JANUAP &3SJ3 "XT < f\l\ A T3»T» A T"» A UC-NRLF "TOLOMMEO PRICE, 15 CENTS B 3 bl2 bD7 FRA BARTOLOMMEO PART 49 VOLUME 5 Bat^anD-GulldCtorapanij, 42 publication^ anD iSeprintg 42 C^auncy Street 'Boston C^e Colonial architecture Cnglisty Country f ougeg of JUarplanto, f)cnnsptoanta, anU ©irainia 91 Collection of jFiftp pates This Collection, edited by Mr. Joseph Everett Chandler, reproduces, from photographs made under the direction of the author, the most beau- tiful and suggestive examples of Colonial archi- tecture in this region. Most of the views show domestic buildings, with exterior and interior views and details. The plates measure 1 1 by 14 inches. Price in portfolio, $12.00; bound in half-morocco, $14.00. Fourth edition. Send for special circular €Ije Colonial architecture of JReto ena;lanU. & Collection of JFiftp pates A standard work, which does for the architec- ture of New England what Mr. Chandler's col- lection does for Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The views represent domestic build- ings exclusively; and, taken together, this and the volume before named include all the better examples of domestic Colonial architecture. In size and appearance this book is uniform with "The Colonial Architecture of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia." Price in port- folio, $12.00; bound in half-morocco, $14.00. New edition. Send for special circular. $eu ^ratting 3n 3 ItastrateU Creatine, ^itb ©ramplcs, bp Charles SD. ittapnnis 1 ' Pen Drawing" is a text-book intended to sup- ply the student with just such instruction as he might derive from a competent and experienced teacher. Each of the seventy-two illustrations (which comprise specimens of the work of many eminent modern pen draughtsmen) exemplifies some definite technical point, showing how to attain a merit or avoid a defect. 130 pages, size 7 V z by 5 inches. Bound in cloth. Price, $1.00. Third edition. & Collection of ©ne ^unUreU pates, Bep= resenting One |)antoreto anti Ctoentp=four |>0ttSe6 This collection of photographic views shows a wide variety of picturesque houses, mainly of small and medium size, which are suggestive for country-house building in this country. It rep- resents some of the best minor architecture in half-timber, brick, and stone of the Tudor, Elizabethan, and Georgian periods. The plates are 11 by 14 inches in size. Price in portfolio, $10.00; bound, $12.00. New edition. Send for special circular. Cuglijefy Country C^urcljeg & Collection of @ne INnateo Sietos Chosen bp Kalpb &fcams Cram, Architect Many of the most useful and beautiful of the smaller English Country Churches, which repre- sent a type thoroughly adapted to American needs, are shown in this collection of eighty- seven exterior and thirteen interior photographic views of churches in the Norman, Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular Styles. Uniform in size and style with " English Country Houses." In portfolio, $10.00; bound, $12.00. New edition. Send for special circular. ^rifcate ^tables & Special JBtnnbcr of the "Architectural KePiem" Contains five hundred and forty-five illustra- tions, about one-half of which are plans, and the remainder exterior views of private stables and farm-barns, representing the best recent work in this country. The text consists of articles by specialists on stable-planning, stable essentials, and farm-barns. An invaluably suggestive vol- ume for any one who is about to build a stable or who already owns one. Price, $3.00. Bound in boards. In answering advertisements, please mention Masters in Art MASTERS IN ART CjJExercise Your Skin Keep up its activity, and aid its natural changes, not by expensive Turkish baths, but by Hand Sapolio, the only soap that liberates the activities of the pores without working chemical changes. Costs but a trifle. CJThe Perfect Purity of Hand Sapolio makes it a very desirable toilet article; it contains no animal fats, but is made from the most healthful of the vegetable oils. It is truly the " Dainty Woman's Friend." Its use is a fine habit. CUPIDS 4 SWEET STRATEGY \. \J There's a subtle fascination that you cannot resist in Chocolates and Confections They're a revelation of delicious confectionery. Whitman 's Instantaneous Chocolate Made instantly with boiling milk. Sold everywhere. STEPHEN F. WHITMAN, 1316 Chestnut St., Philadelphia In answering advertisements, please mention Masters in Art M 335727 MASTERS IN AET PLATE I PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLEMENT & CIE [3] FRA BARTOLOMJIEO MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ST. ELIZABETH AND ST. JOHN COLLECTION OF SIR FREDERICK COOK MASTERS IN AKT PLATE II PHOTOGRAPH BY ALINARI [5] FKA HAETOLOMMEO ST. CATHEBINE AJV1I 5IAEI .MAGIIALEXE IN ADOUATION LUCCA GALLERY MASTERS IN ABT PLATE III PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLEMENT & CIE [7] EBA KAKTOLOHMEO THE MADONNA OF FEEET CABONDELET BESANCON CATHEDEAL MASTERS IX ART PLATE IV FROM A PHOTOGRAVURE 8Y lEMERCIER [9] I'HA HAKTOLOMHEO THE HOLY FAMILY COLLECTION OF EARL COWPEK MASTERS IN ART PHOTOGRAPH BY Al [11] FRA BARTOLOMMEO THE MADONNA DELLA MISERICORIHA LUCCA GALLEHT MASTEBS m AKT PLATE VI PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN, CLEMENT A CIE [18] FKA BAKTOLOJIMEO MAKKIAGE OF ST. CATHERINE OF S1EXA LOUVHE, PAKIS MASTERS 1ST ART PLATE VIII PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAUN CLEMENT i. CIE FRA KAKTOLOMMEO THE MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ANGELS HERMITAGE GALLERY, ST. PETERSBURG [17] w a g "• 3 s - ~ X a a, MASTERS IN ART PLATE X PHOTOGRAPH BY ALINARI [21] KHA BAETOL05I.MKI1 MADONNA BETWEEN ST. STEPHEN AND ST. JOHN BAPTIST LUCCA CATHEDRAL POBTBAIT OK FIIA 1IAHTOLOMSIEO CFFIZI GALLEltY. ETlOBENGE This portrait of Fra Bartolommeo, the only one that is known to exist, was painted by himself "with the aid of a minor, nyt Vasari. He has represented himself, in hi monk's habit, as one of the spectator- in the large picture of the Madonna surrounded bj taints, which in I 510 the Signory of Florence commissioned him to paint for the Council Hall. Thi« work, never carried beyond the monochrome state, now hangs in the Uffisi Gallerv, Florence. [22] MASTERS IN ART ffixn W&vtolommtQ BORN 1475 : DIED 1517 FLORENTINE SCHOOL FRA BARTOLOMMEO was the son of a poor mule-driver, Paolo del Fattorino by name, who lived near the gate of San Piero Gattolini, just outside the walls of Florence. It was there, and not at Savignano as Vasari has stated, that, in the year 147 5, Bartolommeo was born; and on account of the location of his father's house was known in his youth as Baccio (the diminutive of Bartolommeo, pronounced Batch'yo) della Porta, "of the Gate." At an early age the boy showed such an aptitude for drawing that, upon the advice of the sculptor Benedetto da Maiano, his father placed him, when only nine years old, in the studio of Cosimo Rosselli, a painter of Florence, where he quickly won the affection and confidence of his master by his prog- ress and the faithful performance of all the duties assigned to him. Among the pupils with whom he came in contact in Rosselli's work- shop was Mariotto Albertinelli, the son of a gold-beater, and his senior by a year, whose gay and somewhat boisterous disposition was in marked contrast to the serious and gentle nature of the young Bartolommeo, but who, never- theless, became his chosen and closest friend. At the end of an apprenticeship of six or seven years the two lads, whose mutual affection was so great that, according to Vasari, "they became, as it were, one body and one soul," feeling that they had nothing more to learn from Cosimo Rosselli, formed a partnership, rented a studio in common, and be- gan the practice of their profession on their own account. Both young artists undoubtedly spent much time in the Medici gardens, where Lorenzo de' Medici, then ruler of Florence, had collected many valuable specimens of antique statuary, which were eagerly studied by all the Florentine artists of that day; but while Albertinelli devoted his whole attention to copying these marbles, Bartolommeo studied also the works of Masaccio, of Filippino Lippi, and, above all, of Leonardo da Vinci. His progress was rapid, and his influ- ence over his friend in all matters pertaining to art, in spite of their different dispositions, so strong that in Albertinelli's best compositions his work bears a striking resemblance to that of Bartolommeo. [23] 24 MASTERS IN ART The dissimilarity in the natures of the two friends was forcibly shown at the time when Savonarola, the renowned preaching friar and reformer, was stirring Florence to its very depths by his vehement denunciations of the de- pravity of the times. Terrified by the pending doom that he foretold the people thronged the churches to listen to his words, and many of the most powerful and influential of the Florentines became his followers. Among those who most ardently embraced his cause was Bartolommeo, who was one of his earliest and most zealous adherents. Albertinelli, on the contrary, joined the opposing faction, and openly scoffed at the Piagnoni, or "Mourn- ers," as the followers of Savonarola were derisively called. The rupture that this difference occasioned between the two young artists was, however, of short duration, and before long they were again working in partnership. The pictures painted by Bartolommeo at this early period cannot be iden- tified with certainty. A portrait of Savonarola, said to be still preserved in a private collection at Prato, and of which a copy is now in the cell once oc- cupied by the great reformer in the Convent of San Marco, Florence, is in all probability a work of this time; as were also the two small miniature-like panels now in the UfHzi Gallery of that city, on which a 'Nativity' and a 'Circumcision' are represented with exquisite finish. These were originally intended for the doors of a tabernacle containing a 'Virgin' by Donatello, and are believed to be among Bartolommeo's earliest known works. Many of the studies that would have thrown light upon the beginnings and the progress of his artistic career, however, were irretrievably lost, when at the carnivals of 1497 and 1498, moved by the exhortations of Savonarola, his followers cast into the bonfires kindled in the public square of Florence objects of a worldly and frivolous nature — musical instruments, playing-cards, articles of the toilet, and the like — and many of the painters of Florence, among them Bartolommeo, in excess of zeal consigned to the flames all works painted from the nude or portraying profane or mythologic subjects. Carried to even greater lengths by his enthusiasm for the new ideas and his feeling of affection for Savonarola, Bartolommeo joined the little band of the friar's defenders when, in 1498, the tide of popular feeling having turned, an angry mob bent on Savonarola's destruction besieged the Convent of San Marco, of which Savonarola was at that time prior. It was then that Barto- lommeo, horrified by the deeds of violence that he witnessed, intimidated by the fury of the populace, and overwhelmed by grief when his beloved master was taken prisoner and led away to torture and to death, threw down his weapon, and made a vow to become a monk of the Order of St. Dominic should heaven vouchsafe him safe deliverance from the perils that beset him. The vow thus taken was afterwards fulfilled, but in the meantime Barto- lommeo had duties to perform which necessitated the postponement of his withdrawal from the world. The care of a weak-minded half-brother, Piero, had devolved upon him since the death of his parents, and a guardian must be found to assume this responsibility. Furthermore, an important commis- sion had been intrusted to Bartolommeo by one Gerozzo Dini, who had asked him to decorate in fresco one of the walls of a chapel that Dini had built in [24] FRA BARTOLOMMEO 25 the cemetery adjoining the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova, Florence. The subject selected by the painter, whose soul had been stirred by the preaching and prophecies of Savonarola, was the 'Last Judgment;' and the faded and almost ruined remains of this great fresco, now removed to the picture-gallery of the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova, offer one of the noblest and most im- pressive examples of monumental composition, in all respects, as M. Miintz has said, "a worthy prelude to the 'Disputa' of Raphael." When the upper part of the painting was completed, Bartolommeo, who had planned and drawn in the whole composition, left the remainder of the work to his friend Albertinelli; and in the month of July of that year, 1500, took upon himself the vows of a novice in the Dominican convent at Prato. He was at this time twenty-five years of age, and already a painter of reputation, "much beloved in Florence," writes Vasari, "not only for his talents, but for his many excellent qualities; devoted to labor, of a quiet mind, upright by nature, and duly impressed with the fear of God." In taking this step no worldly regrets seem to have assailed Bartolommeo's spirit. Fame he relin- quished without a pang, for to consecrate his life to God, and to observe the rules of his Order with the same scrupulous care with which he had always fulfilled every duty of his life, had now become the sole end of his aspiration. In his zeal for his new duties, however, he was not unmindful of his brother Piero, to whom he ceded all his rights of property, and whose tute- lage he placed in the hands of the young man's nearest maternal relatives — a care that was afterwards undertaken by his old friend Albertinelli. During the four years that followed his entrance upon monastic life, Fra Bartolommeo, as he was now called, entirely abandoned painting, and it was only at the urgent entreaties of his friend Santi Pagnini, prior of the Convent of San Marco, in Florence, where, his novitiate being ended, he now resided, that he at length consented to resume his brush. Had not Fra Angelico of blessed memory been an inmate of this same convent many years before, and had not its cloisters always encouraged art in its different branches? Even Savonarola himself had exhorted all Dominican friars who had no gift for preaching or for theology to study painting and architecture; and already there were many brothers within the walls of San Marco who were not only skilled in the delicate art of the miniaturist, but distinguished in the broader fields of art as well. Surely the talent that God had intrusted to Fra Bartolommeo should not be allowed to lie hidden. So argued the wise and learned prior, and Fra Bartolommeo yielded, resolving at the same time that thenceforth his art should be devoted to the glory and service of God. The first painting of importance that he undertook after this was an altar- piece for a chapel in the Church of the Badia in Florence, representing 'The Vision of St. Bernard.' This picture, much injured and repainted, is now in the Academy of Florence. It was followed by works executed for his own convent and for other religious bodies and churches; for once having taken up his brush, there was no dearth of commissions to keep it occupied. Before long, too, Fra Bartolommeo was appointed director of the studio of the Convent of San Marco. Whatever profits might accrue from his labors, [25] 26 MASTERS IN ART how ever, were appropriated by his Order, which undertook the superintend- ence of his business affairs, allowing him merely enough money to defray the expenses of the materials necessary for his work, and granting him, as his only indulgence, exemption from service in the choir. It was towards the close of the year 1504, the same year in which Fra Bartolommeo resumed his painting, that Raphael, then twenty-one years of age, visited Florence, and, deeply impressed by Fra Bartolommeo's fresco of the 'Last Judgment,' was eager to meet and know its painter. The ac- quaintance that was then begun between the two artists ripened into friend- ship when Raphael returned to Florence in 1506, after a sojourn in Perugia, where he was engaged in painting his fresco in the Chapel of San Severo in that city, in which, as well as in others of his works executed at this period, Fra Bartolommeo's influence is plainly visible. If, however, Raphael learned from his friend a greater symmetry and balance in the art of composition, and from the study of his works became more skilled in the management of color and in the disposition of the draperies, Fra Bartolommeo on his part profited no less by the younger painter's knowledge of the laws of perspective, and even acquired from him something of his seductive grace and indefinable charm. Another influence, however, quite as perceptible in Fra Bartolommeo's paintings, is that of Leonardo da Vinci, and many of the works produced by him at this period bear witness to his study of Da Vinci's methods of modeling and of chiaroscuro. Unfortunately, the use of printer's ink and bone-black, with which in his zeal to imitate the style of that painter he dark- ened his shadows, has caused such serious injury to his pictures that much of the beauty of their coloring has been lost. Fra Bartolommeo, who devoted special attention to the construction of the human form, is said to have been the first to make use of a jointed lav- figure on which he could arrange the draperies that he painted with such skill and thus study their folds more accurately. The wooden figure which he used is still preserved in the Academy at Florence. In the spring of the year 1 5 08, the year in which Raphael, in obedience to the summons of the pope, left Florence for Rome, Fra Bartolommeo accompanied the syndic of his convent on a journey to. Venice. Giorgione was then at the height of his fame, Titian had already risen to the foremost ranks in that bril- liant Venetian school of which he was soon to be the acknowledged chief, while Sebastiano del Piombo and a host of others were covering their can- vases with glowing colors bewildering to the eyes of one accustomed to the more severe and sober qualities of Florentine art. And from this time on, in addition to the influence of Raphael and of Leonardo da Vinci, a third influence becomes apparent in the work of Fra Bartolommeo — that of the Venetian painters, the brilliancy of whose tones so strongly appealed to his color-sense that in all his subsequent pictures we see the effects of this visit to Ven- ice, and in none perhaps more markedly than in the great altar-piece 'St. Catherine and Mary Magdalene in Adoration,' painted soon after his return to Florence, and now in the Lucca Gallery (see plate n). [26] FRA BARTOLOMMEO 27 Once more in his quiet monastery of San Marco, Fra Bartolommeo ap- plied himself more assiduously than ever to his art. His popularity as a painter had increased, and he found himself unable to carry out his numerous com- missions without assistance. He therefore obtained permission, by special dis- pensation, to take his old friend Albertinelli again into partnership. This arrangement continued for some three years, during which time many fine works were produced conjointly by the two artists, all such paintings being marked with the monogram of the studio of San Marco — a cross between two rings — to distinguish them from those executed by each painter alone. In 1510 the Signory of Florence commissioned Fra Bartolommeo to paint an altar-piece for the Council Hall of their city — a commission that had been given twelve years before to Filippino Lippi, but left unfulfilled by that painter at his death. The subject assigned was the enthroned Madonna surrounded by the patron saints of Florence; and Fra Bartolommeo, conscious of the honor shown him, at once set to work upon his task with enthusiasm. For some unknown reason, however, the picture, like Michelangelo's and Leo- nardo da Vinci's celebrated compositions executed a few years before and destined for the same hall, was never completed, and the fine underpainting in brown monochrome, now in the Uffizi Gallerv, Florence, is all we have of this great example of the painter's science and skill in the art of mon- umental composition. Four years after this Fra Bartolommeo, who had been eager to see the famous works upon which Michelangelo and Raphael were then engaged in Rome, asked and obtained permission from the prior of his convent to visit that city, where he spent several weeks, a welcome guest at the Dominican monastery of San Silvestro. The profound impression produced upon his mind by the sight of the prophets of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel is evidenced in his colossal figures of St. Mark, now in the Pitti Palace, Flor- ence, and of St. Peter and St. Paul in the Quirinal Palace, Rome. Fra Bartolommeo's stay in Rome was shortened by the fact that the cli- mate affected his health; he returned to Florence seriously ill with malarial fever, and was at once sent by the prior of San Marco to the hospital belong- ing to the Dominican monks at Pian di Mugnone, in the hope that he would soon regain his strength. During the three remaining years of Fra Bartolommeo's life, notwithstand- ing the frequent recurrence of attacks of fever, his industry never flagged. Among the works painted at this period were his great canvas of 'The Ma- donna della Misericordia,' now in the Lucca Gallery; a figure of St. Sebas- tian, now in the possession of M. Alaffre at Pezenas, France, which, ac- cording to Vasari, he is said to have painted in refutation of the charge that he was unable to paint the nude; 'The Presentation in the Temple,' in Vienna; a portrait of Savonarola as St. Peter Martyr, now in the Florentine Academy; and last of all, his beautiful altar-piece of 'The Deposition from the Cross,' in the Pitti Palace, Florence. His labors proved beyond his strength, however, and again he was com- pelled to seek rest at Pian di Mugnone. In 1516, the year before he died, [27] 28 MASTERS IN ART he received an urgent invitation from the French king, Francis I., to visit his court; but lack of strength, as well as pressure of work at home, caused the painter to hesitate to accept the invitation, which was accordingly left open for his consideration. But Fra Bartolommeo never left his native Italy. Vasari tells us that having labored perpetually beneath a window through which the rays of the sun constantly poured on his back, one side of his body became paralyzed. He was, therefore, advised by his physician to go to the baths of San Filippo to try the effect of those healing waters; but early in the autumn he returned to Florence not much better than when he went away; and one day, having eaten plentifully of figs, of which he was exceed- ingly fond, he was attacked by an access of fever, and after a brief illness died, on October 6, 1517, at the age of forty-two. Fra Bartolommeo was mourned by all who knew him, and especially by the monks of his Order, by whom he was buried in the church of the Convent of San Marco, which he had honored in his life both as a humble and faithful member and as a great and illustrious painter. — based on the life of fra bartolommeo by GUSTAVE GRUVER Cfje &rt of jfra Bartolommeo HERMANN LUC KE 'FRA BARTOLOMMEO' THE range of Fra Bartolommeo's art was by no means wide. He never penetrated into that extended domain of history and mythology that had been rediscovered by the spirit of the Renaissance and in which Raphael reigned supreme; he never attempted the representation of great epic themes in a series of monumental mural paintings, nor did he aspire to portray sub- jects of a strictly dramatic character. It may be said, indeed, that of the re- ligious works that he painted, either in fresco or on panel, those best suited to his genius were such subjects as afforded him an opportunity of arranging in calm and dignified situations figures that were marked by a stately beauty and sobriety. Even the expression of any intense passion or profound pathos acquired at his hands a certain grave and sober character. The grandeur of form and attitude of each individual figure was, moreover, in perfect harmony with the grandeur and serenity of the composition; and even as he loved to place his figures in settings of stately architecture, so in the general dispo- sition and grouping of the figures themselves a rhythm and harmony pre- vailed that was, so to speak, architectural in its nature. In the progress of his art we see that the structure of the picture and disposition of the groups assume ever more skilfully balanced and more spacious proportions. There is greater breadth and grandeur in the forms, more prominence is given to the masses of light and shade. Vasari, the first to observe this tendency in the development of art, speaks of it as "the modern manner," in contradis- tinction to the conventional style of fifteenth-century painting. [28] FRA BARTOLOMMEO 29 Leonardo da Vinci and Fra Bartolommeo were the first painters of the Italian Renaissance to realize the impressive artistic effect produced by per- fect unison in the treatment of line and form, and thereby a new epoch was created in art. In the beginning, the feeling of the importance of space com- position had been manifested somewhat timidly in Giotto's works; later, it was more clearly marked in the strong and earnest simplicity of Masaccio's; but in those of the later fifteenth-century painters, whose chief aims and am- bitions were directed towards the attainment of wholly different ends, it had become more and more of secondary importance, and had often been com- pletely ignored. The full mastery of unison in composition is not indeed met with in the work of any Italian painter before Leonardo and Fra Barto- lommeo. The feeling for space as shown in their pictures, and the grandeur of the general effect of their compositions, are evidences of the highest perfec- tion of the Renaissance. This is apparent in its whole significance when their works are contrasted with those of contemporary German painters, whose compositions, with all their otherwise admirable qualities, almost invariably evince a certain embarrassment and awkwardness, and who, in their extreme fondness for detail and their absorption in the portrayal of the characteristics of each individual figure, seldom rise to a free and harmonious disposition of the whole. A clear understanding of the combined effect of forms, lines, and masses; a feeling for the beauty of proportions in space, which to the artist is what the rhythm of verse is to the poet — in short, the faculty for com- position, is manifested by Fra Bartolommeo to such a marked degree that it stands forth as the greatest of his artistic qualities. If it be further taken into consideration that a certain uniformity pervades the grand types of his figures and the motives of their actions, we shall agree with that critic who said that Fra Bartolommeo's achievement considered as a whole had a far deeper significance than the invention and disposition of any single example of his work. . . . Fra Bartolommeo's method of painting was a direct outcome of Leonardo da Vinci's principles. In the underpainting, which in that method required the utmost care, the figures were as a rule first accurately modeled in brown, the general local tone was then applied with a semi-transparency, the gra- dations of the half-tones were refined by delicate blues, and finally the whole was brought into harmony. Leonardo, however, did not carry the color- scheme to such a state of perfection as to produce its fullest artistic effect. The expression of form was always the principal feature with him, whereas with Fra Bartolommeo color was so intimately connected with the complete development of his style of composition that he may be called a colorist in the fullest acceptation of the term, and as such he occupies a place in the his- tory of Florentine painting similar to that held later by Andrea del Sarto. . . . There are artists who perhaps in some one work achieve the highest ex- cellence, who in the strength and boldness of a sudden inspiration attain a greatness which far surpasses their average powers ; but with Fra Bartolommeo the exact opposite appears to be the case. It is true that the inexhaustible wealth of imagination, the fullness of artistic conception which is displayed so [29] 30 MASTERS IN ART lavishly and in such ever-fresh and varying forms in the creations of men of the greatest genius, had been denied him, and that in some of his works we feel that his creative faculty is inadequate to invest with life the grand forms that he conceived; but, nevertheless, wherever the soul of the artist succeeds in identifying itself with his subject, there he achieves a beauty of the highest order. The grave and magistral character of the composition, the dignitv of the figures and grandeur of their draperies, the rhythmical flow of the lines and deep harmonies of the color, produce a unison of effect such as is almost unparalleled in the history of painting; and if in these qualities Fra Barto- lommeo shows himself at the very summit of the Renaissance, his inward svmpathy with the spirit of that great epoch is revealed in yet another re- spect — in the ethical significance of those majestic male figures which in the full consciousness of their own calm strength are ideal types of the free, un- fettered character of the Renaissance, wholly released at last from the tram- mels and limitations of medievalism. In this ethical side of his artistic con- ception Fra Bartolommeo is raised far above the traditional mode of thought peculiar to those of his religious profession. The last of the cloistral paint- ers, the ardent admirer of Savonarola, he was yet a true child of the Renais- sance; and in the grand and characteristic figures that he portrayed we are conscious of the breath of that mighty spirit which broke the spell of the monastic view of life and burst the last fetters of the middle ages. — from THE GERMAN GUSTAVE GRUYER 'FRA BARTOLOMMEO ET ALBERTINELLI" ALTHOUGH not entitled to a position in the foremost ranks of Italian J~\. painters, Fra Bartolommeo occupies an eminent place in the history of art. Born at a period immediately preceding its most complete and perfect development, he evinced certain new qualities which at once aroused the ad- miration of his contemporaries. Never before had draperies been treated with so much breadth and in so simple and natural a manner. Never before had an artist invested his figures with so serene a majesty or arranged his com- positions with such absolute harmony. Never, indeed, had so profound a science been combined with a simplicity so seductive. Affected as he was in turn by the chiaroscuro of Leonardo da Vinci, bv the incomparable grace of Raphael, and by the warmth of color of the Vene- tian painters, PVa Bartolommeo added to the style peculiar to himself some- thing of the special qualities of each of these different influences; and by combining the resources of a genius of the second order with the inspira- tions of a pure and lofty soul he succeeded in winning a place for himself beside the greatest painters of his century. Unfortunately, after his journey to Rome, the influence of Michelangelo is only too evident in his work, as is shown in the colossal si/.e of his figures. Eventually, however, he freed himself from this affectation. As a rule, Fra Bartolommeo refrained from expressing strong emotions, preferring to portray the tender feeling of souls transported by divine ecstasy. [301 FRA BARTOLOMMEO 31 As Paul Mantz has said, "A serious and thoughtful beauty shines from his figures, which seem at times to be glorified by a ray fallen from the golden sky of Venice." The unfinished picture of 'The Madonna Surrounded by Saints' in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, enables us to judge to some extent of Fra Bartolom- meo's processes of working. The figures were first drawn nude from living models. He then arranged his draperies, making use of a lay-figure to aid him. The composition was prepared entirely with bister, all the parts were mod- eled, the lights and shades carefully defined, and, indeed, the whole work almost completed in monochrome. Finally, he would go over it all with thin colors, after which there remained only the glazing, which imparted trans- parency and brilliancy to the work. — from the French WILHELM LUBKE 'HISTORY OF ART* FRA BARTOLOMMEO'S peculiar sphere is devotional painting; and here he stands the equal of the greatest and noblest masters. His figures are full of deep sensibility, and at the same time are free in their action, noblv draped, and of a ripe beauty. But what, above all, contributes to the im- pressiveness of his pictures is the magnificent grouping, the well-balanced composition of the whole — an effect which, nevertheless, is produced with- out any sacrifice of freedom. In his coloring we see still further developed the same delicate gradation which Leonardo da Vinci exhibited, and by which he laid the foundation of the art of aerial perspective; and in his best works he combines a rare strength and depth with a bright freshness of coloring. JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS 'RENAISSANCE IN ITALY' FRA BARTOLOMMEO forms at Florence the connecting link between the artists of the earlier Renaissance and the golden age. By chronolog- ical reckoning he is nearly a quarter of a century later than Leonardo da Vinci, and is the exact contemporary of Michelangelo. As an artist, he has thoroughly outgrown the fifteenth-century style, and falls short by only a little of the greatest. In assigning him a place among the predecessors and precursors of the full Renaissance, I am therefore influenced rather by the range of subjects he selected, and by the character of his genius, than by cal- culations of time or estimate of ability. . . . The great contributions made by Fra Bartolommeo to the art of Italy were in the double region of composition and coloring. In his justly celebrated fresco of Santa Maria Nuova at Florence — a 'Last Judgment' with a Christ enthroned amid a choir of saints — he exhibited for the first time a thoroughly scientific scheme of grouping based on geometrical principles. Each part is perfectly balanced in itself, and yet is necessary to the structure of the whole. The complex framework may be subdivided into numerous sections no less harmoniously ordered than is the total scheme to which they are subordi- nated. Simple figures — the pyramid and the triangle, upright, inverted, and [31] 32 MASTERS IN ART interwoven like the rhymes in a sonnet — form the basis of the composition. This system was adhered to by him in all his subsequent works. As a colorist, Fra Bartolommeo was equal to the best of his contempora- ries, and superior to any of his rivals in the school of Florence, hew paint- ers of any age have combined harmony of tone so perfectly with brilliance and richness. It is a real joy to contemplate the pure and splendid folds of the white drapery he loved to place in the foreground of his altar-pieces. Solidity and sincerity distinguish his work in every detail, while his feeling is remarkable for elevation and sobriety. All that he lacks is the boldness of imagination, the depth of passion, and the power of thought that are indis- pensable to genius of the highest order. Gifted with a sympathetic and a pliant rather than a creative and self-sustained nature, he was sensitive to every influence. Therefore we find him learning much in his youth from Leonardo da Vinci, deriving a fresh impulse from Raphael, and endeavoring in his later life, after a visit to Rome in 15 14, to "heighten his style," as the phrase went, by emulating Michelangelo; but his attempt to tread Michelan- gelo's path was a failure. What Fra Bartolommeo sought to gain in majesty he lost in charm. His was essentiallv a pure and gracious manner, upon which sublimitv could not be grafted. The gentle soul who dropped his weapon when the Convent of San Marco was besieged, and who vowed if Heaven preserved him in the tumult to become a monk, had none of Michelangelo's terribilita. Without possessing some share of that spirit, it was vain to ag- grandize the forms and mass the raiment of his prophets in imitation of those of the Sistine. Nature made Fra Bartolommeo the painter of adoration. The sublimities of tragic passion lay beyond his scope. EUGENE MUNTZ 'HISTOIRE DE L'ART PENDANT LA RENAISSANCE" FRA BARTOLOMMEO'S fame rests largely upon the fact that he es- tablished certain laws of composition. His aim was to produce an effect by harmony of lines just as earlier artists had sought to do by exact delin- eation of details. While giving importance to the landscape introduced into his pictures, he nevertheless founded his compositions upon architectural motives which gave them a certain balance and stability. Sometimes pilas- ters or niches serve as settings for the scenes; sometimes the backgrounds are walls adorned with moldings. The ornamentations of these fragments of architecture are invariably of an extreme sobriety. The skilfully arranged steps of his thrones are used to display still further the figures in his compo- sition by placing them in different tiers. The purelv decorative motive of the baldachin, or canopy, upheld bv angels over the head of the Virgin was a favorite one with both Fra Bartolommeo and Raphael — as, for example, in Raphael's 'Madonna of the Baldachin' in the Pitti Palace, Florence, and Fra Bartolommeo's representations of the 'Marriage of St. Catherine' both there and in the Louvre. Figures of angels more supple and graceful than any painted before his time served to enliven Fra Bartolommeo's pictures and to unite the different parts [32] FRA BARTOLOMMEO 33 of the composition. Sometimes he made use of them to support the figure of the Almighty or of the Virgin appearing among clouds. Sometimes he formed a sort of heavenly retinue with them, and, again, he introduced them merely to fill in the empty spaces between the principal actors of the scene. It should be especially noted that, in addition to this science in the art of grouping, Fra Bartolommeo possessed a rare vivifying power. In the por- trayal of subjects in which his predecessors, almost without exception, and in more or less labored fashion, placed stiff, impassive figures alongside each other, he composed groups that were both easy and life-like, arranging them as if the figures were wax in his hands; indeed, if it were not that his com- positions were the outcome of profound study and earnest conviction, I should be tempted to say, if I might so express it, that occasionally he manipulated his figures almost too freely. . . . Idyllic themes — the representation of the happy human Virgins of field and meadow — were less suited to his serious nature than to that of his friend Raphael. Saddened as he had been in early life by the tragic death of Savo- narola, his beloved master, and impregnated, moreover, by the austere views of the monastic order to which he belonged, he usually chose to celebrate the Madonna, not so much as the loving and tender mother, as the Virgin in Glory and the Queen of Heaven. — from the French E.H.AND E. W. BLASHFIELD AND A.A.HOPKINS, EDITORS 'VASARI'S LIVES' MORE than any other painter Fra Bartolommeo may be called the one who drew the line deeply between the first and second Renaissance, be- tween the age of upgrowth and the time of perfect flowering. Even Leo- nardo and Raphael are transitional painters when compared with him, for Raphael begins his early canvases in Urbino and Perugia, and Leonardo's 'Virgin of the Rocks' still recalls the springtime of Italian art. With both of these great painters the transition is gradual and natural, but Fra Barto- lommeo seems deliberately to throw aside his earlier and more delicate man- ner in order to address himself wholly to the search after the monumental. Fra Bartolommeo in his second manner belongs entirely to the new order of things. He announces the culmination, though he does not attain the sum- mit which the greater Raphael and Michelangelo and Correggio reached. It is not inappropriate that this precursor should have worn the Dominican hood, for a great change was coming over Italy, and the first to prophesy it was the Dominican, Fra Bartolommeo's master, Savonarola. Lorenzo the Magnificent was dead, and with him there had passed away a generation of art- ists whose works were cheerful with carefully studied details of daily life, gav with episodes and contemporaneous costume; in their place were to come the relatively abstract creations of Raphael and Michelangelo. Savonarola strove to raise up a regenerate Italy, and his spirit, which thirty years after his death inspired the defence of Florence of 1529, inspired, too, the artists who heard his words, Michelangelo, Lorenzo di Credi, Botticelli, and, above all, Fra Bartolommeo. Undoubtedly the cloistral life encouraged this love [33] 34 MASTERS IN ART of abstraction in art; undoubtedly, too, the circumscribed life of the convent is answerable for some of Bartolommeo's technical weaknesses; but the mem- ory of Savonarola lasted throughout his lite, and the precepts of Savonarola may be accounted as a direct factor in the evolution of his art in prompting his rejection of the episodical and accessorv, and in inspiring his self-concen- tration upon what seemed to him the highest qualities — austeritv, harmony, elevation. Technically, Fra Bartolommeo was a better colorist than most Tuscans, though, like Leonardo, he injured his work greatly by the use of black shad- ows. As draftsman he was sometimes admirable, always dignified, often in- different as to detail, sometimes careless as to proportions and types, being peculiarly given to a type of profile which is not only ugly but weak. In the beginning much of his work is delicate, even dainty, but a little later we find him sacrificing nearly all of the decorative paraphernalia of the fifteenth cen- tury, and, like Signorelli, he is satisfied with man alone; but unlike Signo- relli, who depended upon movement as expressed by muscular structure, he always drapes his figures heavily, and counts upon a rhythmical arrangement of the masses. This science of rhythmical composition was the glorv of Fra Bartolommeo; the impulse which he communicated, the originality and power which he brought to this science, are what give him his high place in the history of Italian art. The realism and decorative details of the prim- itives are set aside by him in favor of abstraction in the types, simplicity in detail, and the maximum of compositional effect produced by the minimum of figures. With him commence the academic but grand compositions which may almost be inscribed in a geometrical figure (such, for instance, as the pyramid). He precedes and inspires Raphael, showing him the way to the arrangement of his monumental fresco at San Severo of Perugia, and thence to his 'Disputa' in the Vatican, through the medium of the distribution of the masses in his own fresco of the 'Last Judgment.' By right of this new departure, this grand sentiment in art, Bartolommeo is a great master; but his pictures are the result of thought rather than of observation: together with this magnificent ordering of the lines and masses comes a careless- ness in the types, there is little characterization, the drawing is not close or studied, and even the proportions are sometimes grossly violated. His faces are rarely individual, and he apparently relied too much upon the use of the lay-figure (which he is said to have invented); these faults offend the artist, and especially the student, who instinctively resents the careless gen- eralizing of what seem to him supremely important, the human face and figure; but the student of art must not forget that Bartolommeo's beauty is a beauty of line and sweep where all the figures are interdependent and nec- essary to each other; his grouping is almost architectural, and he elevates composition to a new and higher plane. [34] FRA BARTOLOMMEO 35 Ci)e 3^orksi of jfra Bartolommeo DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PLATES 'MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ST. ELIZABETH AND ST. JOHN' PLATE I THIS picture, now in the collection of Sir Frederick Cook, at Richmond, near London, was painted by Fra Bartolommeo the year before he died. It represents the oft-repeated subject of the Madonna and Child with St. Elizabeth and the little St. John grouped in Fra Bartolommeo's favorite pyramidal form against the dark trunk of a palm-tree, and with a delicately rendered landscape background. The painting, which is in an excellent state of preservation, has all the transparency and luminousness that characterize this artist's work, the depth and brilliancy of the colors being here, as has been said, comparable to those of Limoges enamel. The picture is painted on wood, and measures four and a half feet high by four feet wide. \K topics Full details upon application ^Rare and Beautiful Platinums and Carbons. ^Reproductions from famous Masterpieces and Original Views in Venice, Rome, and Florence in Water-color. ^[The Raphel Prints in Platinums, five sizes, 3,000 subjects, new and beautiful. ■ Order by mail. 1 Hancock St., Worcester, Mass. COLORGRAPHS UR new pictures, the "Colorgraphs," are, as the title suggests, reproductions in color. The subjects have been carefully selected from the most famous works of both ancient and modern masters. The "Colorgraphs " will at once be recognized as gems of art, for their faithfulness to the originals in the depth and beauty of coloring brings them close to the possible limits of reproductive art. %\?t of Subject? jfcotej fleabrj * MADONNA DEL GRAN DUCA By Raphael * MADONNA OF THE CHAIR By Raphael ♦CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN By Botticelli * ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA By Murillo ST. CECILIA By Raphael "MARY'S VISIT TO ELIZABETH By Albertinelli HOLY FAMILY MADONNA AND CHILD * CHRIST THE CONSOLER *THE GOOD SHEPHERD * REPOSE IN EGYPT *HEAD OF CHRIST. From and the Rich Young Ruler d_The "Colorgraphs" are 8 x 10 inches in size, and each is enclosed in a neat deckle-edged portfolio. Price, 35 cents each Q We also offer these " Colorgraphs " marked with an asterisk above in gilt frames of superior workmanship and appropriate styles. The price of each, enclosed in a strong box, is $1.25, postpaid. W. A. WILDE COMPANY By Andrea del Sarto By Murillo By Plockhorst By Plockhorst By Plockhorst Christ ' By Hofmann BOSTON 120 Boylston Street CHICAGO 192 Michigan Avenue GIBSON PYROGRAPHY * Life, we for PYROGRAPHY. Charle: his works selling lor tabulous $1.80 By contract just closed w PUCE GIBSON DESIGNS famous living pen-and-ink artist, his w< mirably adapted to Pyro^rapbic reprodi T. & C. OUTFIT NO. 95 Shown above, value $2.50, is tempjrarily offered for This ib a high-grade instrument, splendidly made of the best materials, and includes fine Platinum Point, Cork Handle, Rubber Tubing, Double Action Bulb. Metal Union Cork, Bottle, Alcohol Lamp, Two Pieces Stamped Practice Wood, and full instructions, all con- Leatherette Box. For sale by your dealer, or sent by us C.O.I), lor exami- * ' 64-pace Citalorue with colored inserts No. Q S2—FREE. T>^. iiiusiniies hundreds ot r.ti-nn ami other artistic desiens on wood, ready (Jjl \ for burning, together with all kinds of Pyography outfits at lowest prices. £H1CAC Kate R. Miller I Drawing, Painting, Artistic Anatomy Comfo For Modeli: For Ifood-carvi; For Design and China Painti; For Pref oratory Drawing, el 36th year: Sept. 28th, 1903, to May 28th, 1904. J. K. GEST, Director, Cincinnati, Ohio. In answering advertisements, please mention Masters in Art MASTERS IN ART STRATHMORE BUFF DETAIL DRAWING PAPER WE have had this thoroughly tested and rind that it meets all the requirements for the purpose for which it is intended : : : W R I r E FOR SAMPLES MITTINEAGUE PAPER COMPANY H. A. MOSES, Treasurer MITTINEAGUE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A. The SPECIAL WINTER SUPPLEMENT of the INTERNATIONAL STUDIO, 1903-4 4to Wrappers. $2.00 net. Uniform with " Corot and Millet," " Masters in Landscape Painting," " Etching and Etchers," etc. The Genius of J. M. W.Turner, R.A. SCOPE This supplement is universally pronounced the most complete illustrated work on the subject ever compiled. It is divided into five sections, dealing respectively with Turner's pictures in oil, water-color drawings, monochromes, Liber Studiorum, and the engravings after his works. AUTHORSHIP Articles on the various fields of Turner's activity are contributed by the well-known and emincn: critics M. 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