S l Francis and scenes from his life in a predella. (Vas. IX. 169—70.) Gall. San Bonifacio, previously in Casa Moscardi. Vir- gin giving the breast to the infant Christ. (Persico, II. 3*2.) Casa Vin- cenzo de 1 Medici, marriage of S l Catherine. (Vas. IX. 170.) Bardo- lino on the lake of Garda (ch. of), altarpiece. (Vas. IX. 169.) 1 Bernasconi, Studi, 257. 2 lb. ib. and Vas. IX. 209. 470 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. conetto was at Rome, struggling to acquire the principles on which the old Romans built, he hired his services for a certain number of days a week to masters who gave good wages, and spent the rest of his time measuring and copying old edifices. 1 He gained such a thorough insight into the methods of the ancients that he was enabled to revive them subsequently in his own country. He was therefore no creative genius. As a painter he shows a spirit not unlike that of Liberale for its force and energy, but altered so as to suit the habits of a decorator. For appropriate distribution and judicious setting with the aid of linear perspective, he is to be commended; and his tact in making personages and ar- chitecture subordinate to each other might lead us to believe that the Anonimo is right in calling him a pupil of Melozzo da Forli, 2 but he differs from Melozzo in this that his figures are sacrificed to the space in which they are inclosed: and the space itself is arranged in a some- what servile imitation of classic models. The earliest attempt of this kind is that which he made for the chapel of San Biagio at San Nazaro e Celso during the year 1493. 3 The knack of bringing plain walls to look highly ornamented is not possessed by many, and requires fer- tility of expedients and familiarity with the intricacies of architecture. Falconetto is at home in these respects. He makes the cupola appear higher than it is in reality by simulating a series of curved recesses containing saints in perspective above the cornice; the rest of the surface he divides into panellings framing prophets and fore- shortened angels, subordinate to the Eternal in the centre. A handsome frieze runs round the under edge of the cornice ; and as the chapel opens by arches — on one side into the church, on the other into the apse, and at the two 1 Vas. IX. 203. If it be true that he lived twelve years in Rome, as Vasari says, he must have been there till close upon 1490. 2 Anon. 10. 3 See antea. Chap. XVI. FALCONETTO. 471 remaining points into subsidiary chapels — there is room for further deceptions by creating artificial niches and brackets in lunettes and spandrils, and introducing bas- reliefs, and statues. 1 All this reminds us of Melozzo and Palmezzano, and there is no denying that the effect it produces is imposing from the breadth of the parts, the correctness of the distribution, and the science with which perspective is applied; but Falconetto's are inferior to Melozzo's productions of a similar kind, because the human frame is treated too much as a block, and classic forms are misapplied or overcharged. It is scarcely matter of surprise that Falconetto's habit of copying the antique should have conveyed to super- ficial observers the impression that his work was Man- tegnas. There is a large house-front in his manner on the Piazza San Marco 2 and remnants of another, called the Casa Tedeschi at Verona 3 respecting which these erroneous impressions prevail; and yet the art displayed is very much below Mantegna's, and only suggests his name because the theme and costumes are of the old time, and the treatment is monochrome. It is character- 1 Verona, San Biagio. The cu- pola is all monochrome. In the pendentives and beneath figures of the evangelists by Morando we read: "Jo. Maria Falconetus pinxit." In the lunette to the right, as you enter, there are four monochromes round a circular window, i.e. the sacrifice of Abra- ham, the death of Abel, Adam and Eve, and at each side of the win- dow two niches containing S l Jerom and S l Anthony the Abbot. Below that, on brackets S l Jerom and another, S l Roch and S l Se- bastian, the two latter all but gone. There are also here and there figures of angels. In the lunette above the entrance arch an annunciation by Morando, and two saints in episcopals in niches, and below, the same arrangement as before, but much damaged from abrasion and scaling. In the lunette to the left, a child on a pedestal supporting the frame of the circular window, and two saints. Lower down, an adoration by some unknown hand, and a panel with the baptism of Christ, by Mocetto. This panel partly conceals an inscription closing with the date MCCCCLXXXXIII. 2 Verona. House on Piazza San Marco, corner of the Vicolo di San Marco, No. 835. The repre- sentations are Roman contests, victories, sacrifices and allegories, imitating the classic; hasty and incorrect in drawing, all on blue grounds, the greater part of which are bare to the red preparation. 3 Verona, close to Santa Maria della Scala. There is little here besides broken outlines and pieces of a Roman harangue. 472 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. istic of the figures, that they are neither correct in action nor in outline; and, aping the antique, they are long, lean, exaggerated in movement, and without style in draperies. In other paintings by Falconetto, he shows affinity with Liberale and Pisano, and this is a feature apparent on more than one of his church-frescos, for instance in the saints and victories in San Fermo Maggiore, 1 in the annunciation above the altar of the Emilii chapel at San Zeno, 2 and the religious allegories executed in 1509 — 16 for San Pietro Martire of Verona. The latter, indeed, are Falconetto's masterpieces, fanciful — which may be due to the caprice of the person who ordered them — but free and bold in contour, and less deformed by mannerism than usual. We may note in a madonna, transfixed by an unicorn, a soft inclination of head, an affected grace of movement, and a face moulded in the Umbrian fashion*, in certain portraits an air of nature, and in the treatment a finish and flat- ness that betray some connection with the Veronese miniaturists. 3 In pictures on panel, of which a few by our artist are preserved, we also observe some singular varieties. 4 Augustus and the sybil in the museum of Verona, a caricature of old statuary, grotesque in the action, 1 Verona, San Fermo Maggiore. First altar to the right of the entrance; outer wall, representing two saints seated and two victo- ries in the spandrils of the arch. 2 Verona, San Zeno, cappella Emilii. Fresco of the annunciation. (The two panels of S l James and S l John here are in the manner of Francesco Morone.) 3 Verona, Oratorio dell 1 R. Liceo Scipione Maffei, of old San Gior- gio e San Pietro Martire, lu- nette, fresco, with figures above life-size, representing the annun- ciation surrounded by allegories too childish for description ; at the corners two kneeling portraits of the patrons, Giovanni di Bayneck and Gaspar Chunigel. Several figures of animals in fair drawing prove that Falconetto clung to the study which characterized Pisano and Stefano. The figures are out- lined very strongly and hardly, and yet with boldness. The Vir- gin recalls Pisano's in the panel of the madonna with S l Catherine at the museum of Verona. (No. 52, room III.) 4 We have not seen: Verona, San Giuseppe. Virgin and child between S ts Augustin and Joseph (Persico, I. 90), dated 1523. Chap. XVI. GIOLFINO. 473 and false in the drawing of the parts ; 1 a Virgin and child with saints, much repainted, beneath a fresco of the "Pieta" in the MafFei chapel at San Zeno — a mix- ture of Liberale, Mantegna, and Bellini. 2 Falconetto's closing days were exclusively devoted to architecture. Having been a partisan of the Imperialists during their sway at Verona, he was obliged to retire to Trent after their surrender in 1517. From thence he returned after a couple of years to Padua, where he was patronised by Alvise Cornaro, and there he built houses, lodges, and some of the city gates; his last employment being that of superintendent of the chapel of the Santo, where his sons were also engaged. 3 Of Giolfino, who was Falconetto's cotemporary, a very short sketch will suffice. It would serve no useful purpose to enumerate and to criticize minutely his pictures and frescos in Verona. We may describe them generally as productions of a low class ; the earliest from 1486 upwards carefully treated but coarse, the later ones bold, vulgar, 1 Verona Gallery, room III, No. 67, from the Santissima Trinita, m. 1-52 h. by 1*53. Wood, tem~ pera, full of gold embossment. Poor as this is, it still has the air of a work by Falconetto; and yet we might desire to think it is by some imitator of his manner. 2 Verona, San Zeno, cappella Maffei, mentioned by Vasari (IX. 202). The Pieta a lunette, with ten figures has been assigned to Liberale; but the forms are a little less rough than his. Still i t is difficult to judge correctly of a fresco painted at a consider- able altitude, ill lighted and dusty. The altarpiece now on the side- wall of the chapel, represents the Virgin and child enthroned, be- tween S ts John the Baptist, Jerom, Andrew, and a saint in episcopals ; wood, figures all but life-size, greatly repainted. The Baptist is very like one of Liberale's figures. The predella representing the ex- pulsion of Joachim, the appearance of the angel to Joachim and the nativity of the Virgin, is probably by Bonsignori, to whom some guides assign it. (Rossi, Nuova Guida di Verona, 8°, 1854, p. 23.) It has a decided Mantegnesque cha- racter. We may add notices of the following: Berlin Museum, No. 47a. Death and assumption of the Virgin, on gold ground; wood, figures one-third of life-size. Here is the slender class of personage, and the bold pose of the manner of Liberale; the form a little man- nered in outline, and detailed in Falconetto's usual way. Verona, Sant 1 Elena. Christ at the tomb, ascribed to Falconetto, not to be admitted as a genuine work with- out hesitation. 3 Consult Vasari, Bernasconi, Studi, and Gonzati's La Basilica, ub. sup. 474 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. and freely handled. Liberale and Paechia, or Beccafumi, are the artists of whom his chief productions remind us. He is coarsely Raphaelesque at last, after the fashion of Gaudenzio Ferrari. 1 Vasari has related of Francesco Bonsignori that he was born in Verona in 1455, and was taught at Mantua by Mantegna. After a certain time his proficiency was such as to attract the attention of the Marquis Francesco Gon- zaga, who, in 1487 ; gave him a house and a salary. 2 1 The last date of Giolfino is 1518. Vasari only knew him as Niccolo Ursino. (XI. 139.) Works that we might notice are the following: Verona Mus. originally in San Francesco di Paolo. Room IV. No. 79. Half- length Virgin and child, San Zeno, wings and lunette of Liberale's adoration of the Magi. Santa Maria della Scala; behind the pul- pit, frescos of a brownish tone; in- jured but of a broad style. Same church, a descent of the Holy Spirit, dated 1483, repeated in: Sant' Anastasia, cap. Minischalchi. This recalls Pacchia on account of the exaggerated movement of the figures; the colour is dull, melancholy and unbroken, inscr. : MDXVIII with a monogram N. V. (Niccolo Veronese) interlaced. In a predella is a scene from the life of S l Dominick. Again in Sant 1 Anastasia, the Redeemer in air, and below, S ts Erasmus and George, done with great freedom, but much injured. San Bernardino, cappella dei Avanzi, or di Santa Croce. Christ before Pilate, Christ in the act of being crucified, and the resurrection; in another part of the chapel the capture. These are all done very freely and boldly, the last named with great care on a surface of great polish and smoothness. Verona Gall., room IV. No. 82, originally in San Matteo, arched panel; Virgin in glory, S l Matthew and S* Jerom, and a bust of a patron in prayer, panel with life-sized figures dulled by varnishes. Santa Maria in Or- ganis, cappella Santa Croce, to the right of the choir as you enter. Hexagonal chapel, with frescos of the last supper, the fall of the manna, the communion of the apostles ; in lunettes, six saints and in semidome, ten angels, outside the entrance arch the ascension, and on each spandril a prophet. These are inGiolfino's Raphaelesque style. In the nave of the same church four scenes from the Old Testament, and three rounds remi- niscent in style of works by Pe- ruzzi or Daniel da Volterra. In the same style, the front of Casa Pasquini, opposite the Via Ponte Rofiol, No. 1758, representing a frieze with gambols of cupids, the seasons and other figures (engr. in Nannin, No. 36). Also: Verona, San Stefano, Virgin and child, and boy Baptist, recalling the Raphael- esque, S ts Jerom, Placida, Fran- cis, Maurus, and Simplician; a feeble dull piece (figures life-size). Berlin Museum, No. 1176, canvas, Virgin and child between four saints. Much movement may be noted in the figures here, the angels recalling those of Moretto da Brescia. Giolfino had a brother, Paolo Giolfino. By him is a Vir- gin and child between four saints (No. 65, room III) in the gallery of Verona. The style is similar to that of Niccolo Giolfino, but poorer. 2 Vasari, IX. 187. The pictures Chap. XVI. BONSIGNORI. 475 We might be led by this narrative to believe that Bon- signori was Mantegna's pupil, which would be a grave mistake. Those productions of his manhood which bear the dates of 1483 to 1488 are of the Veronese school, and would prove that he underwent Mantegna's influence after he had acquired a manner of his own. Even before 1483 he finished a certain number of compositions in which local teaching may be discerned. The Virgin and child in a landscape between S* Anthony the Abbot and the Magdalen in the church of San Paolo at Verona, are to be classed amongst his elementary productions. 1 Thin regular forms in the Virgin and child, combined with rigidity and smorphia, remind us of Girolamo Be- naglio; a resolute pose in the Magdalen recalls Liberale, whilst overweight of head, a grim but expressive face and large rude extremities are properly characteristic of Bonsignori himself. The tempera is copiously moistened with vehicle but dull in tone ; the outline, if incorrect, still careful and bold. Bonsignori here is a better artist than Benaglio, with less vehemence and spirit than Liberale. A crucified Saviour, in the gallery of Verona, presents a specimen of good ordinary .nude, of fair and slender proportion, whilst the profile bust of a donor in the right hand corner of the picture, well drawn, with a true harmony of parts, broadly modelled and neatly blended in a silver-grey key of tempera, gives promise of that degree of perfection which Bonsignori afterwards exemplifies in the portrait of the National Gallery. 2 These pieces are, we think, the natural forerunners of that which bears the painter's name and the date of 1483, in the house of Dr. Bernasconi at Verona, a small of this painter being usually signed 2 Verona Museum, room II. No. Bonsignorius, show that Vasari is. 29, canvas, m. 1*15 h. by 0*80, wrong in calling him Monsignori. catal d Sch. of Mantegna. The left 1 Verona, San Paolo, described side of the torso repainted, distance in old guides as by an unknown hills and sky, the whole dull< •< I by painter, but mentioned as Bonsig- varnishes, nori's by Vas. (IX. 191.) 476 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. panel half the size of life, in which the infant lying on a marble table with his feet towards the spectator, is adored with joined hands by the Virgin. 1 No longer confined to the narrow circle of Veronese art, Bonsignori now exhibits some acquaintance with the models of Montagnana ; Montagna, and Buonconsiglio, drawing nude with a certain knowledge of the laws of foreshortening and proportion, and with the broken ener- getic line of the Paduans, but with his full share of vulgarity and coarseness in masks and extremities. His drapery, though angular or tortuous, is cast with a certain judgment, his colours are brown, smooth and glossy, as colours are in which copious vehicle is used. It is not to be asserted that Bonsignori up to this point had lessons from either of the Vicentines Montagna or Buonconsiglio ; for the former visited Verona later, and Buonconsiglio, as far as is known, never came to Verona at all; but he is more like them than he is like Man- tegna; and this is quite as apparent in a large madonna with saints, painted for San Fermo of Verona, in 1484, as in pictures of an earlier time. There is a good profile of a patroness at the edge of the frame of this altar- piece, which illustrates Bonsignori's usual attention to careful drawing and accurate shading; but the figures are not less short and bony, and not less vulgar in face than those of other altarpieces of the same period. 2 An improvement may be seen in a bust portrait of 1487 in the National Gallery, where we are reminded of Masaccio by the breadth of the modelling, and of Ghirlandaio by 1 Verona, Dr. Bernasconi. Panel with half-length Virgin, one-half the life-size, tempera, on a dark green brown ground, upon which one reads in the upper part to the left: "Franciscus Bonsignorius pinxit, 1483;" the flesh of an olive complexion. 2 Verona, San Fermo. Wall to the left on entering the portal, canvas, distemper, with figures just under life-size. The Virgin adores the child lying on her lap. To the left S ts Onofrio, growling and showing his teeth, and Jerom ; to the right Augustin and Sebas- tian, distance sky and landscape, at the bottom of the picture a female profile seen to the shoulders ; on a cartello: "Franciscus Bon- signorius Vonensis p. 1484." Chap. XVI. BONSIGNORI. 477 the precision with which the forms are given, and shadows are defined; but of Mantegna's teaching there is no trace. 1 That some impression had been made upon Bonsignori by the works of Mantegna after 1484, is proved by a madonna with saints, dated 1488, in San Bernardino of Verona, where the infant Christ erect on the Virgin 1 s knees, and a couple of angels at the sides of the throne, imitate the slender type of the great Paduan; but the change is very partial, and is not to be observed in the wild thickset frame and coarse extremities of the attendant S l Jerom, nor in the homely squareness of the standing S l George. 2 We may therefore assume that up to 1488 at least, Bonsignori was not at the court of the Gonzagas. The frequent recurrence of his Christian name in the Mantuan correspondence of the years 1490 and 1491 might lead us to suppose that he was already employed at that time in the decoration of the country palace of Marmirolo ; some uncertainty might be caused by our inability to distinguish Bonsignori from Francesco Man- tegna ; 3 but these doubts are removed in the correspon- dence of 1495 — 6, where Bonsignori, as Francesco da Verona, works in the new palace of Gonzaga, and is sent to the Giarole near Fornovo to sketch the ground on which the Marquis Francesco was defeated by the French. 4 He was busy, in 1506, at the last supper in San Francesco of Mantua, including portraits of the marquis and his family, and went to Venice with one of Fran- 1 London, National Gallery, No. 736. Wood, tempera, If. 4'/ 4 h- by 0'liy 4 , formerly in the Cap- pello Mus. at Venice, inscribed on a cartello: "Franciscus Veronensis p. 1487." (Maffei, Verona Illustr. u. s. Part III. eh. VI.) The car- toon for this portrait, squared for use, being larger (2f. 11. by 2f. 4'/ 2 ), is in the collection of the archduke Albert at Vienna under the name of Gentil Bellini. 2 Verona, San Bernardino, 2 nd altar to the right; wood, mixed tempera and oil; figures life-size, inscribed on a cartello: "Fran- ciscus Bonsignorius Von. p. MCCCCLXXXVHI." The Virgin's head is renewed, those of S l George and S l Jerom retouched, also the head of the angel on the arm of the throne to the right, and the left leg of the infant Christ. Through two windows sky and landscape. 3 Gaye, Carteggio, I. 298 & .309. 1 Gaye, I. 331—3, 335—6. Darco, Delle Arti, u. s. II. 36, 39. 478 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. cesco Gonza^a's agents to copy a picture called "La Italia" in the antichamber of the Dogal palace. 1 A sufficient number of Bonsignori's masterpieces at Mantua has been spared to justify the opinion that at the close of the 15th century he diligently studied and came at last to imitate Mantegna. One of the most interesting proofs of this is the lunette in the Brera at Milan, representing S l Louis and S 1 Bernardino holding the name of Christ, a canvas, once on the pulpit in the Franciscan convent of Mantua, in the refectory of which Bonsignori executed the last supper. 2 His style, if we judge of it by this specimen, was cleared of its old coarseness ; his figures were drawn in truer proportions, and more perfect shape; he evidently knew more of anatomy and perspective ; he draped his personages better, and gave them a calmer and more amiable air; yet whilst following Mantegna's models, he preserved a certain impassiveness and monotony, a coldness and accuracy that make him of kin with Spagna or Timoteo Viti. Several pieces of almost equal merit illustrate this second phase. The best are the Virgin and child with saints at Mr. Layard's in London, 3 the Christ carrying his cross in the Doria gallery at Rome, 4 and replicas in possession of 1 Vas. IX. 188—9. Darco, Delle Arti, I. 57, and II. 68. The fresco is lost. 2 Milan, Brera, No. 261, canvas, tempera, lunette, m. 1*33 h. by 1'04; the figures quite Manteg- nesque, the colour pale and cold. Note high finish and a good defi- nition of form. 3 London, Mr. Layard. Oblong on coarse canvas, with figures a little over half life-size, oil. The Virgin stoops over the babe in swaddling-clothes which she presses to her breast. To the left a young friar and aged saint, to the right S l Anna and a young saint with curly locks and the palm of mar- tyrdom, half-lengths, not quite free from restoring, and a little blind in consequence. The imitation of Mantegna is very apparent in the saints to the right and in the babe. The same groups — of other saints — (Bernardino, Francis, Eliza- beth, and another) and a similar Virgin and child are in possession of Count Colloredo at Goritz, having been originally in the palace of the Gonzaga in Mantua. This piece, however, is much re- painted, and we cannot say that it is not an old copy. 4 Eome, Doria Gallery, grand room, No. 5, panel, in oil, figure a little under life-size, bust, on dark ground ; Christ with face three- quarters to the left, smooth in surface, hard, unbroken, and recall- Chap. XVI. BONSIGNORI. 479 Count Paul Stroganoff at S* Petersburg 1 and the Marquis Campori at Modena. 2 Their chief feature is a Leonard - esque simplicity of shape, a certain want of animation, caused by careful surfacing and outline, and the absence of strong shadow or modulations. We might assign to the same period an interesting portrait of Isabella, Mar- chioness of Mantua, under Mantegna's name at the Uffizi, 3 and a profile ascribed to Piero della Francesca at the Pitti, 4 in which the Mantegnesque of Bonsignori is combined with some of the softness peculiar to Lorenzo Costa. Costa, we shall see, was a Ferrarese, tempted to settle at Mantua by the Gonzagas. His manner affected Bonsignori very materially, and it is to his influence that we attribute the last change in Bonsignori's style. The period in which this change occurred is not easy to define accurately, but it no doubt took place shortly after the arrival of Costa in 1509. In a portrait of a man in the Pitti, attributed to Giacomo Francia, we observe well proportioned forms and a melancholy ex- pression rendered with a regularity of outline recalling the Leonardesques. The spirit in which this handsome' work is done, is closely related to that displayed in the portrait of Isabella at the Uffizi; the finish is more skil- ful, the tone warmer, but the hand seems that of Bon- ing Palmezzano, under the name of Mantegna. 1 S l Petersburg, Count Paul Stroganoff. Panel, oil, same size as foregoing, called Beltraffio, the face retouched. 2 Modena, Marchese Campori, under Bonsignori's name, life-size, well preserved, softer in tone, more finished, and with something re- calling Costa in the treatment. 3 Florence, Uffizi, No. 1121, wood, life-size. Bust with front- face, in gala-dress with a cincture and a jewel on the forehead, dis- tance a landscape touched in gold. Dress, blue and gold check pat- tern, very careful, but not by Mantegna, to whom it is assigned; the manner being that of Bonsig- nori in the Mantegnesque style. On the back of the panel the words: "Duchessa Isabella Man- tovana moglie del Duca Guido." Injured by varnishes and retouch- ing. There is much here of Bon- signori's cold carefulness of finish. 4 Florence, Pitti, No. 871. Panel, bust, m. 0-15-6 h. by 0*12, profile to the left of a female, with a cincture and jewel in gala-dress, her hair falling out of a net, on green ground (repainted); the outline very fine, well treated tem- pera with minute hatchings. 480 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. signori under the charm of Costa's creations. 1 A more striking proof of the extent to which the painting of one master may affect those of another, is to be found in the Christ going to Calvary, attended by the Marys, at the museum of Mantua, 2 where Bonsignori divests himself entirely of the characteristic features of his youth, and throws upon his canvas a series of small slender figures, to which in most cases he gives a tender and not un- pleasant conventional air, suggesting reminiscences of the Umbrian school and of Costa. Better executed is the vision of Christ to the nun Ozanna, a large canvas in the Mantuan Museum, 3 and the Virgin and child between 1 Florence, Pitti, No. 195. Bust, wood, m. 1*3 h. by 0*17, oil, figure of a man, full face in front of a window in a cap. The face of a regular oval, of soft melancholy- expression, softly tinted, with much blending, but without modulations. 2 Mantua Gallery, originally in Oratorio della Scuola Segreta. .(Darco, I. 57.) Canvas, oil; in- jured by time and restoring. Christ has fallen under the weight of the cross. The Magdalen supports the transverse beam. In rear the Vir- gin in a fainting fit. This is a conventional picture in arrange- ment, wanting in life and power. The treatment is cold and careful. 3 Mantua Gallery, originally in San Vincenzo, canvas, oil, figures all but life-size. In the centre the nun with her feet on a monster, attended by five kneeling com- panions. On clouds to the right and left of the central figure is Christ carrying his cross, and an angel with a lily. The figures are well proportioned and not ungraceful. There is something of the Perugi- nesque and of Costa, especially in the drapery which falls and winds so as to give the form in the Umbrian fashion. The figures all seem portraits, very carefully done, and light in tone. In the same mixed style of the Mantegnesque and Costa, are six small subjects from the triumph of Scipio in one frame, belonging to the heirs of the Susanni family at Mantua. Verona, San Biagio. This picture was ordered in 1514 and delivered in 1519 (Di San Biagio & a u. s. p. 63), and a predella was made for it by Girolamo dai Libri. The Virgin is in air with the infant Christ; below, S ts Biagio, Sebas- tian, and Juliana; a child at S l Biagio's sides holds the card (can- vas, oil). The figures are graceful enough, the drapery and nude are fair, the colour though dulled by restoring being warm and blended. We are reminded of Costa and Francia in their Eaphaelesque phase. In the same manner: Mantua (near). Chiesa delle Grazie, cappella Zibramonti. Can- vas, oil, representing S l Sebastian, all but life-size, but much injured by scaling, and possibly done with the help of an assistant; less in the character of the master: Verona, San Zeno, sacristy. S l Lawrence and S l Stephen, two arched panels, too poor to be by Bonsignori. Missing: Portraits of Frederick Barbarossa, Barbarigo, Doge of Venice; Francesco Sforza and Maximilian, Dukes of Milan'; Emperor Maximilian, Erco'le Gon- Chap. XVI. CAROTO. 481 saints, ordered for the chapel of San Biagio at Verona in 1519, the last effort of Bonsignori previous to his death. 1 More abundant in production but of the same stuff as Bonsignori, Giovan Francesco Caroto fills a large place in the annals of Verona. Born in 1470 and apprenticed early to Liberale, he was soon removed to Mantua, where he took an active share in the later productions of Mantegna's atelier. 2 He is described as so perfect an imitator that his panels were accepted as Mantegna's own; and this is perfectly credible. 3 In a number of madonnas belonging to continental collections, his manner closely resembles that of his master, and apart from certain childishly realistic features, they are interesting examples of Caroto's youth. The Virgin and child with the young Baptist, in the gallery of Modena, for instance, represents the Virgin in a landscape adorned with lemon-trees, the child on her knee raising her veil. One of her hands, armed with a thimble, holds a needle, at which she is looking, whilst the other grasps a piece of muslin. There is some art, perhaps too much apparent art, in the arrangement; but the movements, suggesting study of antique statuary, and the dry slender proportions of the figures as well as the drawing, drapery, and modelling, are very manifestly adapted from Mantegna. The infant Saviour and Baptist are quarrelling for a twig and zaga, afterwards cardinal; Federico Gonzaga; Giovan Francesco Gon- zaga; Andrea Mantegna; Count Ercole Giusti (Vas. IX. 187—8— 193), and the king of France. (Darco, II. 36.) Virgin and child, half-lengths. (Vasari, IX. 190.) 1 Vas. IX. 192. Bonsignori died in 1519. He had two brothers, ascribed to one of whom (Fra Gi- rolamo Bonsignori) is a fresco of the Virgin and child, cut from the wall, now in the sacristy of San VOL. I. Barnaba at Mantua. There rs a Lombard character in this work which dates from the first years of the 16 th century; the forms are good and well rendered; the faces are pleasing and the colour soft. This Lombard character might be expected of a man who, as we know, copied the last supper of Leonardo at Milan. (Vas. IX. 193, and XL 251.) 2 Vas. IX. 171. 3 lb. ib. 31 482 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. grimace in the true Mantegnesque style. 1 The same subject is repeated with more ease, in Casa Maldura at Padua, the young Baptist being omitted; 2 and simpler forms of the Virgin and child illustrating this period of Caroto's art are in the Stsedel Gallery at Frankfort, 3 and in the Berlin Museum. 4 The treatment — of which the best test is at Frankfort — is hard in flesh and garish in drapery, the faces being of a monotonous red- yellow with little half-tone, the dresses loud in contrasts and confusedly frittered in fold. We may believe that the painter of these pieces produced works on Man- tegna's designs that might and did pass for Mantegna's, and Caroto is possibly the assistant to whom we partly owe less grand but gayer creations by Mantegna, such as the "noli me tai^ere,'' and the madonna with saints of the National Gallery, the Virgin with half-lengths in the museum of Turin, and the miniature of the circumcision in the library of the same city. 5 On his return to Verona, which took place previous to 1508, Caroto's manner took a local tinge more reminiscent of Liberale's and Giolfino's than it had been before; 6 we shall find 1 Modena Gallery, No. 50, wood, oil, m. 0-50 h. by 0'40. In a scroll beneath the infant Christ's arm: "I. Franciseus Charotus." The only parts of this picture not repainted are the red tunic of the Virgin, the landscape and lemon- trees. 2 Padua, Casa Maldura, canvas, oil, figures one quarter of nature. The Saviour here holds a pair of scissors — inscribed to the right: "0 F. Charotus f." Flesh re- stored and colour much altered by various causes. 3 Frankfort, Stsedel, No. 45, wood, oil, If. 10 h. by If. 5, in- scribed on the pedestal on which Christ stands: "F. Charotus." Some of the opaqueness here is no doubt caused by restoring. This panel was in the Baranowski collection. 4 Berlin Museum, No. 40, wood, oil, 2f. 3'/ 2 h. by If. 6'/ 2 . The child on a parapet, a dish of fruit near him. Below the parapet two half-lengths of angels playing in- struments; very Mantegnesque in air — not quite so opaque as at Frankfort, but dulled by varnishes. 5 National Gallery, No. 639 and 274. Turin Museum, No. 97 (and see antea). 6 The author of the "Ricreazione" describes a glory of S l Cathe- rine, between S l Roch and S l Se- bastian dated 1502, in the church of Santa Caterina annex to the Ognissanti (suppressed) at Verona (p. 163, and Del Pozzo, 225). Ca- roto's presence at Verona in 1508 is proved by the existence of fres- cos of that date in S. Girolamo (annunciation) inscribed: "Jo Ca- rotus fe. an. 1508," which have Chap. XVI. CAROTO. 483 that his heads are broad, round, and high in forehead; the cheeks being full, the lips thick and tumid, the nose protuberant, the eyes large, open, and distant, the brows high and arched — features conspicuous from the slen- der character of the frames and the weakness of the limbs. Another marked peculiarity of Caroto's drawing is a fre- quent abuse of curves, exaggerating the projection or depression of muscles according as they are prominent in the calf and thigh, or lost in the joint at the knee and ankle. This tendency gives his outline an artificial swell which is very unsatisfactory. This and other habits of Ca- roto might be illustrated with great copiousness in the Virgin adoring Christ and attended by saints, a picture with fair modelling in the flesh tints, and two or three other canvases of the same calibre, in the museum of Verona; 1 but to judge of the painter more fully we must examine his frescos in the Spolverini chapel at Sant' Eufemia of Verona, where he produced scenes from the book of Tobias with some of the power of the moderns. The compositions are skilfully balanced, and the per- sonages are natural in movement and expression, but the colour especially is entitled to commendation for a warmth and blending distantly like Correggio's. Three archangels between S 1 Lucy and another female in the altar enable us to detect that Caroto was not unacquainted with the manner of Francia and Costa; not been seen by the authors. Un- seen, too, the S ts Sebastian, Roch, and Job, in San Tommaso Can- tuariense at Verona. (Del Pozzo, 265, and Bernasconi Studi, 294.) 1 Verona Museum, room IV. No. 88, canvas, oil, Virgin and child between S ts Joseph, Francis, Chiara, and Anna, m. 1*70 h. by 1*25 — of a later date. Room II. No. 30, S l Francis between S ls Bernardino, Anthony, and Chiara with the Ecce Homo in a cloud above, canvas, oil, m. 2*07 h. by 2 - 05, from the Minorites of Isola della Scala. No. 37, Virgin and child between S ts Joseph and Mary Magdalen, canvas, oil, m. 2*0 h. by 2*05, injured by restoring in- ferior to the foregoing. Room V. No. 98, Christ washing the feet of the apostles, above, the Virgin and king David in glory; from the Mi- norites of Isola della Scala, m. 3*0 h. by 2' 15, injured by cleaning. 31* 484 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. the attendant saints recall Peruzzi and Timoteo Viti; 1 and the prevalence of a certain mistiness in the model- ling, both in fresco and oil, reveals a new phase in the expansion of his practice. In this phase he remains for some years, and shows himself prolific, as we perceive in the visitation, and Christ's parting with his mother at San Bernardino, 2 the Virgin in the Bra, and several house-fronts, at Verona. 3 We are not informed as to the time when he visited Milan and Casale, where he 1 Verona, Sant 1 Eufemia, cap. Spolverini. Wall to the left of entrance, lunette bare; lower course: the angel shows the fish to Tobias, and Tobias with the fish. Next lower course; Tobias returns to his father and heals his blindness. The limbs of the figures generally are weak. A figure of David to the right of the entrance is also fairly done by the same hand. This is all that remains of the frescos of the whole chapel, and even this remnant is in bad con- dition. The altarpiece, canvas, oil, is signed: "P. Carotus, p." The figures are feeble in the legs, which was an objection made by the critics of Caroto's own time. (Vas. IX. 172.) The manner of Caroto at this period is illustrated in a S l Cathe- rine, full-length, originally at the Madonna di Campagna, now in Verona Museum, room IV. No. 83, m. 1-80 h. by 0*85, in which we mark a skilful rendering of momentary action with rich co- louring, all reminiscent of the manner of Bazzi. The piece is injured by restoring. 2 Verona, San Bernardino, cap. della Croce. The parting of Christ from the Virgin, canvas, oil, figures life-size. Same ch. chapel near the choir. Visitation, and a male and female at the sides, fresco, a frieze with arabesques and busts of saints, much injured, but of bright rich tone, carefully drawn and taste- ful. The draperies have still some Mantegnesque character. 3 These are assignable to Caroto, and might be of the period under notice. Verona, in Bra, Virgin and child, fresco in a round, life- size, half-length, freely and boldly drawn, and well-proportioned, some- what damaged. Via della Scala, No. 1310, house-front, once the property of Palermo, professor of medicine at Padua. There remain a portrait (?) of himself in a round between the windows of the first floor, and other figures; well drawn and richly coloured. San Tommaso Ponte Acqua Morta, No. 4800, frescos, representing the de- livery of Verona to the Venetians in 1577. These have been assigned to Mocetto, but their colour leaves us in doubt whether they are his or Caroto's. Verona, Santa Maria in Organo, left side of the nave as you enter; here are four scenes from the Old Testament, and four rounds in the soffits of the arches — namely, the Redeemer and S l John, and two Benedictines. These frescos are almost as broadly treated as those which are now about to be no- ticed. Assigned to Caroto- also are landscapes in oil on the door- posts, which if not by him are of his school. There are traces, too, of a fresco by the same hand in a side street leading to this church. Chap. XVI. CAROTO. 485 executed works of magnitude for the Visconti and Montferrat ; 1 but in 1528, the date of the Virgin in glory adored by saints at San Fermo, he enters boldly into the ways of the sixteenth century, and produces an effective cento of the Raphaelesque and Michaelangelesque. 2 It would cost too much space to describe all the pieces of this style which fill the galleries of Verona and Mantua. 3 It is enough to sketch the career of Caroto with broad lines. His monogram and the date of 1531 are on a resurrection of Lazarus in the palace of the Bishop of Verona; a Virgin in glory at San Giorgio is inscribed 1545, the year previous to his death. 4 His 1 Vas. IX. 173, 4. 2 Verona, San Fermo, cappella del Sacramento. Virgin and child, S l Anna in clouds between four boy angels; below, S ts John the Baptist, Peter, Koch and Sebas- tian, the latter colossal and heavy in the Michaelangelesque manner, inscribed: "1528, F. Kroto." The drawing is a little strongly marked and monotonous, the figures are slight and motionless, the colour somewhat raw. 3 The list is as follows : Verona, Palazzo Vescovile, from ch. del Nazaret, resurrection of Lazarus, inscribed with Caroto's monogram and the date "MDXXXI," canvas, oil, a little injured in the dresses. Sant 1 Anastasia, fourth altar to the right (erected, according to Per- sico, p. 17, in 1542), Virgin and child in air; below, S l Anthony and S l Martin sharing his cloak. The character of this piece is that of one by a man in his old age, but still possessed of freedom and power. It recalls Torbido in the redness and depth of its tones, and a pupil of Pordenone, such as Pom- ponio Amalteo — figures life-size (canvas, oil), the horse out of drawing. San Giorgio; S l Ur- sula and a winding procession of the Virgins, the head of which is on the foreground, inscribed:! " Franciscus Carotus, p. a. d. M.D.XXXXV;" above, the Saviour in glory. The latter is like a figure by G. Ferrari, the rest re- mind us by turns of Viti and Peruzzi. All here shows great mannerism; the colour, too, is feeble, and injured by restoring and repainting. But there are several things by Caroto in this church, ex. gr., S ts Sebastian and Roch, with a lunette of the transfiguration and a predella with the sermon on the mount, the entombment, the resurrection, and saints and angels in pilasters. The flesh is of a misty red, like Puccinelli's (Brescianino) of Sienna. The drawing is in the character of Bugiardini. High up on the wall of the choir are also two canvases with thin neat figures in a low tone of colour. These are difficult to criticise, but might be youthful efforts of the painter. They are not free from injury. 4 We add to the foregoing list the following: Verona Museum, room IX. No. 143, canvas, oil, m. 2'25 h. by 2*0. Virgin and child between S ts Zeno and Pietro Mar- tire, formerly in the Sala del Consiglio, inscr. : " . . I . . die 15 . . . Ma . Joannes Franciscus de Charotus . . on p. 1498;" a piece with a forged signature. Mantua, 486 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. brother and follower, Giovanni Caroto, and Antonio Benzono just deserve to be mentioned. 1 We now direct our attention to another set of Vero- nese headed by the Moroni ; comprising Girolamo dai Libri and Paolo Morando. Domenico Morone, by his townsmen called Pelacane, because his father was a tanner, was born at Verona in 1442. He was registered in the list of Veronese bur- gesses in 1491, and was one of the masters requested by the municipality to report upon the merit of certain statues ordered in 1493 for the outer ornament of the Council Hall. He was commissioned to paint the library of the convent of San Bernardino in 1503, and frescos Santa Maria della Carita. Canvas, m. 2*10 h. by P47. S l Luke, S l Michael, S* John Evangelist and another saint erect. Figures of small character, washy in tone. This picture is either by Caroto or one of his assistants, and re- calls Costa and Viti. Mantua, Royal Palace. Arched canvas, with life-size figures. The Virgin and child. Below, S l Mary Magdalen, S l John Evangelist writ- ing on his knee, S l Francis and a saint in armour; feebler than the foregoing, but in the same style, by a pupil of Caroto or Costa. S l Petersburg, Leuchtemberg collection. S l Anthony the Abbot between S l Roch and S l Mary Magdalen; 3f. 2*6 h. by 3f. 9, as- signed to Caroto, but by some follower of Cima, perhaps by Giro- lamo da Udine. 1 There are no dates of Giovanni's life, but he was evidently an assistant to his brother. Verona, San Paolo. Virgin and child between S l Paul and S l Peter, canvas, inscribed: "1513 Joannes" (retouched), a heavy imitation of Giov. Francesco Caroto is here to be noticed, there is a mock grace in the Virgin and affectation of a dancer in the child. The figures are colossal and greatly repainted. Verona, San Giovanni in Fonte. Virgin and child between S c Stephen and S l Augustin, with a kneeling patron, canvas, oil, inscribed on a scroll: "Joannes, $ MDXIIII." Affected picture, draperies in zig- zags, surface enamelled. Verona Museum. Room IV. No. 86, m. 1*70 h. by 1*17, from Santa Maria in Chiavica. Virgin and child, S ts Lawrence and Jerom, sharply con- trasted in the dresses, the Virgin distantly like Raphael's Madonna di Foligno, reel flesh with dark shadows. Verona, San Stefano. Virgin and child between S ts Peter and Andrew. Canvas, figures life- size. This picture is Veronese, not quite in the manner of the foregoing, having broader forms, and a low toned rich key of co- lour ; the grouping good and draw- ing clever. Del Pozzo (Pitt. Ver. 247) notices a Virgin and child with S ts Nicholas and another, containing portraits of Caroto and his wife. This picture is miss- ing. Of Antonio Benzono, there is a Virgin and child between S l Jerom and S l George in niches (figures half life-size), inscribed: "1531 Antonio Benzono." The treatment Chap. XVI. DOMENICO MOEONE. 487 which have perished at Santa Maria in Organo in 1508. 1 In scanty proportion to these proofs of Domenico's existence are the pictures which he produced. There is no Veronese of name of whom we know so little. Remnants of frescos without date in the cappella Sant' Antonio at San Bernardino, rescued from whitewash some years ago, were laid out according to Vasari for Niccolo de' Medici by Domenico Morone, 2 but the frag- ments hardly allow of a safe opinion. Four evangelists are in the ceiling, S ,s Louis and Bonaventura in the pilasters of the inner arch; the front and soffits of the entrance are filled with monochrome relief, ornaments and medallions, saints in niches, and a Virgin and child in an imitated pediment; five lunettes contain scenes from the legend of S* Anthony of Padua; all this is in a sad state of decay, and in a great measure renewed. 3 The decorative plan is a good one, but over- charged with florid detail; a strong Umbrian look, apparently derived from the school of Piero della Fran- cesca, may be observed in the group of Virgin and child, recalling Fiorenzo de Lorenzo; puffy projection in flesh contrasts with thin scantling of the joints, broad flanks with narrow chests; the figures are short, the heads square, and the feet large; straight and parallel folds in the drapery close with an angular eye, and balloon as they fall. These are all features that dis tin- is that of a disciple of Francesco Caroto. 1 For the foregoing facts see the proofs in Bernasconi, Studi, 238 and following. 2 Vas. IX. 194. 3 Verona, San Bernardino, cap- pella Sant' Antonio. S l Helen and S l Elizabeth on the front pilaster as you enter, are all but gone. Above are: S l Catherine and S l Ursula, and in the spandrils a mo- nochrome of Abraham leading Isaac, and the sacrifice of Abra- ham. S l Mark on the ceiling is the least injured of the four evan- gelists. S l Buonaventura on the pilaster of the inner arch is least damaged of the personages inside the chapel, and most recalls Fran- cesco Morone. Of the subjects in the lunettes, one is the cure of the man with the broken limb, in which some bits of old work remain (in some of the kneeling females); another, the miracle of the ass, where the portrait of the kneeling patron is still visible. The painting in the arch, ceiling, and lunettes is new. 488 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. guish Francesco Morone, Girolamo dai Libri, Michele da Verona and Morando; a more modern and fresher spirit is to be found in the saints and angels. It is not unlikely that Domenico was assisted by his son and disciples in this vast undertaking. We shall find a large " glory of S l Bernardino" at the Brera in Milan, catalogued as by Mantegna. An illegible inscription and" a false date leave us in igno- rance of the painter's name and the time in which he laboured. The treatment is that of a man following in the footsteps of Piero della Francesca and Mantegna, the figures and architecture closely related to those of the Perugian Bonfigli. A grave and dignified mien, and fair proportions are given to the saint, whose slender forms are pretty well rendered, but the heads, are square, and of a distinct type, i.e. a broad high fore- head, large eyes with round pupils and curly hair in the fashion of Bonfigli and Fiorenzo. The drapery is sharply outlined and cut up into a confused tangle of folds, and a heavy red flesh tint of unbroken surface is strongly relieved by dark grey shadows. This is a clever composition, probably by Domenico or Francesco Morone, and not dissimilar from the wall-paintings in the chapel at San Bernardino. 1 Turning from these examples to the frescos in the library at San Bernardino, for which payments were made to Domenico in 1503, we are led to believe that, whoever else may have designed the subjects, they were executed by journeymen such as Michele da Verona and Morando. 2 1 Milan, Brera, No. Ill, canvas, distemper, m. 3"8 h. by 2*19. In a lunette four angels beneath gar- lands of leaves and fruit; a bird and a rabbit are on the fore- ground, and on a cartello an il- legible inscription with the false date of 1460. The surface is al- tered by oil, varnishes, and re- storing. There is something in the treatment also akin to the organ-doors of San Bernardino; only that in these we find in ad- dition some features peculiar to Liberale. (See postea.) 2 Verona, San Bernardino, li- brary, afterwards refectory, now out of use. Above and inside en- Chap. XVI. FRANCESCO MORONE. 489 It is apparent, therefore, that we can only judge of Domenico approximative!^. Looking at the remains in the chapel of Sant 1 Antonio, he is a fair second-rate representative of fifteenth century art; his figures of low stature with broad aged masks of the stamp of Piero della Francesca. If we measure him by the standard of other works superior to those of Sant' Antonio, he is a Veronese, with some of the spirit of the Mantegnesques and Piero della Francesca. But taking Domenico in connection with his son, of whom we shall now treat, he forms one of a partnership which gave an impress to the most important branch of Veronese painting. Through their industry, and under their lead, a new and powerful style was based on the precepts of Mantegna, without any servile imitation of his peculiarities. Francesco Morone was born in 1473, and lived till May, 1529. 1 As a draughtsman he studied Mantegna, as a colourist Montagna; but he tempered the hardness of both with a cold softness acquired from the Uinbro- Ferrarese who dwelt at the Mantuan court in the 16 th century. For some time assistant to his father, and afterwards an independent master of large practice, he gained a name second only to that of Morando, and he finished a multitude of pictures and frescos of which it would be superfluous to describe more than a few. The earliest is a crucified Saviour between the Virgin and the best part; the drawing of the extremities especially is very faulty, the outlines are continuous and wiry; the drapery trite and form- less. The action, too, is awkward even when well meant. The care- ful execution and the defects we have noted, prove the presence here of young hands; of Michele in the madonna with saints ; of Morando in the other pictures. 1 See the proofs in Bernasconi, Studi, u. s. p. 239 and 280, trance, three bust figures of j popes between four medallions ; with monochrome profiles. Lower down and at some distance from- 1 the sides of the entrance, four saints erect; opposite wall; the Virgin and child and angels be- tween ten saints, two of whom are S l Francis and S l Chiara, severally presenting a male and female pa- tron; on the side- walls saints in couples on polygonal pedestals, and medallions. The portraits are 490 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. evangelist, an arched panel dated 1498 in the cappella della Croce at San Bernardino with attendant saints, now in the museum of Verona. 1 The next is a large altarpiece of the Virgin and child between S t Augustin and S l Martin commissioned for a chapel at Santa Maria in Organo in 1503. 2 A similar picture at the Brera was done in 1504. 3 These are all large pieces in which a garish contrast of strong tones in dresses gives addi- tional frigidity to an even and unbroken flesh tint, the light of which is ill blended with dark purple grey- shadows. Skilful arrangement is marred here and there by florid accessories; figures of good proportion and form, not undignified in mien or in action, and often appropriate in expression, produce a sense of littleness by tall slender stature and paltriness of shade; gentle- ness is sometimes carried to the verge of meaningless tenderness. The masterpieces of Francesco Morone are in the sacristy at Santa Maria in Organo, where the walls and ceiling are filled with incidents freely adapted 1 Verona, San Bernardino, cap- pella della Croce, arched panel with life-size figures. The Saviour is on the cross in a landscape, be- tween the Virgin and evangelists, signed with a renewed inscription as follows: "Franciscus Moron 1498;" the blue mantle of the Virgin repainted, the flesh injured by retouching and changed by time. Two wings, a S l Bartholomew and S l Francis, are in the Verona Museum, room IV. N os 87 and 89, wood, m. 0-60 h. by 0*40. They are better preserved, and show the painter's usual sharp and hardish colour. 2 Verona, Santa Maria in Or- gano, canvas, oil, figures almost life-size. Virgin and child in a Roman chair, beneath a bower with flowers; at her sides, two angels playing, and in the foreground the two saints in episcopals. On the carpet at the Virgin's feet the words: "Franciscus filius Dome- nici de Moronis pinxit MDIII." A piece has been added to the can- vas all round. The execution is very careful. The Saviour wash- ing the feet of the apostles, once in the same chapel, and now in the museum, has been assigned by Vasari to Morone (IX. 195), but is by Morando. 3 Milan, Brera, No. 169, canvas, m. 1-7 h. by 1*22, inscribed: "Fr.- ciscus f.lius Domenici de Moron pi£it Ann. DI MCCCCCII (?) 1504." and: "... columen Zeno tutela decusq, Gregorius Morinens hoc tibi reddit opus. Attame G Liscse Leonardi gloria tecum vivet qr steteris culta tabella d . . This is the only Morone here whatever the annotators of Vasari may say (note to IX. p. 169). The faces are similar in masks and shape to those at Santa Maria in Organo. The colours are dimmed and black- ened by time. Chap. XVI. FRANCESCO MORONE. 491 from Mantegna's in the Camera de' Sposi at Mantua. The room is quadrangular, and divided into sections with lunettes like Peruzzi's in the Farnesina; the centre compartment of the ceiling representing a well -opening with a balustrade in perspective from which angels look down, whilst the Saviour in benediction floats in the heaven, the lunettes and the course beneath them con- taining half-lengths of popes, Olivetan monks, and female saints. This sacristy is one of the grand monuments of local art in the Venetian provinces, second only to Man- tegna's creations in the display of perspective science and foreshortening, and in the geometrical distribution of the space. Characteristic is the Umbrian stamp of the deco- ration as well as its chastened design. Clean outline, good modelling, and individuality are conspicuous in the slender shapes, and the fall of the dress is unusually free and graceful. Though we are in the dark as to the time in which this beautiful sacristy was adorned, there is ground for believing that it was finished in the first years of the 16 th century. 1 At a much later period, Morone and Girolamo dai Libri undertook the ornament of the organ- shutters in the same church; the latter, composing the nativity with two saints-, the former, four figures of S ls John Evangelist, Benedict, Daniel and Isaiah. How these shutters came to be removed into the parish church of Marcellise is hard to say. It is clear that when the two masters laboured together at these pieces, Morone had enlarged his style ; for his figures are more firm in position, and their drapery is better cast than of old. 2 To confirm the opinion that 1 Verona, Santa Maria in Or- gano. It may be that the form of this decoration was invented for Morone by Fra Giovanni of Ve- rona, who finished the tarsie of the choir in 1499. The frescos are in part restored, especially so in the lights of the white dresses ; and much scaling or abrasion is noticeable in the monochromes and ornament, and in the flesh gene- rally. A portrait, said to be that of Fra Giovanni above a side-door, is either not by Morone, or has been repainted so as to assume a new character; the stalls in the sacristy are assigned by Vasari to this friar. 2 Marcellise near Verona; two canvases with life-size figures of 492 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. these are comparatively late productions, it is enough to cast a glance at the Virgin and child with saints en- graved in these pages, a fresco drawn by Morone on the wall of a house near the Ponte delle Navi at Verona, in 1515. The graceful ease and correct drawing, the mild repose and softness of the personages, and the copious gatherings of drapery, clothing form with pro- priety, indicate a long and careful study of the best masterpieces of Mantegna. 1 As a colourist Morone remains throughout unchanged. The latest dates of his works are those of 1520, on a canvas of the Virgin attended by saints in the Lochis Carrara Gallery at Bergamo; 2 and of 1523, on a fresco with a similar subject outside the lateral portal at San Fermo of Verona; 3 but there are numerous specimens of his skill in various parts of Verona; 4 a charming madonna, the above mentioned saints in couples in landscapes. Above that containing the two prophets, two angels in flight hold a tablet be- tween them. The foregoing was in the printer's hands when the following was communicated to us by the kindness of Signor Gaetano Milanesi: "On the 12 th of Nov., 1515, M s Francesco Morone and M° Girolamo the miniaturist, agree with the abbot of the monastery of Santa Maria in Organo, to paint the doors of the organ; i.e. inside, the nativity and two pro- phets; outside, four large figures; price 60 ducats. They also agree to paint a picture with five figures. The contract is signed by both painters, and appears at length in the MS. "Libro de' Debitori e Cre- ditori del monastero di Santa Ma- ria in Organo di Verona," signed B., including the years 1510 — 1520, now in the Uffizio dell 1 Ispettore del Domanio, p. 119. 1 Verona, Ponte delle Navi. The date is on a tablet hanging in the festoon above the Virgin's head, with an inscription to this effect : " Miseratrix Virginum nostr. miserere. MDXV." The head of S 4 Joseph is damaged, and the fresco is split downwards so as to spoil that figure. Beneath the principal subject is a view of the bridge and people on it. The ori- ginal drawing for this fresco is in the Uffizi under the name of G. Bellini. 2 Bergamo, Lochis-Carrara. Can- vas with life-size half-lengths of the Virgin, child, S ts Joseph, Vin- cent, Anna, and Francis. On the hem of the Virgin's bodice: "Francisc. Moro;" lower down in the right hand corner: "Franciscus Moronus Veros 1520 pinxit." This picture is much injured and black- ened by restoring. 3 Verona, San Fermo. Virgin and child between S ts Elizabeth and James, inscribed: "MDXXIII. Franciscus Moronus p." The fresco is all but gone. 4 Verona, San Zeno, cappella Emilii, panels of S l James and S l John, life-size, the former with a patron, embrowned by time but of Morone's best and fairly pre- MADONNA AND SAINTS ; a fresco near the Fonte delle Navi at Verona, by Francesco Morone. Chap. XVI. GIROLAMO DAI LIBRI. 493 half-length, in the museum of Berlin, 1 and another in the National Gallery. 2 Cotemporary with Morone, but bred by his father, a Veronese miniaturist, of whom no vestige has been pre- served, is Girolamo dai Libri, born in 1474, dead in 1556. 3 The first picture which he exhibited is the depo- sition from the cross, in the church of Malsesine on the served; sometimes falsely assigned to Caroto (but see Vasari, IX. 195). The Christ carrying- his cross, which formed the centre of the altarpiece to which these figures belonged, is no longer in the chapel. Verona Gallery, room IV. No. 85, m. 1-65 h. by 1-0. S l Catherine with a patron in the manner of the canvases at Mar- cellise. Room V. No. 91, from Santa Maria della Vittoria Nuova. The Saviour in glory between the Virgin and evangelist, arched. This picture, assigned to Morone, is probably by Morando. It comes out of a church where frescos exist, of which numerous guide-books assert that they are by Morone. We shall see that these also are by Morando and Michele da Verona. Casa Berna- sconi. Virgin and child, half- length, canvas, oil, in the usual character of F° Morone. Four can- vases in one, originally part of the organ at Santa Chiara of Ve- rona. S l Sebastian and another saint, S l Anthony the Abbot and another; S l Bernardino with a patron, and S l Chiara with two patronesses. The%e pieces seem done in Morone's atelier. In Bra at Verona, full-length Virgin and child enthroned, fresco. By Mo- rone in his early manner. Via San Tommaso, No. 1562. Trinity be- tween S l John the Baptist and S l Anthony, fresco, free and bold by P. Morone. Strada Porta Vescovo, No. 320. Virgin and child between S l Roch and another saint. There are but fragments of this work, but they seem to be by Morone. Piazza San Marco. Here are also dim marks of a fresco of the Virgin, child, and two saints, traditionally ascribed to Morone. Padua, Gall. Comunale. Virgin and child, ori- ginally in the Capo di-Lista collec- tion, inscribed: "Franciscus Mo- ronus f." There are two heads of angels in the upper corner. 1 Berlin Museum, No. 46. The child lies on the arm of the Vir- gin and looks at the spectator. Canvas, If. 6 : y 4 h. by If. 3'/ 2 , in- scribed: "Franciscus M(K)(N)VS p." on the hem of the Virgin's dress. This little piece recalls Montagna. Same gallery, not exhibited, Vir- gin and child between two saints, also in the character of Montagna, injured, inscribed: "Franciscus Moronus f;" canvas, figures three- quarters of life. 2 London, National Gallery, No. 285, wood, 2f. h. by If. 5. Virgin and child, half-length. It has been said (Bernasconi, Studi, 281) that there was an altar- piece by Morone in the cathedral of Trent. This must be a mis- take, the author of the statement having probably taken for a Mo- rone the altarpiece of Verlas (see antea). 3 Vasari says 1472 (IX. 210), Bernasconi (Studi, 289) says 1474, taking the statement from the census of 1492 (Anagrafi), in which Francesco dai Libri aged 40, de- clares his son Girolamo to be aged 18. (Studi, note to 230.) In another census (1529) Girolamo gives his own age as 54 (ib. ib.). 494 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. lake of Garda, executed at the age of 16 for the chapel of the Loschi family in Santa Maria in Organo at Verona. The annexed engraving of it will give an idea of the character of this composition, in which the Saviour reminds us of Signorelli. The grouping is good and the action well intended, but serious drawbacks are to be found in heavy outline and excessive detail, as well as in stiff or conventional attitude, and over-abundant broken drapery. The regular shape and mild aspect of S l Benedict, and the soft character of the Virgin, are exceptional features in a piece conspicuous for the old type and strained movement of the figures; the distant view of Verona in the background is an appropriate illustration of Girolamo's education in the school of a miniaturist, commendable for patient detail but exces- sively minute; the colours are a gay intertress of intense bright tones without unity of general effect, such as a youth might produce who had not learnt to infuse atmosphere into the scenes he endeavours to depict. The flesh is without modulation, of a rosy tinge, with purple frosting to mark the transition of semitone into light grey shadow. 1 Little time elapsed before Girolamo perceived the advantage of a broader style, and, struck by Caroto's art in applying certain rules of the Mantegnesques, fell to imitating that master. He did not carry imitation to any prohibited length, but he used for his faces the flat oval mould with the high forehead and large tearful eye peculiar to Caroto. This we see to a slight extent in the nativity at the museum at Verona, which was done for Santa Maria in Organo, and in the madonna with saints at Sant' Anastasia. In the first, however, he still remains a miniaturist in finish and copious detail; he is not unmindful of the laws of distribution 1 Malsesine, ch. of, canvas, oil, figures life-size, repainted in sky, and indeed in all the blues, re- touched in some heads, especially in that of the Magdalen and the male near her. North Italy. Vol. I. p. 494 CHRIST DEPOSED FROM THE CROSS ; aa altar. . 6a in the Cburcb of Malseaii by Girolamo dai Ltbji. Chap. XVI. GIROLAMO DAI LIBRI. 495 in appropriately setting the Virgin, the Baptist, S 1 Jerom and S l Joseph in adoration round the recumbent and foreshortened figure of the infant Christ. He cleverly adapts the main lines of his landscape to those of his groups, and models the parts with great carefulness of blending and polish of surface, but he wants freshness and light; and the aged air produced by hard promi- nences of bone in the figures is as disagreeable as the dull effect created by neutralizing strong tints by juxta- position, and shading flesh with dull grey. 1 At Sant' Anastasia the subject is the favourite one of this time, the Virgin enthroned between two saints; the treatment bolder and more skilful than before, but the general features the same as of old. 2 A deeper study of the pure Mantegnesque is to be found in the Virgin and child with four saints, a large altarpiece now in the Hamilton Palace near Glasgow, warmly praised by Vasari when at San Leonardo of Verona. 3 Here is the form as well as the spirit of a greater art; and the infant Christ, standing on the Virgin's lap with a carnation in one hand, is reproduced from the models of Mantegna, with due attention to his principles in giving regularity to the human proportions, careful arrangement to the draperies, and a simple flow to the outlines. The landscape itself, of the rocky character peculiar to the great Paduans, is enriched in Girolamo's own manner with a beautiful tree immediately 1 Verona Gallery, room IV. No. 81, canvas, oil, m. 2*18 h. by 152 br. In the foreground two rabbits and the head of a lion. (See engr. in Kosini.) 2 Verona, Sant' Anastasia, can- vas, oil, figures life-size. Virgin and child between S l Augustin with a kneeling penitent and another saint. Looking out at the bottom, two profiles, male and fe- male, of the donors. 3 Hamilton Palace, staircase, canvas with life-size figures — ori- ginally in San Leonardo. (Vas. IX. 210.) Virgin and child enthroned in front of a tree, on the branch of which is a peacock; distance a hilly landscape — at the sides of the throne S l Catherine, S l Leonardo with the manacles, a bishop, and S l Appollonia with the pincers. Three boys kneel and play instru- ments; thin faces, grotesque in ex- pression. Foreground rock. The disharmony of the colours may he in part due to cleaning i 496 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. in rear of the throne ; and distant spurs of hills finished with all the patience of a Fleming. And yet, with all this, the first impression of the picture is marred by the flare of colours and the leaden purple of the flesh. Later again Girolamo dai Libri was the companion of another Veronese, as is clearly apparent at Marcellise, where the nativity of old on the shutters of the organ at Santa Maria in Organo is scarcely to be distinguished from a piece by Francesco Morone. 1 This phase has its illustration in the madonna and saints at the museum of Berlin, 2 and in the Virgin and child between Lorenzo Giustiniani and S l Zeno at San Giorgio of Verona. 3 In the last particularly Girolamo shows that some of his angularities and roughnesses are worn away. His per- sonages are more pleasing, more composed in face, and better draped, and Morone himself is in a fair way to be distanced as a colourist and a landscapist. It is not improbable that before 1526, when the altarpiece of San Giorgio was painted, Girolamo felt the superiority of Morando, whose premature death in 1422 was so great a loss to Verona. The new brightness which he acquires becomes constant, and is accompanied by a modern free- dom of treatment in every branch of practice. He displays this superiority in the conception at San 1 Marcellise, near Verona (ch. of); canvases, life-size, of the Sa- viour on the ground adored by the Virgin and S l Joseph, in a land- scape, with eight angels in the sky, of S l Catherine and S* Mary Magdalen, much damaged. (Vas. IX. 211, and see antea.) 2 Berlin Museum, No. 30, canvas, 6f. 9 h. by 4f. 7'/ 2 , from the Solly collection, but originally in the cappella Buonalini at Santa Maria in Organo. (Del Pozzo, p. 247.) Virgin and child between S l Bar- tholomew and S l Zeno, with thin half-lengths of angels playing and singing at the foot of the throne. This picture is injured but is al- most to be confounded with a work of F. Morone. The angels are repeated in the following picture at San Giorgio. 3 Verona, San Giorgio. Canvas, oil, figures life-size, inscribed : " XXVI. Men. Mar. XXVIIII. Hie- ronimus a Libris pinxit." Virgin and child on a throne in front of a lemon- tree. The child presents a girdle to Lorenzo. Below, three angels in half-length, distance landscape. Lunette with the Eter- nal and cherubim repainted. The child is paltry and angular in shape, the Virgin's blue mantle is retouched. Chap. XVI. GIROLAMO DAI LIBRI. 497 Paolo of Verona, where S l Anne almost reminds us of the types familiar to Morando ; and the Virgin, S* Joseph or S l Joachim are presented in dignified and natural instant action with a soft composed air ; and in draperies of unusually simple cast. A broad landscape of pictu- resque lines adds to the interest of the scene, and harmony of tone is as nearly attained as can be expected from Girolamo's known habits as a colourist. 1 A little below this example is that of the National Gallery in- London, where the liveliness of contrasted tints and the grey of the flesh almost deserve to be qualified as raw. 2 Other specimens of the same period are the Virgin and child belonging to Dr. Bernasconi, and the predella of Bonsignori's altarpiece at San Biagio, dating from 1527. 3 The culminating point in Girolamo is reached with the madonna and saints finished in 1530 for the church of the Vittoria Nuova, and the Virgin in glory with S l Andrew and S l Peter for Sant 1 Andrea, both in the museum of Verona. In these altarpieces he attains his greatest breadth of hand, his fullest freedom of touch and of drawing, his utmost power of light and shade, and an attractive richness of tone. 4 Beginning as a minia- 1 Verona, San Paolo. Canvas, oil, figures of life-size, arched; at the foot of a lemon-tree S l Anne with the Virgin and child in front, the child presenting a branch with fruit to S l Joachim on the right; on the left S l Joseph ; distance landscape; at the edge of the picture a male and female donor in profile, the dress of the latter a little scaled. 2 London, National Gallery, from Santa Maria della Scala at Verona, No. 748, canvas, 5f. 2 by 3f. 1. Virgin and child on the lap of S l Anne under a lemon-tree, and three angels playing instruments. This picture is treated very much in Morone's manner. (Vas. IX. 210.) 3 Verona, Dr. Bernasconi, for- merly belonging to Signor Pietro VOL. I. Tortima at Lonigo. Virgin and child on a marble seat in a land- scape, figures half life-size. The figures are a little short and small. In the same style: Verona Gallery, room IV. No. 80, canvas, m. 1*85 h. by 1'45. Virgin and child between S ts Se- bastian and Roch. This is much in the manner of F. Morone, but not very pleasing. No. 84. Bapt- ism of Christ, canvas, m. P85 h. by 1-42, feeble. Verona, San Biagio, in San Nazaro e Celso. Predella with a scene from S l Biagio\s life, the martyrdom of S l Sebastian and the decapitation of S l Juliana. (See "Di San Biagio &»" p. 63.) The compositions are good. 4 Verona Museum, room V. No. 32 498 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. turist, emulating in succession the Mantegnesque of Caroto and Morone, and the modern Veronese of Morando, he ascends to a high place amongst the professors of painting in the north; and throughout his long career he never incurs the reproach of being a plagiarist or a servile copyist. 1 It was Vasari's opinion that Paolo Morando, had he lived, would have acquired great celebrity. 2 He is little known at the present day outside of Verona, and has received but curt notice from historians; and yet he was one of the best masters in the school of Verona, until Paolo Veronese became famous. He was born in 1486, and is correctly described as the companion or assistant of Francesco Morone, when Francesco was the partner of his father. 3 The canvases and frescos which he finished in considerable numbers at a very early age were all more or less distinctly impressed with the teaching of the Moroni; they occasionally recall Caroto when he was Mantegnesque, and they remind us of 94, from Santa Maria della Vitto- ria Nuova, canvas, m. 3*38 h. by 1*80, incribed: "De precatione vestra audivi & a . . . Hieronibus a libris Veronesis pixit MDXXX." No. 92, from Sant 1 Andrea, arched canvas, m. 3'10 h. by T75. Dis- tance a landscape on which is the baptism of Christ. 1 Mezzane, ch. of. Marriage of S l Catherine and S l Paul, with portraits below of the donor, his wife, and two' children (of the Della Torre family); panel, figures a little under life-size. This piece is much injured and hence a dif- ficulty in justifying- the name of Girolamo dai Libri, to whom it is assigned. Quinto, ch. of San Gio. Batt.; Virgin and child between the Baptist and Evangelist, inscr. : "Don. Vicen. Facius hujus sacelli rector hac icona" aere suo labora- tum dicavit. 1526." This panel is given to Jacopo Bellini, and has an air of Girolamo dai Libri, but is much damaged by scaling and repainting. We know nothing ofGirolamo's miniatures; but there is a funeral of the madonna, a small panel be- longing to Mr. Layard in London (canvas, oil), assigned to Car- paccio, which seems done in the miniature style by some Veronese of his stamp, if not by Girolamo himself. Of Girolamo'' s relations, who were painters, there are only written notices. See Bernasconi, Studi for Calisto dai Libri & a . 2 Vasari, IX. 201. 3 He was the son of Thaddeus Cavazzola, the son of Jacopo de Morando. He was registered by his father in the municipal census of 1514, being then aged 28. (Ber- nasconi, Studi, u. s. 274.) He was registered in the brotherhood of Santa Libera at Verona in 1517. (Ib. ib. 402, 3.) He died in 1522. Chap. XVI. MORANDO. 499 Girolamo dai Libri in the richness of their landscapes. But Morando, or as he is more usually called, Cavazzola, had an unmistakeable individuality which gives him a distinct stamp. He may claim, and justly claim, to have infused new life and health into the Veronese school, especially by a novel 'system of colouring. That he was a disciple of the Moroni, is proved almost con- clusively by the frescos of the library at San Bernardino of Verona, where he was probably employed by Domenico with Michele da Verona. 1 His fresco of the sybil pro- phesying to Augustus on a house in the via del Paradiso is described by Vasari as a youthful effort. It has been reduced by time to a mere stain; a Virgin and child once in the collection of Dr. Bernasconi is said to have been done on the verge of manhood, that also is not traceable. 2 The annunciation and two saints of 1510 in San Nazaro e Celso, are therefore the oldest of his frescos with which we can become acquainted. 3 In these we may equally commend the proper distribution of space, the subordination of the figures to the laws of perspective, the regular proportions and contours, and a certain decorous calm in attitudes and actions well suited to a religious subject. They are creations on the models of Francesco Morone, better draped, of greater 1 Antea. 2 Verona, Via del Paradiso. In the absence of the fresco see a line engraving of it in "Di Paolo Morando," & a folio, Verona, 1853, plate VII. The text of this work is by Aleardo Aleardi, the plates by Lorenzo Muttoni. The Virgin and child is engraved in the same work, Plate I. The Virgin (half-length) gives an apple to the infant Christ, who holds a carnation in his left hand* A car- pet behind intercepts a landscape of hills, inscribed: " Morandns 1 'aulas f. Taddei. 3 Verona, San Nazaro e Celso, cappella San Biagio, engraved in Aleardi, PI. XII. The saints at the sides are S ts Biagio and Bene- dict. The fresco was paid 9 gold ducats. (Aleardi.) We mention it first, not having seen the Virgin and child, half-length (Aleardi PL III.), in possession of Conte I Ian dino da Lischa, inscribed: "AD. MCCCCC Villi. Paulo Morando F." Unseen by the authors likewise are the Virgin and child between S l John the Baptist, and S l Bi ne diet in the eh. of Calavena. (Ale- ardi, PI. IV a .) In the pendentives of the ceiling of the chape] of San Biagio, the four evangelists are by Morando. 32* 500 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. breadth and more pleasing air than his ; yet still without selection in form, and coarse especially in the extremi- ties and articulations. A robust and handsome peasant- girl may create an impression of health and youth, and yet be ill-suited to represent the mother of Christ; the rawness and sharpness of Veronese colour in Morando 7 s cotemporaries extends here to Morando himself, and his treatment falls short 'of perfection by lack of rounding in the light bricky flesh tint and its cold grey shadow. Mainardi in the Florentine school, Tamagni in the Um- brian, hold the same position in comparison with the first-rates of Italian art as Morando occupies here. In a chapel contiguous to that of San Biagio, he painted a large fresco of the baptism of Christ, in which his manner exhibits much the same aspect as that of the annunciation. There is something Umbrian in a group of spectators to the left of the evangelist, most of them wearing cylinder hats, exceedingly like those of the present day; a company of angels on the banks of the stream stands in soft attitudes of wonder and sympathy. It may be objected that the conception and execution are cold, monotonous and conventional ; the Eternal in the sky with a triangular nimbus is a revival of an old and disagreeable type; but the landscape is very charming and sunny, and improves upon those of Girolamo dai Libri. The evangelists in the ceiling, by the same hand, have much the air of those by Francesco Morone ; 1 and in this respect are but counterparts of others done at this period in Santa Maria della Vittoria Nuova. 2 But the influence of Morone on his younger companion is still clearer in a series of panels once 1 Verona, San Nazaro e Celso. (Aleardi, VI a , YI d and XXVII.) 1 Verona, Santa Maria della Vit- toria Nuova. Much injured frescos, in part retouched, and the blues scratched off. We believe that Morando painted the Saviour in glory between the Virgin and evangelist, once in this ch. and now No. 91 in the Verona Museum, under the name of Morone. It is quite in the character of the "Lavanda dei Piedi," once in San Bernardino, and of which we shall now treat. Chap. XVI. MORANDO. 501 forming part of Francesco's crucifixion in the cappella della Croce at San Bernardino, and a Christ washing the feet of the apostles at the museum of Verona. In VasarPs time the "Lavanda dei Piedi," as it was called, was attributed to Morone, and yet it has the marked stamp exemplified in Morando's frescos at San Nazaro e Celso, though timid and careful in treatment and cold in the juxta-position of sharp bright tints. 1 The can- vases of San Bernardino, now hanging together at the museum, are nine in number; four are half-lengths of saints of a very decided portrait character, 2 five are subjects from Christ's Passion; the best is the deposi- tion from the cross, dated 1517, a well -arranged scene of passionate grieving. 3 Almost as good is the Christ carrying his cross accompanied by Simon and the executioner; 4 the Saviour crowned with thorns is a free and even grand composition; 5 the sermon on the mount less attractive from the prevalence of old types resembling those of Girolamo dai Libri, 6 the flagella- tion excessively raw in tone. 7 Throughout the series Morando's power as a com- 1 Verona Museum, room VI. No. 106, m. 2-85 h. by 2-20. (Aleardi, PI. VIII.) A disciple kneeling with two water-vessels in his hand, in the right foreground, is described by Vasari (IX. 195) as F. Morone' s likeness. The colour is thin, purply, and done at one painting with little or no glazing. 2 Verona Museum, room IV. No. 101, panel, m. 0'60 h. by 0*46. S l Joseph (half-length, Aleardi, pi. XIV a ) really a portrait (Vasari, p. 200), which we find repeated in a S l Eleazar, part of the Virgin in glory, dated 1522, No. 93, room V. in the museum. Same room, No. 102, Baptist. This is the model of Morando's Christs. No. 103. S l Buonaventura, also a portrait (Vas. 200), used for the S l Louis j in the altarpiece of 1522. Same room, No. 104. Bernardino da Feltre, profile, also a portrait. (Vasari, IX. 200, and Aleardi, Plate XIII B.) 3 Verona Museum, room VI. No. 108, m. 2-35 h. by P55, inscr.: "Paulus M. p. MDXVII." Aleardi, PL XIX. 1 Verona Museum, room VI. No. 109, m. 2-33 h. by P07, inscr.: "Paulus V. p." "(Aleardi, Plate XIV.) 5 Verona Museum, room V. No. 96. m. 1*75 h. by 1*10. (Aleardi, PI. XVII.) fi Verona Museum, room VI. No. 107, m. 2-33 h. by P07. Aleardi, Plate XIII., inscribed: "Paulus Morandus." 7 Verona Museum, room V. No. 95, m. 1-75 h. by 1*10, inscribed : "Paulus p." Aleardi, PI. XVIII. 502 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. poser is considerable; he frequently achieves success in chastened form and well-sought movement; his land- scapes are simple and spacious, but he also has defects that cannot be unobserved. Models if not vulgar are still nothing more than models; and Morando, in group- ing two or three of these into a picture invariably reminds us of the academy; he sets these figures in motion, and with realistic skill copies what he sees ; but the models are not under any impulse of their own will, their muscles have not the tension of instant action, their faces do not express the thought of a moment ; and* Morando for this reason produces something akin to the modern "tableau vivant." His men are short and unselect, and by no means clean and lithe in limb or joint; his masks are often repeated, the same being used for the Saviour, the Baptist, or S l Roch; his drapery, though broad and ample, is gathered into mul- tiplied folds like Caroto's, and would be disagreeable but for the delicacy with which it is occasionally treated and coloured. In the Saviour carrying his cross, the cold and snake-like brightness peculiar to the Veronese is combined with an undeniable richness ; the vehicle by some means giving extraordinary polish to the surface; flesh of a broad and warm rosy mass in light is fused into greenish grey with a purple semitone, which balances tints of opposite effect in the scale of harmony. Strong as these shades are in themselves, they are deadened by still stronger ones, which being more glaring and sharply set in threes against each other act as counterpoise and give them brilliancy and transpar- ence. Thus scarlet and emerald green are united in the half- tints and reflections by a complementary colour of equal force, blue skies of the purest ultramarine serving as foils to the dresses and foregrounds. The pictures usually are full of light, relieved on a pure and limpid horizon, with masses of chiaroscuro both spacious and well modelled, and a correct use of linear and aerial perspec- tive. It was no common gift in Morando that he should Chap. XIV. MORANDO. 503 produce finish by such subtle methods. It is no common honour to him that he should have first illustrated the principles on which the art of Caliari is founded. Of his great power in this respect Ave have an excellent example in the S l Eoch of our National Gallery, a masterpiece clever in movement, excellent in propor- tion, rich in tone, and most effective in chiaroscuro. 1 Specimens of almost equal value might be cited at Verona, such as the incredulity of S* Thomas, once at Santa Chiara, 2 the adoration of S l Paul in the sacristy of Sant' Anastasia, 3 where the figures are unusually free from the fault of shortness and vulgarity; the Virgin and child with the young Baptist, and an angel belonging to Conte Lodovico Portalupi; 4 the same subject in a grander form in the National Gallery, recalling the madonnas of Raphael, 5 and the frescos at Santa Maria in Organo. 6 In the madonna of the National Gallery particularly Morando rises above the ordinary level in conception and arrangement, whilst keeping to his usual style in the execution. It may be that at this time, i.e. 1 London, National Gallery, No, 735, canvas, 5f. l 3 / 4 h. by If. 9 1 /,, inscribed: "Paulus Moradus V. P." The date: "MDXVIIII" is in part obliterated ; — formerly in Santa Maria della Scala at Verona (Ale- ardi, PI. XX.), then in the Caldana and Bernasconi collections. 2 Verona Museum, room VI. No. 105, m. 1-40 h. by 1'63. In the distance the descent of the Holy Spirit and the ascension. (Aleardi, PI. XVI.) In the same style S l Michael, S l Paul, S l Peter, and the Baptist, N os 99 and 100, half- lengths. (Aleardi, Plate IX and IX C .) 3 Verona, Sant 1 Anastasia, sa- cristy. 8* Paul in a ruin, between S l Denis and S l Mary Magdalen, who recommend the kneeling males and females of a religious order. Canvas, figures all but life-size. (Aleardi, PI. XL) 4 Verona, Conte Portalupi. Can- vas, knee-piece, inscribed on a laurel-tree in upper corner to right : "Paulus V. p." 5 National Gallery, No. 777, for- merly at Verona, Casa Bernasconi. Canvas, knee-piece, inscribed on pilaster to the right: "Paulus Morandus V. p." (Aleardi, Plate XXV.) In the Bernasconi collection a lunette, canvas, of somewhat care- less execution, representing the de- position from the cross, with some Raphaelesque character, reminis- cent of Francia and Costa. 6 Verona, Santa Maria in Or- gano. Frescos, life-size of S l Michael and the angel and Tobias, much injured by damp, but origi- nally well coloured; the angel Raphael especially damaged. (Ale- ardi, PI. XV.) 504 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. about 1520, he had seen and studied engravings of Raphael. 1 His latest altarpiece, the Virgin in glory with saints, dated 1522, in the museum of Verona, is the finest production of -this school in the first quarter of the 16 th century, being composed and executed on the great maxims of the Raphaelesques, 2 and it may be said of Morando at last that he held the same position in his native place as Garofalo and Mazzuola at Ferrara, Gau- denzio Ferrari in Lombardy, and Giulio Romano at Mantua. To close this chapter on Veronese painting we must revert for awhile to an earlier period than that of Morone, Morando, or Girolamo dai Libri. There are Veronese artists who deserve to be chronicled, although Verona preserves but a few of their works. Girolamo Mocetto, best known by his copper-plates, is one of these. He was journeyman to Giovanni Bellini, 3 and perhaps to one of the Vivarini; there is something of Bartolommeo Vivarini's character in the short square stature of the saints in his glass windows at San Giovanni e Paolo of Venice; 4 but in pictures such as 1 Verona, Sant 1 Eufemia, on the outside of a chapel. (No. 516, Via Sant 1 Eufemia.) An angel and Tobias taking 1 the fish. (Aleardi, PI. XXII.) Fresco, inscribed: "So- cietas Angeli Eafaeli fieri fecit. MVXX." This fresco is but a stain. 2 Verona Museum, room V. No. 93, from San Bernardino. Virgin and child in heaven amidst angels and virtues, and adored by S l Francis and S l Anthony. Below, S ts Elizabeth, Buonaventura, Louis, Ivo, Louis of Toulouse, and Ele- azar; m. 4*40 h. by 2'67. At bottom a profile of the Countess Catherine de 1 Sacchi; in the right hand corner the date of 1522. (Aleardi, PI. XXVI.) The best part of this picture is the lower, the upper having been finished in the atelier and recalling to mind the works of Bagnacavallo. There is less light than usual in this fine and freely handled picture. In the same style is a fresco, half-length of San Bernardino (Ale- ardi, PI. XXIII) in San Bernar- dino, above the door of the court. Not seen: Verona, collection of Dr. Giuseppe Bresciani, John the Baptist in the wilderness. (Ale- ardi, Plate II.) A pupil of Cavazzola may >be noticed, by whom a Virgin and child, in possession of Dr. Ber- nasconi, bears the inscription: "AD. Vendri 1512." His style is that of Morando in miniature. 3 Vasari (V. 12) says, Mocetto was considered the author of a dead Christ, signed with Bellini's name, in San Francesco della Vigna at Venice; and supposed to have painted it as journeyman to Bellini. 4 Venice, San Giovanni e Paolo, see antea. Chap. XVI. MOCETTO. 505 the Virgin and child with saints in the chapel of San Biagio at Verona, the madonna in the gallery of Vicenza, and the portrait in the Modena Museum, his style, whilst keeping its own stamp, varies according as it is altered by the examples of the Bellinesques and Antonello. His figures are always short and broad, his drapery is cut into angles, and sometimes crushed to a multiplicity of folds. In San Nazaro he displays some of the garishness of the Veronese 5' at Vicenza he is careful in drawing, and shows a nice sense of pro- portion and a good deal of blending in rich flat tones; 2 at Modena he has some of the brightness and taste which distinguishes the Venetians of the 15 1h century, and recalls Cima. 3 Two dates give us the measure of the time during which he laboured, that of 1490 on his print of 1 Verona, San Biagio. Wood, oil, figures half life-size. Virgin ;uid child between S l Biagio and S l Giuliana, in a pediment a Bel- linesque head of the Saviour, a bust monochrome between two escutcheons, of old inscribed: "Hiers Moceto faeiebat." The child is plump and Bellinesque, S l Giuliana not without smorphia. The flesh tints are ill relieved by grey shadow and without semi- tone. This and the sharp con- trasts of the dresses may be due to the bad condition of the work from cleaning and restoring. On close inspection one sees how the signature has been changed, and "faeiebat 11 altered into "fecit." The date of 1493 on the fresco beneath the picture was taken by Lanzi for that of the picture itself. (Lanzi, II. 107.) 2 Vicenza Gall. Wood, all but life-size. The Virgin holds the child erect on her knee, in front of a green hanging. In the left hand corner we read: "Hieronimo Moceto p. 1 ' The drapery here is better than at Verona; the art a cross between Bellini and An- tonello; the hands are small and I slender, the features generally small, and the heads of a round oval, with a high forehead. Light and shade are fairly defined. 3 Modena Gallery, No. 467. Wood, m. 0-26 h. by 0'21, origi- nally at Cataio, bust of a chubby- faced man with long hair falling from a black cap, in a red vest and green coat, ground blue, signed: "Hiers. Moceto p." There is a small panel in the Galleria del Comune at Padua, re- presenting S l Catherine, full-length in a landscape. Here Ave have Mocetto's mixture of the Veronese style and the Bellinesque of Cima. Again at Santa Maria in Organo of Verona, there is a full-length Virgin and child between S ts Ca- therine and Stephen, assigned by Maffei (Veron. Illustr.) to Caroto, by others to Girolamo dai Libri (Kossi, Guida, 244). This also is a picture with Mocetto's mixture of the Bellinesque and Veronese. He also might claim to be the author of the frescos on the house No. 1800 at San Tommaso, Ponte Acqua Morta in Verona, though he divides the claim with Caroto. See antea. 506 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. the calumny of Apelles, that of 1514 in the Latin history of Nola, in which he engraved four plans and views of Venice. 1 We have said that Michele da Verona was perhaps a partner of Cavazzola in the decorations of San Bernar- dino at Verona. The proofs of his existence are in canvases and frescos bearing his name ; one of which is a vast crucifixion with the ciphers of 1500 once in the refectory of San Giorgio at Verona, but now above the portal inside San Stefano of Milan. Previous to the completion of this picture, he doubtless composed the fresco of the Virgin and evangelist with angels above the first altar to the left in Sant ? Anastasia of Verona, a piece in which the personages have the rude shape and slenderness of those by Girolamo Benaglio. 2 He soon exchanged this manner for another, as we see at Milan, where the crucifixion is a copy in many respects of Jacopo Bellini, without skill in arrange- ment or in drawing, but not unsuccessful in a distance representing the city of Verona. 3 The same subject is almost literally repeated on a vast canvas done for Santa Maria inVanzo of Padua in 1505; 4 but the background, 1 Dagincourt engraves a mas- sacre of the innocents by Mo- cetto (PI. CLXII.) This and a companion piece are in Paris. (See Gazette des Beaux Arts, anno 1859, for an article on Mocetto by Mr. E. Galichon; see also Cicog- nara and Zanetti.) 2 Verona, Sant' Anastasia. The figures are placed about a carved crucifix of wood; some of the angels raising a curtain supposed to hang over the crucifix. The Virgin and evangelist are almost obliterated. The colours are dull, the outlines coarse, recalling those of the Siennese Benvenuto and Girolamo di Benvenuto. 3 Milan, San Stefano, canvas, m. 2-23 h. by 7.34. The scene is depicted as if visible through the pilasters of a ruined arch, on the plinths of which one reads : "MCCCCC die II. Junii, per me Michaellem Veronensem." This piece is almost entirely repainted,' the figures are paltry and lean, draped in over-abundant dress. Es- pecially like Jacopo 1 s figures in the crucifixion of Verona are the Christ and the thieves, a soldier with his arms outstretched in front of the central cross, and the fainting Virgin with the Marys. The vestments are all of bright tints. 4 Padua, Santa Maria in Vanzo, canvas, figures of life-size, almost all repainted, but inscribed: "Die XXVIII Martii MCCCCCV. op. Michaelis Von. 1 ' Chap. XVI. MICHELE. 507 in which a view of Sant' Antonio is preserved, is evidence of the presence of Michele at Padua; it is not unlikely therefore that he had some share in the series which adorns the school of the Santo. 1 In 1509 he was again residing at Verona, having finished at that time the Eternal with angels and prophets and the four evan- gelists in the church of Santa Chiara. 2 A great improve- ment now manifests itself in his mode of treating sub- jects and figures 5 he distributes space with more effect, draws holy personages with more nature and in better proportions, and comes near Morone and Cavazzola in freedom of hand as well as in a gay transparence of tints. Of this transformation there are specimens in the chapel of the Vittoria Nuova, 3 and in Sant Anastasia at Verona, 4 as well as in a country church at Selare. 5 The final expression of his powers is to be found in an altarpiece of 1523, a canvas of the madonna enthroned between four saints in the church of Villa di Villa near Este, where he displays a not unpleasant mixture of Morone, Cima, and Buonconsiglio. 6 ' Padua, Scuola del Santo. S l Anthony appears to the beato Luca Belludi. Cold composition, with long, lean, paltry figures of ill-favoured appearance. But even Filippo da Verona might have done this. 2 Verona, Santa Chiara. Christ in the semidome of the altar is like that of Francesco Morone in Santa Maria in Organo, sacristy. In the spandrils, two prophets; in the niches of the pilasters, the four evangelists; and above the cornice, the Eternal between two angels, inscr. : "Hie fecit Michaele (!) die iii Augum MDCCCCCVnii:' The freshness of the work is gone, the surface having been rescued from whitewash. 3 Verona, Santa Maria della Vittoria Nuova. Lunette fresco, with life-size figures of the Eter- nal in an almond-shaped glory between six angels playing instru- ments; above, four angels sound- ing trumpets, and one with a scroll. This fresco is also injured by time and restoring, but seems of the same date as that of Santa Chiara. 4 Verona, Sant 1 Anastasia, fourth altar to the left, lunette with the descent of the Holy Spirit assigned by different writers to Liberale, to Girolamo dai Libri, Morone, and Michele. 5 Selare (church of). Eternal, angels, four evangelists, S l Zeno, S l Bovo and a kneeling patron, with inscriptions, one of them mutilated, the other to this effect: "Zuan e Felipo e fradali di Vlati a fato far questa opa, p vodo e devotio adi 8 Octobrio lbH."" These frescos are given to Girolamo dai Libri, but, so far as one can judge from the remains, are by Michele. 6 Villa di Villa. Virgin and. 508 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. Still lower in the scale of Veronese art, an imitator of Cima, of the stamp of Pasqualino, is Filippo da Verona, whose panels and wall-paintings are to be seen at Turin/ Bergamo, 2 Padua, 3 and Fabriano. 4 Vasari relates of Francesco Torbido that he went as a youth to Venice to study under Giorgione. Having quarrelled and come to blows with some adversary there, he withdrew to Verona and gave up his profession alto- gether for a time; but being soon after inclined to resume the pencil, he did so under the counsel of Libe- rale, who loved him and made him his heir. 5 Any one who sees Torbido's frescos will say that he was a Vero- nese, but not unmistakeably a pupil of Liberale. He is not free from the restlessness of Giolfino, and as a child with an angel playing the viol at the foot of the throne, between S ts John the Baptist, Andrew, Lawrence and Peter, can- vas, figures lifie-size, inscribed: "MDXXIII die p. Augusti Michael Veronensis pinxit. 11 The blues are abraded in the sky, and in the Virgin's mantle. The Virgin and child remind us of Morone, but the group recalls Bellini and Cima. The colour is dull, mo- notone, and grey in shadow. The tone generally is of a low olive like that of early Girolamos, or Montagnana, or even Carpaccio. It is in consideration of this that we have named Michele da Ve- rona in connection with a dead Saviour under Mantegna's name in the Casa G. B. Canonici at Ferrara. See antea in Carpaccio. 1 Turin, Academy delle Belle Arti. Virgin and child with a saint in prayer, half-lengths, in- scribed on a cartello: "Philipus Veronesis p.' 1 The figures are poor and dry in form and out- line, and raw in tone. 2 Bergamo, Lochis Carrara. Re- plica of the foregoing, inscribed: "Phillipus V~onensis p." 3 Padua, Santo. Virgin and child and S' Felix presenting a friar; at the opposite side S l Cathe- rine dated: U MCCCCCVIIII; ,, fresco injured by restoring, figures as above. Same church, first pilaster to the right of high portal, an- nunciation and two friars holding the name of Christ between the Virgin and angel; this fresco is altogether repainted. Same edifice, third cloister, life-size figures of S l Anthony and the marriage of S l Catherine; a better and broader fresco in treatment than the fore- going, light brick in flesh-tint, and recalling the works of follow- ers of Carpaccio. Padua, Eremitani. To the left of high portal, two angels at the side of a glory of the Virgin (by an older hand), and below, two female mar- tyrs with three angels playing instruments dated "MUXI." This is also by Filippo. 4 Fabriano, San Niccohb. Porch leading to the sacristy, wood, figures life-size, Virgin and child between S ts Peter and Nicholas of Bari, inscr. : "Opus Philippi Ve- ronen anno salutis 1514." 5 Vas. IX. 180 and fol. Chap. XVI. TORBIDO. 509 colourist lie takes after Mo-rone and Girolamo clai Libri, but we discern the habits of the Venetian in the method of turning half-tones into deep shade, after the fashion known as Giorgionesque. He imitated various painters without being able to conceal his individuality, and throughout his career he seems to fill the part of a man who assumes a dress to which he is not entitled, and who thus deceives the casual spectator. When he is most originally Veronese he is but a second-rate; when he imitates the Venetians he rivals Pomponio Amalteo, or other disciples of Pordenone, or reminds us of Cariani; when at last he works on the cartoons of Giulio Romano, he is Raphaelesque. In all cases he has an impetuous style related to that of Liberale and Giolfino, but he poorly conceals under this impetuosity a consider- able share of shallowness. It is but natural that the fate of such a man's pictures should be to pass under other names than his own, and this we find is especially the case with Torbido's easel-pieces or portraits, or rather with such as may on close examination be assigned to Torbido. There is, for instance, a woman taken in adultery at the Hermitage in S l Petersburg, of which we at once see that it is Veronese. The adulteress stands before the accuser, and in front of Christ; two spectators looking on from behind. Nothing can be more marked than the types of the Saviour, of the accuser, and the spectator to the right. The latter has the dry and prominent features characteristic of the Man- tegnesque; the accuser is in the mould of those by Girolamo dai Libri, but the adulteress recalls Giorgione and Palma ; and the man looking over Christ's shoulder is Gior- gionesque altogether. The treatment scents of Morone and Girolamo dai Libri; it is careful, spare, unbroken, but Venetian also in this ; lights are brought down to the texture and glow of half-shade, and there are no half-tints in the picture. 1 These tricks reveal an imitator 1 S l Petersburg, Hermitage, No. j Marcone according to Dr. Waagen, 12, 2f. 8'/ 4 h. by 2f. 3. (Rocco | Hermitage, u. s. p. 30.) 510 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. of the Venetians ; but the tone, instead of being bright- ened and cleared, is darkened to a dull opacity by glazing, betraying the use of a dirty palet; and here we see that Torbido is a stranger to the rules by which Giorgionesque depth was united to richness, and strives to attain effects without knowing the means by which alone they are attainable. In the same style, and with a forged name of Giorgione, are a laurel-crowned flute- player in the gallery of Padua, with a Veronese land- scape distance, 1 and a portrait of free handling belonging to the Earl of Warwick. 2 In Munich, where we have Torbido's name with the date of 1516, the flesh is less sombre than in the above examples, but the treatment is still monotonous in tone, empty, feeble in modelling and ineffective in relief, and fails to produce the clearer glow of the Giorgionesques. 3 This is the case again in a flute-player and two listeners, called Pordenone in the Casa Maldura at Padua, where we should waver between Torbido and Cariani, were it not for the recol- lection of the Munich portrait. 4 At a later period Torbido assumed rather the manner of Titian than that 1 Padua Gallery, canvas, bust, life-size; on a wall to the left the words; "Zorzon 49." This pic- ture was in the bishop's palace at Padua. 2 Earl of Warwick. Canvas, half-length, exhibited without a name at the Dublin International Exhibition, represents a man with his right hand on a book on a stone table, his left on the hilt of his sword. He is dressed in yel- low silk, and wears a black cap and long hair. His expression is grinning, his features dry and bony; distance, a landscape with various accessories, a quail and a toad. 3 Munich, Pinac. saal No. 584, canvas, If. 11 h. by If. 7 br. inscr.: "Quod stupeas & a . . . Fracus Turbibus pinxit MCCCCCXVI," bust on a brown ground; flayed I and slightly glazed up by a re- | storer. 4 Padua, Casa Maldura, No. 81, canvas, oil. The man in front holds a flute in his left hand; to the left a spectator in armour, in head like that to the left of the Christ in the woman in adultery at S l Petersburg; to the right a man in a hat with the type of a mulatto; query, Torbido himself, who goes by the name of il Moro; busts, on dark ground, injured and repainted. There is a canvas of the woman taken in adultery at Padua, in the Casa Conte Gio- vanni Citadella, with no less than eighteen figures. The surface is injured by repainting, but the pic- ture might be by Rocco Marcone, or Campi of Cremona, as well as by Torbido. Chap. XVI. TORBIDO. 511 of Giorgione or Palma, especially in his likeness of a grey-bearded man in a fur coat at the museum of Naples ; 1 but in this phase also he puts all in half-tone with slight substance of colour ; and leaves an impres- sion of dullness on the eye. Judging of Torbido from the various specimens that have been described, we may assign to him the portrait known at the Uffizi as " General Gattamelata with his Esquire/' a half-length in armour with his right hand on a double-handed sword, and a helmet and mace on a balcony before him. 2 It is needless to point out that the catalogue is wide of the mark in placing this piece under Giorgione's name; it has the double character of Venetian art engrafted on the Veronese; the flesh tint is raw and dusky, laid in at one painting with rusty dark shadows, to relieve the monotony of which a red touch here and there is given in half-tone and reflections, the surface dirty and without light. This is the unmis- takeable work of Torbido, illustrated by his strong and not unmannered outline, effective enough in chiaroscuro, but sharp in contrasts of tints, regular in proportions, and in this resembling Bonsignori, but wanting "the power and modulation of the Venetians. Conspicuous in pictures and frescos at Verona, is the regularity of proportion already noticed at Florence. In a Virgin and saints at San Zeno, the figures are drawn with freedom and boldness of foreshortening, but in the restless method of Liberale and Giolfino ; their colour spare and inharmonious. 3 In the nativity, presentation and 1 Naples Museum, No. 221, can- I child, S ts Sebastian, Christopher, vas, oil, life-size, half-length of a and other saints, male and female, man near a parapet with a letter, Canvas, life-size. The resurrection standing 1 . On the wall the words : j and two prophets are above this, "Franc s Turbidus detto el Moro V. and the virtues with their sym- faciebat." As regards merit this por- bols, the latter too high to warrant trait is equal to one by P. Amalteo. an opinion as to whether they 2 Florence, Uffizi, No. 571, can- are by Torbido or not. vas, half-lengths, life-size, green In Sant' Eufemia the assump- ground. tion of S l Barbara is assigned to 3 Verona, San Zeno, first altar Torbido, but it seems the work to the right of portal. Virgin, | of an assistant. 512 THE VERONESE. Chap. XVI. assumption of the Virgin, frescos done by Torbido in 1534 in the choir of the Verona cathedral, the drawings of Giulio Romano are used with an energetic ease-, 1 and in the same way as he takes the cartoons of Giulio at Verona he assists Romanino at Trent; that is, we may believe to be his the figure of a man with snakes, a female with a child, an old woman, in niches on the great staircase of the castello. 2 That Torbido was in Friuli about 1535, we know from his frescos in the choir of the church of Rozaso, where he painted S ,s Peter and Paul, the symbols of the evangelists, the Virgin and child, the transfiguration, Peter walking on the water to meet Christ, and the call of James and Andrew to the apostleship. He had evidently taken a fancy for the Raphaelesque from its success the year before at Verona, for here again he is altogether in the character of Giulio Romano. 3 We have proof that he was still alive during 1546, in a letter of Pietro Aretino. 4 1 Verona, Duomo, inscr. : "Tor- bidof 1534." See Vas. IX. 181. 2 Trent, castello. The bases of the niches are whitewashed; the lunettes are by Romanino. 3 Rosazo. These frescos are almost ruined by repainting, as is likewise the transfiguration, pro- bably by Torbido, in a neighbour- I ing refectory. On a cartello in the transfiguration of the choir we read : " Franc Turbidus faciebat MDXXXV." 4 Aretino, Lettere III. p. 308, and Temenza, Life of Sansovino, p. 31. Torbido was also an en- graver. For his long list of works see Passavant's Peintre Graveur. Chap. XVII. GALASSO. 513 CHAPTER XVII. THE FERRARESE. Ferrara, the seat of a ducal court, was well attended by painters during the whole of the 15 th and 16 th centuries. The dukes were very strongly possessed with the fancy for building and decorating palaces; and they required a host of craftsmen to carry out the plans suggested by their fondness for display. Schifanoia, Belfiore, Belri- guardo, the Castel Nuovo, Migliaro— town and country residences of the reigning family — were to the full as costly to the Estes as Mantua, Goito, Cavriana, Mar- mirolo, San Sebastian and the Te to the Gonzagas. But Ferrara was not the cradle of a school until the dukes had called to their service Pisano and Piero della Fran- cesca. What Pisano may have done to favour the pro- gress of art appears to be infinitesimal; Francesca's influence was more lasting, and taken in conjunction with that of Mantegna, which was not the less felt though it was more distant, continued for upwards of half a century. The Ferrarese are very like the Veronese in some respects; they are not first-rates, and their painting has a strong northern stamp, but they are more indepen- dent in their ruggedness and more powerful in the expression of passion. They adopt alternately the African types of Francesca and the grimacing ones of Mantegna, but they add to these something of the sad- ness and dryness of the Flemings. In Galasso these vol. t. 33 514 THE FERRARESE Chap. XVII. characteristics are combined with the comparative help- lessness of the antiquated Christian time. Cossa and Tura ; though but little younger, are abler and more spirited in this path, altering the technical treatment of detail and distance after the transalpine fashion; it is not improbable that they were struck by the originality of Van der Weyden, whose visit to Ferrara in the middle of the century is now placed beyond a doubt. 1 With Stefano and Ercole Roberti Grandi, we come upon Paduan features in their strength and bitterness; Costa and Ercole di Giulio Grandi introduce a younger and fresher blood by imitating the Peruginesque. From first to last the Ferrarese are no colourists. Galasso, who impressed Vasari with a false idea of age, 2 was the son of a tailor and master-painter at Fer- rara. His name appears in the account-books of the house of Este from 1450 to 1453 in connection with the decoration of the palace of Belriguardo, and in 1455 3 he composed the assumption and finished a portrait of Cardinal Bessarion at Santa Maria in Monte of Bologna; 4 that he was dead in 1473 we learn from an original record. 5 To suppose with Bumaldo that he lived in 1390 and laboured in the church of Mezzaratta at that period is difficult; and Bumaldo 1 s statement can only be explained if we assume that two men with the same patronymic existed in the 14 th and 15 th centuries. Yet 1 "A di 31 de Decembre due. venti d'oro per lei a Filippo de li Ambruoxi et compagni per nome di Paolo de Porio de bruza per altri tanti che el deto paulo pago a M° Ruziero depintore in bruza per parte de certe depinture de lo Ill mo olim nostro S r che lui faceva fare al deto M° Roziero come per mandato de sua olim Signoria re- gistrato al registro de la camera de Tanno presente." Memorial of 1450. (Favoured by the Marquis Campori.) * Vasari (HI. 40). 3 We are indebted for these facts to the Marquis Campori, from whom we have records of the date stated. Galasso is here called: "Maestro Galasso de Matheo Ca- legaro. 1 ' 4 Cron. Fra Girolamo Borselli, in Muratori. Rer. Ital. Scrip. Tom. XXIII. p. 888. 5 Eicordi di Cosimo Tura, 8 n , Ferrara, 1866, by L. N. Cittadella, p. 191. 6 Minervalia Bonon. by Jo. An- tonio Bumaldo, 12°, Bonon. 1641, p. 239. Let us recollect that there is a painter of the name of Gelasio Chap. XVII. GALASSO. 515 Galasso may have left some frescos at Mezzaratta, for there are fragments reminiscent of him in that building which obviously have no earlier date than 1450. A great deal more has been made of Galasso than he deserves. That he felt the influence of Piero della Francesca, as Vasari observes/ will be confirmed by a glance at the halls of the Schifanoia; that he ever lived in Venice, or even that he mastered the technica of oils is doubtful. 2 In his first panels — for instance, in the Trinity at the museum of Ferrara, or in the entombment, and the Virgin and child with a donor and patron saint belonging to the Costabili collection, the sour severity of the 14 th century and a vehement expression, are con- comitants of bad drawing, affected or spasmodic action, and skinny flesh. 3 In later pieces traditionally assigned to the same hand, such as the Christ at the mount belonging to Professor Saroli, 4 the crucifixion of the (Ital. Painting, II. 225), of whom, by the way, we may notice the following": London, Mr. Barker, under the name of Gelasio. Panel, once in the Costabili collection, represent- ing 1 a knee-piece with a portrait of a man in a cap. This portrait, supposed to be that of Obizzo of Este and stated to be such on a paper on the back of the panel, is now a piece of modern re- painting". 1 Vas. IV. 213, 14. 2 lb. ib. 3 Ferrara Pinac, room V. No. 16. Panel, tempera, figures one- fourth of life, on gold ground with the monogram Q.iQ . Subject the Eternal enthroned and holding the cross with the dead Saviour upon it. Ferrara, Costabili, No. 33, panel, figures a little under life-size. Christ is let down into the se- pulchre in his winding-sheet by two figures, in presence of the Virgin, S l Francis, S l Bernardino and others. Some faces grimace like those of Crivelli. The gold ground is now painted over, and the rest is much injured by abrasion. Same Gallery, No. 78. Virgin, child, donor, and patron saint. Panel, tempera, about one- third of life-size. The Virgin and child between S ts John the Bap- tist and S l Jerom in the same collection, assigned by Rosini to Galasso, and engraved as such by him, is by Sano di Pietro of Sienna. 4 Ferrara, Professor Saroli. Can- vas, tempera, figures all but life- size. To the left hand Christ on his knees, and the angel with the cup to the right. The three apostles in a landscape with birds, animals and distant episodes. The sweat on the Saviour's brow trickles like tears down his face. The tempera is dull, the drapery and drawing are broken in the Flemish manner; the figures are grotesquely long, dry, and bony. 33* 51G THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVII. Marquis Strozzi at Ferrara, 1 or the epiphany of Mr. Barker in London, 2 the same defects are clothed in the new but not less repulsive garb of the Flemings. Cosimo Tura is not more attractive than Galasso, but of a more consistent fibre. Irrespective of art he was a man of weight and wealth in the place of his birth. Having been employed from 1451 upwards in some of the numerous pictorial undertakings of the Duke of Ferrara, he rose to a fixed appointment in the ducal service in 1458. 3 For twenty-five years at least, if not till the end of his life, he clung to this service, and made his fortune in it. In 1457 he furnished patterns for arras ; somewhat later he worked in the ducal studio, 4 and when Borso the I st visited Milan in 1461, he induced Gian Galeazzo Sforza to apprentice one of his depend- ents with Tura. 5 Under Alphonzo Tura lost none of his repute ; he decorated the library of the Picos of Mirandola, 6 ornamented the new chapel at Belriguardo in 1471, 7 and painted the likeness of the Duke and Beatrix of Este, as The outline is rude and uniform, the hands and feet common and out of drawing. Of course there is no perspective of any kind. The piece is made less attractive still by copious varnishing and some retouching. 1 Ferrara, Marchese Strozzi. Canvas, tempera, with small figures ; on a predella and side-pieces are 1°, Christ on the mount; 2°, the capture; 3°, the flagellation; 4°, Christ dead on his mother's knees ; 5°, Christ carrying his cross; 6°, the entombment; 7°, the resur- rection. A little better than the foregoing, but by the same hand, in the same collection and similar manner, a small panel of Christ on the mount. * London, Mr. Barker, formerly in the Costabili collection. Small panel with two G's interlaced — a different monogram from that on No. 16 in the gallery of Ferrara. But the style is that of the pictures immediately foregoing, and like that also of pieces in the Schifanoia decoration assignable to Galasso. The same interlace- ment of two G's is to be found on a panel, representing S l John the Baptist, which with its fellow, S l Peter, is in the cappella della Consolazione in San Stefano of Bologna. This, however, is a more careful work than that of Mr. Barker. 3 MS. records favoured by Mar- chese Campori, and also Citta- della, Ricordi, u. s. p. 8. 4 lb. ib. 5 Ugo Caleffini's Notizie in Atti della deputazione Modenese di Storia Patria, II. 312. 6 Gyraldi Ferrar., Op. Lugd. Bat. 1696, II. 7 Belriguardo still exists. It is five miles from Ferrara. The paint- ings are gone. Chap. XVII. COSIMO TURA. 517 a present for Lodovico Moro of Milan in 1473; during 1481 he composed pictures for Alphonzo's studio which were afterwards put aside for those of Bellini, Titian and Pellegrino. 1 Tura had also private commissions. The standard ordered of him in 1456 for the guild of tailors ; the nativity done for Vincenzo de' Lardi, superintendent of the cathedral at Ferrara, the frescos of the Sacrato chapel completed before 1468 in San Domenico, have not been preserved, but the doors of the cathedral-organ which he finished in 1469 are still in existence, 2 and afford a clear insight into the quaintnesses of his man- ner. Having long since been diverted from their original use they now hang on the walls of the choir in the duomo, and represent the annunciation and St George discomfiting the dragon. 3 The scene in the first instance is laid in a double arched porch, the soffits and sides of which are panelled in marble of various kinds, and adorned with statues enlivened by two large fes- toons of fruit; the Virgin on one knee looking up with her hands wrung together, parted from the angel by a pillar. An iron rod runs across from cornice to cor- nice of the double arch, and on it are perched a cat and a bird; through the arch we see the sky, rocky hills and little figures. There is no lack of feeling in Tura's mode of treat- ment, artificial though it be; but he sacrifices mass to detail and to accessories. His composition of the queen's daughter striding away from the dragon, seems a ca- ricature of Pollaiuolo; leanness and tallness are naturally 1 MS. records favoured by M ar- I Turra " was paid 111 lire for the quis Campori. The paintings of j painting of these doors, the Studio were "nude figures j The frescos of San Domenico, in oil." 2 Citfcadella's Ricordi, p. 21, 29, ib. p. 8, and Baruffaldi, Vite de 1 Pitt. Ferraresi, 8°, Ferrara, 1814, I. 65, and II. 5-15. A record of June 11, 1-1G9, in the latter work, states that "Magister Cosme del cost the Sacrati family 1000 lire. (L. N. Cittadella, Documenti, u. s. p. 145.) 3 Ferrara, Duomo. Panel, tem- pera, figures of life-size, the an- nunciation much damaged especi- ally in the flesh, the S l George much abraded. 518 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVII. united to an awkwardness which might almost be called contortion. In a great number of productions of this time search- ing power is united to the vulgarity of Van der Weyden ; and drapery or colour remind us of the Man- tegnesques and Flemings. These features characterize an allegorical female figure called Spring now belonging to Mr. Layard ; 1 its companion in the Costabili collection called Autumn; 2 S l Jerom penitent, the subject of a piece in the National Gallery; 3 but we pass over these and others equally important 4 to dwell for a moment on the Virgin and child in the Lochis-Carrara Gallery at Ber- gamo, which exhibits a very graceful boldness of move- ment for Tura, 5 and the small panel in the Correr Museum, in which the dead Saviour is represented lying on the lap of the Virgin. Here Tura's skill as a composer, or 1 London, Mr. Layard, formerly ! in the Costabili collection. Panel | mixed tempera, figure under life, in a niche, the seat ornamented with bronze dolphins. The drapery better than usual, of polished surface. 2 Ferrara, Costabili Gallery. Panel, figure with a hoe and a bunch of grapes, much injured. Two others almost ruined belong to the Marquis Strozzi. 3 London, National Gallery, No. J 773. Wood, tempera, 3f. 3'/ 2 h. by 6f. 10y 2 , formerly in the Cer- tosa at Ferrara, then in the Costa- bili collection, last in possession of Sir Ch. Eastlake. S* Jerom kneeling in a landscape. On a neighbouring tree a woodpecker and other birds. Very energetic exhibition of lean forms, well pre- served panel. 4 Ferrara, Costabili Gallery. S l Bernardino in a niche, panel, figure almost of life-size, injured slightly, but a fine work. S* An- thony Abbot in a niche, and a bishop in benediction, small panels, that recall Ercole Roberti Grandi's imitation of Mantegna. S l George of the same size is now in pos- session of Mr. Barker in London, who has also a small S l Michael, and a half-length madonna under life-size. Ferrara, Conte Giovanni Batt a . Canonici, half-length of S l Bernardino in a niche. This is the old type familiar to us in Ga- lasso. Ferrara, San Girolamo. High up on a wall in the sacristy of this ch., a life-sized S l Jerom in an archway, with the lion at his feet, canvas, tempera, Man- tegnesque in look. Ferrara Gall. No. 7, panel. S l Jerom in car- dinal's dress in an archway, figure two-thirds of life-size, of a milder nature than Tura, and suggestive of some young follower of his manner, as Lorenzo Costa or Er- cole di Giulio Grandi. 5 Bergamo, Lochis-Carrara. Vir- gin and child in a Roman chair on gold ground, knee-piece, in character between Crivelli and Mantegna, but with the peculiar features of Tura. Panel, tempera, injured by repeated varnishing. Chap. XVII. COSIMO TURA. 519 in rendering the anatomy of the human body, is very respectable; he has something of the gnarled strength of Diirer, and more than enough of coarseness in addition. 1 Nowhere, however, are the master's peculiarities more perfectly displayed than in the Virgin and child with saints at the gallery of Berlin. 2 The Virgin sits adoring the child, her blue mantle lined with the brightest green, S' Appollonia to the left dressed in an emerald green tunic heightened with gold, her mantle of shot stuff lined with scarlet; S l Catherine to the right in a green mantle turned with grey; lower down the foreground, S l Augus- tin in episcopals with an eagle on a glass ball at his feet, S l Jerom with a small brazen lion near him; both in parti-coloured dresses like the female. The throne is one of the quaintest of structures; it rests on crystal pillars, and has the form of a niche curved in the shape of a cockle-shell; the landscape distance is seen through the crystal pillars, as well as through the arches of the edifice. In lurtettes in the background are bas-reliefs of prophets imitating stone, others on the throne imitating gilt metal, representing the drunkenness of Noah, the sacrifice of Cain and Abel, the death of Abel, and the feats of Hercules ; nothing can be more striking than this profuse mixture of strange . architecture, gilding, mosaic, glass, bronze and gold; white stony light in the flesh is contrasted with red brown shadow, and there is a metallic rigidity in the lean shapes and papery stiff- ness in the draperies. 1 Venice, Correr, No. 9, m. 0*48 h. by 0*33, small panel. The Vir- gin is seated on the marble tomb. In distance, a man with a ladder, and beams of wood; further off, the high rock of Gol- gotha and the crucifixion; on a tree, an ape. The colour is highly blended and enamelled, and the finishing is wonderful. In the style of Tura, but as- signed to Mantegna, is a S* George engaging the dragon — a small panel in the house of the Contessa Biella at Venice. It may be by one of Tura's disciples. Under Mantegna's name likewise the fol- lowing: Florence, Galleria Pianci- atichi. Two small panels with S l John the Baptist and S l Peter. They are truly Mantegnesque in style. 2 Berlin Museum, No. 111. Can- vas, lOf. h. by 7f. G 1 /?, originally in San Giovanni Battista of Fer- rara. 520 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVII. In this and in all other specimens of his art, Tura is consistent; and there are few painters in whom such constant features recur. Bred in the same school as Galasso, he had no idea of selection; leanness, dryness, paltriness, overweight of head and exaggerated size of feet and hands were almost invariable accompaniments of his pictures. In most of them it would seem as if well-fed flesh had become withered by want of nutrition, and had fallen together in wrinkles the depths of which are unfathomable. About the articulations these wrinkles are stretched along the bones and indicated by lines, and the bones themselves remorselessly obtrude, and yet this false mode of representation is worked out patiently, carefully, and with considerable boldness. In his method of drapery Tura reminds us of Mantegna, of Francesca and Diirer; because, though his folds are broken at every angle, and even at a right angle — which is the strangest and most ungraceful that can be imagined — they never produce the impression of incorrectness in the form which they clotde; 1 they are altogether without amplitude in order that the under form may not be concealed; and their scantiness adds to the dryness of personages in themselves dry to a fault. In distributing space as well as in representing the parts within it, Tura is accurate and scientific, and shows himself ac- quainted with the laws of geometry and perspective familiar to Piero della Francesca; in some modes of action he foreshadows the precepts of the high art of the 16 lh century, and exhibits considerable vehemence of action; his colouring is substantial, enamelled, and of great depth, but without brilliancy or light. One might almost suppose that he had been at Padua ; and had seen that figure in the baptism of the proselyte at the Eremitani, which stands reading with its back to the spectator; he may have derived his peculiar and not 1 They frequently take the form I what in Italy is called the padlock of a T. at the close, and make | fold. Chap. XVII. COSIMO TURA. 521 very pure taste for architecture from the models in that very chapel — models which recall those of Bonfigli and followers of Piero della Francesca. There too he might imbibe the principles which regulate his arrangement of tints, and learn to pit the colours of flesh, of dresses, and of architecture against each other, so as to present something like a neutral whole. Tura obtains this result by the most violent contrasts, treating the figures in many cases as mere properties, or bits of tone. That with such characteristics as these his work should some- times be assigned to Mantegna is not remarkable-, we have instances of this in Venice and in Florence, 1 in the museum of Berlin, 2 and in the collection of the late Mr. Bromley. 3 Yet these are not less genuine pro- ductions of the master than the vast lunette at the Louvre representing the deposition of Christ, or other pictures, 4 to enumerate which would involve much and needless repetition. 5 1 See antea. 2 Berlin Museum, No. 1170 b. Panel, tempera, on gold ground, 2f. 4'/ 2 h. by If., from the Solly collection under Mantegna's name. S l Sebastian bound by the elbows to a tree. No. 1170 c. Same size. S l Christopher. These are no doubt by Tura or Cossa, more probably by the first; especially noticeable are the tortuous outlines and ex- aggerated forms. 3 London. Late Bromley coll., previously belonging to Lord Ward. Small panel, about 12 inches by 8, of S l Jerom seated in a cave with the lion at his feet and the cross in his left hand. Tura is sometimes confounded with Zoppo, as we see in the "Man of Sorrows," No. 590 at the National Gallery. (See antea.) 4 Paris, Louvre, Muse'e Napo- leon III. No. 109, lunette, wood, m. 1-32 h. by 2*67. The scene is laid in a panelled arch. Note the tinny drapery, the metallic flesh with white and purple lights, and the ugly projections of bones in the faces. The foreshortenings are bold and studied. A long split divides the picture horizontally. This we are told is the lunette of a Virgin and child, No. 772 in the National Gallery, lately be- longing to the collection of Sir Ch. Eastlake; wood, 7f. 11 h. by 3f. 4; in which we find the usual overabundance of architectural and ornamental features in the archway and throne. Two angels play musical instruments at the Virgin's sides, and at the bottom of the steps two angels play on a portable organ; on the front of the organ, it is said, was the signature of Tura, but this sig- nature is removed. The latter piece was originally in the Casa Friz- zone at Bergamo, and is a very fanciful production of porcelain texture in the colours suggesting the use of varnish vehicles. The angels are slender, the Virgin like 522 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVII. Tura's was a long, industrious, and successful life. Having been launched with sufficient means to secure independence, he was lucky afterwards in securing the fruits of his labours, had a house — a present from the Duke of Ferrara — in the via di Boccacanale, an atelier in a tower near one of the city gates, earned money and lent it, made ventures in the timber and other trades, and died between 1494 and 1498, leaving large legacies to the poor of Venice. 1 Much less is known of Francesco Cossa than of Tura, His name first appears in a record of 1456,- from which we learn that he was an assistant to his father, Christofano del Cossa, then charged to illuminate the carving and statues on the high altar of the bishop's palace at Ferrara; 2 but in later years he transferred his that of Bartolommeo Vivarini in his feeble late period. Perhaps Tura allowed some pupil to paint this picture which, at all events, is much inferior to the lunette above described. In the Muse'e Napoleon, No. 110, m. 0-72 h. by 0'31, a small panel representing a Franciscan saint reading- on gold ground is by Tura, but injured (in the cheek) and split. 5 Ferrara, Marquis Strozzi. In this gallery we have a canvas tempera of a nobleman holding a falcon on his wrist, near his wife and son in a room with two win- dows. The figures are life-size and inscribed: "Ubertus et Mar- chio Thomas de Sacrato.' 1 This piece has lost its freshness from varnishes, but is very finished in outline and treatment. This may be by Tura, or of the youth of Lorenzo Costa. Forli, San Mercuriale, sacristy. The visitation, canvas, in oil, much injured, is assigned to Tura, but seems more like a piece by Balt- hazar Caroli. It is a mistake to suppose that the miniatures on silk at the Hotel Cluny in Paris are by Tura, and as to miniatures in general, it has been supposed, that Tura had a share in those of the chorals and antif oners of the Ferrarese cathe- dral, but these are proved to be by other hands. (See a letter of Luigi Napoleone Cittadella to Cav. Gaetano Giordani, in the Gazzetta Ferrarese of April 29, 1862, and Don Giuseppe AntoneUTs records, in Gualandi Memorie u. s. Ser. VI. p. 153.) Long lists of pictures alleged to have been done by Tura are to be found in Baruffaldi, u. s. I. 67 to 122, but there is too great a ten- dency in the author and his an- notators, to assign low class works of doubtful origin to known authors, and criticism on this nomenclature would be a waste of time and space. 1 Cittadella (Ricordi, pp. 8 to 15, and Notizie, p. 569.) cannot ex- plain this legacy to the poor of Venice. Tura leaves no such be- quests to the poor of Ferrara, but he puts by a sum of money for building a church there. 2 Cittadella, Notizie, u. s. p. 52. t i Chap. XVII. FRANCESCO COSSA. 523 residence to Bologna, where he is justly celebrated for two great creations, the Virgin and child with saints and a donor engraved in these pages, and the Madonna del Barracano, both masterpieces of one period. That Cossa issued from the same school as Tura is evident from his pictures, which closely resemble Tura's in searching outline, correct distribution of space, and brown tinge of tempera; but his art is of a higher and more elevated class, especially in architectural and acces- sorial detail. Severe grandeur and dignity of mien dwell in the figures; a sculptural breadth distinguishes the draperies, but models of stone seem studied in preference to nature; the outlines are clean and firm, rendering nude and extremities with accurate perspective and anatomy; relief is obtained by correct shading, model- ling, and contrasted tints ; and the faces, strongly marked in the fashion of Piero della Francesca, are of a nobler cast than Tura's. But even Cossa was not free from northern or Netherlandish peculiarities ; and something in his air or technical treatment recalls Roger van der Weyden. What Cossa may have done at Ferrara is uncertain. 1 His madonna at Bologna was painted in 1474 for Domenico de 1 Amorini and Alberto de' Catanei, and is remarkable for a very fine kneeling portrait of the latter personage, in the style of Piero della Fran- cesca Mantegna and Melozzo. Nothing can be more effective than the drawing and the massive projection of shadow in the head. A very dignified containment is shown in the face of S l Petronius to the left, and 1 Ferrara Gall. No. 8 and No. 9. These are two small circular panels under Cossa's name, re- presenting- the "death" and the "capture" of S l Maurelius. The compositions are lively, the figures like those of Tura, to whom these pieces are assigned by Baruffaldi (I. 77). We miss the large altar- piece at San Giorgio fuori le Mura at Ferrara, to which these two compositions belonged. The}' are in style like the two panels (Nos. 1170b and 1170c) under the name of Mantegna in the gallery of Berlin. (See antea in Tura.) Under Cossa's name there are several small panels in the Costa- bili collection, all of them un- authenticated. 524 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVII. the modelling throughout is grand. We may object to the marked fleshy type of the Virgin, unmistakeably derived from Piero della Francesca, but its imposing gravity is undeniable. Less realism would improve the evangelist, but the truth of the realism is very great. We admire, too, the searching character of the drapery, though we feel that it is too tortuous. We see every- where a pure ring of metal in the work, excellent relief by light and shade, and a very delicate play of reflec- tions. 1 The Virgin of the Barracano at Bologna is a sacred image concealed — except on high festive occasions — from public gaze. When these occasions present themselves, the wall is found covered with a fresco of the Virgin and child in a highly ornamented throne, within an archway of similar architecture. At the sides of the throne angels devotionally hold candelabra, whilst lower down, a male and female look up to the Virgin's face. The story runs that Giovanni Bentivoglio instructed Cossa to restore a miraculous madonna which attracted many worshippers during the 15 lh century, and caused his own portrait and that of Maria Vinziguerra to be added at the bottom of the fresco. 2 It appears from examination that the heads of the Virgin and child are all that Cossa thought fit to leave untouched, and the handling of that fragment proves it to have been done by Lippo Dalmasio; but it appears also that some third person subsequently repainted the portrait usually sup- posed to be Giovanni Bentivoglio, raising it above the level of that of Maria Vinziguerra, and transforming it 1 Bologna, Gall. No. 64, canvas, The sky is dimmed by varnishing figures life-size, inscribed: "D. and retouching, the Virgin's dress AL?tus IE) (Attaneis judex et and that of St Petronio in part j J — ' scaled and repainted, and parts of DNcus © amorinis n6ts H) For. the flesh are abraded, ppo fT fecerut 1474 Fran(Jscus 2 See Archivio patrio di antiche Cossa Fe..rinis f." Near the e moderne rimembranze felsinee head of Alberto, but almost obli- j & a &', by Giuseppe Bossi, Bo- terated: "Miser Alb. de Cataneis." logna, 1855. Chap. XVII. BALDASSARE. 525 from a bust into a kneepiece. 1 Cossa, therefore, is the artist to whom we owe the frame of the Virgin and child, the angels, the portrait of the female in profile and the architecture. With the exception of the child, which owes its awkwardness to the preservation of Lippo's head, the whole fresco is characterized by pre- cision of outline, firmness of modelling, and all the qualities previously observed; the masks and dresses remind us as before of Piero della Francesca and the Mantegnesques, though comparatively gentler and of a more yielding aspect than before; the architecture is highly ornate, too much so indeed, and as florid as that of Bonfigli in the panels of San Francesco at Perugia. A new feature is apparent in the distances where rocks are depicted in the shape of over-hanging tables per- forated with caves, and crowned with temples and cities. It was this feature which subsequently received embellishments from Lorenzo Costa and Grandi. A page might be filled with the names of other painters who illustrate this period at Ferrara. There are few of whom pictures are preserved except Baldas- sare Estense of Reggio. 2 1 Bologna, alia Madonna del ! Barracano. The portrait of the I male is not like that of Giovanni Bentivoglio in Costa's altarpiece of 1488, in San Jacopo Maggiore at Bologna. The hands are re- painted over the red framing of the throne which is seen through their half abraded tint. The toes of the near angel also appear through the blue dress. It is likely that the original portrait of Bentivoglio was a bust profile like that of the female at the opposite side, and that the present one, which is much blackened, was done much later than the time of Cossa, and done in oil. The in- scription, too, which purports to be "Johann. Benti Bononiae domi- nus & a " is also modern and of a different character from the lower ! one, which is genuine and runs I so: "Opera de FRAN (ESC H del Cossa da Ferrara MCCCCL .... The date should be 1472, as is proved by records (Guida di Bo- logna, 1825, p. 230) Laderchi (Pittura Ferrarese, 8°, Ferr. 1850, p. 32). The figures are life-size, the colour in parts abraded. The female to the left is aged, of masculine features; the hands are in part obliterated. The general tone is cold and a little rusty, and the tints are not free from a certain rawness. Lamo states that by the side of the high-altar of the Madonna del Barracano there were two life-size figures in fresco of S l Lucy and S l Catherine by Cossa. (Graticola, p. 12.) 2 One other there is, Antonio Aleotti d'Argenta, of whom a small 526 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVII. Baldassare is supposed to have been an illegitimate scion of the house of Este, because all mention of his sire was omitted in contemporary records, whilst he bore the title of Estensis, and received unusual promotion in the service of the dukes. 1 Having taken a likeness of Borso the I st in 1469, he was ordered to present it in person to'the Duke of Milan. 2 From 1471 to 1504 he was a salaried officer at court, residing first in the Castel Nuovo, 3 and afterwards in the Castel Tedaldi, of which he was the governor. 4 One of his medals with the date of 1472 has been preserved, whilst his frescos in the Rufini chapel at San Domenico of Ferrara have perished. 5 His portrait of Tito Strozzi, dated 1483, is still in the Costabili collection, and his will, drawn up in 1500, is kept amongst others in the archives of Ferrara. 6 The portrait of Tito Strozzi is a profile of a man in years, of portly presence, in a black cap and coat, much damaged by scaling, abrasion and varnishes, a tempera on canvas, of good outline and finish. 7 It is the counterpart as" regards treatment of another portrait of a corpulent man, of olive complexion, in possession of Professor Bertini at Milan 8 —a profile with some mono- tony of contour, but precise in touch, and of a good panel representing the Redeemer and inscribed with the name (written from right to left), and the date of 1498, is in the Costa- bili collection at Ferrara. There is a record of the year 1498 at Ferrara, in which Aleotti is bound over to keep the peace as against his wife. CSee Cittadella, Mem. 590.) 1 Laderchi, Pitt. Ferrar., p. 38; Cittadella (L. N.) Memorie, ub. sup. 581. 2 MS. favoured by Marquis Cam- pori. 3 He painted a canvas for the Castel Nuovo which has perished. (Ib. ib.) 4 Cittadella, Mem. 581—2. 5 The contract is in Cittadella, Ricordi, u. s. 26, 27. fi Cittadella, Memorie, p. 582. From this it appears that he was of Reggio, and therefore we think that Baldassare da Reggio of some records, and Baldassare d 1 Este or Estensis of other records, are one person. 7 Ferrara, Costabili. Canvas, tempera, on dark ground, with the initials D. T., and on the lower border: "B...as pix. c. P. ano .493...." It is impossible to say why Laderchi read the date S 1499, and Rosini 1495. s Milan, Professore Bertini. Pa- nel, bust in a low key of tone i without modulations, assigned to ! Tura. Chap. XVII. BALD ASS ARE. 527 and well-modelled surface. From these specimens we might think Baldassare capable of producing the likeness ascribed to Ansuino da Forli in the Correr Museum at Venice. 1 What we admire in this fine creation is a share of Francesca's grandeur, a certain calmness and dignity in the set of the head and its expression, extraordinary precision and firmness in the outline, and a glossy blending of silver light into blue grey shadow. The mode of indicating wrinkles in the flesh with tenuous lines is familiar to us in Francesca and Melozzo. The authorship of Baldassare might be confirmed by the inscription on the upper border, which has been mutilated and retouched to suit the Venetian market. Another panel by an unknown hand betraying Ferrarese characteristics akin to these is the annunciation, doubt- ingly ascribed to Pollaiuolo, in the museum of Dresden, 2 1 Venice, Correr Mus. No. 53, panel, tempera, m. 0'49 h. by 0*35. In the distance to the left hand a castle, a river, with two boats, two men on horseback and a servant. Concealing" the landscape in part, a green curtain; on a parapet, a book and a diamond ring*, the cognizance we are told of Ercole I. (Laderchi, 58), and Bellini in Baruffaldi, I. 70; on the side, an escutcheon; on the upper border: "Cz. Bat 1 . Fuggar " which may originally have read "Baldassare;" on the lower border, the initials: "A. f. P." Baruffaldi mentions several pic- tures by Baldassare which are not preserved: S l Thomas Aquinas, and S l Catherine of Sienna in the church of the Angeli at Ferrara, inscribed: "Baldassaris Estensis opus;" a sacred subject in Santa Maria della Consolazione and a funeral of a nun, the fall of Simon Magus, and the Samaritan woman at the well in private hands at Ferrara, inscribed: "Bal. E. f." (Baruff. I. 92—3.) 2 Dresden Museum, No. 18, panel, 4f. 11 h. by 4f. The annunciation was inscribed for some time with the words: "Andreas Mantegna Patavinus fecit. An. 1450;" but the inscription was a forged one, and since its removal, the picture is under the name of Pollaiuolo, with a (?) having also been as- signed to Baldovinetti. The art is that of a follower of Tura or Cossa, and seems that of a careful young painter. The movement of the Virgin is hard and stiff, her figure heavy and overweighted with drapery ; the head is cast in Tura's and Cossa's mould, and shows much breadth at the cheek- bone; yet the face is paltry, and reminds us of Costa's in 1488. The folds are branching at top as in Costa. The angel, still in the same style, is a better and more agreeable figure. The flesh tints are .of a reddisli hue in light streaked with yellowish hatchings 528 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVII. and we may class in the same catalogue the S l Dominick attributed to Zoppo .at the National Gallery, with its two companion figures in the Barbi-Conti collection at Ferrara. 1 But of these it would be unsafe to say more than that they are all similar, and seem due to an artist who follows in the footsteps of Tura and Cossa, and resembles Costa and Ercole di Giulio Grandi in their early period. 2 Baldassare was utterly unknown to Vasari, yet he is now better known than Stefano da Ferrara, whom Vasari mentions as Mantegna's friend. 3 Stefano filled the walls of the chapel of the Santo at Padua with frescos in the latter half of the 15 th century, but in consequence o£ the renewal of the edifice by Andrea Briosco in 1500, these frescos were destroyed. 4 Looking round Italian galleries, we find nothing assigned to Stefano except at the Brera of Milan, where and shaded with green, all care- fully modelled, with the point of the brush. The result is a clear me- tallic semi-silvery treatment, that shows the progress of Ferrarese technica under Costa and Ercole di Giulio. In the dresses the tints are raw and sharp in contrasts. 1 London, National Gallery, No. 597, from the Costabili collection. Panel, tempera, representing S l Dominick on a pedestal, with Christ in a glory between six angels in the sky. Ferrara, Signor Barbi Conti, Strada Boccacanale a San Guglielmo. S l Peter and S l Paul, erect, panel, temperas. The execution is the same as at Dresden, but of a later period of the same master's career, the figures being more dignified and meaning, the forms being more searched and the shadows more precisely defined. 2 Berlin Museum, unnumbered, but assigned to a follower of Tura. Virgin and child between four saints, Francis, Jerom, Bernard, and George, wood, 5f. 3 h. by 5f. 4. In this piece there is some- thing of the school of Tura, but something also of that of Ercole Roberti Grandi. Ferrarese also, but also of a painter whose name remains obscure, is in the Berlin Museum, a female nude on a dol- phin ; a yellowish cloth on her head. 3 Vasari, V. 179. Baruffaldi (I. 156) cites a register of deaths at Ferrara which records the death of "Mastro Stefano Falzagallon, " and his burial in 1500 at Sant 1 Apollinare of Ferrara. There is of course no proof that this is the painter mentioned by Vasari. 4 M. Savonarola, De Laud. Pat. Lib. I. p. 170, in Muratori, Script. Vol. XXIV.; Anon. 9; Gonzati, La Basilica, I. 156—7. The Ano- nimo assigns to Stefano the "Ma- donna del Pilastro" (Anon. p. 5) in the Santo at Padua. That is a Giottesque fresco of the Virgin and child between the two S l Johns, done at latest in the be- ginning of the 15 th century, and certainly not by a painter who could have been Mantegna's friend. Chap. XVII. STEFANO. 529 he is the alleged author of two productions of different schools; one of these, however, is Ferrarese, and has a stamp of distinct originality. 1 It represents the Virgin with the child on a hexagonal throne, supported by pillars, and decorated with bronze reliefs; two female saints on the throne at the Virgin's sides, two males in the foreground, the architecture and the landscape seen through the pillars — all in the manner of Tura. The figures themselves are much like Tura's and Cossa's— bony, dry, pinched in face and limb, prominent in bone, and dis- figured by large extremities; the drapery, too, is Ferrarese in cast; but there is something Mantegnesque besides, a broader sweep of fold in the dresses of the male saints, an easier pose and movement, less over- charge and exaggeration, a purer taste in architectural detail, and in the bas-reliefs a reminiscence of the carving of Niccolo and Giovanni Baroncelli, the Floren- tines to whom we owe the crucifixion, Virgin, evangelist, and S l George in the Ferrara duomo. 2 The Manteg- nesque here again varies from that of Ercole Roberti Grandi or Bono; it has its own peculiar impress, and confirms the belief that this madonna at Milan is cor- rectly attributed to an independent artist, who may be Stefano, a man of less power than Tura or Cossa, but differing very little from them in form or technical habits. That such a painter should have left so little behind, is curious; yet there are few things like the Brera Madonna to which we can point, at best such a piece as the small S 1 Jerom in the Casa Dondi- Orologio at Padua catalogued as by Mantegna. 3 1 The other so-called Stefano at the Brera, No. 73, Virgin and child between S ls Peter, Nicholas, Bartholomew and Augustin, we shall speak of when treating of Rondinello. 2 Milan, Brera. No. 121. Canvas, m. 3-2 h. by 2'40. The Virgin's mantle is renewed and her face a VOL. I. little repainted; on the base of the throne are: the massacre of the innocents, the presentation, and the adoration. Monochrome on gold ground. 3 Padua. Casa Galeazzo Dondi- Orologio. Small panel, tempera. Shrivelled figure of S l Jerom, erect, looking at the crucifix which 34 530 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVII. The Ferrarese school, we see, is involved in obscurity, and has its spectral shadows like many others. It receives better light, however, as we proceed; chiefly through the Grandis and Costas. There were two artists called Ercole Grandi in the Ferrarese service, 1 of whose skill Ferrara and Bologna possess specimens in divergent styles and of varying merit; one Ercole is a close follower of Mantegna, the other a disciple of Costa. Vasari knows but of one, yet unwittingly commingles the history of both. Whilst he affirms that Ercole is a friend and pupil of Costa, he only describes pieces without relation to Costa in manner. 2 The latest researches made in the archives of Ferrara and Bologna show that Ercole de Rubertis, alias Grandi, was partner to his brother as a painter and gold-beater at Ferrara in 1479. 3 He was salaried by the Duke of Ferrara, and frequently employed in adorning chests; he built a triumphal car, decorated the duchess's garden-lodge, and finished a view of Naples in 1490 — 93; and took in 1494 the likeness of Hercules the I st for Isabella of Mantua; 4 his death previous to 1513 is proved by documentary evidence. 5 lie holds in both hands. The distant landscape is Ferrarese in treatment. Note the large extre- mities, the tenuous wrists and ankles, the dull tone. Assigned to Stefano are the following: Bologna, San Giovanni in Monte. Virgin and child enthroned between two angels, injured (the heads of Vir- gin and child). This picture, com- pared with that of the Brera, ap- pears to be by another painter; feebler too, but greatly damaged; it slightly recalls the works of Costa in 1488. Ferrara Gallery, No. 10. Virgin and child between S l Anthony and S l Roch, from Santa Maria in Vado, dated 1531. This piece is by a follower of ( J-arofalo. 1 "Hercules uuus, et alter, pic- tores ambo Bononienses cives... an Hercules dictus communiter de Ferraria fuerit unus ex istis duo- bus, nec ne — de quare valde ambigo." Bumaldo, Minervalia (1641) u. s. 243. 2 Vas. IV. lives of Ercole of Ferrara and Costa. 3 L. N. Cittadella, Notizie ub. sup. 583 — 589. According to a record in "Documenti" (ub. sup. 125) by the author of the Notizie, Ercole Roberti Grandi was the son of Antonio, "civis Ferrarie." 4 MS. records favoured by the Marchese Campori. He also con- tracts in the same year for an annunciation for the ch. of San Spirito of Ferrara. (L. N. Citta- della, Documenti, u. s. p. 125.) 5 L. N. Cittadella, Notizie, n. s. Chap. XVII. ERCOLE ROBERTI GRANDI. 531 Ercole Grandi — the son, according to Baruffaldi, of Giulio Cesare Grandi — was in the service of the Duke of Ferrara from 1492 to 1499 ; x he is thought to be the same whose death in 1531 is certified by an epitaph in the church of San Domenico at Ferrara. 2 It might be interesting to ascertain which of the two Grandis is the follower of Mantegna, which the disciple of Costa; it may be supposed that the latter would be younger and live longer than the former. We shall therefore assume that Ercole Roberti Grandi is not the disciple of Costa; and, starting from these premisses, we shall be able to lay it down as a fact that Ercole Eoberti Grandi is the artist of whose works Vasari usually speaks. Pietro Lamo, in his quaint old language, tells us that when Michael Angelo was in Bologna, he went to see the frescos of Ercole Grandi in the Garganelli chapel at San Pietro, and was heard to exclaim: "This is a little Rome for beauty." 3 The period during which this chapel was decorated might be inferred from an entry in the baptismal registers of the cathedral of Bologna, in which Ercoje of Ferrara, painter and moulder, appears anno 1483, as godfather to the son of Bartolommeo Garganelli. 4 It is a natural presumption that Ercole, who is reported to have left his own likeness beside that of Domenico Garganelli in the chapel of San Pietro, 5 was on friendly terms with other members of the same family. Vasa'ri's description of the Garganelli frescos is 589, and see also in "Documenti" (u. s. p. 124) by the same author where Lucia de' Fanti, is men- tioned as "uxor q. mag. Herculis de Robertis." 1 MS. favoured by the Marquis Campori. L. N. Cittadella, Notizie, pictore nostro dilectissimo," who accompanies the prince (afterwards Alphonzo of Ferrara) to Rome. Signor Cittadella believes this Hercules to be Ercole di Giulio. 2 Sepulcrum egregii viri Her- culis Grandii pictoris de Ferra- pp. 422 — 3. The latter author in ria, qui obiit mense Juln Documenti (u. s. p. 3G3) prints a MCCCCCXXXL letter from the Duchess Eleanor 3 Lanio, Graticola di Bologna, of Ferrara to the abbess of the Murate at Florence, dated Ferrara, Nov. 2, 1492, in which the former recommends "Hercule prestante u. s. ]>. 31. 4 Gualandi, Memorie, Ser. V. 203. 5 Vas. IV. 250. 34* 532 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVII. copious and lively, and makes us regret their total destruction; but his subsequent statement that the same hand produced the predellas of Costa's altarpieces in the cappella Griffoni, and on the chief altar of San Giovanni in Monte at Bologna, and the preservation of the latter in the gallery of Dresden gives us an invaluable clue to Grandi's education. 1 We see at once that Ercole Koberti's style was based on Mantegna, as contradistinguished from Piero della Francesca, and that he must have spent his youth, and not a little of his manhood, in studying Paduan masterpieces. At Liverpool we have a small panel exactly like those of Dresden, in which the dead Christ lies in the lap of the Virgin in a landscape full of Mantegnesque inci- dent — the Saviour, a mere mummy, but a studied nude, the Virgin looking over him with intense grief, and holding him ivith a tenacious grasp that displays the very skeleton of her hand. The flesh seems rapidly painted with quick dryers in strata, the result being uniformity of tone and a horny transparence. In the distance, which is but a film of colour, the figures are put in with spirited touches at the last; the vestments glossy and raised in surface, but of a coarse varnishy substance, heightened with hatched or gilt lights of extraordinary fineness. 2 Still more Mantegnesque is the predella in the Dresden Museum representing the cap- ture and the procession to Golgotha. Ercole's aim here is to contrast the perfect repose of the Saviour kneeling on the mount to the left and the foreshortened apostles asleep at the hill-foot, with the restless action of Judas and his band effecting the capture. Judas himself embraces Christ, whilst the guard run in with seven- league stride to catch him ; a soldier throws a lasso over 1 lb. ib. 2 Liverpool Institution. No. 29, under the name of Mantegna, to whom it was still assigned by Dr. Waagen. Wood, If. 2 h. by 1f. The crucifixion is in the distance, some of the figures almost oblite- rated. The Virgin's tunic, origi- nally red, is flayed doAvn to the whitish prejjaration. / Chap. XVII. ERCOLE ROBERTI GRANDI. 533 his head, and at the same moment Peter smites off the ear of Malchus. Nothing can be more obvious than the imitation of Mantegna, especially in the first of these episodes, which recalls the masterly foreshortenings in the Christ on the mount of Mr. Baring's collection, and Bellini's similar subject in the National Gallery. A care- ful outline of great tenuity, but of a broken and cutting character, defines every part with surprising minuteness. The principle of impulsiveness is carried out in action and expression in long, wiry and vulgar figures. The heads, of a crabbed and often repulsive form, seem the natural precursors of those produced by Costa and Mazzolino; the scanty drapery, intended to be in motion, appears as if cast upon a wet mould in the shape of zigzags and polygons. The colour, of red and dusky hue in flesh, of positive and glaring tints in dresses, becomes neutralized by juxtaposition to a dim twilight; the distance, a thin wash of varnish, illustrates a theory that tone loses substance as objects recede. The cos- tume is made up of the antique and middle ages. All this yields a quaint mixture of Paduan dryness and grimace with the vehemence of Liberale. 1 The procession to Golgotha is more markedly Manteg- nesque, particularly in a soldier stopping to give one of the thieves a drink. In the right hand corner, a group of women and children of plump and even bloated com- plexion supplies the contrast furnished in the capture by the calm of the Saviour on the mount. 2 Of a broader style with similar features, but still more reminiscent of Mantegna in the landscape, is Grandi's Christ on fhe mount, in the gallery of Ravenna, to some extent a 1 Dresden Museum, No. 149, once in San Gio. in Monte at Bologna (see Bottari, Lett. Pitt. Vol. 4, p. 380, and Vas. IV. 250), wood, 3f. h. by 4f. 2. The draw- ing of the episode of Christ on the mount is in the private col- lection of the Queen of Saxony at Dresden. 2 Dresden Museum, No. 148. Same size as the foregoing. An old copy in red and black chalk, long catalogued under Mantegna's name, is in the collection of 534 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVII. counterpart of an episode in the prcdella at Dresden ; 1 less powerful but of not less certain derivation, the crucified Saviour between the Virgin and evangelist in the Correr Museum at Venice; 2 a so-called Lucretia, in the gallery of Modena/ 3 and a neat little allegory in the house of the Conte Ferdinando Cavalli at Padua, repre- senting a ship crowded with people near a rocky shore on which three horsemen stand. 1 These are all panels showing the gradual expansion of Ercole Roberti's art and proving that he retained the same distinct peculiari- ties of manner throughout. 5 It is « not unlikely that towards the close of the 15 th century the majority of the painters we have named served under the dukes of Fcrrara in the upper hall of the palace of Schifanoia. The two faces of that hall which still contain frescos must have been completed between 147 L and 1493 ;' 5 but the number of hands drawing's at the Louvre. (No. 220.) 1 Ravenna Gallery, without an authors name. The Saviour kneels between two tall hummocks in a landscape with trees and a city; the disciples sleep below, and the band of Iscariot is in the distance; small panel much injured by abrasion. The landscape is copied from that of the Eremitani in Mantegna 1 s call of James and An- drew to the apostleship. From this work we see that Grandi painted the flesh with thin colour, and made much use of the white underground. The lights in the trees are touched in gold. 2 Venice, Correr Museum, No. 28, wood, m, 0'54 h. by 0'30, under the name of Mantegna, a very glossy picture, freely executed, and full of Mantegnesque grimace, with a very fine distance and groups. 3 Modena Gall. No. 27, wood, m. 0*48 h. by 0*34, assigned to Mantegna. The Lucretia is heavy of head, and square, in the mode subsequently common to Mazzo- lino, the two captains to the left hand affected in movement with spindle legs ; in fact the character of Ercole is distinct; the flesh re- stored all over and of a reddish tone. 4 Padua, Conte Ferdinando Ca- valli. Small panel, gay in tone, and full, of gloss. 5 Ferrara, Professor Saroli. Here is a picture representing the death of the Virgin, which was once in San Guglielmo at Ferrara, and is ascribed by some persons to Man- tegna. The Virgin lies on the tomb, surrounded by the apostles, and on the gold ground above is a glory of angels, within which the soul goes up to heaven. This is an ugly picture, full of skinny grimacing figures, with all the faults of the Ferrarese, and some- thing of the manner which Grandi might have had in his earliest period, but query is it by him or the young Costa, or even Coltellini. ^Cittadella (L. N.) Notizie, ub. sup. 337. Chap. XVII. SCHIFANOIA PALACE. 535 employed as masters or journeymen can no longer be ascertained. Galasso, Zoppo, Tura, Cossa and Costa are those whose style is most conspicuous, but the share assignable to each of them is unequal and variable. The plan of the decoration was due to one man, its execution to many. The walls are divided into three courses, the short side of the rectangle into three, the long side into four, quadrangular sections; in the middle course the signs of the Zodiac, above each sign the heathen god or goddess presiding, and scenes inci- dent to his or her attributes; below each sign episodes of the public and domestic life of Duke Borso at each of the indicated seasons. Thus, if we start from the right side of the short face t seen from the principal doorway, we find first Aries, or March, with Minerva, drawn by unicorns between two groups illustrating the science of the legist and the economy of weaving. Below the sign, which in itself is also a display of pic- torial skill, Borso stands in front of a triumphal arch giving judgment in a cause, and then goes on a hawking expedition. Next comes the "bull," presided over by Venus, the deities in every case being on cars with teams of animals, fanciful and real, and beneath, Borso making a present to his fool, riding out hawking, and witnessing a donkey-race. And so we proceed round the hall, seeing in succession the Gemini, Cancer, Lion, Virgin and Balance, the four last being on the long face, lighted by windows looking out on the inner court. 1 1 Ferrara, Schifanoia. White- j a car with four horses; Aurora washed in the middle of the 18 th j holding- the ribands; gambols of century, recovered in 1840. Sub- children and a group of poets to jects and condition: upper course; j the right and left (the dress of Aries; a large hole in the centre. Aurora gone). A space between Bull; fairly preserved; Venus with the corner and the first compart- Mars at her knees, drawn by ment on the long face is wanting, swans; on the banks right and Cancer; Mercury drawn on a car by left, couples in dalliance, the three | two eagles, at the side, incidents illus- graces, doves, rabbits, and other . trative of music, shepherd-life, and emblems of fecundity. Gemini; the ars mercaioria, Argo decapitated Apollo, with crown and orb, on j in the distance. The foreground. 536 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVII. In the upper course of Aries, the Bull, and Gemini, we have already had occasion to note some affinity with Piero della Francesca. 1 In no other part of the hall is space more accurately divided and filled up; the groups are well set, the forms and movements cleverly ren- dered, and the treatment comparatively free and bold. We observe the fleshy lip, the high cheek bone, the flattened nose of Francesca, with a brown tinge of colour in flesh, a deep dullness in the shades of dresses, and a rusty darkness in shadows. These and other features point to the authorship of Cossa, assisted per- haps in the Bull and Gemini by Galasso. Cancer and Lion are very different indeed in merit from these; they are unattractive from the exaggerated character and figure to the right of the car, and the drapery of the man on the left hand foreground colourless. Lion; Jupiter on a car drawn by two lions. Left, wedding, supposed to be that of Bianca d'Este with Galeotto Pico della Mirandola; right, priests playing cymbal, drum, & a . The dresses in the latter group colourless. Virgin; Ceres on a car, incidents of the harvest, in the distance rape of Proserpine, in fair preservation. Balance; allegory of concupiscence, a female on a car drawn by apes. Left, the cave of Vulcan with the Cy- clops at their forge; right, a couple on a couch, in the distance infants (preserved). Middle course, all in grounds now black, but originally blue. The dress of the Virgin in the sign of that name colourless. Lower course. Aries; Borso giving judgment, colours of dresses in most cases abraded, figures on horseback in distance, mere outlines; faces of Borso and the man in peasant-dress before him injured. Bull; dresses dis- coloured, face of the fool, and sleeves of his dress abraded; genuine. Here there remain but two figures of mowers and a distant bridge with figures, much abraded. On the long face in the angle, before we come to the sign of Cancer, a troop of horsemen with lances (the art is that of a very poor painter). Cancer; Borso returns from hawking in the plain of Ferrara. He receives a petition in a portico; a piece in the middle of the foreground and another in the house to the right (distance) scaled away. Lion; Borso, in front of a richly decorated arch, receives a peasant with a paper, in the presence of his court; to the right horsemen of the suite, to the left the same, and in the foreground three women washing, the latter group by a very inferior hand; the distance and many dresses are colourless. Virgin; to the right Borso, attended by his court, receives an envoy from the Bolognese, and- to the left goes out hawking; the whole much in- jured, and the figure of Borso on horseback all but obliterated. Balance; Borso, to the left receives a Venetian ambassador; to the right goes out hawking, much in- jured. 1 History of Painting in Italy, II. 549. Chap. XVII. SCHIFANOIA PALACE. 537 rigidity of the forms and masks, as well as from their incorrect drawing and sombre tones. This, perhaps, is the unadulterated type of Galasso. A little better, and therefore perhaps by Cosimo Tura, are the Virgin and the Balance, the latter chiefly remarkable for the coarse- ness of its allegorical allusions. Returning to Aries, and following the same order for the lower as for the upper course, another style is apparent. In Aries, we have said, Borso gives judgment in a cause, and starts on a hawking expedition. One disadvantage under which the artist labours in representing the scene, arises from the unpicturesque fit of the dress. Nothing could be more disheartening for the draughtsman than the tight hose, shell jackets and skullcaps of the period. Yet he dwells with extraordinary minuteness and pati- ence on their detail, finishing every part with sedulous care, and giving a very decided portrait-character to the heads. His skill in arrangement is much less than that of his rival in the upper course; the personages are stiff and stilted, the architecture poor in taste and defective in perspective, the tone dull and dusky; there is an obvious overcharge of subordinate incidents. We admire the detail but miss the great maxims of composition ; finish and accessories are considered more important than effect by light and shade, or brilliancy of tint; Tura's art seems modified by the hand of young Lorenzo Costa. In the next fresco, illustrating the sign of the Bull, where Borso makes a present to his fool, the portrait- character of certain figures recalls Benozzo. Throughout the whole of this lower course, excepting in Cancer, and in small portions intercalated by poorer hands, the manner is that of Tura and Costa. 1 In the middle course Aries and perhaps the Bull are also by Tura or Costa, the Gemini are by Cossa; Cancer by Galasso; Lion by Galasso or Tura; the Virgin and Balance by 1 In Cancer, defects common to Galasso are partly covered by finish, reminding ns of Zoppo. 538 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVII. Tura or Costa. We leave the hall of the Schifanoia with the impression that the Ferrarese school yielded productions not on a level with those of the best second-rates, certainly with no higher claims to critical attention than those of Bonfigli of Perugia. What doubts there may be as to Lorenzo Costa's early career relate chiefly to the question whether he went in his youth to Florence to study the works of Lippi and Benozzo Gozzoli, or whether his apprenticeship to art was with Tura or Cossa. 1 Of his birth in 1460 at Fer- rara, as well as of his education in his native place, there are satisfactory proofs. 2 We may therefore assume that after he had spent some years in local ateliers he left home and wandered to Florence, returning subse- quently to take a part in the frescos of the Schifanoia, where alone a trace of Benozzo's influence can be dis- cerned. It is quite uncertain when he painted the martyred S l Sebastian in the Costabili collection at Ferrara, but in no other production is his treatment so defective. We have no reason to contest the genuineness of the signa- ture on the base of the pillar to which the saint is bound; it purports to be the name of Lorenzo Costa in Hebrew character, and is acknowledged as such by persons competent to give an opinion ; 3 but if this be so, Costa is a pupil of Tura, and not unacquainted with the works of Ercole Roberti or Stefano. Large grinning faces, with broad shoulders and hips, large hands and feet and fleshless limbs, broken outline and mechanical cast of drapery, are clear evidence of Ferrarese teaching, whilst in the pose of an armed soldier in the distance 1 Vasari says (IV. 239, 40) that Lorenzo studied for some months the works of Lippi and Benozzo. 2 The register of deaths at Man- tua contains an entry of the death of Lorenzo Costa of fever at the age of 75, in the year 1536, new style. 3 Ferrara, Costabili Gall. Wood, tempera, under life-size, inscribed in Hebrew characters: "Magister Laurentius Costa." The colour is of a cold iron-grey, and more like metal than flesh; the tempera is glossy, yet finished with fine hatching. Chap. XVII. LORENZO COSTA. 539 traditions of Mantegna are preserved. 1 Another picture, equally Ferrarese in appearance, and as surely the crea- tion of a young painter, is the martyrdom of S l Sebastian in the Marescotti chapel at San Petronio of Bologna, where the saint is drawn on a curious antique pedestal surrounded by his executioners. It is not yet absolutely proved when Costa was in Bologna for the first time; but Italian historians seem inclined to admit that he was employed there by the family of Bentivoglio as far back as 1480; they even state that he painted scenes from the Iliad and from Greek history in the Bentivoglio palace in 1483 ; 2 he may therefore have had numerous commissions at that period, and perhaps have finished, among other compo- sitions, the martyrdom of S l Sebastian in the Marescotti chapel. 3 In a portrait of Canon Vaselli, who was patron of the altar, as well as in the martyr and his torturers, Costa repeats the defects which make his S l Sebastian at Ferrara so unattractive, and again suggests reminiscences of Mantegna. The fleshless and angular character of the personages, their uniform tint and light shading, all betray the youth of a Ferrarese artist, the draperies alone showing a tendency to imitate the Umbrians ; but as yet Costa would be unable to produce what we are inclined to consider his in the decorations of the Schifa- noia. In subsequent years the Marescotti chapel was again the scene of his labours, but not till his style had undergone great and remarkable changes. By what 1 Ferrara, Professor Saroli. It may be possible that the "death of the Virgin" in this collection should be an early Costa; admit- ting this, Costa would prove to be a disciple of Ercole Roberti. See antea. 2 See the authorities in Baruf- faldi, u. s. I. note to 106—114. Laderchi, u. s. 42, and Vasari, IV. 242. The Bentivoglio palace was destroyed in 1507. 3 Bologna, San Petronio, cap pella Marescotti. Canvas, tempera, figures under life-size. The scene is in a landscape. The best figure is in the foreground, an archer winding his crossbow. A cartello on the pedestal contains strange characters that have not yet been deciphered. 540 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVII. steps and under what advice these changes took place is not quite certain, but the record of them is already clear in the votive madonna placed in 1488 on one of the walls of the cappella Bentivoglio in San Jacopo Maggiore at Bologna. The Virgin here is seated on a richly ornamented throne with bas-reliefs and trophies on its pillars and base, statuettes on crystal orbs at its sides, and two angels playing instruments on its pin- nacle. At the Virgin's knees Giovanni Bentivoglio and his spouse, and on the floor below, their family of eleven children. A great improvement is here apparent in the tasteful arrangement of the architecture and skilful correctness of the perspective. The drawing is much more satisfactory than that of earlier examples, the pro- portions are better, extremities are more in keeping, and the outlines are clean and free from objectionable breaks; but the portraits are Ferrarese in air, and still recall Tura or Cossa. Much dignity is given to the Virgin, whose oval face expresses serenity; and the drapery is cast with something like ease. The likenesses are individual and very fairly worked out, yet on the whole the altarpiece is not without hardness; its flesh tones are dusky and uniform, and the shadows have too little depth to produce perfect relief. 1 Costa was not confined to the mere furnishing of a votive madonna, he also composed the landscapes which surround an equestrian statue of Annibale Bentivoglio on the wall to the right of the entrance, and in 1490 he finished the triumphs of life and death on the wall to the left of the doorway. We shall not attempt to describe the minutiae of allegories which were invented by some scribe in the 1 Bologna, San Jacopo Maggiore. Canvas, tempera, on the wall, to the right of the entrance to the cappella Bentivoglio. On the pedes- tal, beneath a monochrome re- presenting a sacrifice, a tablet bears the words: "Me, patriam et Jnjlces cara (vjm (ojnjuge natos (o)- mend. precibus Virgo beata tuis. MCCCCLXXXVIII. LAfRENTIVS (oJSS faciebat." The figures in general are short. The distance and the arch in which the throne stands are thrown out of harmony by restoring. Chap. XVIT. LORENZO COSTA. 541 pay of the Bentivoglii; it was natural that the creation should be represented in the one, and the car of death followed by kings and beggars in the other; enough that Costa carried out these fanciful subjects with appro- priate power and distributed the parts with judgment, eschewing alike confusion and extravagance, and giving to the human and to the brute form its fair proportion. 1 Though still Ferrarese in its impress, his art already begins to assume the steadiness and softness which finally became its chief characteristics, and which in a still higher measure were a source of attractiveness in the pictures of his friend Francesco Francia. Some considerable time elapsed, however, before Costa sub- stituted the newer Umbrian for the older Ferrarese habit. In the annunciation which- he painted between 1490 and 1495, at the sides of the martyrdom of S' Sebastian in San Petronio, his manner gains breadth and boldness, his figures are fairly drawn with extremi- ties of select shape, but they still remind us of Man- tegna by a certain kind of regularity, and by their peculiar cast of drapery; there is devotional tender- ness in movement and gesture, but the flesh tints are still uniform and dusky. If at the same period Costa had the commission for the apostles, which fill imitated niches in the chapel, it is not unlikely that he left that portion of the work to his disciples. 2 He was busy 1 Same church and chapel. The landscapes on canvas about the statue of Annibale are disfigured by repainting', and the inscriptions are in part obliterated. The triumphs are also on canvas, and, accord- ing to Lamo, were done in 1490. The figures are under life-size. (Lamo, Graticola, 36.) 2 Bologna, San Petronio, capp. Marescotti. Canvas. The figures of 1 the Virgin and angel erect, in front of an arc! i way, are in good per- spective. The twelve apostles in niches round the chapel arc, qoI in good condition; some are spotted, others are restored in oil. The whole chapel must have been finished before 1495, when Canon Vaselli caused the following in- scription to be placed on the foot- board of the seats: "Donum quodcumque pio heret sacello. Do- nati cuncta Christo donatus de Vasellis bononiensis hujus excelse canonicus ecclesie. dono. dedit, opus vcro jacobi ct fratru filioru M. Augustini de Marchis de Crema bononien. MCCCCLXXXXV." 542 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVII. elsewhere in more interesting labours, and especially in composing the great madonna with saints exhibited in 1492 on the high altar of the oratory of the Baciocchi at San Petronio. He could not have imagined anything more sumptuous than the florid decoration of the sanctuary and throne in which he placed his personages. He is prodigal of stone carving, of marble relief inlaying and gold ground, balancing the coldness of the one against the glitter of the other, projecting shadows with careful attention to the forms, noting the reflections of surrounding objects in the steel armour of a saint, and those of the armour itself on a marble pillar. Against this clear and varie- gated ground he throws the sombre warmth of deeply contrasted dresses and of ruddy flesh tints, even in the latter pitting coldish light against reddish half-tone and high surface shadows. His medium now is oil of strong varnishy polish; the figures are more calm, composed and easier in motion than before; the Virgin slender, with a round oval face of gentle aspect; S 1 Jerom, Bellinesque; and S l George not unlike a creation of Giovanni Santi. S l Sebastian is hard and sharp in outline, not quite correct, especially in the hands, but boldly set in the left hand corner of the picture in the fashion of Buonconsiglio ; the draperies are almost Umbrian in cast, though still overcharged. In all this Costa approximates to Francia, but remains Ferraresc in the sharpness of his tints and in the overcharge of ornament and architectural detail. He recalls Melozzo in three graceful angels playing instruments in a lunette. 1 In a graver mood about this period the sitting S l Jerom in San Petronio was produced, a picture of much coarser stuff than the madonna of the Baciocchi chapel, but of 1 Same ch., cappella Baciocchi, I and George (the two centre saints formerly de' Rossi. Panel, oil, | kneeling), and inscribed: "Lan- Virgin and child enthroned be- I rentius Cos'A MCCCCLXXXXII." tween S ts Sebastian, James, Jerom, j Chap. XVII. LORENZO COSTA. 543 such sternness that it might entitle Costa to be called the Van Eyck of Ferrara. 1 From this time forward Costa became more completely Umbrian, and commingled the breadth of his own style with the softness of that of Francia, yet without Francia's careful blending and finish, or his delicacy of tone. He thus painted in 1497 the Virgin and child ■ with saints at the Segni chapel in San Giovanni in Monte of Bologna, and the glory of the madonna on the high altar of the same church — two pieces which seem done in company with Francia himself. 2 In 1499 he furnished the predella to Francia's altarpiece at the Misericordia, an adoration of the magi, now at the Brera; 3 and he produced likewise the lunette frescos in the Bentivoglio chapel at San Jacopo Maggiore, where his breadth of treatment in setting and draping numerous figures of the Virgin and of saints almost reminds us of Perugino. 4 1 Same church, on an altar, late of the Castelli. S l Jerom in a stone chair under a portico; he stops writing and looks down at the lion to the right. Panel, figure of life-size. Some barbarian in 1866 struck a nail into the middle of the panel to hang a small picture on. The hands here are coarse, bony, and cramped, the colour dark, rough, and in oil, and not free from retouching. 2 Bologna, San Giovanni in Monte, cappella Ercolani ,e Segni of old, Chedini, done according to Yasari (IV. 243) in 1497. Virgin and child enthroned, between S ts Augustin, John Evangelist, and two other saints; originally a fine work, but dimmed by time and ill lighted. In the same ch. high-altar. The Virgin between the Eternal and Christ, with seven angels, two of whom hang the crown over the Virgin 1 ® head; at the sides S ts Sebastian, John Evangelist, John the Baptist, Augustin, Victor, and another saint. This also is a ! brown picture with a rich land- | scape distance, still more in Fran- cia's manner than the foregoing. 3 Milan, Brera, No. 140. Small panel, m. 0-71 h. by 1'78. The Virgin to the left in a chair, S l Joseph near her leaning on his staff, inscribed : "Laurentius Costa f. 1499." This predella was once in the Misericordia at Bologna, and belonged to Francia's nativity in that church. (See postea.) The colour is olive, the figures lean and slender, the landscape Um- brian. Laderchi in speaking of this predella makes two mistakes. (Pitt. Ferr. 46 and 48.) He sup- poses the inscription to contain an allusion to Costa's being as- sistant of Francia, and he sup- poses the picture to be the pre- della of Costa's altarpiece in the Pinacoteca of Bologna, represent- ing S l Petronius between two saints. The adoration in the S' Petronius is an imitated bas-relief on the pedestal of the throne. 4 Bologna, San Jacopo Maggiore, cappella Bentivoglio. Lunettes: 544 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVII. The course of Costa and Francia during these years was to a certain extent parallel; Costa, we think, was of use to Francia between 1480 and 1490, and doubtless gave him many useful hints and much instruction. Between 1490 and 1500 Francia rivalled and excelled his friend, and Costa willingly followed where at first he had been the leader. 1 We know of no similar change of parts except in the relations of Raphael to Perugino or Timoteo Viti. The master in both cases shrank to the second place, and lost something of his power in doing so. It is not to be concealed that in the slender and dry figures of three or four sacred pictures done by Costa in 1502, 4, and 5, he fell to a lower rank than he had before held. 2 The Virgin and saints of 1505 in the National Gallery 1°, to the left hand of entrance and at the sides of the window, five saints; 2°, ahove the altar- piece of Francia, and an annun- ciation by Cignani; a vision of the apocalypse by Costa, with two figures to the right hand added by Felice Cignani in the 18 th century; 3°, Virgin and child between six saints, much injured and restored. No doubt the cupola also was by Costa, but its ornaments were re- newed by Cignani. These paint- ings are so much in Francia 1 s spirit, that they have been as- signed to him by Kugler (Hand- book, p. 265), yet they are un- doubtedly Costa's, the figures having his Ferrarese type and being draped in his peculiar fashion; as to colour there is nothing to be said, the frescos being in a bad state of preservation. 1 That Costa's name in art was respected at this time is shown by his being chosen to value the pictorial decorations of Biagio Rossetti in the choir of the duomo at Ferrara, in 1499. (Cittadella, Documenti, & a u. s. 75.) 2 Bologna, Pinacoteca, No. G5, originally Santissima Annunziata of Bologna. Panel, oil, figures three- quarters of life-size, gold ground. S l Petronius enthroned between S ts Francis and Dominick, on the step of the throne a bas-relief of the adoration of the magi, inscr. : "Laurentius Costa p. MCCCCCII." The figures are lean and dry, the tint generally dark and reddish. In this piece Costa may have been assisted by journeymen. No. 66. Lunette of Christ supported by angels in the tomb. This piece is catalogued in the Bologna Pinac. as by Costa. Berlin Museum, No. 115. Panel, 5f. 10 h. by 4f. 5. Christ in his winding-sheet, bewailed by Simon, Nicodemus, and the Marys, inscr. : "Laurentius Costa. MCCCCCIIII;" not free from restoring, but care- fully executed; the figures slender. No. 112. Presentation in the temple. Wood, 9f. 10 h. by 8f. 4, inscribed: "Laurentius Costa f. 1502." Somewhat coarse, and re- touched, but in the character of the foregoing. No. 114. Wood, 4f. 6 h. by 3f. 1. Presentation in the temple, restored and feeble. Chap. XVII. COSTA. 545 is neatly arranged, graceful in the movement of tlie personages and lively in colour; it reflects a ray of the greatness of the Bellinesques, but has not the mascu- line force of the madonna of 1488. 1 In the oratory of Santa Cecilia alone Costa keeps a respectable level. Like the Brancacci at Florence and the Eremitani at Padua, this chapel illustrates an entire period. After its foundation by Giovanni Bentivoglio in 1481/- it was decorated in succession by Francia, Costa, Chiodarolo, and Aspertini; Costa's share consisting of two frescos, in one of which Pope Urban is shown instructing his convert Valerian in presence of the faith- ful; whilst in the other, Valerian distributes his wealth to the poor. The compositions are good, animated and telling; the figures well set and expressive, of slender pro- portions, and not without feeling; drapery cast in the Umbrian mould. Costa's art, in fact, is to that of the Bolognese what Pinturicchio's was to the Perugian. He is second only to Francia, with less delicacy and harmony 1 London, National Gallery, No. 029, wood, transferred to canvas. Virgin, child, and angels between four saints. Centre, 5f. 5'/ 2 h. by 2f. 5; sides, If. 9'/ 2 and 3f. 7 h. by If. 10y 2 5 inscribed: "Laurentius Costa f. 1505." This picture, ori- ginally in the Oratorio delle Gra- zie at Faenza, and "subsequently in the Ercolani collection at Bo- logna, passed through the hands of Mr. Wigram at Rome, Mr. Van Cuyck, and Mr. Reiset before it came into English hands. We may add to this: Bologna, Santissima Annunziata. Marriage of the Virgin; panel, oil, figures half life-size, inscribed: "Lauren- tius Costa, 1505," of a dull tone, and much below the madonna of the National Gallery. We are re- minded here of Manni, Chiodarolo and Amico Aspertini, the figures being small and coldly executed. Sacristy of tin' same church. The VOL. I. entombment; six figures in Costa's manner and imitating Francia, feeble and by the painter's jour- neymen, possibly by the young Mazzolino; the figures being slender and highly coloured. Bologna, San Martino. The assumption and resurrection, arched panel, with figures less than life-size, assigned to Perugino, but by Costa in Francia's manner, perhaps with the assistance of Ercole Grandi or Timoteo Viti. 2 Bologna, Santa Cecilia. (Sec Gualandi, Guida di Bologna, 18G0, p. 98.) The architect was Gaspare Nadi. The chapel is a rectangle, the long sides of which are di- vided into five fields. The fourth Held from the entrance on each side is by Costa; both of the frescos are injured by damp, stains, and dust, both have laud scape distances; and the figures are almost of the size of life. 35 546 THE FERKARESE. Chap. XVII. of tone, but with a more powerful Ferrarese key of colour. Historians are unfortunately silent as to whether during his stay at Bologna Costa came to Ferrara. When we consider that the two cities are little more than twenty-five miles apart, it seems not unlikely that Costa should pay Ferrara an occasional visit without giving up his usual residence at Bologna. He would thus have constant opportunities of performing . the commissions entrusted to him at Ferrara, and so have finished at different dates the frescos at the Schifanoia, those of the choir at San Domenico which have perished, 1 and others of which the locality is now uncertain. 2 We may believe that his journeys to Ferrara were frequent and irregular the more readily as his pictures there exhibit the same changes as those which we have seen at Bologna. 3 In the noble madonna enthroned between saints at the Casa Strozzi, an altarpiece once in San Christoforo degli Esposti, his broadest style is displayed with a strong Fer- rarese tinge of surface and that mixture of the Umbrian or Pcruginesque in the figures and drapery which mark his manner in the first years of the 15 th century. Here, too, is the Ferrarese habit of overcharging the architectural parts with bas-reliefs and medals. 4 Equally good and of 1 Vasari, IV. 240. 2 Ferrara. Amongst missing' pictures are: 1", Portrait of Al- phonzo of Ferrara as a child, b. 147G. (Baruffaldi, I. 108.) S l Je- rom once in Santa Maria in Vado (ib. ib. 110). A dead Christ with S ts Sebastian, Jerom, and Peter Mar- tyr in the chiesa degli Angeli, of which it is said that part of the S l Jerom is preserved in the Barbi-Conti collection. (Laderchi, Pitt. Ferr. 50.) A Holy Family, once in Sant 1 Antonio. (Baruffaldi, I. 122.) Two saints in San Vito. (Ih. ib.) Two Virgins in Santa Caterina Martire. (Ib. ib.) The entombment in Santa Caterina of Sienna. (II). ib.) A crucifixion, and a Virgin and child in Sant 1 Agostino. (Ib. ib.) A Pieta in San Gabrielli. (Ib. ib.) 3 It is said that he visited Ra- venna where frescos ascribed to him were shown of old in San Domenico. (Baruff. I. 123.) 4 Ferrara, Marchese Strozzi. Wood, oil, figures life-size. In the spandrils of the arch behind the throne, medallions with the Vir- gin and angel annunciate below which, in imitated mosaic on gold ground, the judgment of Solomon and the sacrifice of Abraham; on the throne-plinth monochromes of Adam and Eve, the massacre of the Innocents, the presentation, the flight into Fgypt, & a . The Chap. XVII. COSTA. 547 the same time is the Virgin on a rich throne attended by two saints which recently passed from the Costabili collection into that of Sir Ivor Guest in England. 1 More in the Umbrian mode of Pinturicchio are the small panels with legendary incidents in the Costabili Gallery, 2 whilst the lunette Pieta in the Casa Saroli is in the spirit of Francia. 3 It was Costa's fortune after the expulsion of the family of Bentivoglio from Bologna, and therefore after the loss of his most powerful patron, to receive offers of service from the Gonzagas of Mantua. The Marquis Francesco offered him a large salary and a house in 1509, made him superintendent of the painters at his court, and employed him in " triumphs " and portraits. He remained uninterruptedly at Mantua till his death in 1536, and produced there about as much as he had already pro- duced in Bologna and Ferrara together; but in the course of centuries the calamities which befel Mantua were peculiarly fatal to his pictures, and we can almost count saints at the sides are S l Gugli- elmo in armour and the Baptist. Since the picture' was taken from San Cristoforo it has lost much of its old brown patina. 1 England, Sir Ivor Guest, for- merly in the Costabili collection. Canvas, lately restored by the re- moval of varnishes and retouches in tempera. Virgin and child life- size;, with two angels playing in- struments on the arms of the throne, and two others behind them, and the usual accompani- ments of bas-reliefs and statuettes. This picture was formerly in the Collegio del Jesu., The mantle is fastened at the shoulder with a brooch, representing the eagle of the family of the Fste's. This may therefore he a canvas, purchased by the Duke of Ferrara in 1502, of which there is a MS. record in existence. (MS. favoured by Marquis Campori.) In this picture, the child and the saint to the right hand turbaned and holding three nails in his hand, are quite Peruginesque. 2 Ferrara, Costabili collection. 1°, a combat; 2°, a female led to the presence of an armed captain, free, even neglected in treatment. In the same place 3° and 4°, angel and Virgin annunciate, very grace ful little pieces. From the same collection in possession of Mr. Layard in London, the adoration of the shepherds. 3 Ferrara, Professor Saroli. Lu- nette, Pieta, on panel, with half- lengths of S ts Bernardino and Francis at the corners, said to he a part of the altarpiece belonging to the Marquis Strozzi, and yei here the treatment and spirit are not of the same period of Costa's career as the altarpiece in question. The colours are very glossy, and well preserved. 548 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVII. them now on the fingers of one hand. 1 One of them, the Virgin and child between two saints in the gallery of Ferrara, was preserved because it was a commission for a Veronese church; another, the allegory of Isabella's poetic court, engraved in these pages, was removed at the sack of Mantua, and passed to the museum of the Louvre; a third, a small diptych, with the nativity and Christ in the tomb, had its last resting-place in the collection of the late Sir Charles Eastlake; a fourth, a madonna and saints of 1525, was presented by Costa himself to the church of Sant' Andrea at Mantua. In the first of these we perceive a mixture of the Ferrarese and Mantuan, and something that recalls Bonsignori ; 2 the "court of Isabella" is a scattered composition half inspired from Mantegna's allegories, and imitating in a certain measure his classicism of attitude and slender- ness of form, but Umbrian also in the affectation of the poses, and somewhat monotonous in its yellow brown tone. 3 The diptych is a pretty little miniature touched with great firmness, highly finished, and of bright and polished surface, betraying as it were some passing impression produced by the study of Venetian art; 4 the 1 See the records of his appoint- ment at a salary of 669 lire, and notices of his works at Mantua in Darco, Delle Arti Mantov. ub. sup. I. 62, II. 78—9, 158, 9, and Vasari, IV. 241, 2. His chief Avorks were in the palace of San Sebastian, where the Marquis Fran- cesco was represented under the protection of Hercules, on horse- back, surrounded by his suite and family, and as general of Holy Church. Costa also painted there the fable of Latona and the frogs, the story of Coriolanus, a S l Sebastian, scenes from the Old Testament, and a S l John in the desert. 2 Ferrara Gallery, room V. No. 11, wood, figures half life-size. Virgin and child between S l Jerom *T and a bishop, perhaps by a pupil of Costa and Bonsignori. No. 12 in the same collection representing the Virgin adoring the child and saints, is not by Costa. 3 Leuvre, No. 175, canvas, m. 1-58 h. by 1*93, inscribed: "L. Costa f." The picture came after the sack of Mantua into the cha- teau Richelieu in France. 4 London, collection of the late Sir Ch. Eastlake. To the left in the nativity a kneeling figure. In the second composition Christ in the tomb supported by angels with S l Jerom penitent to the left hand ; Calvary, and S l Francis re- ceiving the stigmata in the dis- tance. The figures are thin and slender, but in Costa's most chas- / Chap. XVII. COSTA. 549 madonna of Sant' Andrea, though greatly injured, still shows how deeply affected Costa had been by Umbrian models. 1 We might almost conjecture that he had a share in certain frescos in Mantegna's chapel at Sant' Andrea/ 2 and in the room called the Schalcheria at Mantua. 3 We should remember also that he may claim to have been the author of a portrait at the Uffizi which purports to be Isabella of Mantua by Mantegna, and which we have been inclined to assign to Bonsignori. 1 It is a likeness which certainly does not bear the stamp of Costa as unmistakeably as the fine one at the Pitti, in which the strong brown tone, broad treatment and successful modelling of the masters best period prevail. 5 tened manner, the colour powerful and bright. 1 Mantua, Sant 1 Andrea, cap- pella San Silvestro. Virgin and child between S ts Sebastian, Sil- vestro, Roch, and two others. Canvas, oil, life-size, inscribed: "A. D. MDXXV. L. Costa fecit et donavit." The composition is not without grandeur, and there is life in the figures. The colours have lost their freshness and are now very dim. 2 Mantua, Sant 1 Andrea. Four evangelists in the angles of the ceiling, much injured, and recall- ing in a certain measure Costa. (See antea.) 3 Mantua, Castello, Schalcheria; ceiling with ten medallions con- taining heads of emperors and females, and others simulating bronze reliefs with incidents of Roman history, also fourteen lu- nettes with hunts and episodes from the fable of Diana. These are well composed and more chastened than the work of Giu- lio Romano, to whom they are usually assigned. The figures are elegant and slender, the colouring is soft, and on the whole seems a mixture of the styles of Lorenzo Costa and Caroto. 4 Uffizi, No. 1121. This cannot be the portrait mentioned by the Anonimo as having been sent to Venice to the Marquis Francesco when he was a prisoner there. That portrait was a joint one of Isabella and her daughter. It was in the Anonimo's time in Casa Jeronimo Marcello. (Anon. 67, 202.) 5 Florence, Pitti. No. 376, wood, m. 0*19 h. by 0-15, half-length of a man in a red cap, with falling hair, a chain, and green dress (retouched in the cheek and hair), inscribed: "Laurentius Costa f." This fine portrait is of a strong tone, a little raw in touch, the forms are well defined and mo- delled. It is a question whether this is not the so-called portrait of Giovanni Bentivoglio, once in the Isolani collection at Bologna, but described by Lanzi as having the signature: "Laurentius Costa. Franciae discipulus." At all events the addition of " Franciae disci- pulus" is not on the portrait ;il the Pitti, and Lanzi doubted its genuineness in the portrait of the Isolani collection. We may catalogue as not seen, 550 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVII. Costa, at his death in 1536, left an entire family of craftsmen in Mantua, some of whom served under Giulio Romano; we shall not dwell upon their lives and works which may be found registered in the local history of Mantua. It is of more interest to notice the pupils whom Costa left behind on his retiring from Bologna, the most interesting of whom, no doubt, is Ercole di Giulio Grandi. We have already given an outline of Grandi's life in the attempt to distinguish him from Ercole Koberti Grandi. He is, no doubt, the disciple of Costa; but even as such he inherits the art derived by Costa from Francia, and not that of Costa's earlier and more exclusively Ferrarese period. There are two pieces which may be cited as typical of Ercole; these are, the martyred S l Sebastian with saints and three kneeling patrons in San Paolo at Ferrara, and S l George fighting the dragon in the Corsini Gallery at Rome. At the sides of the S l Sebastian an aged saint leans on a staff, and S l Fabian halts in prayer; the martyr himself standing on a bracket bound to the trunk of a tree in a landscape of Venetian air. The principal novelty in this picture is attributable to its combination of Umbrian and Ferrarese features; the bright sharp colour with its enamel surface being distinctly Ferrarese, whilst the slenderness and neatness of the figures with their soft look and gentle or missing, the following: Bo- logna, alia Misericordia. S l Sebas- tian, in oil, dated 1503. (?) (Lamo, Graticola, 14.) San Tommaso. Virgin, child, S ts Proculus, Bar- tholomew, and others, sold 1832. (Barnffaldi, I. 112.) Santa Maria della Mascarella. Resurrection. (Ib. ib. ib.) San Lorenzo de 1 Guerini. Virgin, child, S ts Lawrence, Je- rom, and angels. (Ib. ib. 113.) San Francesco. Nativity with S ts James and Anthony of Padna. (Vas. IV. 243.) Signor Testa from the Certosa of Ferrara. Pieta. (Barnffaldi, I. 121.) Biblioteca dell 1 Istituto di Bologna. Portrait of Andrea Bentivoglio and Elena Dnglioli, not seen. (Litta. cit. in notes to Barnffaldi, I. 120.) Carpi. San Niccolo and afterwards in the collection of Conte Teodoro Lecchi, but not there now, S l Anthony of Padua, between S ts Catherine and Ursula. Cronica del Pad. Gio. F. Malazappi. (Passavant Raphael, I. 97, and Campori, Gli artisti, p. 168.) Mantua, Sant' Andrea. Adoration of the magi, and nati- vity, two large pictures. (Dones- mondi 1st. Eccles. di Mantua, lib. VI. No. 46.) Correggio, San Fran- cesco. S l Anthony the Abbot. (Campori, Gli artisti, p. 168—9.) Chap. XVII. COSTA. 551 movement are Peruginesque in the mode of Costa. This is very noticeable in the S' Sebastian as well as in the two standing saints; the patrons are also small and dry in shape, but well made out and with a good portrait- character, reminding us by precise outlines of Timoteo Viti's altarpiece in the duomo of Urbino. 1 The S l George, on the harness of whose horse Ercole placed his monogram, is also Umbrian in the cold gentle- ness of its aspect; 2 and yet brings up reminiscences of Filippino Lippi, so gay and lively is the play of its tones. The horse is heavy in shape, but grace dwells in the kneeling female, and a pleasant variety in the lines of the landscape. The finish and polish of this little miniature are very remarkable. If we could conceive Grandi at some period of his youth to have been more distinctly Ferrarese than he appears in the works we have named, he might be mentioned as probable author of the S l Dominick ascribed to Zoppo at the National Gallery, and companion pieces at Ferrara and Dresden. 3 He may also be the painter of the small panel at Dudley House, representing the gathering of the manna, of which there is an old copy at Dresden; 1 but in his late manner, and when he imitates Costa, his style is easily 1 Ferrara, San Paolo. Wood, oil, figures under life-si,ze, in the distance the flight into Egypt. This picture is correctly assigned to Ercole Grandi. We note here how the saint, leaning on his pole, bends to one side as Costa's figures frequently do. The landscape is strong and sombre in tone. The surface, however, is slightly changed by dust and dirt. 2 Rome, Corsini Gallery, with the monogram on the horse's hind quarter, small panel, 2f. 4'/ 2 high by If. 9'/ 2 , well preserved, oil. We remember that there is a fine Filippino in San Domenico <>t' Bologna. 3 London, National Gallery, No. 597. Ferrara, Casa Barbi-Conti. Dresden Museum, No. 18. (See antea in Baldassare.) 4 London, Dudley House. Small panel; to the left hand Moses with his rod, seven figures gathering the manna in bags and basket; a woman with a child, distance of houses with many figures. The personages are all well formed, slender, and in good drawing, the heads a little round and high in forehead — a Ferrarese peculiarity; the colours strong and sharp, highly fused and a mere film in the distance. Here we are re- minded of the Umbrians and of Timoteo Viti. Dresden Museum, No. 20, wood, If. h. by 2f. 4. 552 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVII. distinguished in a number of small pieces which have come into the hands of English collectors from Ferrara or have remained in Ferrara itself. 1 One of his madonnas we have seen in Casa Nordio at Padua with a forged signature of Giovanni Bellini. 2 To Panetti and Coltellini, the last of the Ferrarese of whom we shall treat in this place, but a few lines can be devoted. We are told of the first that he was born 1 London, Mr. Barker. S l Mi- chael with the balance, erect, in a landscape; wood, oil, figures one-quarter life. S l Francis d°, the latter spotted in flesh. London, Mr. Layard. Small panel, oil. Virgin and child be- tween S* Dorainick and S l Mar- garet; in a landscape, in front, a monkey, from the Costabili coll. AVarm in tone and treated with a certain ease. In the same col- lection, Moses and the Israelites coming into Egypt, with some dancing females that recall those of Mantegna. Israelites gathering the manna. These are two small canvas temperas, from the Costa- bili collection, of which there are six companion-pieces still in that repository; namely, 1°, the death of Abel; 2°, the expulsion; 3°, the creation of Eve; 4°, the tempta- tion; 5", Moses striking the rock, and 6", the Lord appearing to Moses; with the exception of the latter, which seems to have been done anew by a pupil of Garofalo, these are all in the character of Grandi. Adam in the temptation is injured. Ferrara Gallery, No. 12. Nativity, small panel, in oil. The child lies on the ground in a landscape between the Virgin and a kneeling shepherd, S l Joseph to the right hand seated, in thought. In the sky are three angels. The style is, like that of the foregoing, that of Grandi approaching to that of Mazzolino, the colours gay, lively and glossy. Ferrara, Signor Francesco Mayer. Same subject, small panel, but here the shepherd and S l Joseph stand. 2 Padua, Casa Nordio. Virgin and child in front of a green cur- tain, S l Joseph behind to the right hand, panel, half-length, signed: "Joannes Bellinus F. 1408," figures one-third of life. There are other madonnas of the same kind; ex gr. : Padua, Conte Leon Leoni. The Virgin with the child on her lap offering a piece of fruit, the child holding a bird; distance, landscape with S l Jerom in a cave to the right hand; half-length, half-size of life; purchased from the general of the Camaldoles at Home in this century. Kome, gallery of the Capitol, No. 207. Female portrait, three-quarters to the left in a red dress with slashes, her hair in a net. This seems to be by our Grandi, though ascribed to Giovanni Bellini. Lon- don, National Gallery, No. 7:?. The conversion of S l Paul, wood, If. 11 h. by 2f. 3. This looks almost too modern for Ercole, but if by him must have been one of his last productions. Naples, Sig- nor Gaetano Zir, Two small panels with allegorical subjects, one of them a dance in which seven males and females take part. These panels are very carefully finished, not free from retouching, and recall at once the schools of Mantegna and Francia. The treat- ment is like that of an artist accustomed to the use of the graver. Chap. XVII. PANETTI AND C0LTELL1NI. 553 in 1460. 1 He died in 1511-12. 2 He was a contemporary of Costa, and according to Vasari the master of Garo- falo. 3 His earliest productions betray the teaching of Bono Ferrarese. As he progressed, he came nearer to Costa in his Umbrian phase; his figures are dry and bony ; as well as rigid and stilted; but they are outlined with extreme precision and carefulness. Peculiarly his own is a varnishy surface of reddish flesh tone, har- dened by the use of grey shadow and a minute finish in rich and varied landscapes that gives to these portions of his pictures undue importance. In this and the use of strong contrasts in dresses he recalls the Cremonese. In other respects he may remind us of the Faventine Bertucci, or the followers of Pinturicchio. One of his youngest efforts is in the sacristy of the duomo at Fer- rara; 4 the only one of his works in foreign galleries is the dead Christ bewailed by the Marys in the museum of Berlin. 5 Of Coltellini we may notice the " Christ 1 Baruffaldi, I. 181—91. 2 See notes postea. 3 Vas. XI. 222. 4 Ferrara Duomo, sacristy. Wood, oil, with figures one-third of life- size. Virgin and child enthroned with two small figures of donors kneeling at the sides, and a land- scape distance, inscribed: " Domi- nions Panetus," low toned dull picture, ugly types, recalling the Flemings. 5 Berlin Museum, No. 113, wood, Of. 3 h. by If. 7, originally in San Niccolo of Ferrara, inscribed: "Dominici Paneti opus." The kneeling figure to the right hand is that of the donor, distance landscape. We add the following: Ferrara Gallery, No. 5, canvas, figures half-life, annunciation, in- scribed: " Domenicus Panetus pin- gebat." This is better than the old organ-shutters now in the choir of Sant 1 Andrea, at Ferrara, representing the Virgin, the angel, S l Andrew, and S l Augustin, can- vases. Ferrara Gallery, room V. No. 8. Visitation. This is an Umbrian composition in the fash- ion of Santfs at Fano. Same room, No. 9. Half-lengths of S l Helen and S l Stephen; these last very glossy and finished in Pa- netti's best manner. Eoom 7, No. 2. S* Andrew erect, panel, oil, life- size. This is the best of Panetti\s works, of better form and face than most, inscribed: "Dominicus Panetus." Ferrara, Gall. Cos! a bili. Here are six pieces by Pa- netti: 1°, Transit of the Virgin, canvas, figure one-quarter of lite size; 2°, presentation in the temple; 3°, half-lengths of S' Job, S l Anthony, and a bishop, frag- ment; 4°, deposition, small panel; 5°, Virgin and child, the child in- jured; 6°, S l Jerom, half-length, fine for Panctti; 7°, Virgin and 554 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVII. on the lap of the Virgin" at Dresden, assigned to Squarcione, in which the hard bony forms and broken drapery are almost Flemish in aspect; the distance of rocks being cut up into strange and incongruous shapes very characteristic of the Ferrarese. 1 The oldest authentic panel by this painter is the death of the Virgin dated 1502, in possession of Count Mazza at Ferrara, a quaint and unattractive cento of the Ferrarese and Flemish. 2 In a madonna with saints, finished four years later at Sant ? Andrea of Ferrara, his style is a mixture of that of Costa and Francia ; 3 and in 1542, the date of a Virgin child, the latter holding a chalice, the former a book; 8°, Virgin and child, half-length, behind a para- pet, hard ruddy tone. Ferrara, Conte Mazza: 1°, Virgin and child; 2°, Virgin and child be- tween the Baptist and two saints, S l Jerom and three other saints, fragments. Ferrara, Professor Sa- roli. Ecce Homo. Kovigo Gallery, No. 1*52. Nicodemus holding the nails and supporting the dead ►Saviour; S l John the Baptist and Lucy, panel, oil, figures half life- size; the Baptist injured. Louvre, Musee Napoleon, No. 224. Nati- vity, a cold painting, recalling the styles of Francia and Costa, a little more modern in air than Panetti. Domenico Panetti was the son of Gasparo "de Panetis " of Fer- rara; the date of his birth is uncertain. He married in 1503; the year in which, according to Baruffaldi (u. s. I. 187, 193), he painted a S l Job, inscribed: "Do- minicus Panetius 1503 Klis Apri- lis;" and a Virgin and child be- tween S ts Anthony, Job, Peter, and Vito, signed: "Dominicus Pa- nettus csepit MDIII." In 1509, to the order of Alphonzo L, he painted the frescos in the chapel of San Maurelio at San Giorgio extra muros of Ferrara. In 1511 (Sept. 5) he received payment for a banner representing, on one side, a skeleton of death, on the other, a Virgin and child. The banner was done for the brother- hood della Morte at Ferrara. In Febr. (17 lb ) 1513, his widow mar- ried Cesar Vegeti of Ferrara. (See the records in "Documenti ed 11- lustrazioni risguardanti la Storia artistica Ferrarese di L. N. Cav. Cittadella, 8°, Ferrara, 1868," pp. 46—8.) 1 Dresden Museum, No. 208, wood, 2f. 5 h. by If. 10. 2 Ferrara, Conte Mazza. A raw hard dry piece without relief, brownish yellow in flesh, the dresses in deep heavy tints, the masks repulsively ugly, inscribed : "Michael de Cultellinis MCCCCCII." In the sky, the Virgin's soul in the arms of Christ; small panel. Ferrara, Signor Mayer. Life- size figure of S l Peter, panel as above. 3 Ferrara, Sant 1 Andrea. The Virgin and child between S ts Mi- chael, Catherine, John, and Jerom, inscribed: "Michaelis Cortelinis MCCCCCIIIIII." Baruffaldi men- tions a martyrdom of S l Lawrence in this ch., dated 1517, which has perished. (I. 159.) PANETTI AND COLTELLINI. 555 and child with saints in the Ferrara Gallery, he is a follower of Panetti and Garofalo. 1 1 Ferrara Gallery, originally in Santa Maria del Vado, room V. No. 5. Virgin and child, and young Baptist, with several saints, and lower down S ts Agatha, Appollonia and Lucy, dated: "MDXLII." This picture has no name, but may well be by Coltellini. An autograph inventory of Coltellini' s effects, dated 1532, exists in the archives of Ferrara (see Citta- della, Notizie, u. s. 601, and for notices of C.'s family, the same author's "Documenti," &c. u. s. p. 117.) 556 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVIII. CHAPTER XVIII. FRANCESCO FRANCIA. 1 According to a 16 th century tradition, Francesco di Marco Raibolini, commonly known as "il Francia/' was born at Bologna in 1450. 2 Having been apprenticed to a goldsmith, he slowly rose to eminence in his profes- sion, matriculating in 1482, and steward of guild in 1483. 3 Appointed master of the mint to the reigning family of the Bentivoglio, he gained a respectable name as an artist in dies, silver ornaments and niello. 4 At what period he directed his attention seriously to painting has not been ascertained, but he was probably 1 Before treating Francia, it would be necessary to touch on Antonio Crevalcore of whom Bu- maldo (Minervalia, u. s. p. 243) g'ives us some notices. He was a painter of fruit and flowers, and lived, says the author above quoted about 1480. The half-length madonna with the child on a pa- rapet, S l Joseph and a profile of a donor, in the gallery of Berlin (No. 1146), is the only one of his pictures with which we are ac- quainted. It is signed: "Opra de Antonio Crevalcore 14. 3" ? 93. His style here is not unlike that of Bernardino of Perugia. 2 Vas. (VI. 1) states this as a fact; but further: no goldsmith could be steward of his guild be- fore the age of 30, and Francia held this office in 1483, see postea and see also Calvi (J. A.) Memorie, & a , di F. Eaibolini, 8°, Bologna, 1812, p. 6. 3 lb. ib. ib. He was steward of the goldsmiths (Massaro) in 1483, 1489, 1506—1508, and 1512, and "steward of the four arts" in 1514. 4 He was not only mint-master to the Bentivoglio, but also to Julius II. at Bologna. (Vas. VI. 3.) Two niello pax by Francia are in the academy of arts at Bologna, but see as to this and as to the dies for Bolognese coins by Francia, Cicognara's Memorie, and Gaetano Giordani's essay on the money of Julius II. in the Almanack of Bo- logna for 1841. Chap. XVIII. FRANCESCO FRANCIA. 557 no stranger even as a journeyman to a practice common amongst Italian goldsmiths, and familiar to such men as Pollaiuolo, Verrocchio, and Botticelli. 1 The goldsmith's atelier was never exclusively confined to works of silver, gold, or bronze, and it was open to every person who was free of that guild to be a sculptor or a painter. Francia, according to some, may have been taught by Marco Zoppo, but if we compare the styles we see nothing to confirm such a theory. 2 It is much more likely that Francia was encouraged to the study of tempera and oils by Lorenzo Costa; and that he owes to that master his first instruction in the secrets of colour. From Costa he derived something of the Ferra- rese quality in producing ruddy flesh and glossy sharp- ness of contrasted tints; from the goldsmiths, polished surface, clean outline, silvery reflections, and chiselled detail. A short interval of probation enabled Francia to equal and then to surpass Costa ; and ten years before the close of the century he was to be reckoned the most able draughtsman and composer not only at Bologna, but in all the cities on the banks of the Po. From the day on which his name first emerged into notoriety, he showed a distinct Umbrian character in the form of his art, and it has been justly said by Vasari that his panels and those of Perugino displayed a novel spirit and soft- ness. 3 Of the mode in which this new spirit expanded in Perugino, we have had occasion to speak; it was the fruit of a happy combination of Umbrian and Flo- rentine habits. How it expanded in Francia " would be a mystery if we did not know that towards the close of the 15 th century the pictures of Perugino were carried to 1 Vasari says that Francia "having known A. Mantegna and other painters determined to try if he could not succeed with colours." He might chance to meet Mantegna at Bologna, who, as we know, visited that city in 1472. 2 Malvasia (Felsina Pittrice, Vol. I. p. 35) holds that Zoppo was the master of Francia, and iial- dinucci (Opere) shares this error, which has been accepted by Calvi, u. s. p. 8. ! Vas. Proemio, VII. 0. 558 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVIII. Bologna. It may be the fortune of future historians to prove that ties of friendship united Francia and Vannucci ; at present we see no cause for Francia's adoption of the Peruginesque style except in Francia's study of Peru- gino's works. But the Umbrian in Francia was not an early impress; it came some time after he had begun seriously to paint ; and there are two or three pieces which very clearly illustrate his pre-Peruginesque period. 1 A likeness assigned to Raphael in the Northwick collec- tion is one of these; 2 the Virgin and child with S l Joseph in the Berlin Museum is another; S l Stephen kneeling in deacon's dress at the Borghese Palace in Rome is a third. 3 The two first are peculiarly interest- ing as proof of the intimacy which existed between Francia and Bartolommeo Bianchini, a Bolognese senator, not unknown in the 16 th century as a collector and a contributor to light literature and poetry. In a life of Codrus he eulogizes Francia's talents with the fulsome flattery of that age. He is represented holding a book in which his name is inscribed. At Berlin the parapet on which the Virgin supports the standing child, bears a motto allusive of the friendship which united him to 1 Florence, Uffizi. It has been usual to assign to Francia a small cartoon, half-length portrait of a man in a cap, in this collection (Vas. com. VI. 21 and 26), and a probable date, 1486, has been given to it ; on a tablet to the left hand of the head one reads: "M r Alex 1 " Achillin an. XXIII." The draw- ing is Bolognese, but has not the sharpness and firmness of outline we expect from Francia. The tablet and its inscription are com- paratively modern, and the date is a mere presumption. 2 England. Late Northwick col- lection. Panel, bust, If. 3 3 / 8 br. by If. 9%, portrait, three-quarters to the right, injured by flaying, distance landscape. 3 Rome, Palazzo Borghese, room 2, No. 50. Wood, figure one-third of life-size ; the saint kneels in profile in an opening between two pillars, with a landscape distance. The hands and face are a little abraded; inscribed on a cartello to the left: "Vincentii Desiderii votum Frocie expressuin manu." We note in this gallery, besides : Room 2, No. 42. Virgin and child, panel, and room 1, No. 61, half- length of S l Anthony, a little under life-size, a well preserved figure— not by Francesco to whom it is assigned, but by Giacomo. A Virgin and child, also called Francesco Francia, is in the man- ner of Boateri. Chap. XVIII. FRANCESCO FRANCIA. 559 Francia. 1 It is characteristic of all these pieces ; but especially of those at Berlin and at Rome, that they betray the hand of a goldsmith not only in the metallic surface, tone, and- reflections of the flesh, but [in the cleanness of the contours ; the hairs of the head might be counted if one had but the patience; the colour is even and flat, without transition from light to shade, stippled with all but imperceptible streaks in the pro- minences, and fused to a varnish enamel; the red glare of the flesh betrays a Ferrarese education. When his experience became enlarged in 1490, Francia painted in a very different style, and the Virgin enthroned amidst saints, which he finished at that time for Bartolommeo Felicini in the church of the Misericordia outside Bologna, shows that he had mastered the art of religious compo- sition, the rules of architecture, and the science of per- spective. 2 What he presents to us here is a quiet Umbrian scene of worship; the Virgin on a marble throne with the infant standing in benediction on her lap, an angel at her feet playing the viol, six saints on the steps and foreground, between the square pillars and beneath the arches of an ornamented portico, a kneeling patron devoutly looking up. In the distribution there is sym- metry and order; in the figures, comeliness, regularity 1 Berlin Museum, No. 125, wood, oil, If. 9 h. by If. 3 3 /4, from the Solly collection. The Virgin holds the child erect on a stone para- pet, S l Joseph at her side, dis- tance a hilly landscape, inscribed: " Bartholomei sumptu Bianchini maxima matrum. Ilic vivit rnani- bus Francia picta tuis." The sur- face is of a vitrous enamel -per- fect preservation. 2 Bologna, I 'inac, formerly in the Misericordia, No. 78, wood, oil, figures all but life-size. The saints arc; 8 ts John the; Baptist, Monica, Augustin, Francis, Procu- lus, and Sebastian, inscr.: "Opus FrancircAurificisMCCCCLXXXX"." There is some doubt whether we have not to add four ciphers to the date, because there is faint trace of these on the signature, but they may have been added at a later time, and Vasari states that the picture was done in 1490 (VI. 5). There is a reddish stare in the picture, in consequence of varnishes and partial restoring. There was a predella to this piece with the nativity, the bap tism of Christ, S l Francis receiving the stigmata. In the upper orna- ment was a Christ between two angels. (Calvi, u. s. p. 15.) 560 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVIII. of proportion, and plumpness of flesh; the forms are gentle, well if not searchingly made out, and of some elevation; they are fairly relieved with shadow, very fine in outline, and softly modelled; -and the drapery of Umbrian fitness, here and there overcharged with folds; a reddish tinge in the flesh, some abruptness in the transitions, and a certain sharpness in the contrasts of tints, produce a metallic rawness that recalls Costa; the handling is that of the Ferrarese, but of a smoother grain, producing surface of extreme polish. It is a delicate and somewhat feminine style, the devotional feeling of which is much on the surface, and wants life and glow, commingling in equal parts the tenderness of Perugino and Spagna, the smoothness of Credi, and the ruddiness of the Ferrarese, with a veil of coldness over all. Francia, in fact, is to Perugino what Cima was to Bellini; he is at home in quiet scenes where he intro- duces a pretty pleasant madonna, a kindly babe, and saints of small and elegant stature, but he has neither the fervency of Vannucci nor the power of Conegliano. When Raphael at a later period declared that Francia's Virgins were the most beautifully devout that he was acquainted with, he was indulging in flattery. When Michael Angelo said to Francia's son that his father's living creations were better than his painted ones, 1 he gave vent to the same scorn with which he had already treated Perugino; there was as little cause for the exag- gerated praise of the first as for the excessive abuse of the second. And yet we can understand why Raphael should find much to praise and Buonarotti to abuse. As a portraitist Francia excels ; he frequently introduces a kneeling patron into his altarpieces, and always with capital success; and here the praying profile of Barto- 1 Vas. XII. 18G. In the first edition of Vasari are some very sharp expressions against Francia and Costa, supposed to have been uttered by Michael Angelo. These were withdrawn in the second edition. Chap. XVIII. FRANCESCO FRANCIA. 561 lommeo Felicini is quite life-like and extremely well rendered. In technical treatment Francia is a perfect master of the method of oil, using much colour tempered with abundance of vehicle, laying in the parts full, re- touching them afterwards with semi-transparents, and finishing them with glazes. Such was his art in 1490, and such it remained till the opening of the 16 th century. We see the same com- bination of softness and strong tone in the beautiful Virgin with the child and angels at the museum of Munich, which King Maximilian the II nd obtained from the Zambeccari collection in Bologna in 1833, 1 in the annunciation at the Brera, which has something of the spirit of Giovanni Santi 2 in the similar subject, with an attendance of monkish saints belonging to Mr. Reiset in Paris, 3 and the Virgin and child with S l Joseph dated 1495 in the collection of the Earl of Dudley. 4 In 1499 Francia painted the great altarpiece at San Jacopo 1 Munich, Pinac. S. No. 575, curiously catalogued as doubtful. Wood, 2f. h. by If. 6. The Virgin supports the child erect on a table; he holds a bird; in rear two angels. 2 Brera, No. 142. Wood trans- ferred to canvas, m. 2*37 h. by 2*26. The Virgin stands as she receives the message from the kneeling angel. Here and there are some retouches. 3 Paris, Mr. Reiset, from the Northwick collection, wood, figures three-quarters of life-size. The Virgin to the right, the Eternal in the sky, on the foreground a demon in female shape, a Carme- lite, three friars and angels; the episodes are all well arranged. The Ferrarese impress is still strong. Of the same period but injured by restoring is the crucified Sa- viour (Louvre No. 318, ter) between the Virgin and evangelist, with S l Job lying at the foot of the VOL. T. cross. This picture was once in San Giobbe at Bologna, and was sold in London with other pic- tures belonging to Conte Cesare Bianchetti. 4 London, Dudley House. Vir- gin, child, and S l Joseph, inscr. : "Jacobus Cambarus Bonon. per Franciam aurifabrum hoc opus fieri curavit 1495." The distance is a landscape. Francia was inti- mate with Jacobo Gambaro, a gold- smith and die-sinker at Bologna, with whom he stood godfather to the child of a mutual acquaint- ance in 1500, but there was another Jacopo Gambaro of whom Bumaldo speaks in the Miner valia as living in 1498 at Bologna. (Minerv. u. s. 101, see also Vas. Com. VI. 20.) The head of the S l Joseph in the picture before us is retouched. In this collection is a Virgin and child by Francia, of soft style and clear tone in the painter's later and more ordinary manner. 562 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVIII. Maggiore for Giovanni Bentivoglio, in which the Virgin sits enthroned with adoring angels at her side and playing angels at her feet, attended by S ts Florian, Augustin, John Evangelist and Sebastian. 1 This was the most important and the finest picture that he had yet completed, exhibiting all the qualities of his previous ones, with a deeper feeling and a purer harmony of proportions. He seemed as he proceeded to mitigate in some measure the glare of his tone, to cast his drapery more effectively and simply, to gain firmness in the flow of his outline, freshness in form and ease in movement, and to blend his light into semi-tone and shadow with a clearer and more silvery warmth. He never imagined up to this time a more charming group of the Virgin and child; and the child especially is the most beautiful that he had as yet created. He had not conceived any- thing finer or grander than the S l Sebastian, and any- thing more naturally innocent and fresh than the angels, ingeniously combining in their production the type of Perugino with the thought of Cima and Bellini. For Francia the Bentivoglio madonna may justly be called a picture of style. Yet it was not so perfect in its way but that he was enabled immediately after to compose a better. His masterpiece at this time, indeed, is the nativity executed for the church of the Misericordia at the request of Monsignori Anton Galeazzo Bentivoglio, protonotary of Bologna, and red-cross knight. This pious churchman and his retinue of saints and angels are placed with great skill in kneeling and standing attitudes round about the Virgin adoring the infant Christ, in front of a ruined arch in an exquisite landscape. 2 On 1 Bologna, San Jacopo Maggiore, cappella Bentivoglio. Wood, oil, figures life-size, inscribed in a cartello: "Johanni Bentivoglio II. Francia Anrifex pinxit," done in 1499 (Lamo, Gratic. p. 30), well preserved. In the upper part of the picture is a half-length Ecce Homo. 2 Bologna, Pinac, No. 81, wood, oil, figures life-size. It has been said that this picture was done after Anton. Bentivoglio's return from the Holy Land (Vas. VI. 5), Vol. I. p. S82. THE NATIVITY , an altarpiece by Francesco Francia. in the Gallery of Bolo&uu Chap. XVIII. FRANCESCO FRANCIA. 563 the lines of Credi, but with more life and breadth and grandeur, he gives to his personages a more masculine character and greater expressiveness than he had ever done before, shining as usual in portrait, yet not without nun-like or monkish coldness in some parts, and as yet not free from rawness in his argentine tints. To this piece, which was followed by equally beautiful ones of a Pieta 1 at the museum, and of the Virgin and child Avith saints at the Misericordia of Bologna, 2 Costa furnished the predella with the adoration of the magi of 1499, which gives us the comparative measure of the two men and testifies to their common friendship. It is a proof of the popularity which Francia had acquired that his panels are almost as numerous in modern galleries as those of del Sarto or Perugino. Even of those illustrating the period on which we are now dwelling there are numerous specimens abroad as well as in Italy. The Virgin adoring the infant before her, a panel of life-size in the gallery of Munich, affords a rare example of dignity in Francia' s works ; it is also distinguished by a more tender blending and harmony of silvery tone than any we have hitherto met with. 3 but this is proved to be untrue by Calvi, u. s. 19. The Virgin kneels in the centre of the picture with the infant on the ground before her, to the left the kneel- ing patron, an angel, S l Joseph, and S l Francis ; to the right S l Augustin, an angel, and a stand- ing figure leaning on a staff. This picture was carried off by the Bentivoglii when they were expelled by Julius II., from Bo- logna to Milan, and it was brought back only in 181G. (See Kosaspina, Pinacoteca della Pontificia acc. d. B. A. in Bologna.) On a pa- nelling beneath the foreground one reads: "Pictorum cura opus men- silms duobus consumatum Anto- nius Galeaz. 1°. II. Bentivoli fil. Virgini dicavit." The date of the completion of the altarpiece is on the predella by Costa, the adora- tion of the magi, of 1499, No. 141 at the Brera. (See antea.) 1 Bologna, No. 83, wood, oil. Christ supported on the tomb by two angels, the counterpart of Perugino's Christ in the collection of Lord Taunton, and better pre- served. 2 Bologna, Pinac, No. 80, from the Misericordia, done for one of the Manzoni family. (Vasari, VI. 10, and Lamo, Gratic. p. 45.) Virgin and child enthroned in a court opening out on a landscape, an, angel at the foot of the throne; left, S l Augustin and S l George, right, S'John the Baptist, ;iikI S 1 Stephen. Wood, oil, figures of life-size. 3 Munich, Pinac. Saal, N<». 577, wood,' oil, 5f. 4 h. by 4f., inscr. : 30* 564 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVIII. The Virgin annunciate attended by saints in the Santis- sima Annunziata at Bologna, an altarpiece of 1500, exhibits his more usual carefulness and coldness of treatment. 1 The madonna with saints and angels painted in 1500 for San Lorenzo of Bologna, keeps its place amongst the better productions of the master by freedom of touch and expanded form, in spite of short proportion in the figures. 2 It surpasses in many respects the Virgin "Francia Aurifex Bono. . ." It was originally in the Mantuan collection and remained there till 1786. (Darco, 11.214.) It belonged in the beginning of this century to Baron St. Saphorin, Danish en- voy at Vienna; it afterwards came into the gallery of the Empress Josephine at Malmaison, and was bought from that gallery for Munich in 1815. There is a copy of it (No. 126) in the museum of Berlin, another copy in the Pina- coteca of Bologna. 1 Bologna, Santissima Annun- ziata, outside the Porta San Mam- molo. Wood, oil, figures life-size. The Virgin stands in the centre of the picture, looking up to the angel in the air, whilst the infant Christ in benediction appears in a glory in the sky. At the Vir- gin's side, standing, are S ts John Evangelist, Francis, Bernardino, and George. On a cartello, be- neath which is the escutcheon of the Franciscans, a cross and two arm-bones, one reads: "Francia Aurif. B. pinxit. MCCCCC." In the upper part of the frame, the Eternal. This picture has been taken to the Bologna Pinacoteca. The colour is still a little raw. From the same church and recently taken to the Bologna Pinac. we have further two large pictures; the Virgin and child enthroned be- tween S l Paul and S l Francis with the young Baptist, holding the cross in the middle of the fore- ground; wood, oil, figures about life- size, inscribed: "Joannes Scap- pus ob immaturum Lactatii filii obitum pientissime — affectus hoc Virgini q. paulo — dicavit." This piece was in the second chapel; it is much in the manner of the madonna and saints at the Her- mitage about to be described, but less ably executed, and probably done partly by some of Francia's pupils, the figures being colder and shorter in stature than usual. The colour is injured and sealing in parts. In the third chapel was the crucified Saviour, with the Magdalen at the foot of the cross, the Virgin and S* Francis to the left ; S l Jerom kneeling and another saint standing to the right hand. Wood, oil, figures almost of life- size. Here also the execution is in part that of Francia's disciples, and the inscription: "Francia Aurife," is of dubious authen- ticity. 2 S l Petersburg, Hermitage, No. 19, wood, oil. The Virgin is en- throned with the child in bene- diction. In front S l Lawrence and S l Jerom, and two playing angels, inscribed: "D s Ludovicus de Cal- cina Decretoru Doctor Canonicus S. P. Bon. redificator auctor Qs domus et restaurator huius F©c- sise fecit fieri p. me Francia m aurifice Bonoii. anno MCCCCC." In the upper corner, two prophets reading, in monochrome; the colour is still a little raw and sharp in the transitions. This picture was taken to Rome by Cardinal Lodovisi; it passed after- wards into the Ercolani collection Chap. XVIII. FRANCESCO FRANCIA. 565 in glory with saints executed two years later for the church of the Osservanza at Modena and noAV at Berlin ; 1 and is about equal to the madonna and saints in San Martino of Bologna. 2 In the pleasing Peruginesque manner likewise we have the Virgin and child with S l Francis of the Zambeccari collection at Bologna, where gloss and finish are still united to a slight rawness. This charming picture bears the date of 1503, and closes, so to speak, an epoch in Francia's pictorial development. 3 But that we have no warrant historically for supposing that he now visited Florence, we should almost suppose that he did so, when we look at the dramatic composition of Christ deposed from the cross and bewailed by the at Bologna. (Calvi, u. s. 27.) In the same collection, No. 68, much injured in the flesh parts, half- length of the Virgin and child. In the distance on one side the resurrection, on the other the transfiguration. Wood transferred to canvas, with a doubtful sig- nature. 1 Berlin Museum, No. 122. The Virgin and child in glory with angels between S ts Geminiano, Bernard, Dorothea, Catherine, Je- rom, and Louis, in a hilly land- scape. Wood, oil, 8f. 4 h. by Gf. 6, inscribed: "Francia Aurifaber Bonon. 1502." The total repaint- ing which this piece has under- gone, makes it appear a weak example of the master. It was painted for Santa Cecilia of Mo- dena, and after the demolition of this church, in 1737, passed to that of Santa Margherita. (Cam- pori, Gli Artisti, u. s. p. 398, cites the authorities for these facts.) In the same gallery we have the following : No. 121, the dead Christ on the Virgin's knees, a lunette, copy of that in the altarpiece, No. 180, at the Nat. Gall. No. 123. Virgin, child, and youthful Baptist, a pallid and mannered copy by a schular of Francia. No. 126. Virgin adoring Christ, copy of No. 577 at Munich. No. 127. S l John the Baptist and S l Stephen, also probably a school- piece. 2 Bologna, San Martino. Wood, oil. Virgin enthroned and two angels on the foreground, S ts Roch, Sebastian, Bernardino, and Anthony of Padua. Through the base of the throne and at sides one sees a landscape; above, Christ in the tomb between two angels, below, Christ carrying his cross, inscr. : "Francia Aurifex p." This fine work is only below that of the Bentivoglio chapel and others of that period. The figures are rather too lean, the shadows are dark. One should think that Costa la- boured here with Francia. 3 Bologna, Zambeccari collection. Wood, oil, figures almost of life- size, inscribed: "Francia Paulo Zambeccaro pinxit. MCCCCCTII. 1 ' The Virgin holds the child in benediction on her lap; in his left hand is a bird; near him, right, S l Francis with the cross and book* distance landscape. The Vir- gin here resembles that of Munich. The transition of light into half- tint is still somewhat raw (but since writing these lines we find the picture has been sold). 566 THE FERRAttESE. Chap. XVIII. Marys in the gallery of Parma. There we see the Saviour in the lap of the Virgin, S l John raising the lifeless head, the Magdalen embracing the feet, Mary Salome with outstretched arms looking down, Nicodcmus in passive grief with his back to the spectator, the whole depicted in a landscape of varied lines. 1 The Peruginesque here is that of Perugino's grand time when he most combined Umbrian softness Avith the energy and power of the Florentines. The scene is rendered with an intense expression of affliction unusual in Francia, with considerable facility in the grouping, with great nature in the representation of instant action, and with little of the frigidity which is his predominant feature. Powerful colour and gloss still betray the Fer- rarese origin of Bolognese art, although the tones are fused with capital success. But now came forth a new and strongly contrasted series in which conception was regulated by most engaging grace — a grand coro- nation of the Virgin in the duomo of Ferrara, which reminds us of Fra Bartolommeo with kneeling and standing saints in the landscape below; 2 an assumption at San Frediano ; 3 a madonna at Casa Mansi, of Lucca. 4 In a nativity at Forli 5 also Francia illustrates a 1 Parma Gallery, and originally done for Parma. (Vas. VI. 8.) Wood, arched, oil, inscribed: "Francia Aurifex Bonon. f." In the middle of the picture and be- hind the group is the cross. 2 Ferrara, Duomo. Wood, oil, arched, but cut down at top, and otherwise injured. On the fore- ground S ts George, Stephen, Bar- tholomew, and John the Baptist, S ts Peter, Augustin, and Paul erect; in the middle of the fore- ground the infant Christ, fore- shortened, with his head to the spectator, between the kneeling S l Catherine and another female saint. 3 Lucca, San Frediano. Wood, oil. The Virgin in glory with angels, receiving the blessing from Christ; below and erect, S l Anselino, Augustin, David and Selomon, and S l Anthony kneel- ing with his back to the spectator before the tomb. In a predella four monochromes. 4 Lucca, Casa Luigi Girolamo Mansi. Wood, oil, figures half life-size. Virgin and child, half- length, in a landscape. The Vir- gin's face a little injured. 5 Forli, Ginnasio. Christ adored by the Virgin, S l Joseph, two angels, and two shepherds. This is a picture originally painted for Paolo Zambeccaro (Vas. VI. 10); wood, oil, figures half life-size. Chap. XVIII. FRANCESCO FRANCIA. 5()7 milder treatment and tone, finishing with extraordi- nary care, losing all rawness and producing a clear bright light, and movements and expressions attuned in the greatest perfection to the height of religious composure. Following the same sweet vein he produces the Virgin with the child and S l Anne enthroned amidst saints, and its lunette Pieta in the National Gallery; rising to a high level as a composer, reminding us as ever of Perugino, but suggesting at the same moment memories of Leo- nardo. This, the time in which young Raphael became imbued at Florence with novel principles, is also the time when Francia's impersonations display additional repose and noble sentiment, when to power he unites exceeding harmony, when his hand acquires a cunning hitherto unattained, especially in the skill with which half-tint is used and subtle glazes are applied, when a better sense of atmosphere is conveyed, when modelling and contrasts of light and shade yield their truest and best results. 1 By what causes, we may inquire, was this last puri- fication of Francia's style brought about? It might be considered due to his study of Raphael, but it was more probably owing to the personal influence of Raphael himself. In 1491, Francia counted amongst his disciples Timoteo Viti, a youth of twenty, who had come from Urbino to perfect himself in the goldsmith's art. 2 For 1 London, National Gallery, N os 179, 180. The first: wood, oil, 6f. 6'/ 2 h. by 6f., inscr.: "Francia Aurifex Bononiesis p." originally in the Buonvisi chapel at San Frediano of Lucca. The Virgin is enthroned, with S l Anne and the child, in front of a pillar be- tween two arches, through which the sky appears. In front of the throne the boy Baptist with the cross pointing upwards; at the sides: S ts Sebastian, Paul, Law- rence, and Romualdo. The second: 3f. 2 h. by 6f., lunette, wood, oil, containing the Saviour on the Virgin's lap and two angels. In this gallery also we have: No. 638. Virgin and child with two saints, half-lengths, wood, oil, 2f. 8 h. by 2f. 1%, from the Beaucousin collection. This piece was originally of a clear bright tone, but was glazed in the Na- tional Gallery with a glaze of burnt sienna. 2 Malvasia, Felsina Pitt. u. s. I. 55. 568 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVIII. several years this youth remained at Bologna. In 1495 he went home to marry and settle, with the blessing of Francia to cheer him in his progress. 1 A correspond- ence was probably kept up between them, and thus no doubt it happened that pictures of Francia were sent to Urbino. 2 Viti more than once, we are inwardly assured, con- versed with Raphael of the kind master at Bologna; on the other hand, Francia may have heard from Timoteo what promise young Raphael was giving of growing- talents and fame. He may even have recommended his works to the attention of the Bentivoglii. Certainly Giovanni Bentivoglio received a picture of the nativity from Sanzio, 3 and letters were exchanged between Raphael and Francia. Writing in 1508 to Bologna, Raphael acknowledges the receipt of Francia's portrait, promises his own, and sends the drawing of a nativity, hoping that he may get in return that of Francia's Judith. He states that "Monsignore il Datario and Cardinal Riario were both expecting their madonnas, which no doubt would be equally beautiful, devout and well done as previous ones." 4 It is clear from this that the two masters were on friendly terms, though it remains uncertain whether they met. Vasari suggests that they merely corresponded; but as Raphael went in 1505-6 from Florence to Urbino, he may have taken Bologna on his way, and we are the more inclined to think that he did so, as Francia then became still more strongly Raphael- esque than before, and much more so than was possible from a mere acquaintance with Raphael's works. 5 He had painted numerous decorations in the houses of the 1 lb. ib. and Pungileoni, Elogio Storico di Timoteo Viti, 8°, Ur- bino, 1835, p. 5. 2 He painted for the Duke of Urbino some horse-trappings and a Lucretia, of which there is not a trace at this time. (Vas. VI. 11.) 3 Baldi in Passavant's Raphael von Urbino, u. s. I. 96. 4 Ib. ib. and Vas. Com. VI. J 6. 5 Passavant (u. s. I. 95) is also of opinion that Raphael and Fran- cia were personally acquainted and met at Bologna in 1505 — 6. Chap. XVIII. FRANCESCO FRANCIA. 569 Bolognini and Polo Zambeccari, 1 and in the palace of the Bentivoglii, which was destroyed in 1507. 2 But his only extant frescos at the present time are those in the oratory of Santa Cecilia, which were done before Costa's departure to Mantua in 1509. They represent the en- tombment of S l Cecilia, and her marriage with Valerian ; 3 in the one, S l Cecilia seems to sleep as .she lies out- stretched in the winding-sheet; her forms regular and s oftly yielding, her youthful and pleasing head crowned with roses, and her hands and feet beautifully formed; she seems to have gone to a sweet rest unhurt by the boiling oil in which she perished; four youths hold her suspended over the opening of the vault,, two of them nearest the spectator stretching the sheet between them with muscular exertion of limb; to the left a cardinal, a youth with a torch glancing upwards in the true Umbrian style, a pope, a female, and an aged man looking down at the saint's face; to the right two women and a young torch-bearer; in the air an angel carrying the martyred soul to heaven, and floating lithely over a quiet landscape. Tenderness and affected grace are carried almost to excess even in the figures most strongly engaged in the action, and some necessary cold- ness arises from that cause; the left hand group is skilfully arranged and composed of personages indivi- dually interesting, whilst that to the right is ill balanced and throws the composition out of focus, but the feeling evinced in every part is of a very select kind, and a wonderful resignation and melancholy are infused into the slender actors in the scene. Great, perhaps exces- sive, care is displayed in the casting of the drapery, and 1 Vas. VI. 10. 2 He painted portraits there, an imitation of a bronze relief, and a Judith about to decapitate Holo- phernes. Ib. ib. and Bumaldo, Mi- nervalia, u. s. p. 250. Some of the portraits, by the extracts quoted in Bumaldo, appear to have been done in 1502. 3 Bologna, Oratory of Santa Cecilia. Francia's two frescos are at the bottom of the chapel right and left of the altar. They have been engraved for the Arundel Society. 570 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVIII. the drawing is of a pure and finished outline; opposite to this S l Cecilia, united to Valerian, stands under the arches of a chapel opening out on a hilly landscape, the high-priest between them looking at the bride benig- nantly, and a bevy of handsome women to the left and three men to the right witnessing the ceremony. There is something most engaging in the modesty of S l Cecilia, as well as in the timid bearing of the girl at her side looking on, whilst another holds the hand on which Valerian is to place the ring; a charming nobleness is infused into the mien and movement of these dames, and there is an unusual variety for Francia in their expression; fine are the proportions, simple and flowing the draperies; one or two of the males have the modest bearing and honest look of Raphael's creations; the composition is better and more masterly than in the entombment, the drawing is more perfect in outline. In composing and carrying out such a work as this, Francia cannot but have been guided by maxims derived from personal acquaintance with Raphael. The taste is much too pure, the style much too chastened, the colour much too soft and harmonious, the feeling much too genuine to have been acquired without some such new and subtle influence. 1 Even Francia's portraits in the first years of the 16 Ul century exhibit a gradual change from the Peruginesque to the Raphaelesque. Looking at his fine likeness of Vangelista Scappi at the Uffizi, it is obvious that Peru- gino was the master whom he then admired and imitated. A pleasing head, well furnished with falling locks, covered with a silk cap, the vest, the cloak, all black, the distance a landscape of Umbrian character, with the 1 Francia's admiration for Ra- phael is expressed in a sonnet, in which he says: "Tu sol, cui fece il ciel dono fatale, Che ogn 1 altro excede, e sora ogn 1 altro regna, L'excellente artificio a noi insegna Con qui sei reso ad ogn' an- tico uguale." Malv.Fels.,Vol.I.p.46. Chap. XVIII. FRANCESCO FRANCIA. 571 minutise only suggested, yet without much atmosphere*, the face self-complacent in smile, of ruddy tone with transitions into greenish-grey, and good modelling and relief; Peruginesque in the thought, the treatment and mechanism, but Peruginesque only as Francia could be, and without Perugino's power. 1 Not so, however, the head of a man of forty, with a distance of hills, in the Lichtenstcin collection at Vienna, known for a time as a Raphael in possession of the Marquis Bovio at Bo- logna. To say that this bust is not by Sanzio is merely to echo the opinion of critics generally, to call it by Francia' s name is no heresy; yet it emulates the Raphaelesque after Raphael, under the influence of Leonardo and the Florentines, began to surrender the Peruginesque. If we remember that the Bovios are an old Bolognese family, the picture may be assumed to represent not a Duke of Urbino, but a gentleman of Bologna. The treatment most reminds us of Raphael's in the madonna of Blenheim, the madonna of Vienna, or the Doni at the Pitti. The landscape is full of Raphaelesque depth and vapour; an easy composure and lifelike readiness, very truthful modelling and rich transparent colour are prominent qualities ; what betrays Francia is the finish and minuteness of the hair and other parts, in which the clean touch of the goldsmith is apparent. The panel is, in fact, as much evidence of the friendship which united Raphael and Francia as the letters which they interchanged. 2 1 Florence, Uffizi, No. 1124. Wood, oil, half-length, life-size, the left hand gloved, in the right hand a letter with the words: "S° Vangelista Scappi." There is some restoring in the distant trees to the left. 2 Vienna, Lichtenstein collection. Wood, oil, bnst, under life-size in a black cap, with long (hair, a green vest, parti-coloured super- vest and brown coat. On the back of the panel we read: " Galleria del Marchcse Bovio in Bologna in Strada San Stefano. Rittratto di un Duca di Urbino di l a maniera di Raf° Sanzio di Urbino." All the lower part of the face and part of the distant hills to the left is rubbed down. A third por- trait by Francia is No. 11 in the Stiedel Gallery at Frankfort, but so injured that the landscape alone betrays the hand of Francia. There 572 THE FEKRARESE. Chap. XVIII. The loss which Francia incurred by the expulsion of the Bentivoglio family was severe, and Raphael kindly alludes to it in 1508, when he tells his friend to "take courage/' and assures him that he feels his affliction as if it was his own. But Francia speedily found favour with Julius the II nd as he had done with the previous rulers of Bologna ; he remained master of the mint, made the dies for the pope's new money, and painted pictures as before. 1 From this time till his death his manner underwent no further changes. 2 We admire him in his Peruginesque and Raphaelesque phase in the annunciate Virgin between saints at the museum of Bologna; 3 in the predellas with scenes from the life of the Virgin and of Christ which decorate that gallery and the museum of Dresden; 4 in the presentation in the temple at Cesena. 5 We observe with what tenderness and was once also a portrait, said to be that of Francia himself and supposed to be that which he sent to Raphael, in the Harrasch Gall, at Turin, but this picture has been mislaid. A portrait in the collection of Earl Cowper at Panshanger has been noticed in the Life of Perugino. (Hist, of Ital. Painting, III. 255.) It has something of Francia's manner, derived, however, from him by Francesco da Imola, who entered his atelier in 1508. In a sonnet by Girolamo da Casio (Calvi, ub. sup. p. 54) there is loud praise of two female portraits by Francia. 1 See the record of payments for dies, Nov. 21, 1508, in Annot. Vas. VI. 4. 2 That Francia died in the man- ner described by Vasari, that is, because Raphael's S l Cecilia, which came to Bologna in 1514—16, convinced him of his own infe- riority as a painter, is now re- jected, and properly so, by histo- rians. 3 Bologna, Pinacoteca, No. 79. Wood, oil, figures life-size. The Virgin stands in prayer between S ts Jerom and John the Baptist in a landscape; the Virgin of tender air, very reminiscent of the types in the frescos at Santa Cecilia. This picture was ordered for the company of San Girolamo at Bologna. (Vas. VI. 10.) The Baptist recalls Credi; the angel, Mariotto and Fra Bartolommeo. 4 Bologna, Pinacoteca, No. 82. Wood, oil, predella with the nati- vity, the Virgin giving the breast to the Saviour, attended by saints, and the Redeemer- crucified. The figures are graceful, the colouring harmonious and clear. Dresden, Museum, No. 435. Wood, oil, If. 6 h. by 2f. 1. Quite in the spirit of Raphael's youth and recalling his predella with the same sub- ject (1503) in the gallery of the Vatican at Rome. Even to do so small a thing as this, Francia must have done more than casu- ally study Sanzio's works. There is a copy of this adoration, No. 1139, at Schleissheim, under the name of Baldovinetti. 5 Cesena, Municipal Gall. Wood, Chap. XVIII. FRANCESCO FRANC1A. 573 melancholy softness he still labours in 1509 when he finishes the baptism of Christ at Dresden, and its counterpart at Hampton Court. 1 We find him feeble in a madonna and saints dated 1515 at Parma, 2 and still powerful in the Pieta of the same year in the museum of Turin.' 5 He died at an advanced age on the 5 th oil, 6f. 4 h. by 4f. 7, inscribed: "Francia Aurifex." The Virgin in the temple is accompanied by S l Joseph with the doves and the prophetess Anna"; Simeon to the right accompanied by an old man with a book. This piece, in the character of the adoration at Dresden, is much injured by scal- ing- and restoring*. 1 Dresden Museum, No. 437, wood, 7f. 5 h. by 6f., inscribed : "Francia Aurifex Bon. f. M. Villi," originally at Modena, damaged in the bombardment of Dresden in 1760. Hampton Court, from Man- tua, No. 456. Wood, oil, inscribed: a Francia Aurifex Bon." with some variety in the placing* of the angels and landscape; both pictures clear and silvery. A small pre- della with the same subject belongs to Lord Taunton at Stoke, but the hand of an assistant is seen in the execution. 2 Parma Gall. Wood, oil, almost size of nature. Virgin and child with the infant Baptist below, pointing upwards; at the sides, S ts Benedict, Joseph, Scolastica, and Placida, inscribed: "Francia Aurifex Bononiensis f. MDXV." There is much frankness in the touch and treatment, but the finish is not so clear and sharp as usual. 3 Turin Museum, No. 190, wood, oil, m. 2*20 h. by 1*50, inscribed: "F. Francia Aurifex bononiensis f. MDXV" in gold letters. This is a fine composition of Christ supported by the evangelist and Magdalen, bewailed by the Virgin. In rear a monkish saint with a lily, and Nicodemus. The colour was very clear no doubt, before it was altered by restoring. Of other works by Francia we still may notice the following: London, Baring collection. The Virgin, child, and S l Joseph. This picture with its inscription seems an old imitation; the inscription runs: "F. Francia Aurifex faciebat anno MDXII." In the same gall, a half-length of Lucretia stabbing herself. This is a feeble picture of Francia's school. A genuine Fran- cia representing this subject is said to exist in a private gallery at Modena. London, Mrs. Butler Johnston. S l Francis receiving the stigmata. This seems a pic- ture by Francia's pupil Timoteo Viti. Paris, Louvre, No. 318 bis. Nativity, a beautiful little minia- ture, which might lead one to call Francia the Italian Memling. Vienna, Academy. Virgin and child between two saints, all renewed with the exception of the Virgin's head. The inscription, too, is new : "Opus Franciie Aurificis MDXIII." Vienna, Belvedere, room V. No. 18. Virgin, -child, S l Francis, and S l Catherine, and the young Bap- tist in the foreground, signed: "Francia Aurifaber Bono." This picture is so entirely repainted that no opinion can be formed of its original value. Modena Gall. No. 36, annunciation. See the proofs that this picture is not by Francia. (passim.) There is notice of a picture of 1511, in the Casa Pertusati at Milan— Virgin and child — (not seen), and of an Eter- nal, dated 1514, in the Hercolani Gallery at Bologna (not seen). Naples Museum. Virgin, child, and 574 Chap. XVIII. of January, 1518 (n.s.), leaving several sons behind him. 1 Of these Giacomo and Julio followed the paternal profession; but though their art had a natural affinity to that of Francesco, they never brought it to any very great perfection. We may believe indeed that both Giacomo, who was born before I486, and Julio, who was born in 1486, were assistants to their father as long as he lived, and that their workmanship impressed certain pictures of Francesco with a stamp of comparative infe- riority. Giovanni painted his best frescos in the oratory of Santa Cecilia, coming third after his father and Costa ; 2 he also finished numerous altarpieces 3 and portraits. 4 At young Baptist, feeble productions of a follower of Viti or Orazio Alfani. 1 See the authorities in Vas. Annot. VI. 14. 2 Bologna, Santa Cecilia. Gia- como Francia's subjects, composed probably by Francesco, are the baptism of Valerian, and the mar- tyrdom of S l Cecilia in boiling oil; both frescos are much injured, abraded, and discoloured. 3 Bologna, San Stefano, assigned by Malvasia (Felsina p. 57) to Francesco Francia, but described by him as executed in 1522, really therefore by Giacomo. The sub- ject is Christ on the cross between S l Jerom and S l Francis, with the Magdalen grasping the foot of the cross. Here Giacomo's art is a miniature of his father's. The colour is scaling in many parts; wood, oil, figures all but life-size, distance landscape. Florence, Academy of Arts. No. 11, wood, oil, figures all but life- size. Virgin and child enthroned between the kneeling S ts Francis and Anthony of Padua in a land- scape. The forms are square and short, the masks lifeless, the draw- ing and colour hard and raw. Bologna, Pinac, No. 84, from San Francesco, wood, oil, life-size. Virgin and child and young Bap- tist, attended by S ts Francis, Ber- nardino, Sebastian, and George, inscribed: "I. Francia Aurifex Bo non. fe. MDXXVI." (There are not two I. before the word Fran- cia, as the commentators of Vas. [VI. 24] affirm.) Same gallery, No. 87, arched panel. Virgin in glory; below, S ts Peter, Francis, Mary Magdalen, and six maidens. Here the figures are not without a stamp of grandeur, and the colour is well blended and ena- melled. No. 85. Virgin and child enthroned between S l Paul and Mary Magdalen, and the young Baptist, arched altarpiece. Milan, Brera, No. 101. Virgin and child, young S l John, and two boy an- gels, S ts Sebastian, Jerom, Stephen, and Anthony the Abbot, life-size. No. 109. Virgin and child, two boy angels, two saints in armour, S ts Justina, Catherine, and four others; life-size, panel, inscribed: "Jacobus Francia p. MDXLIIII." Fine works, next to which in value are the following: Berlin Museum, No. 271. Small allegory of Modesty. No. 281. Virgin, child, young Baptist, S ts Mary Magda- len, Agnes, Dominick, and Fran- cis, inscribed: "I. Francia." No. 293. The Virgin with the child erect before her on a parapet, and S l Francis, signed: " F. Francia." Chap. XVIII. AMICO ASPERTINI. 575 Santa Cecilia his figures are short, coarsely outlined and comparatively without life or expression. After 1526, the date of an altarpiece representing the Virgin and child with saints in the gallery of Bologna, he strove to keep pace with the spirit of his time in free handling and rapid execution, and then his art fashioned itself pretty much after that of Bagnacavallo. 1 He died in 1557. There are also some extant pieces, the joint pro- duction of Giacomo and Julio, 2 and a descent of the Holy Spirit at Bologna by Julio alone. 3 If it were worth while to dwell at any length on the lives of the cotemporaries of the younger Francias, we should find some amusement in describing the eccentri- cities of Amico Aspertini, an artist who was born at Bologna about 1475 and died in 1532. He also was employed in Santa Cecilia of Bologna, and produced various altarpieces in which we see that his manner was derived in part from that of Ercole Roberti Grandi, and from that of the second-rate Umbrians of Pinturicchio's school. He was a free and bold third-rate, of a quaint and fan- tastic character. 4 Bologna, Chiesa del Collegio de 1 Spagnuoli. S l Margaret with S l Jerom and S l Francis, feeble ; we omit other pieces of a similar kind. 4 Florence, Pitti, No. 44, bust of a beardless man in a cap, hold- ing an apple. A little 'raw in colour, and coldly executed, but precise in outline (retouched). No. 195. (See antea in Bonsignori.) 1 Bologna, Pinacoteca, No. 84, supra. 2 Bologna, Pinac, No. 86, arched panel, with S ts Frediano, James, Lucy, and Ursula, and a portrait, inscribed: "I. I. Francia." Parma, San Giovanni Evangelista. Nati- vity, inscribed: "I. I. Francia Bon. MDXVIII." injured by re- storing, but fairly done. A saint in glory, with a viol, and another saint reading; S l Joseph and other figures and portraits, inscr. : "I. I. Francia Bon. MDX Villi." On the altar the words: "Anto- nius Ferratus & a condiderunt," on the base, three injured hull- lengths of saints. Berlin Museum, No. 287. Virgin in glory and saints, inscribed: "I. I. Francia, Aurifl bonon. fecer. MDXXV," from San Paolo in Monte of Bologna. 3 Bologna, Pinacoteca, No. 88. Descent of Holy Spirit, with S ts Gregorio and Petronius, retouched. 4 Vasari has written the life of Amico Aspertini (IX. 87), and states that he learnt his art by going round Italian cities and copying every tiling that fell in his way. His earliest works are in Santa Cecilia of Bologna, after 576 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVIII. Chiodarolo is the name of another modern Bolognese who works in a feeble style, imitating the Umbrians as which he painted frescos in San Frediano of Lucca (post 150G). In 1514 he painted the front of the library of San Michele in Bosco, which was subsequently repainted by Canuti. He tried his hand as a sculptor in rivalry of Properzia di Rossi, and produced the dead Christ in the arms of Nicodemus at San Petronio of Bologna, in 1526. There are records of works undertaken at Bologna in 1527 for one Annibale Gozzadini. In 1530, he married and he died in 1532, having shown unmistakeable symptoms of insanity. His frescos in the cappella della Pace at San Petronio, carried out in competi- tion with Bagnacavallo and Inno- cenzo da Imola have perished, as well as the decorations of several house-fronts. He certainly visited Rome. (See Vas. IX. 87 and foil., and Gualandi, Memorie, Ser. I. 33, and III. 178.) The general cha- racter of his art is this: his com- positions are ill put together, with here and there a group or an epi- sode of compact arrangement. He is fanciful in the choice of acces- sories, in which he uses emboss- ment like Pinturicchio. He also embosses the hems of his draperies, Avhich are bundled and confused like those of the earlier Ferrarese. His figures are strange in action, and have many of them the pug lace derived from Ercole Roberti Grandi; his types are ugly, vulgar, and trite in expression; as a colourist he takes after the Ferra- rese, being red and fiery in flesh tone. His frescos at Santa Ceci- lia — the funeral of S ts Valerian and Tiburtius, and their decapi- tation — are much injured and in part obliterated. Of another fresco in the same place representing S l Cecilia before the emperor, it is not certain whether Amico is the author. The subjects which he painted in the chapel of Sant 1 Agostino at San Frediano of Lucca are: 1°, the story of the Volto Santo, in which there is a fair group of a man kneeling before a saint; 2°, baptism of a proselyte, with much embossment of statues and other accessories (greatly injured); 3°, lunette above, No. 2, Christ taken from the cross; 4°, Sf Frediano tracing the course of the river; 5°, the nati- vity (very feeble and much da- maged by damp); 6°, lunette with an almost obliterated subject; 7°, ceiling, with the Eternal and angels, reminding us of Mazzo- lino ? s art; 8°, pilasters with Ra- phaelesque ornament, on one of which the inverted name of Asper- tino, i.e. "I.M. A.G.O. f.;" 9°, soffit of arch with scenes from the passion, and figures reminding us of some in Raphael's Disputa del sacramento; one of the scenes is Christ on the mount, a Perugi- nesque composition. Of other ex- tant works the following is a list: Berlin Museum, No. 119, nati- vity, signed: "Amicus bononiensis faciebat." Wood, tempera, 3f. 8'/ 2 h. by 2'7, from the Solly col- lection, an Umbrian picture with dry figures, and hideous heads. Madrid Museum, No. 885. Rape of the Sabines. Small panel, as- signed to the Siennese school. Bologna, Pinac, No. 297, panel, oil; Virgin and child, S ts John the Baptist, Jerom, Francis, George, Sebastian, and Eustace, and two portraits of patrons. This also is Umbrian in character, and not unlike Manni in style. (Much in- jured.) Bologna, San Martino Mag- giore. Virgin and child, S ts Lucy, Augustin, and Nicholas giving their dowry to three young girls. Ferrara, Palazzo Strozzi. Predella with the visitation, nativity, pre- Chap. XVIII. TIMOTEO VITI. 577 well as Francia and Costa/ and Boateri is a weak artist of the same class. 2 What honour may have accrued to Francia from the proficiency of his numerous pupils is . due in no small degree to Timoteo Viti, to whom he expresses an almost paternal affection in a page of his journal. Timoteo was the son of Bartolommeo della Vite and Calliope, the daughter of Antonio da Ferrara ; he was born at Fer- rara in 1467, and brought up to be a goldsmith. 3 In Francia' s atelier between 1491 and 1495 he learnt to paint, and returned a master to Urbino. 4 There are few men of subordinate rank whose career is more clearly traced. After his marriage in 1501 he practised with but little interruption at Urbino for fifteen years. There was not an occasion for pictorial display that did not give him an opportunity to exhibit his talents. When Caesar Borgia sentation, and sposalizio, remi- niscent of Ercole Grandi. Amice- had a brother named Gnido, of whom we have one pic- ture in the Pinac. of Bologna (No. 9), the adoration of the magi, a composition treated in Amico's manner and coloured in ruddy Ferrarese tints. 1 Of Giovan Maria Chiodarolo, we know nothing-, but that ac- cording to tradition he painted one of the frescos in Santa Ceci- lia of Bologna — angels crowning S l Valerian and S l Cecilia. This much injured wall-painting, re- calling the' style of Francia and Costa and the Umbrian of Pin- turicchio, is a cold and feeble work. In the same style we have No. 60 in the Pinacoteca at Bo- logna, a nativity, a poor work of a follower of Francia and Costa, but as likely to be by young Timoteo Viti as by Chiodarolo. 2 Boateri is only known by a Holy family in the Pitti at Flo- rence (No. 362, wood), inscribed: "Jacobus de Boateris." This is an exact imitation of Francia, and VOL. I. there is a counterpart of this picture under the name of the latter in the Scarpa collection at La Motta in Friuli. 3 Tav. Alfab. u. s. ad litt., and Laderchi, Pitt. Ferrarese, p. 29. Pungileonrs date of 1470 is in- correct. (See Elog. Stor. di T. V. u. s. p. 1.) 4 Judging by his later works we might properly recognize as youthful productions of T. V. the following : Ferrara Gall. The assumption of S l Mary of Egypt, and S l Zo- simus, in the landscape below, once in Sant 1 Andrea of Ferrara. This small panel has something of Francia and Costa, and is not unlike a nativity, No. 60, in the Bologna Gallery, assigned (antea) to Chiodarolo. It is varnish v in treatment with slender and affected figures, very carefully executed. Ferrara, Conte Mazza. Crucified Saviour between the Virgin and evangelist. Small panel. Ferrara, Professor Saroli. Virgin, child, and young Baptist. Small panel. 37 578 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVIII. treacherously seized the city and expelled Guidubaldo in 1502, Viti designed the scutcheon of the usurping prince. 1 In obedience to the will of Giam Pietro Arriva- bene, Bishop of Urbino, who died in 1504, he was instructed to set up an altarpiece in a mortuary chapel in the cathedral, the walls of which were covered with frescos by Girolamo Genga; 2 both artists laboured toge- ther at the tabernacle of Corpus Cristi in the same cathedral during the year 1505. 3 In 1509 Viti took part in the adornment of triumphal arches erected to celebrate the meeting of Eleonora Gonzaga with her bridegroom, Francesco Maria. 4 His election to the office of "priore" in 1508, and to that of "primo priore" in 1513, are evidence of the respect and esteem of his fellow-countrymen; 5 he became the professional adviser of the Duke Francesco Maria, 6 and furnished pictures for his palaces at Urbino and Urbania. 7 Of all his works the most important and the best is the altarpiece commissioned by Elizabeth Gonzaga and Alessandro Ruggeri for the chapel of Giam Pietro Arrivabene at Urbino in 1504. It represents the bishop and the duke Guidubaldo kneeling at the sides of an altar, whilst above them S l Thomas a Becket and S l Martin sit en- shrined in a ruined arch. 8 Nothing can exceed the precision and carefulness of finish in the outline and modelling; there is no lack of proportion or appropriate movement in the figures, no fault to be found in the drapery, which is of Urnbrian cast, but the delicacy of 1 Pimgileoni, Elog. Stor. di T. V. u. s. p. 10. 2 lb. ib. 11, 12. 3 Ib. ib. 13. 4 Vas. VIII. 153. 5 Pungileoni, u. s. 18, 105. 6 Vas. VIII. 154. 7 Ib. ib. 152, 3, 4, but most of these works are lost, and parti- cularly an Apollo with the muses. (Vasari, VIII. 153, and Baldi in Passav. Raphael, I. 9.) 8 Urbino, duomo, sacristy. Wood, oil, 4f. 9 br. by 6f. 5%. The face of Arrivabene in profile, aged about 60, is injured in part by abrasion. The picture was ordered on the 15th of April, 1504. (Pung. u. s. 11—13.) Chap. XVIII. T1M0TE0 VITI. 579 the whole piece is cold and chilling; it reveals a patient and passionless spirit like that of Sassoferrato. We admire on close inspection the blending and gloss of the parts, the pearly ashen-pink of the flesh light and the grey of its shadows, but at a distance all effect disappears, and emptiness is revealed. We meet with the same frigidity and precision of treatment in later pieces, such as the Magdalen ordered about 1508 for the chapel of Lodovico Amaduzzi in the cathedral of Urbino, 1 and the annunciate Virgin between saints at present in the Brera at Milan. 2 The masters of whom we are reminded in every instance are Francia and Pinturicchio, only that Viti is much beneath those masters in power, seldom revealing anything like inspir- ation, rarely rising above the level of ordinary model- painting, and frequently indulging in triteness, vulgarity and posture. As a landscapist he has a class of faults natural to a man of his fibre. He is copious in detail, but the very richness which he displays gives prominence to the emptiness observable in other respects. As he grew older Viti adopted the Raphaelesque as evolved in the art of Spagna, a change of which we have an example in the figure of S l Appollonia at the Santissima 1 Bologna, Pinac, No. 204. This picture was exchanged for another by the Marchese Antaldo Antaldi, and represents the Magdalen erect in prayer in a wilderness of rocks (the rocks retouched), figure life- size. On a dry bough to the left is a cartello on which we read: "Di epi et ma. Ma. Lo. Arnatutius archip sci cipri. dica." The chapel of San Cipriano in the duomo was founded by Amaduzzi in 1508. (Pungil. p. 19.) 2 Milan, Brera, No. 58, wood, oil, m. 2-60 h. by 1'80, formerly in San Bernardino degli Osser- vanti outside Urbino, and at , the altar of the Buonaventura. The angel is in the sky, whilst below, the Virgin stands on a foreground of rock between S l John the Bap- tist and S l Sebastian bound to a tree. This is a form of annun- ciation already used by Francia. (See antea.) The figures are plump, coarse in limb ami extre- mities, and cold in expression. Their proportions are short and thickset. There is some sharpness and rawness in the contrast of light, half-shade, and shadow. The surface has been cleaned, which is most apparent in the S l Se- bastian. 37* 580 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVIII. Trinita of Urbino ; 1 whilst in the Noli me tangere and saints finished in 1518 for the brotherhood of Sant' Angelo at Cagli, he unites to the Raphael esque a little of the hardness and conventionalism of Santi and Pal- mezzano. 2 It was about this time, or perhaps just before, that Timoteo proceeded to Rome, and became Raphael's assistant ; 3 and there is not the slightest reason to doubt the correctness of the judgment which assigns to him the execution on Sanzio's cartoons of the pro- phets above the sybils in the church of the Pace, and even the draperies in the sybils themselves. If we had space to dwell at length upon the grounds which have led criticism to accept the authorship of Timoteo in these frescos, we might prove conclusively that it is not Raphael's hand that worked out the parts we have mentioned, and that amongst his disciples no other than Timoteo could have completed them as they are; but there is no difference of opinion on the question, and it 1 Urbino, ch. of the Santissima Trinita. Canvas, oil, almost life- size. The saint stands in a land- scape holding a book and pincers. Injured in the landscape, mantle, and tunic; a piece has been sewn on to the right side of the picture. 2 Cagli. Brotherhood of Sant 1 Angelo Minore. Wood, oil. S l Michael trampling on the dragon, and weighing the souls, and S l Anthony the Abbot, in front of a ruined" arch, through which a land- scape is seen. In the foreground of this landscape is the Magdalen kneeling and yearning for the touch of the Saviour, who bids her hold back. The S l Anthony is good, S l Michael seems to be dancing, the Magdalen looks copied from Raphael. The colour is a little raw, the balance of light and shade incorrect, and the composition is affected and con- ventional; there is little or no atmosphere. On the basement of the arch and between the two figures of saints one reads: "Ti- motheo Viti Urbina opus." This work was painted on the 2 nd of May, 1518. (Pungil. ub. sup. 50.) 3 Pungileoni has proved by do- cuments, such as receipts acknow- ledged, records of purchases of land, registries in the brotherhood of San Giuseppe at Urbino, of which the painter was a member, that Viti was in Urbino in 1501, 1503, 1505—9, 1513, 1515, 1516, 1518, 1519, and 1520—3. It is possible that he should have been in Rome in 1514—15, 1516—17, or in 1519 — 20. (See the long and somewhat confused life of Pungi- leoni, u. s.) In favour of the last of these dates, it is to be noted that the chapel of the Pace was still unfinished in 1519. (See the will of Agostino Chigi in Passav. Raphael, II. 168.) Chap. XVIII. TIMOTEO VITI. 581 is therefore sufficient to state the fact ; 1 whereas in another case it has not yet been hinted that Viti was the painter. The panel in which we believe his hand may be found is that of S l Luke at the easel, painting the Virgin and child in the presence of a youth. The picture is in the academy of Rome, and there are two versions current respecting it. According to one class of judges it is an injured Raphael, according to another it is partially by Sanzio and partially by one of his disciples. 2 We believe the author to be Timoteo Viti, because in such parts of it as are preserved, Timoteo's mode of colouring is obvious. The yellow lights, the pearly half lights, and the grey shadows are as clearly characteristic of his style as the cold and careful finish and gloss of the surface. The heavy forms of the Virgin and child appearing as a vision to S* Luke are his as contradistinguished from Raphael's — they have his usual rotundity and plumpness, the superficial air, without the life and inspiration, of Sanzio ; they are of ice as compared with such elevated creations as the madonna of Saint Sixtus. The action and movement of S 1 Luke are as cold and lifeless as they well can be; 1 Rome, Santa Maria della Pace. Vasari contradicts himself when speaking of these frescos. He says (Life of Raphael, VIII. 23) the sybils and prophets were the finest thing's of the master; (Life of Timoteo Viti, VIII. 151), that the sybils were Viti's in invention and execution. There is no doubt that the prophets and sybils are both done from Raphael's cartoons, the former entirely, the latter in the draperies, by Viti. (See also Passavant. Raphael, I. 192, II. 165.) 2 Rome, Academy of San Luca. Professor Cav. Ferdinando Caval- leri has written a pamphlet of 22 octavo pages to affirm the authen- | city of this picture. It was given by Pietro da Cortona to the ch. of San Martino in Rome, which was ceded in 1588 to the academy of painters. The original piece was afterwards removed to the academy, and a copy was placed on the altar. (See Passavant, II. 416.) The Virgin, child, the arms, hands, and feet, the yellow mantle and green sleeves of S l Luke are all by one hand, the flesh being pale, yellowish in light, sky blue in half-tone, grey in shadow, of strong substance and gloss in Viti's manner. The head of S l Luke and the youth beside him, ' which may or may not be the portrait of Raphael, are of another | tone, which may be owing to the 582 THE FERRARESE. Chap. XVIII. there is an indication and surface of action without life and strength to carry out that action; and it is hard to tell why the brush does not slip from the hand of S l Luke, and the paint-pot fall to the ground. In the cast of the drapery RaphaePs manner is imitated, in the motion of the figures his turn is aped, but the result is timidly imperfect. We may conclude, in fact^ that a sketch of Raphael was enlarged by Viti to the life-size of this picture, and that in this way, and with Timoteo's knowledge of Raphael, a false air of the great master was produced by the poorer art of his assistant. A more genuine specimen of Viti, when under RaphaePs influ- ence, is the madonna with saints in the museum of Berlin; a very soft, formal, but kindly mixture of the Umbrian of Sanzio and his father, with Timoteo's own peculiar coarseness in the size of the extremities. 1 In a similar way we detect his peculiarities in the thin rubbed tones of the penitent Jerom of the Berlin collection, 2 and the S l Francis belonging to Mrs. Butler Johnstone in London. 3 After . Raphael's death Viti no doubt returned to Ur- bino, where he died on the 10th of October, 1523. 4 copious retouches which the pic- ture has received. None of the figures are set on the ground according- to the true laws of per- spective. A cartello in the left hand corner is a blank slashed with a knife; it was introduced there by Scipione of Gaeta, a restorer of the 18 th century, whose name was afterwards erased by Federico Zuccaro. 1 Berlin Museum, No. 120, wood, oil, 5f. 8'/ 2 h. by 4f. 10, formerly catalogued as by Santi and with a false inscription of: "Jo Sanc- tus Urbi. p." Subject, the Virgin and child, the young Baptist, and a boy in prayer, S l James the younger and S l James the elder. 2 Berlin Mus. No. 124, arched, If. 3V 4 h. by 10 l / 2 in. S l Jerom kneels before the cross. 3 London, Mrs. Butler Johnston, late Munro collection. Small panel. 4 It is proved of Timoteo that in 1520 he empowered an agent to ransom his wife's relative, Fede- rico Spaccioli, at Pesaro for 50 scudi. Of his pictures, lost or otherwise unaccounted for, the following list may be made: Urbino, duomo, altar of Santa Croce. The Virgin and child, S l Crescentius, S l Vitale, and an angel playing a viol. (Vas. VIII. 150). Pungileoni (p. 7) and Pas- savant (Raphael, I. 376) state that Chap. XVIII. TIMOTEO VITI. 583 this picture was in the Brera. It is not there now, nor was it ever catalogued. Urbino, Sant' Agata and Cappuccini, pictures, the sub- jects of which are not given. (Vas. VIII. 153, and Pungileoni, u. s. 17.) Urbino. Brotherhood of San Giuseppe. Virgin, child, and S l Joseph. (Pungil. note to p. 46.) Two crosses, done in 1520. (Pung. 107.) Marciolla (near Urbino), two angels playing the lute. (Ib. ib. p. 8.) Rome, Santa Caterina da Sienna, frescos, and a cataletto, which, however, was also assigned to Peruzzi. (Vas. VIII. 151, and 225.) Rome, Liberation of Andro- meda. (Pungileoni, note to p. 63, but see also Bottari, Lettere Pitt. Vol. III. p. 480.) Pesaro, San Francesco. Holy Family and S l Francis, and in the distance a procession of the kings. (Pung. 14.) Forli, San Francesco, with Genga, a chapel containing the assumption since destroyed. (Vas. VIII. 152, and Pung. 48.) Citta di Castello, pictures. (Vas. VIII. 152.) 584 THE PARMESE. Chap. XIX. CHAPTER XIX. PAINTERS OF PARMA AND ROMAGNA. Parma, we may believe, was never without artists, but till the advent of Correggio they were men of ac- knowledged mediocrity; and yet it would be unfair to assume that they did not share to some extent in the progress of the age. It is hardly doubtful that the Canozzi, who became famous at Padua, had consider- able influence on Parmese painting; they brought with them some of the qualities of the Mantegnesques, but they introduced also the trick of tarsia, and it is curious to observe that pictures of the 15 lh century look as if they had been executed under all the disadvantages to which the wood inlay er is subject. We have spoken casually of Bernardino Loschi as a man affected in his style by the Canozzi and by Costa. This Bernardino was the son of Jacopo Loschi, whose name is in records of 1459, and who died at Carpi in 1504. 1 He was fortunate enough to compose for the Servi at Carpi in 1496 a Virgin and child famous for its mira- cles; and the gallery of Parma still possesses a very unattractive madonna by him dated 1471, in which we 1 Jacopo cTIllario Loschi paints, 1488, for San Gio. of Parma a standard and an altarpiece (Affo, P. J. Vita del Parmigianino, 4°, Parma, 1784, p. 6); paints in 1496 the miraculous Virgin of the Servi at Carpi, still existing in 1707 and since lost, is mentioned at Carpi in records of Jan. 1, 1500, and June 3, 1504, is noted in a record of Jan. 23, 1505, as dead. (Campori, GH Artisti, u. s. 293 — 4.) Chap. XIX. BERNARDINO LOSCHI. 585 observe something like the formlessness peculiar to the San Severini or Guidoccio of Imola. 1 There is nothing- characteristic in this production if we except its ugli- ness, but the length and slenderness of the figures. They are the prototypes of numerous others on walls or panels in churches at Parma, commissioned we may suppose of Loschi and his father-in-law, Bartolommeo Grossi. 2 Bernardino Loschi, who continued the art of his father, as we see by his altarpiece of 1515 in the gallery 'of Modena, 3 was born at Parma in 1489, was the author of several pictures and frescos in the churches and castle of Carpi, and died in the service of Alberto Pio of Carpi in 1540. 4 Cotemporary with Jacopo Loschi was Filippo Maz- zuola, whose birth is uncertain, but who died in 1505, 1 Parma Gallery. Panel, tem- pera, figures almost life-size. Two angels at the Virgin's side play viols, two others in prayer in a quaint sort of balconies, in the sky, the Saviour in benediction ; inscribed: "Opus Jacobi de Lus- chis de Parma MCCCCLXXI die XVI. Julii." This panel is much injured by time and retouching. 2 Parma, San Francesco. There are records of 1462, which prove that Jacopo Loschi and his father- in-law painted in this ch. (We are obliged to Signor Carlo Ma- laspina for this and other intel ligence respecting Parmese paint- ers.) San Francesco is now a prison and we have already noticed some old paintings there. (Ital. Painting, II. 250.) In the convent ch. there is a Virgin and child be- tween S ts Francis and John the Baptist and a kneeling donor — a fresco much in Loschfs manner. In the same style: Parma, Santa Barbara, S l Anne, and" the Virgin giving the breast to the child; fresco, with figures under life-size, circa 1440 — 50. Parma, Santiss 3 . Trinita from San Barnaba. Vir- gin, child, and S l James, fresco, sawed from the wall, figures under life-size. Parma, Duomo, 4th ch. in the right aisle. Here are frescos with incidents from the legends of S ts Fabian and Sebas- tian, lately rescued from white- wash, done after 1400 (Affo, Storia della Citta di Parma, Parm. 1792), much restored. Same ch., cappella Baganzola, built 1420—23 (Angelo Pezzana, Stor. della Citta di Par- ma, 8°, Parm. 1837—59), frescos, with scenes from the lives of S l Christopher and S l Catherine, also rescued from whitewash, but re- stored previous to the whitewash- ing and subsequently. Both cha- pels are assigned to Loschi and Grossi, and the style is truly that of Loschi's altarpiece. 3 Modena Gall. No. 51, wood, m. 2-35 h. by P68. Virgin, child, S l Nicholas and S l Anthony, and four angels; inscribed: "Alberto Pio principe opt. aspirante Ber- nardinus Luscus Carpen. fecit. 1515," done for the hospital of Carpi. 4 Campori (Gli Artisti, 294). 586 THE PARMESE. Chap. XIX, a man with some claim to attention, if only because he was the father of Parmigianino. 1 There are large com- positions in his native place which afford a perfect insight into his style; the Virgin and child between two saints in the gallery of Parma dated 1491, 2 the baptism of Christ in the episcopal palace of 1493. 3 These and the dead Christ on the Virgin's knees in the Naples Museum, which was finished in 1500, have all the same character. 4 The figures are usually lean and dry, and curiously stiff, at the same time ill drawn and short in stature; sometimes they have a gentle air, they are almost always regular in the division of the proportions. Round heads, curt extremities, and styleless draperies are likewise recurring features. We are reminded of the school of tarsia by the sharpness and abruptness of the contrast between the lights and the spare dark shadows that cling to the contours, as well as by the mapping of the dull tints in vestments. Mazzuola was no colourist, and his tempera is invariably raw and of a 1 See the pedigrees of the Maz- zuoli in Gualandi, Memorie, u. s. | Ser. VI. p. 122. 2 Parma Gallery. Virgin and child enthroned, between S l Fran- cis and S* John the Baptist, in- scribed: "Filipus Mazolus, 1491;" the chin and neck of the Virgin and other parts injured and re- stored, distance sky. This may be the picture noticed by the Anonimo at San Domenico of Cremona. (Anon. ed. Morelli, p. 34.) 3 Parma, Palazzo Vescovile, for- merly in the baptistery, arched panel, with life-size figures of Christ and the Baptist, with five saints at the sides, and the Eter- nal above; inscribed: "Fillippus Mazolus p." and "Tempore d. Karoldi de Bucanis. P. Posti d. Johs de Cribellis. d. Marci de colla de Lodovici de arietis, d. Andree de Vagiis, baptiste de cle- i ricis. Hoc opus fecit fieri Ca- | | plani canonicor senarii numeri | baptisterii Parmensis & a ario Dn MCCCCLXXXXIII." The figures are long and slender and defective, the surface much injured by scaling and dirt; there is a split along the body of the Baptist, and copious retouches in other parts. 4 Naples Museum, No. 89, panel, oil, figures half the size of life; inscribed on a cartello: "Filipus Mazola pinxit 1500;" at the Vir- gin's sides, the Magdalen, S l Ca- therine, S l Monica, S l Appollonia, and S l Barbara, distance land- scape. In the same gallery, No. 120. The Virgin adoring the child be- tween S ts Agnes and Chiara; the figures are better than in No. 89, and more in the style of the altar- piece at Berlin (see post.). Figures i half life-size; a cartello on the I foreground bears no signature, Chap. XIX. MAZZUOLA. 587 sad grey tone; he was not master of any rules of perspective. His manner thus far is a mixture of the local one and of that of the Canozzi, with a slight approach to Cima's. Some improvement may be found in his madonna of 1502 at the Berlin Museum, which evinces more study and displays better forms than the old ones. 1 In a bust of the Redeemer of 1504 belonging to the Raczynski collection at Berlin, the regular mask of the Bellinesques is reproduced; 2 and in two bust portraits at Milan and Rome, respectable power is revealed in drawing, in modelling, and in light and shade. 3 Mazzuola's pupil, Cristoforo of Parma, earned his livelihood as a journeyman at Venice from 1489 to 1492, 4 and painted an altarpiece in 1495 which still hangs in the sacristy of the Salute. Previous to visiting Venice he no doubt completed the madonna with saints in the royal gallery of Parma. 5 The figures are an improve- ment on those of Mazzuola — mild, thin, gentle, and not 1 Berlin Mus. No. 1109. Wood, 7f. 9 h. by 3f. 9, inscribed in a cartello: "D. M.C0C0C2. Philipus mazola parmensis p." Subject, Virgin and child under a dais with two angels between S l Catherine and S l Chiara, injured by cleaning 1 . In the same collection, No. 206, half-length portrait of a man, in style not unlike a portrait (No. 53) in the same gallery, signed: "Bernardo de Comitibus" or a madonna of 1500 by the same Bernardo in the Lochis-Carrara gallery. Of this last mentioned madonna with the child in a land- scape, there is a replica under Garofalo\s name, (No. 1115 in the gallery of Schleissheim.) 2 Berlin, Raczynski coll. No. 57, wood, If. 11 h. by If. 1%, bust, in benediction; on the para- pet a cartello with: "Filipus Ma- zola parmensis p. MCCCCCIIII." 3 Milan, Brera, No. 241, bust of a man in a black cap and vest on a green ground. On an opened letter cartello on the parapet: "Flipus Mazollus Parmensis; 1 ' wood, m. 0*44 h. by 0*28. This portrait is much in the style of that of Bonsignori in the National Gallery, though of a lower class. Rome, Palazzo Doria. Wood, tempera, all but life-size, bust of a man in a black cap and red vest, with a Latin motto: "... me Deus et sit fort. . ." on his collar, and on the parapet: "Fili. Ma- zola." Here Mazzuola is in the path of Melozzo. The panel is damaged by cleaning and is darkly olive in complexion. 4 Gaye, Cart. II. 71; he began with a salary of three ducats a month, which was increased in 1492 to eight ducats. 5 Parma Gallery, tempera. Vir- gin and child in an archway be- tween S ts John the Baptist and Jerom, figures under life-size. 588 THE PARMESE. Chap. XIX. without a feeble sort of grace; and Cristoforo seems to exhibit some of the tenderness and smorphia which mark the works of Francesco Francia and Rondinello. The action of his personages is timid and embarrassed, the draperies are overcharged, and the colours are cold and neutral. At the Salute a subject of the same nature is represented much in the same manner, but with more sombre shades of colouring which recall Buonconsiglio, and with changes in contours that prove the influence of Cima and Bellini. 1 In 1496 Cristoforo was a master in his native place of Parma, where he was known by the sobriquet of "il temperello" or Caselli. 2 Here he rises to greater dignity. The saints and angels round his madonna of 1499 in the Sala del Consorzio at Parma have some of the grace of Cima with an excess of cor- pulence, and are freely treated considering their peculiar style. The withered Baptist on the right is also one of Cima's types, whilst the bishop to the left and the bust of the Eternal in a lunette are of Mazzuola's less elevated stamp. The Virgin and child alone betray some acquaint- ance with methods of contour common to Montagna and Canozzi; and indeed the whole arrangement presupposes CasellPs knowledge of Paduan maxims for distributing space and balancing the various parts of a picture; the colour, far from being treated in the fashion of the Venetians, is without modulation and full of gloss, and preserved in keeping by contrasts of light and shade rather than by contrasts of tints. In this, and in the masks and shape of angels, we see the germ that ex- panded fully in Correggio. 3 We cannot ascertain where 1 Venice, Santa Maria della Sa- lute. Sacristy, engraved in Za- notto, Pinacoteca Ven. Fasc. II. The colour, tempera of much substance, is injured in the lower parts of the picture. Subject, the Virgin and child, with a bishop kneeling at her feet, attended by S l Christopher and a bishop, in- scribed: "Cristoforus Parmensis pinxit," figures half life-size. 2 He is mentioned as "Cristo- fano Castelli" by Vas. (XL 245.) 3 Parma, Sala del Consorzio, originally in the duomo, mentioned with praise by Vasari, XI. 245, and ordered on the 10th of March, 1496, for a chapel in the cathe- Chap. XIX. NICCOLO RONDINELLO. 589 Caselli acquired this novel breadth, but there are two panels representing- winged boys playing instruments in the sacristy of San Giovanni at Parma which almost con- clusively prove that he must have been inspired by the grand freedom and science of Mantegna as shown in the works of the Mantuan period. 1 Of the same year, 1499, we have an Eternal on gold ground in a chapel to the right of the choir in the cathedral of Parma, 2 and a repainted adoration of the magi in San Giovanni, in which we are reminded of the school of Palmezzano and the Faventines/ 5 The latest date recorded of Caselli is 1507. 4 Of his pupil Ales- sandro Araldi, whose panels are exclusively confined to dral. The Virgin and child are on a high throne between six angels playing instruments, and attended by S ls Ilario and John the Baptist; at the foot of the throne eight angels in adoration; inscribed: "Christofori 14. Caselli 99. opus." Figures life-size, wood, oil; in the sky the Eternal with the orb in a glory of cherubs. The price of the piece was 50 ducats of gold. 1 Parma, San Giovanni. Sa- cristy, wood, once part of the or- gan, much injured and blackened. 2 Parma, duomo, southern tran- sept; that this was done in 1499 is stated in the dictionary of Or- landi. 3 Parma, San Giovanni Evange- lista. The Virgin (all repainted) in the middle of the picture, the kings to the left, and S l Joseph to the right, signed with a new signature: " Christophorus Caselli opus, 1499." The figures are small and paltry, the colour of full sub- stance and high in the shadows, the tints of dresses strongly con- trasted, the composition arranged, unnatural and lifeless. We are reminded here of Bertucci of Fa- enza, and Tiberio, as well as of Araldi, whose fresco of the Virgin, child, and donor in the duomo of Parma has been mistaken for ;i work of Caselli: it is therefore not unlikely that in this piece Araldi was Cristoforo's assistant. In the same mixed style is a visi- tation in the upper sacristy of the canons of the duomo at Parma (panel in oil, with figures of half life-size), inscribed: "Ms. Cabrielo Mandrio f. f." There is also in San Francesco of Osimo a large madonna under a balda- quin, attended by S ts Bernardino, Jerom, Ursula, the Magdalen, An- thony, and three other erect saints, with S l Francis and a cap- tain in armour kneeling at the sides, of which we are not certain whether to ascribe it to Caselli or to Rondinello. It bears the inscription— a forged one— of "Gio. Piero Perugino." The composition is good, and the style is remi- niscent in part of Luigi Vivarini and Montagna, the colour dull and sombre (injured and spotted) as in Caselli. 4 Parma, Duomo, round, mono- chrome of Christ in the tomb be- tween two angels under the arch of the monument, erected in 1507 to Bart Montino, canon of Parma and apostolic protonotary. 590 THE PARMESE, Chap. XIX. the city of Parma, we can only say that they show a decided leaning to the Umbrian models of Francesco Francia and the Peruginesques of the lowest class, and that in his most ripe productions he saved himself much trouble and thought by appropriating the forms and arrangements of other and greater men. 1 1 Alessandro Araldi, according 1 to Zaist (Notizie Istoriche de 1 Pittori & a Cremonesi, 4°, Cremona, 1774, I. p. 100), was a native of Casal Maggiore; but this is an error, for according to Padre Aff6 (life of Parmegianino) he was born at Parma about 1465. His first public work (as we are informed by reports kindly furnished by Dr. Luigi Ronchini and Signor Carlo Malaspina) was an altar- piece furnished in 1500 for San Quirino of Parma, in payment of which he received a small sum and a present of clothes. He painted a fresco of the Virgin and child and a donor in the duomo of Parma in 1509; the last supper, the capture, and other scenes from the passion in the choir of San Paolo of Parma in 1510, which have perished. In 1514 he finished the annunciation of the Carmine now in the gallery of Parma, and in 1520 he received an order, which was never carried out, for an altarpiece in the duomo. He made a will in 1528; and a banner done for the company of San Cosimo e Damiano, was presented to that company by his heir Filippo Poz- zioli in 1530. The following is a list of his works: Parma, Duomo, fresco. Virgin and child, S l Joseph, and a kneel- ing donor with the bishop's mitre at his feet, life-size (the blue mantle of the Virgin and the dis- tance abraded), inscr. : "Alex.nder D. Araldus pinxit. 15.9." (1509.) The fresco is on the wall to the right as you enter the duomo, and is usually assigned to Caselli, the forms are imitated from those of the Bolognese school of Fran- cia, but outlined more strongly and in a more broken manner, the figures small in stature, bony, angular, and short in the limbs, the drapery of cutting folds; the child square in the fashion of the Veronese Caroto, the treatment like tarsia, the colour (much ab- raded) dull and raw. Parma Gall. Annunciation, wood, oil, inscribed: "Araldus faciebat. 1514," from the Carmine. The Virgin is affected, especially in the air of the head, the colour much abraded, raw and hard, the landscape the best part of the work. Same gallery, in the same style, but under the name of Giovanni Bellini, a Christ erect in benediction with a book, on green ground. Parma, San Paolo, a chamber in the lunettes of which are various subjects ; ceiling, blue ground, arabesques, and monsters, angels playing instru- ments, and medallions represent- ing the Samaritan woman at the well, Moses receiving the tables, Adam and Eve, a cento of imita- tion from Raphael and Michael Angelo, and the sacrifice of Abra- ham recalling a composition of Bazzi. In other divisions Judith decapitating Holophernes, remi- niscent of Costa, sermon of Paul, massacre of the innocents, copied from Raphael, the miraculous draught of fishes, the marriage- feast in Cana, the judgment of Solomon. In the angles of the ceiling, gambols of children. The lunettes contain allegories of ob- scure meaning, feebly composed, but inspired from Mantegna, Costa, and Francia; on the chimney-piece Chap. XIX. NICCOLO RONDINELLO. 591 East of Parma and Bologna, and chiefly in the cities of Forli, Ravenna, and Rimini, we trace the influence of Giovanni Bellini commingled with that of Palmezzano, the chief representative of this class being Niccolo Ron- dinello, the best artist of Forli and Ravenna in the first years of the 16 th century. It was fortunate for Rondi- nello that he was enabled in his youth to attend the schools of the most eminent Venetians. He is described — and, no doubt, correctly described — by Vasari as having been one of Giovanni Bellini's most industrious assist- ants. 1 During his stay at Venice he contributed to the production of pictures which Bellini did not disdain to sell as his own, and painted madonnas which might well pass for school-pieces out of his master's atelier; and it is not without interest to find amongst the trea- sures of the Doria Palace at Rome a Virgin and child with Rondinello's signature, the exact counterpart of another in the same collection signed by Giovanni Bel- lini. 2 Such a striking concordance as this would not be explained by the mere supposition that Rondinello copied is the inscription: "Transivimus per ignem et aquam MDXIIII." Finally we have in San Sepolcro of Parma, S l Ubaldns between the archangels Michael and Raphael with the Virgin an- nunciate and a Pieta in the pedi- ment; a fresco in the Cusani chapel, long concealed under another picture. But this fresco may be in part by Lodovico da Parma, a poor dependent in art of Araldi, to whom we may give the follow- ing: Parma, ex-convent of San Paolo, fresco on a wall of the garden, representing S l Catherine before Maximian; church of San Pietro, beneath the organ, fresco of the Virgin and child with S l Joseph to the right (all but gone). Collegio delle Scuole Tecniche a San Paolo, facade fresco, much abraded, a Pieta. Pinacoteca, an- nunciation, with the angel and the Eternal in the sky, and two saints, Catherine and Sebastian, to the left of the Virgin in an open archway. The character of Lodovico's paintings is that of a follower of the Bolognese school on the level of Melanzio and Ti- berio d'Assisi. 1 Vas. V. 17, 18, IX. 148, XI. 93. 2 Rome, Palazzo Doria, No. 25, brae. 2. Gr. Gall. Virgin and child with S l John the Baptist to the right hand, inscribed: "Joannes Bellinus." Rondinello's copy, No. 43, sala II., is without the figure of the Baptist. The child is varied in the movement of one arm, and holds a bird fastened by a string. The distant landscape Is also varied; on a parapet: "Nico- laus Rondinelo," wood, oil, below life-size, much injured by re- storing. 592 THE PARMESE. Chap. XIX. Bellini. We may presume that Bellini employed him on the principal parts of the panel to which he appended his name, and that Rondinello used the same design subsequently. The two pictures are alike in workman- ship and composition, that which Bellini signed being less correct in outline and in colouring than it would have been had he done it entirely with -tiis own hand; that of Rondinello being more paltry in shape and darker in tone. What distinguishes Rondinello in this and other productions of the same sort, is a certain helplessness 4n the setting of his figures, want of breadth and size in the figures, broken contours, and poor, cornered or tor- tuous drapery. 1 His handling testifies to no delicacy or subtlety of means, and his colour is uniform and sombre. There is evidence in his works— and this is an advan- tage in the case of a man respecting whom we have not a single date — that he was particularly impressed by one class of Bellinesque models. In Bellini's altarpieces of 1505, and upwards, we observe a marked breadth of head and a vigorous compression of the horizontal facial lines. This peculiarity Rondinello took with him when he left Venice and transferred his easel to Forli and Ravenna. At first he preserved a grateful remem- brance of the lessons learnt in Venice, reproducing the masks of Cima and Bellini 5 but his earlier impressions were rapidly superseded by others, and in the course of time he became as much an imitator of Palmezzano as of the 1 Same Gallery, No. 12, sala II. Wood, oil, almost life-size. Virgin half-length with the child on her lap, green ground. This picture is much dimmed by time and restoring. The name of Rondi- nello is said to be concealed by the beading of the frame. But there are other copies of Bellini's madonna at the Doria Palace, which may be by Rondi- nello, ex gr. Rovigo Gall. No. 3. Virgin and child in front of a green hanging which half conceals a landscape. On a cartello fastened to the parapet, the false inscrip- tion: "Gentilis Bellinus eques. 1483." Ravenna, Rasponi Gallery. Replica of the above, but probably a copy from Rondinello by one of the Cotignola. Reminiscent of Rondinello at the school of Bel- lini, is a half-length Virgin and child, signed: "Joannes Bellini," in Dudley House in London. (See antea.) Chap. XIX. NICCOLO RONDINELLO. 593 Venetians. In a half-length Virgin giving the breast to the child at the Forli Museum, he is not wanting in feeling, nor is he forgetful of the laws of appropriate composition and proportion. His principal figure has a broad high forehead, which suggests reminiscences of Cima; his drapery is cast in the Bellinesque fashion, but the colour, of a deep varnish brown and freely impreg- nated with vehicle, is altogether unbroken. 1 On the same technical principle, with the mask peculiar to Bel- lini in 1505, he produced a male portrait ascribed to Giorgione in the gallery of Forli, a likeness in which nature is not enlarged and ennobled as it might have been by the genius of a first-rate artist, in which mono- tony is created by general tinting, but in which a sombre glow proves attractive. 2 It is characteristic of Rondi- nello's progress from this time forward that he gains more and more freedom of hand without altering his technical process. His flesh is commonly of a red brown tinge with olive brown shadow and little or no transi- tions; it is laid in with copious substance and vehicle at one painting with a sweeping touch, then scumbled with half-transparents and finished with light glazes The burnish thus attained is dark and untransparent ; the vertically compressed form of heads becomes usual, and is accompanied by plumpness and fleshiness ; the eye is covered by a long horizontal lid; the nose broad in barrel and nostril. The first example of this treatment is the S l Sebastian at the column in the cathedral of Forli, where however 1 Forli, Gall. Communale. Wood, j oil, under life-size; Virgin and | child in front of a green curtain, at both sides of which, landscape. (The blues are all repainted.) On the parapet a twig, cherries and nuts, beneath which the words: "Nicolaus Rondinelus." The hand and head of the child art! in- jured. VOL. T. 2 Same Gallery, No. 126, wood, oil, If. 3 br. by l'8'/ 2 , bust like- ness of a young man in a black toga, three-quarters to the left in a landscape, called "portrail of the Duke Valentino" by Gior gione. The colour is deep and of full body, but unbroken and highly fused. It is not free from re- storing. 38 594 THE PARMESE. Chap. XIX. the influence wielded by Palmezzano is already notice- able in the head, the broken outline, the drapery ajid architectural distance. 1 In other pictures assignable to Rondinello at the Brera ; there is an obvious mixture of the schools of Venice and the Ronlagna. 2 In this fashion too we have four angels and an annunciation in San Pietro Martire of Murano/ 3 in which we are re- minded of Pier Maria Pennacchi. As Rondinello grows older he loses more and more Venetian character, and in several votive altarpieces at Ravenna he boldly assumes the manner of Palmezzano. 4 1 Forli, Duomo, wood, oil. The saint is bound to a pillar, and stands under an arcli on an oc- tagonal pedestal. Distance, houses and landscape. The drawing is broken in Palmezzano's fashion, and the drapery cast in Palmez- zano's manner. 2 Milan, Brera, No. 434, wood, oil, classed in "school of the Bellini," m. 1-73 h. by 1*73, ori- ginally at San Giovanni Evange- lista of -Eavenna. (Vas. IX. 149.) Subject: S l John Evangelist in front of an altar, on which a picture of the Virgin and child is placed. S l John wields a censer before a kneeling female, wearing a regal crown. Angels minister at each side. This is a well pre- served picture by Rondinello, coloured as stated in the text; the Virgin and child Bellinesque, S l John reminiscent of the high-priest in Bellini's presentation at Castle Howard. The angels are square and short in head as described. Same collection, No. 73, under the name of Stefano da Ferrara, wood, oil, m. 2-62 h. by 2-18. Virgin enthroned between S ts Peter, Bar- tholomew, Nicolas, and Augustin, and three angels in front playing instruments. Same character as the foregoing, but broader in treatment. 3 Murano, San Pietro Martire, i but originally in Santa Maria degli Angeli; four panels in each of which is an angel; two play in- struments, two are in prayer. In Santa Maria degli Angeli are two panels by the same hand, hanging in the spandrils of the great arch of the nave. They represent the Virgin and the angel annunciate. 4 Ravenna Gallery. Virgin and child, S ts Thomas, Magdalen, Ca- therine, and Baptist, and two angels playing instruments, injured in part (arm of child, cloak of Virgin). This piece, in which the Baptist strongly reminds us of Palmezzano, belongs to a religious corporation (La Congregazione) at Ravenna. Wood, figures life-size. Ravenna, San Spirito, originally in Santa Croce. (Vas. IX. 149.) Virgin, child, and S ts Jerom and Catherine, greatly injured. Casa Lovatelli, originally at San Gio. Batt. (Vas. V. 17, 18.) Virgin and child, S ts Albert and Sebastian, wood, life-size, full-length, much injured and repainted, but with marks of having been one of Ron- dinello's boldest productions. San Domenico, choir. The Virgin, the angel annunciate, S l Dominick, and S l Peter Martyr, each on a separate canvas, and represented standing under archways; genuine pieces by Rondinello, but dimmed by age and dirt, figures life-size. Chap. XIX. BENEDETTO CODA. 595 Benedetto Coda of Ferrara, whose habitual place of residence was Rimini, is of the same genus as Rondi- nello, but of lower rank. He is justly described by Vasari as a Bellinesque of small merit ; 1 we might almost add, a disciple of Rondinello. Being a Ferrarese by birth/ he imported into his style something of Francia; and his figures may be distinguished by their regularity as well as by a feeble sort of tenderness. Some of his panels bear the dates of 1513-1515. They are exclusively to be found in Rimini, Ravenna and Pesaro. 3 These may be parts of one of the altarpieces mentioned by Vasari (IX. 150). The other of which he speaks, namely that to the left of the high-altar, is by Benedetto Coda. AVe may mention here Baldas- sare Caroli, a pupil, we believe, of Palmezzano, and a disciple of Rondinello. He is the painter of a coronation of the Virgin with an attendance of saints (amongst whom S l Mercuriale), No. 89 in the Communal Gallery of Forli. This piece is inscribed: u Baldassar Carulis foroliviensis fecit R di hujus edis abate Dm Philippus MDXII." It was originally in San Tommaso Apostolo; the upper part recalls Rondinello, the lower, Palmezzano. By the same hand apparently we have the following: Ravenna, Ras- poni Gall., No. 10, martyrdom of S l Bartholomew, spirited in the fashion of the school of Signorelli (predella), and: unnumbered, a second predella representing the baptism of Christ between four angels. Forli, San Bartolommeo. Christ on the Virgin's lap with the Magdalen, Evangelist, Nico- demus, and Joseph of Arimathea. There is a replica of this in Ra- venna, ch. della Croce. See also antea. 1 Vas. V. p. 18. 2 lb. IX. 91. 3 The following is a list and description of them: Rimini, Duomo. Marriage of the Virgin, with life-size figures, in- scribed onacartello: " bene- dicti . . . ." Laderchi (Pitt. Ferrar. ub. sup. 60) says it was signed: "Opus Benedicti, 1515." This is a picture of fifteen figures includ- ing a couple of children seated at the corners of the foreground. The forms are slender, affected, and feebly like those of Francia' s school, and seem to have been produced by one who had seen the frescos of the Oratory of Santa Cecilia at Bologna. The colours are saturated with vehicle and sombre in hue as in Rondinello. Rimini, Chiesa de 1 Servi, formerly in San Domenico. Virgin and child between S ts Francis and Do- minick, with three angels playing instruments at the base of the throne; inscribed on a cartello: "MDXIII opus Benedicti faciebat" (sic). The altarpiece is injured by splitting and scaling. The angels are like those in the pieces as- signed in these pages to Rondi- nello at the Brera. For the rest, the style is that above described. Rimini, Duomo, sacristy. Six panels, one-quarter of life-size, re- presenting the meeting of S l Fran- cis and S l Dominick, S l Anthony, Peter and Paul, a young saint and a bishop in couples, and a saint in cpiscopals. These are wrongly assigned to Perugino ; they are poor things by Benedetto 38* 596 THE PARMESE. Chap. XIX. Of a more distinctly local class at first was the manner of Francesco Zaganelli, born at Cotignola in the duchy of Ferrara, but a resident subsequently in Ravenna. He was a pupil of Rondinello, 1 but not of Rondinello alone, for in an altarpiece of 1505 at the Brera, representing the Virgin between two saints and a kneeling patron, he shows himself acquainted with the school of Palmez- zano. 2 In the first period to which this picture belongs, Coda. Pesaro, Scoletta di San Giovanni, originally at the Padri Riformati fuor di Porta d'Arimini, arched panel, with the assumption and two saints (male and female) in a foreground, m. 1'60 br. by 2*90, figures life-size. Umbro- Bolognese in character as above, feeble, and without effect of light and shade. Ravenna, San Dome- nico arched panel, made square. Virgin and child between S ts Do- minick and Jerom ; on the steps of the throne, S l Joseph and S l Francis in converse; on a cartello to the left hand: " Opus benedicti arimensis," figures life-size. This is Benedetto's best production, taken, we believe, by Vasari for a Rondinello. (Vas. IX. 150.) It is more broadly handled than the fore- going, yet in the same style a mixture of the Raphaelesque of the Bolognese school, and the Venetian of Palma Vecchio. Vasa*ri mentions Bartolommeo, son of Benedetto Coda (Vas. V. 18), and Lanzi (Hist, of Painting, III. 27) assigns to him a madonna between S ts Roch and Sebastian in San Rocco of Pesaro on which he observed the date of 1528. This madonna, which still exists, is by an- imitator of the Raphaelesque style, and looks like a work of Coda's school. On the cartello but one letter — B. — remains. In the sacristy of the duomo at Rimini is a descent of the Holy Spirit (panel, life-size, split horizontally in three), attributed to the father of Benedetto. It is by a follower of Coda. In the eh. of the Ma- donna del Rosario between Pesaro and Gradara, is a Virgin and child between S ts Dominick and Paul, and around this principal scene, a framework of fifteen scenes from the passion. This also is of Coda's school. But with reference to the name Bartolommeo, we may notice a resurrection of Lazarus with figures of life-size, in the ch. of the Esposti of Fano, signed on a cartello: "Bartholom ^> et Pom et Alius fanen. f." Also a similar subject in the ch. of San Francesco at Filotrano, inscribed: "Pompeus Morgantis Fanensis 1543." These are all productions of a very worthless and uninter- esting kind, nor is it of much interest to inquire whether Barto- lommeo of Fano is the same of whom Lanzi in his index says that he signed himself "Barto- lommeo Ariminensis," was the son of Benedetto Coda and lived in 1543. 1 Vas. IX. 150. We shall see that Francesco's name was Fran- cesco di Bosio de' Zaganelli di Cotignola. (See postea.) 2 Milan, Brera, No. 83, wood, oil, m. P43 br. by 1*13, originally in the Minori Riformati of Ra- venna. Virgin, child, S ts Francis, Nicholas, and a kneeling patron, inscribed: "Hoc opus f . f . Petrus Marinatie f. ego Franciscus Cotig- nolensis fecit s. d. m° 1505." The painting has undergone cleaning and restoring. Chap. XIX. ZAGANELLI. 597 Zaganelli gives promise of sfender talents; his thin dry forms are drawn with a finished and careful contour, but are curiously stiff and lifeless, the dresses are broken into rectilinear sections, and the colours lie dead and flat. At this level we have already seen Bertucci of Faenza, to whom Zaganelli at this stage has some resem- blance, and the teaching of Palmezzano is betrayed in part by the cast of draperies and in part by the arabesques on gold ground in the architecture. A similar dilution of Palmezzano is noticeable in a second altarpiece at the Brera, done, according to some authors, by Zaganelli in company with his brother Bernardino, but without any sign of distinct treatment on that account. 1 We shall see that Bernardino was frequently an assistant to Fran- cesco, and that when he worked alone he was a man of small attainments. 2 From these comparatively poor beginnings Zaganelli gradually ascended to a more com- manding height by studying the masterpieces of Francesco Francia. Though still a feeble artist, he produced two pictures in 1509 in which a marked improvement is dis- cerned. In the adoration of the new-born Christ at the National Gallery of Ireland, the figures are more cleverly set and better outlined than of old; they have a calm and kindly movement, and pleasant faces; the draperies are more judiciously arranged, and the colours, though injured from various causes, are in better tone. 3 It * 1 Milan, Brera, No. 95, wood, oil, m. 2*27 br. by 1*48, assigned to "Bernardino Marchesi." (?) Vir- gin and child enthroned between S ts John the Baptist and Francis. This seems to be the altarpiece described as by Francesco and Bernardino Zaganelli in Beltrami "Forestiere . . . nella citta di Ra- venna 1783" (quoted by Baruffaldi, Vite de' Pitt. Ferr. II. 514, and by Lanzi, III. 26). Both authori- ties agree in saying it was in the Minori Osservanti of Ravenna, and that the date of its execution was 1504. The surface is also in- jured by cleaning. Vasari mentions (IX. 151) a Christ carrying his cross left unfinished by Zaganelli. An unfinished picture with this subject is No. 174 in the Brera Gallery, but is only a school-piece. 2 L. N. Cittadella publishes (in " Document! " ub. sup. p. 154) a record, dated 1509, in which the brothers "Francesco and Bernar- dino de Zaganellis dc Cotignola 11 exchange certain lands for others. 3 Dublin, National Gallery, No. 141, 5f. 11 h. by 5f. The infant 598 THE PARMESE. Chap. XIX. was not strange that after contemplating the saintly- creations of the Bolognese, Zaganelli should learn to express a deeper and more genuine feeling. In the second creation of the same year now at Berlin, he com- poses the annunciation in the fashion of Francia, the Virgin standing on a pedestal between two saints and looking up to the angel who is wafted to her presence from heaven. In this as well as in the tender glance and movement, or slender proportions of both these appa- ritions, the change in Zaganelli may be detected, whilst in the Baptist at one side a reminiscence of Rondinello, and in the arabesques of the archings, or the rectilinear style of drapery, the effects of Palmezzano's precepts are apparent. 1 The writhing S l Sebastian with hands bound high above the head to a tree, a life-size figure in the Costabili Gallery at Ferrara, throws some further light on the progress of our artist. He did this in 1513, with firmness and mastery of drawing and comparative lightness of tone, felicitously repeating one of the bold postures peculiar to Paris Bordone, imitated in later years by Guido and the Caracci. 2 Of the same time, and better, is the Eternal in glory adored from earth by companies of saints, an altarpiece that once adorned the Christ on a pedestal in a chapel, through the arches of which the sky is seen, is adored to the right Jay S l Francis and S l Anthony of jPadua, to the left by the Virgin and S l Joseph. On a cartello on the pedestal we read : " B . . narSs mediana pms. q.. his ossa reliq 1 h . c testameti jure dedit superist" nards c . . . . ol. pin . ebat ano 3 1509, 7 Aprilis." This picture, once in the ch. of the Riforraati at Imola (Lanzi, III. 26), has been through the hands of Mr. Van Cuyck in Paris, Mr. Wigram, and Mr. Niewenhuys. At Mr. Van C/s it was transferred to canvas and the sky was re- painted. The colours are blind from restoring. 1 Berlin Mus., No. 1164, wood, 6f. 4 h. by 5, from the Solly coll. The Baptist to the left recommends a kneeling patron. S l Anthony of Padua (right) stands in prayer. The cartello at the Virgin's feet is abraded and contains but the words: "1509. Aprilis." Of the same character as this of Berlin and somewhat reminiscent of Bartol Montagna, is a Virgin and child enthroned between S l John the Baptist and S l Sebastian, a small panel in the hands of Mr. Keiset in Paris. 2 Ferrara, Costabili, all but life-size, inscribed: "Xhristus. 1513 Franciscus de Zaganellis Chotigno- lensis pinxit." Chap. XIX. ZAGANELLI. 5 ( J'J fifth chapel in San Biagio of Forli. 1 During his visits to Bologna Zaganclli had evidently paid some attention to the modifications wrought amongst the younger dis- ciples of its school by Raphael*, and amidst the angels who flit about the Eternal and support the floating folds of his garments ; there are some whose attitudes are those of Innocenzo da Imola in his Raphaelesque period. Where this influence is less apparent and the master's old habit is preserved, there is still some advance to note; the forms without the amplitude of the moderns, the drapery still in the customary cast, are bathed in a fresher atmosphere, and the colours if cold in the grey and purple enamel of the flesh, or in the sharp tints of landscape, are lively and clear. But the most important and most freely treated of all Zaganelli's sacred pieces is the Virgin and child with the portraits of the Pallavicini family executed in 1518 for the church of the Nunziata outside Parma. 2 In none of his previous performances are greater skill in arrange- ment and better drawing to be found, though it cannot be denied that coarseness of shape and vulgarity of features are united to freedom of hand. The drapery is more easy in fold, yet not altogether free from hardness; 1 Forli Gallery, No. Ill, arched j Evangelist, inscribed, beneath the panel, with life-size figures, much | feet of an angel, playing a viol, on injured by time and restoring. | the throne-step: "Xh 1518 The Eternal, in heaven, is attended Francescho da Cotignola mi di- by angels. Below, S u Buonaven- pinse." This part of the picture tura, John Evangelist, and a j hangs in a bad state, being dimmed female saint, Jerom, Mary Mag- j by age and dust, in a dark place dalen, and yet another, inscribed j to the right of the entrance. Two on a cartello: "Francischus coti- other panels with the old frame gnolensis pinxit." i are in the choir. These contain A baptism of Christ of 1515, bust-portraits of Kolando Palla- once in San Domenico of Faenza ! vicini and his daughter (?) reading (Laderchi, Pitt. Ferrar. p. 59) is a book, and a bust likeness of missing. Pallavicini's wife Domicilla. The 2 Parma, ch. of the Nunziata, first is inscribed: "Ro... Pall... outside the Porta Nuova. Panel, I dicavit," the second: "Domicilla with life-size figures of the Virgin conjux." In a note to Vasari and child between S ts John the (IX. 151) this work is given to Baptist, Bernardino, and John Girolamo Marchesi of Cotignola. 600 THE PARMESE. Chap. XIX. the flesh-tints in the portraits are of a pleasant warmth but slightly relieved with grey, and of a hard enamelled finish still recalling Palmezzano. In the same style, but Leonardesque in the regularity of the divisions and the modelling of the parts is the fine bust of Christ by Zaganelli and his brother Bernar- dino, the property of Signor Mylius at Genoa, a panel which might give the artists a right to a good place amongst the second-rates of the Romagna were it not that the features are laboured down to a pinched smallness and the face worked up to an empty uniformity. 1 In the latest things of the master, which exist at Ravenna and Rimini, there are marks of haste or declining power. His chronology ceases after 1518. 2 1 Genoa, Signor Federico Mylius. Wood, m. 0-28 br. by 0*33. Front face with long- curly hair, ground dark, inscribed: "Franciscus. Ber- nardinus Bosii. Cotignolani f." Well preserved, though slightly rubbed down. A crown of thorns is on the head, and copious tears fall down the cheeks; the signature is on the tunic hem, which runs across the breast. 2 Ravenna, Galleria Rasponi, No. 8. Half-length of the Virgin with the child erect, clinging to the hem of her bodice, and play- ing with a bird, a charming group better in thought than in hand- ling. The proportions and masks recall Francia; a highly finished piece with thin, flesh colour (half- life). Ravenna, Sant' Agata. In the choir an arched panel with eight figures, all but life-size, of the crucified Saviour, the Magdalen grasping the foot of the cross, the fainting Virgin, and the Marys, a friar, S l Francis, and another saint. This picture, much praised by Vasari (IX. 151), is much in- jured, especially in the figure of Christ, by retouching; there is much exaggeration in the move- ments of the lean saints; and in this Ave are reminded of Lotto. The colours are sombre, and sharply contrasted. Ravenna, San Girolamo, ex-Gesuiti, arched panel, with life-size figures; subject, the marriage of S l Catherine, with S ts Sebastian, John Evangelist, a friar, and S l Roch. In a predclla, S l Bartholomew, the Virgin's soul carried to heaven by two angels, cloth of S l Veronica, S ts Catherine and Paul. This panel is high up above the chief portal and of a dull tinge; the infant Christ is blackened by restoring — a poor piece, not unlike an early one by Girolamo Marchesi, which might of itself prove that Girolamo was of ZaganeUTs school. This may be the altarpiece mentioned by Vasari (IX. 150). Ravenna, San Romualdo, or Classe, sacristy. Resurrection of Lazarus, arched canvas, in oil, ill composed, worse* drawn, and most affected. (Vas. IX. 150.) Ravenna, San Niccolo. Nativity, much injured and scaled, a school-piece. (Vas. IX. 150.) In the same character and in the same place, but originally in Sant' Appollinare, two life-size figures (wood) of S ts Sebastian and Cathe- rine. The exaggeration in the Chap. XIX. ZAGANELLI. 601 Of Bernardino Zaganelli, we possess but one genuine production, a S l Sebastian belonging to Signor Frizzoni of Bellagio on the lake of Como ; perhaps originally part of an altarpiece in the Carmine at Pavia dismembered at the close of the last century. 1 It is a figure alike defective in shape, in character and in colour, the work of a patient but unskilful craftsman who might be a useful assistant in his brother's workshop, but has no claim to rank as an independent artist. With Girolamo Marchesi of Cotignola, the pupil, we think, of Zaganelli, art in the Romagnas enters upon its last phase. 2 Girolamo began as a cold and diligent imitator of Zaganelli and Francia. His first altar- pieces at San Marino are '* a feeble echo of those masters with a germ of exaggeration in addition ; his nativity of 1513 in Lord Ashburton's collection shows action of the figures in these works is not unlike that of the feeble disciples of Signorelli. The nativity seems to have been painted by Zaganelli for the Franciscans of Cremona. The Anonimo (ed. Morelli) notices such a subject done as a night-scene after the fashion of Coreggio, the light emanating from the infant Christ. (Anon. p. 37.) Rome, Villa Albani. Lunette panel with the Saviour supported in his tomb by two angels, perhaps part of the baptism of Christ, of 1515, originally in San Domenico of Faenza. (Laderchi, ub. sup. p. 59.) The figures are half the size of life; the Christ, Bellinesque, with draperies in the fashion of Pal- mezzano. Rimini Gallery. Same subject with lour angels, assigned to Giovanni Bellini, recalls Ron- dinello and Coda, but is probably by Zaganelli. This, however, is a tempera, and perhaps a picture of Zaganelli's youth. (See antea.) Ferrara, Costabili. Same subject, a school-piece. Naples Museum, No. 4, under the name of Cosimo Kosselli. Marriage of the Virgin, figures all but life-size, in the manner of Francesco and Bernar- dino Zaganelli. The following are missing: Ravenna, Sant 1 Appolli- nare. (Vas. IV. 151.) Virgin, child, S ts John the Baptist, Appollinare, Jerom, and others; Virgin and child, S ts Peter and Catherine. 1 Pavia, Carmine and Bellagio. The altarpiece at the Carmine was in six parts; the principal course representing S l Sebastian between S ts Nicholas and Catherine; the upper course, Christ between two angels, the Virgin and the angel annunciate. It is so described by Francesco Bartoli in "Notizie delle Pitture e Sculture chiese & a di Pa- via." MS. finished at Venice in 1777. The S l Sebastian, which we suppose to have belonged to the above, is now in the coll. of Signor Friz zoni at Bellagio, and represents S l Sebastian in a hip-cloth at the column. Distance a landscape with figures on horseback; wood, oil, inscr.^B.WUnVv" COTIG°LA P." 2 For notices of this painter sec Vasari, IX. 90. 602 THE PARMESE. Chap. XIX. that he clung for a long series of years to this early style. But having followed the young Bolognese, who had learnt to worship the latest creations of Sanzio and Buonarrotti, he rapidly acquired the superficial breadth and freedom of the great schools, to which he added a peculiar weight and vulgarity essentially his own. In one form of his art he recalls Innocenzo da Imola and Bagnacavallo, as in a marriage of the Virgin at Bologna; in another form, as in a Virgin and child with saints, he shows himself the precursor of the Caracci, aping the boldness of the later Raphaelesques and Michaelangeles- ques, almost reaching the level of the Veronese Francesco Caroto. Specimens of his skill at this period are to be found with the dates of 1516, 1518, and 1526 at Berlin and Bologna. Vasari relates of him that he was chiefly known in Bologna as a portraitist, one of his studies of interest, if we could but discover it, being after Gaston de Foix, when he lay wounded at Kavenna in 1512. His Avill, dated Bologna, August 16, 1531, is still preserved. 1 His last days were spent in visiting the Roman States and Naples ; and, if we believe Vasari, he painted a por- trait of Paul the III rd (*1549). Having been entrapped into a marriage with a woman of ill-fame, he is said to have died of a broken heart at Rome in the 64th year of his age. 2 1 Gualandi, Memorie, ub. sup. II. 12. 2 Here follows a notice of Giro- larao's works as mentioned in the text or noticed by historians; and first as to those of which we may speak with authority. San Marino, San Francesco. 1°, Virgin in prayer in a landscape, between S l Augus- tin and S l Anselmo, and receiving a benediction from the Eternal in the sky; on a cartello: "Hieroni- mus cotignol. fac." figures almost life-size; 2°, Virgin and child en- throned between S ts Catherine, Francis, Marino, and another ; two angels on the throne-step play instruments; wood, oil, figures of life-size. The last of these pictures is erroneously assigned to Gio- vanni Bellini, both are feeble and careful, in the manner of a disciple of Francia. London, Lo,rd Ash- burton, but originally in Santa Maria delle Grazie at Pesaro. Vir- gin adoring the child, attended by four saints, a bishop, Jerom, and two females, inscribed: "Jeronim~ Cottigol. junipera sfortia patria a marito recepto ex voto p. MCCCCCXIII. ,, This altarpiece is said by Laderchi (Pitt. Ferrar. p. Chap. XIX. GIROLAMO MARCHESI. 603 103) to contain portraits of Gine- vra Sforza and Constanzo II., her son. The figures are of life-size; style, a mixture of Francia, Ron- dinello, and Zaganelli ; colour, rosy, clear, and empty; the inscription is renewed or new altogether. Louvre, Muse'e Napoleon III. No. 229, wood, m. 0-53 h. by 0-50. Bust of the Saviour carrying his cross, inscribed: "Hieronymus Marchiegius Cotignola " The date 1520 in the catalogue is doubtful, and the style of the pic- ture shows it to be of an early time. This is a lean suffering Christ, with a rigid expression of pain, the colour is dull without modu- lation and much rubbed down. The most remarkable thing is the execution, which is most minute and finished. Bologna, Pinac, No. 108. Marriage of the Virgin, arched panel with many figures nearly large as life, — imitation of Inno- cenzo da Imola and Bagnacavallo, free and bold, overcharged with people and heavy in tone. Same gallery, No. 278, panel, life-size, from the suppressed company of San Bernardino. Virgin kissing the infant Christ, the boy Baptist below, and at the sides, S ts Fran- cis and Bernardino. This is still more freely treated than the last, the boy S l John in the Raphael- esque manner, the Virgin not un- like a creation of Caroto. The colouring is dull and purple in shadow. This piece is said to have been done in 1520; it looks more modern. In the same manner: Berlin Museum, No. 290, dated 1516, panel, 2f. 6 h. by If. 11. Marriage of the Virgin. No. 268, S l Bernard and his disciples, in- scribed: "Hieronimus Cottignolus MDXXVI," wood, 6f. 5 h. by 4f. liy 2 . Bologna, Pinac, No. 288, annunciation, nativity, and flight into Egypt; three small panels in one predella, it is supposed of the Sposalizio, No. 108. This predella is boldly handled, but heavy in the shape of the figures. Bologna, Santa Maria in Vado, Hospital. Martyrdom of S l Sebastian, much injured, with a signature of which the word "Hieronimus" alone is legible. Allegorical figures of Justice and Fortitude in the cap- pella Varano of this church we have not seen; the same may be said of the Virgin giving the breast to the child, attended by S ts John the Baptist, Anthony the Abbot and a patron, once in San Tommaso of Forli; of the four evangelists at San Michele in Bosco at Bologna. (Laderchi, Pitt. Ferrar. p. 103.) At Rome and Naples and Rimini nothing of this painter's hand is to be ob- served. ■ J 1 GETTY CENTER LIBRARY 3 3125 00448 1087