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BOILWS ARTISTS' LIBRARY.
A CONCISE
HISTORY OF PAINTING.
A. CONCISE
HISTOEY OF PAINTING;
BY MRS. CHARLES HEATON,
AUTHOB OF " THE HISTORY OF THE LIFE OF A13BECHT DiJBEB OF NURNBERa."
NEW EDITION REVISED
COSMO MONKHOUSE. ...mnviu
mm 0^ ^^^^^^^^
LONDON :
GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK ST., CO VENT GARDEN,
NEW YORK: 112, FOURTH AVENUE.
1893.
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CHISWICK I«KS§t-|C.',^K^T<l\NOHAM AND (iO.J. TOOKS COURT,
PREFACE TO THE PRESENT EDITION.
IN the fifteen years which have elapsed since the late Mrs. Charles Heaton's " Concise History of Painting " was pubHshed, the labours of art- scholars have been very extensive and searching, and the mode and temper of art criticism have greatly changed. Nevertheless, this book, as it left the hand of its authoress, remains still the most readable and comprehensive of all short histories of Painting.
It has been my aim in the present edition not to impair its precious quality of read^bleness, and to increase its comprehensiveness by adding notices of many artists whose exclusion would, at the present date, mar its value as a text-book. To effect the latter object without forfeiting the title of " concise," it has been necessary to reduce the original text by the excision of such passages as appeared redundant or least valuable.
Otherwise the present edition differs from the first mainly in the following respects. Dates and other matters of fact have been revised throughout. The notices of Claude and the Poussins have been transferred from the Italian to the French School. These and the notices of several other painters have been re-written, and notes through- out the book have been added. The chapter on " The Last Efforts and Extinction of Painting in Italy " (Book iv., chap. 5) has been re- written, and a concluding note on the English School, and Chronological lists of the painters of each country have been added. With the exceptions of the chapter, note, and lists mentioned in the preceding sentence, and of alterations of date and other slight changes, all new or re- written matter will be found included within square brackets [ ].
37405S
VI PEEPACE TO THE PRESENT EDITION.
These brackets are the limits of my responsibility in matters of opinion, but not in matters of fact. How heavy the latter responsibility is, and what labour it entails, only those who have been engaged in a similar task can appreciate, for it is not too much to say that there is hardly a fact or a date in the History of European Art before the seventeenth century which has been left un- turned during the last fifteen years, and a great number of them have been the subject of warm dispute between the "very latest authorities." The approximate accuracy which comes of consulting these " doctors," and weighing probabilities when they differ, is all I can hope to have achieved, and while I am writing perhaps Dr. Eichter is recording the discovery of Schongauer's tombstone, and Signer Morelli is proving that Masaccio was living in 1431.
It only remains to record my thanks for the valuable assistance rendered to me throughout the book by Miss Annie Evans, especially in the last chapter of Painting in Italy, which was entirely re-written by her, and in the chapters on Painting in the Netherlands.
Cosmo Monkhoxjse.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
THE more general exhibition of works of art and the increased habit of travelling in our age, have assisted in spreading a taste for art which was formerly conj&ned to the very few. With this wider taste, the desire has natu- rally arisen for wider knowledge ; for it is at once the diffi- culty and the advantage of art, that a certain amount of culture is necessary for its true enjoyment ; the difficulty, because the means and the capacity for culture are wanting to many, and the advantage, because such culture is in it- self a valuable mental training.
But even now, notwithstanding this growth of interest in art, it is painful in walking through a G-allery to mark the utter want of appreciation with which the majority of visitors gaze at the pictures, and at the same time to think of the keen intellectual and even emotional pleasure those pictures are capable of yielding. This lack of appreciation is generally the result of want of knowledge, and disap- pears as soon as something is known of the painters whose names appear on the picture frames. " Even in the highest works of art," says Carlyle, " our interest, as the critics complain, is too apt to be strongly, or even mainly of a biographic sort. In the art, we can nowise forget the artists."
And yet art-history, which is so important a portion of art-culture, is almost the only history entirely untaught in our schools. Surely such teaching is needed, for the stern pursuit of science, to which an age that calls itself practical incites its children, tends, if unrelieved by the cultivation of aesthetic tastes, to blind us to much that is great and beautiful in our lives.
This book is written in the hope that it may help some
Till PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
few in learning to enjoy good art. Its arrangement is very simple. The art of each country occupies a separate book, most of the books being again divided into chapters de- voted to different schools and periods. The pictures men- tioned as examples of each master's work are chosen, as far as possible, from such as are easily accessible to the English student; in particular those of the National Gallery are quoted whenever they are suitable.
The classification according to schools has been simplified as much as i3ossible, and many obscure and even some well-known masters have been omitted to avoid confusing the reader with too long a string of names. Those, how- ever, who desire fuller information will find references in every chapter to more important works that may be pro- fitably studied by the advanced student : this, it must be remembered, is only intended as an introduction to the subject.
M. M. H.
Lessness Heath, Kent. October, 1872.
TABLE OF CONTENTS. BOOK I.
EGYPTIAN AND ASIATIC PAINTING.
PAGE
A WAKENING of the Artistic impulse. The idea of the Deity -**■ first clothed in visible form. The Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages. Egypt : antiquity of Egyptian Painting. Paintings in the Tombs. Representation of the Last Judgment. The Book of the Dead. Egyptian painting only hieroglyphic writing. One fixed type in every age. Dead and not Living Art. The Pictorial Art of other early Eastern civilizations 1
BOOK II.
CLASSIC PAINTING.
The Greek Religion a pure Nature Worship. The Greek Ideal. Exaltation of the physical side of human nature. Painting later than Sculpture in becoming an independent art. First age of Greek Painting. Poltgnotos " the painter of noble characters." Second Age. Aiollodoros. Zeuxis. ArErxES, the hero- painter of antiquity. Rapid fall of Greek Art. Rhiiparographia. Etruscan Painting a branch of Greek, but with distinctive charac- teristics. No independent Roman Art. The Graeco-Roman School. Landscape under the Empire. Pompeian Decoi-ation. Degenera- tion of Classic Art 8
BOOK III.
EARLY CHRISTIAN PAINTING.
Use of Symbols to express Divine things. The Paintings in the Catacombs. Classico-Christian School. The By/antine type of Christ unlike the Greek ideal of the Godlike. Byzantine Art as stationary as Egyptian. Degradation of Art in the eleventh cen- tury. A new epoch commencing in the thirteenth century. Nicola Pisano. Cimahle. The Church of St. Francis at Assissi .21
X TABLE OF CONTENTS.
BOOK IV.
PAINTING IN ITALY
Chapter I.— The Rise.
PAGE
The Revival of Art accomplished by Giotto : return to Nature for Instruction ; Giotto in Rome ; iiis frescoes in the Church of the Arena, Padua; his works in the Church of Santa Croce, Florence; at Naples; the Campanile. The Giotteschi. The Campo Santo at Pisa. Orcagna. The Sienese School — dis- tinguished for its dreamy Relij^ious Sentiment .... 33
Chapter II. — The Development.
The Fifteenth Century an Age of Progress. The artists of this age prepared the way for the artists of the next. Lorenzo Ghi- UERTi : the Ghiberti gates mark a new era in the progress of art ; perspective first studied. Uccello and Piero deixa Fran- CESCA. The Revival of learning ; its effects on art. Masaccio : his manly classic naturalism. Fra Angelico : his feminine purism. Fra Filippo Lippi — Inti-oduced the element of sensuous beauty into his paintings. Botticelli. Filippino Lippi. Ghirlandajo. Mantegna. Luca Signorell. The Renaissance triumphant in Rome and Florence. Umbrian School — preserved a religious sentiment; devoloped from the Sienese. Perugino. Francia — both religious painters. Contemporary Veronese and Milanese painters 49
Chapter III. — The Blooming Time.
Leonardo da Vinci the representative artist of the sixteenth century : his versatility ; the Last Supper ; letter to Ludovico Sforza ; established at Milan ; his female portraits ; rivalry with Michael Angelo ; goes to France ; death ; great excellence of his pupils. The later Milanese School. LuiNi, Solario, Ferrari. Bartolommeo: purity and religious sentiment of his works. Raphael : pupil of Perugino ; goes to Florence ; Umbrian, Florentine, and Roman periods ; invited to Rome by Julius II j his frescoes in the Vatican ; the Cartoons ; the Ideal in Art ; the San Sisto Madonna. Michael Angelo : his genius recognized by Lorenzo de' Medici ; goes to Rome in 1596 ; returns to Florence and executes the David and the Cartoon of Pisa ; begins to work on the Mausoleum of J ulius II. ; takes flight in anger to Florence j compelled to return to Rome; his frescoes in the Sistine Chapel; takes part in the resistance of Florence to the Medici ; executes the tombs of the Medici ; his sardonic melancholy ; the Last Judg- ment a pagan rather than a Christian conception ; death: the painful distortions of his followers ; the followers of Raphael and Michael Angelo — Sebas riANO del Piomho. Giulio Romano, Painters in Ferrara, Dosso Dossi, and Garofalo. Andrea del Sarto an independent master. Rapid decline and fall of Italian Painting 86
TABLE OF CONTENTS. XI
Chapter IV. — School of Venice.
PAoe Venetian Painting later than Florentine in development. Early Venetians. School of Murano. The Vivarini. Crivelli. Anto- NELLA DA Messina tcaches the Flemish method of Oil-painting. The Bellini. Giovanni Bellini : moral qualities of his ai-t separate him from the School that lie founded. Giorgione : his Heroic Ideal ; poetical style. Titian : his unfathomable colour ; the Nude again glorified ; the " Assumption of the Virgin ; " magnificence of Titian's Life ; intei-view with Charles V. ; his Portraits — pages of History. Schools of Brescia, Cremona, and Vicenza. Moretto, Moroni, Montagna. Tintoretto: his furious style. Painters of Verona. Veronese : sought to ex- press the Pomp and Pageantry of Earth ; his gorgeous style and colouring; the Marriage of Cana. Bassano a genre painter. CORREGGio : his understanding of chiaroscuro ; sensuous beauty of his painting ; the Cupola at Parma. His Mythological Nudities. Parmigiano — too graceful 142
Chapter V. — Last Efforts and Extinction.
Eclecticism. Exceptions to the general decadence. The Car- RACCi : their Eclectic sonnet ; their individuality ; Annibale's frescoes ; his landscape. Domenichino : sensational religious pictures. Guido Reni : his feeling for beauty of line ; the por- trait of Beatrice Cenci ; poverty of his later works. Gdercino : the colourist of the Bologna school. Other eclectic schools. The Naturalistic represented nature without selection; opposed lights and shades. ^-^aravaggio : his fierce power ; his influence upon genre paintmg of Northern Eui'ope ; his popularity and rivalry with the Bolognese; his restless life; his pupils. The Neapolitan school. Si'agnoletto : his ferocious style ; his style essentially Spanish ; his painting of the nude ; his followers. Fal- cone, the " oracle of battles." Salvator Rosa : his ideal land- scapes; his pupils. Giordano one of the Macchinisti : final extinction of Italian art in the eighteenth century. Canaletto. Rome as an art centre . 181
BOOK V.
PAINTING IN SPAIN
Spanish masters but little known. Early Spanish painters. In- fluence of Italian art in the sixteenth century. Flemish influence at Barcelona. Luis de Morales : asceticism of Spanish art ; power of the Inquisition j no free development possible. J uan de LAB KoELAS: his style founded on that of Tintoretto. Ecclesias- tical element in Spanish painting. Pacheco : his " Arte de Pin- tui*a." Alonso Cano : the third greatest artist of Spain. Zur-
Xii TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGK BARAN : the painter of Monks. Vklasquez : educated in Pa- checo's Academy ; called to Madrid ; becomes Court Painter to Philip IV.; the dignity of his portraits. Murillo : iX)or in his youth ; kindly received by Velasquez at Madrid ; returns to Seville ; decorates the cloisters of San Francisco ; the emotional character of his works ; the Immaculate Conception his favourite subject ; his biblical-genre style. Fall of Spanish art. Goya's caprices. Modern " Bric-k-Brac " School 199
BOOK VI.
PAINTING IN GERMANY.
Chapter I. — The Catholic Period.
Gothic architecture an expression of the mediaeval mind : its ideal beauty. School of Bohemia. Schloss Karlstein. School OP NiJRNBERG. School of Cologne. Meister Wilhelm and Meister Stei-han. Influence of the Flemish School. The Master of the Lyversberg Passion and other unknown Masters. German Art casts off the traditions of Rome 231
Chapter II. — The Reformation Period.
Martin Schonoauer. The Fantastic Spu'it of German Art. Wohlgemuth : the unequal works that pass with his name. Al- BRECHT Dl;rer : the German character reflected in his works ; his visit to Venice ; the Four Apostles ; portraits of himself; his pupils ; the Little Masters. Hans Burgkmair. Hans Holbein : recent Biographies ; the " Meier Madonna ;" Holbein in England ; Court Painter to Henry VIII. ; number of portraits wrongfully attributed to him ; his Dance of Death. Lucas Cranach : his Art thoroughly National; his Female Portraits; "Crucifixion" at Weimar ; best known by his Engravings ; German Italianisers. Denner : his laborious finish. Raphael Mengs : his lofty aims and cold eclecticism. Revival of German Art in the pygsent cen- tury. The Munich School. Its Monumental works. /^he genre School of Dusseldorf. K. F. Lessing ; modern German painters. 241
BOOK vn.
PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Chapter I. — The School of Bruges.
Eai'ly Art of the Netherlands. Melchior Broederlain. New Impulse given to Art by the Van Eycks. The invention of Oil-painting; some method known before the fifteenth century; Vasari's account of the Van Eyck invention ; in what it consisted.
TABLE OF CONTENTS. XUl
PAGE HnBEBT VAN Eyck. Jan van Eyck : Court Painter and Valet de Chambre to Philippe le Bon ; goes to Portugal ; the Mystic Lamb; altar-piece at Madrid; pictures in England ; "Mobiliza- tion " of Painting ; followers of Van Eyck. Rogier Vander Weyden. Memling : his poetical style and refined colour. Gerard David : his works at Bruges. Dierick Boots : his paint- ings for the Town Hall of Loiivain, now in the Brussels Gallery . 268
Chapter II. — The School of Antwerp. — Early School OF Holland.
School of Antwerp: how distinguished from the School of Bruges; Quentin Ma ssys its founder; the Entombment of the Antwerp Gallery; his tendency to caricature ; his money-pieces. Mabuse : led the way to Italy. Van Orley. The Antwerp Italianisers. The three Bredghels. Portrait painters. Land- scape painters. Early school of Holland. Lucas van Leyden : his whimsical fancy ; known by his engravings more than by his paintings ; his style the uniting link between the art of the Nether- lands and that of Germany -297
Chapter III. — Flemish School of the Seventeenth Century,
The religious spirit of early art utterly dead. A new school founded by Rubkns : the Descent from the Cross of Antwerp Cathedral ; visit to Spain and England ; absence of the spiritual in his works ; his paintings at Munich. Anthony Vandyck : his aristocratic portraits ; goes to England; portraits of Charles I. and his Court. Grayer : more appreciated in his own day than in ours. Animal painters. Tenters : more allied by his style to the Dutch School than to that of Rubens ; vulgar realism of his religious subjects ; facile execution ; admirable pourti'ayals of peasant life. Modern Belgian painters : Gallait, Leys . . . 315
Chapter IV. — The Dutch School.
Rembrandt : his powerful light and shade ; his ideality ; his biographers — their mistakes ; the true facts of his life only recently discovered ; the Night Watch ; the Anatomy Lesson ; his land- scapes. Contemporaries and precursors of Rembrandt. Frans Hals. Van der Helst. Followers of Rembrandt. The Little Masters of Holland. Vermeer. De Hoogh. Gerard Dou, the genius of littleness. Terburo : his love of white satin. Jan Steen. Brauwer Oslade. The Cattle Painters of Holland : Paul Potter. The Landscape Painters : Cuyp. The Sea Paintei-s : Vandevelde. Want of mind in Dutch Paintings. Dutch Italia- nisers. Berchem. Karl du Jardin. Both. Adrian Vander Werff. Kitchen Pieces. Death of Dutch art, preceded by the fall of Dutch freedom. Modern Dutch School ....
360
XIT TABLE OF CONTENTS.
BOOK YIIL
PAINTING IN FRANCE.
FAQB
Illuminators and glass-painters of the fourteenth century. Early painters. Jean Fouuqet. Jehan Cousin. The Fontainbleau School. National art in the Le Nains, Callot, and Valentin. P0U88IN : his classical taste. Claude : his landscapes. Le Brun: the representative painter of the Court of Louis XIV. Watteau : artificiality of his works, Boucher : the painter of " Dubarrydom." "'^reuch genre. Chardin. Greuze. David : the revolution he accomplished; the worship of heathen anti- (luity ; his exaggei'ated classicism j cold colour ; no lasting in- fluence ; re-action. Gericault : the Raft of the Medusa. Ingres. Ary Scheffer : his commonplace ideas. The Romantic School. Delacroix. Horace Vernet. Paul Delaroche. The Modern French Landscape School. Huet. Corot. Millet. Rousseau 358
BOOK IX.
PAINTING IN ENGLAND.
Long delayed birth of art in this country. English painting of recent growth. Painters before Hogarth. Hogarth : the first original genius amongst English painters ; his pictorial dramas ; his path between the sublime and the grotesque. Sir Joshua Reynolds: the ideality of his portraits. Thomas Gainsborough : first painted English landscape; "High Art;" its unfortunate votaries. David Wilkie : greatest painter of familiar life of the English School. Mulready. Etty. Turner : his three styles or periods ; his ideal founded on the real ; in his art, as in his life, a mystery. The English School pre-eminent in landscape. Pro- mise of the present day. Concluding note : landscape art in Eng- land. Water-colour. Crome. The Norwich School. Blake. The Pre-Raphaelites. D. G. Rossetti 385
Chronological Lisis 429
Index ••..., 459
BOOK I. EGYPTIAN AND ASIATIC PAINTING.
THE daughter of Dibutades, a potter of Corinth, whilst bidding farewell one evening to her lover, was struck by the distinctness of his shadow cast by the light of a lamp on the plaster wall of her dwelling. The idea oc- curred to her to preserve the image of her beloved by tracing with a pointed implement at hand, the outline of his figure on the wall ; and when her father the potter came home, he, appreciating the importance of her work, rude though it was, cut the plaster out within the drawing she had thus accomplished, took a cast in clay from it, and baked it with his other pottery.
Such is the well-known Greek tradition, assigning a simultaneous origin to the graphic and plastic arts, and claiming both as of Greek invention.
But unfortunately for the truth of this pretty story, these arts were known and practised long before even the original Pelasgians had settled in Greece ; indeed, it seems certain that they were merely transmitted to Greece from Egypt, in which country they had been long cultivated before they were acquired by any of the Indo-European nations.
We must, however, look still further back than Egypt if we would discover the first dawnings of the artistic idea in the human mind. An impulse towards expression by means of art is felt at a very early period of human de- velopment. One of the first steps in the civilization of the savage is his attempt to improve and to ornament the rude weapons and utensils of his daily life, and to clothe his idea of the Deity with a definite and visible form. This
2 HIJiTpEY OP PAINTING. [bOOK I.
form, it is true, is at first monstrous and distorted, but it implies a progress beyond mere fetishism, the first stage, probably, of religious belief. " When men are emerging from fetishism they carve matter into the form of an in- telligent being, and then only attribute to it a Divine character." ^
Amongst the remains that have been discovered in various countries of Europe, belonging to those early pre- historic periods, called by archaeologists respectively the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages, many vessels, utensils, metals, and ornaments have been found engraved with rich and delicate tracery, and remarkable for their graceful shape and elegant proportion, provmg that there must have been a distinct recognition of artistic beauty and fitness even at that early period. These belong, certainly, more especially to the bronze age ; for the rough earthenware vessels and flint arrow heads of the stone age cannot strictly be reckoned as works of art ; but even the poor stone man hewing his square coffin may have been moved to give a greater finish and merit to his work, in obedience to an impulse, unrecognized, no doubt, towards artistic perfection.^
No statues or idols have as yet been discovered amongst these remains, so that it would seem that the stage of idolatrous belief had not yet been reached by our pre- historic ancestors any more than by some of the savages of the present day.
Looking onward from these dimly seen ages, whose exis- tence is only revealed to us by means of such works as have been mentioned, we come next upon the gigantic monu- ments of Egypt, which stand at the beginning of history, as if to mark the boundaries of our knowledge. Before them everything is vague and mythical, but after their erection we are enabled to proceed upon something like historical data, and to reckon the succession of centuries and dynasties.
^ Lecky, " History of Eationalism," vol. i.
' Sir John Lubbock, " Pre-historic Times and the Origin of Civihza- tion." [The Palaeolithic man had a wonderful artistic gift ; see " Early Man in Britain," by Prof. Boyd Dawkins, and the sketches of animals on bits of bone pi'eserved in the British Museum.]
BOOK I.] EGYPTIAN AND ASIATIC PAINTING. 8
But we must not forget that the pyramids, whilst they thus form the starting point of history, point back also to long ages of endeavour, before the wonderful knowledge ^nd skill displayed in their construction could have been attained. It is strange, perhaps, that no archaic remains of Egyptian art have ever been discovered ; no traces of the rude and simple efforts of an early people. But so it is. Everything in Egypt, at the moment we first catch sight of it, seems to have been long established on the same basis that we find enduring until the end of its history.
Even the origin of painting, the youngest bom of the three sister arts, dates back beyond our knowledge. It is impossible to say when the Egyptians first practised it, but the paintings in the tombs, many of which are referred to the fourth and fifth dynasties, that is to say, to a period not less than 2,400 years before our era, or upwards of 4,000 years ago, reveal an art already far advanced beyond infancy. Pliny, indeed, tells us that the Egyptians boasted of having been masters of painting for more than six thou- sand years before it was acquired by the G-reeks, and pos- sibly this was not such a " vain boast," as he imagined.^
Painting, it seems probable, was first appHed to the <iolouring of statues and reliefs, which practice may again have arisen from the custom amongst many savages of •colouring the living body, as our ancestors, the ancient Britons, are known to have done. The Ethiopians were accustomed to paint their warriors and nobles half with gypsum and half with minium,^ and it is possible that the early Egyptians had the same practice. But when we first meet with painting amongst them, it is already applied to ilat wall surfaces, and is employed to represent much the same subjects as in after times.
The earliest paintings that have been brought to light in Egypt are those in the tombs around the pyramids, supposed to be those of individuals living in the reigns of the founders of the pyramids and their immediate suc- cessors. Next come those of the sepulchral grottoes of Beni Hassan, of the twelfth dynasty which afford a variety
^ riiny, " Hist. Nat."
' Pliny, xxxiii. 36. Herodotus, vii. 69.
4 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK I.
of representations of private life. From these and similar works in other places, much of our knowledge of the manners and habits of the ancient Egyptians is derived. Scenes of husbandry, such as ploughing, reaping, gather- ing and pressing the grapes ; beating hemp ; the various trades of carpenter, boat-builder, potter, leather-cutter^ glass-blower, and others ; scenes of fashionable life, amongst which a favourite one is the reception of guests at a banquet; hunting-parties, duck catching, and fishing, everything that is killed being in each case registered by a scribe; wrestling exercises, comprising games of various kinds ; dancing ; musical entertainments, the instruments being principally harps, lyres, guitars, drums, and tam- bourines; funeral processions, chariots and articles of furniture belonging to the deceased, are some of the prin- cipal subjects that occur on the walls of these tombs, ^ But the subject most frequently met with is a representation of the Last Judgment, where the deeds of the deceased, typi- fied by a heart or the fimeral vase containing it, are weighed in a balance by Anubis and Horus against a figure of Thmei (Truth) placed in the opposite scale, a symbolism that reminds one forcibly of the mediaeval representations of the same subject, in which St. Michael, in like manner, weighs the souls of the departed in his balance ; but it is. remarkable, that in the Egyptian symbolism we have not the detailed representation of the tortures of the wicked that the mediaeval artist delighted to depict. Only Cer- berus, the guardian of the Hall of Justice, crouches before Osiris, the Supreme Judge, to prevent any from entering his presence who have been found wanting in the balance against Truth. Eorty-two assessors of the dead, or avengers of crime, also are represented assisting at the trial as witnesses for and against the deceased.
The transport of the body after death over the sacred lake in a boat, is another subject often met with, and was no doubt the origin of the river Styx and the feriy-boat of Charon, of G-reek symbolism. Sacrifices to the dead some- times occur.
Besides these wall-paintings in the tombs, we have the
^ Sir Gardner Wilkinson, " Popular Account of the Ancient Egyp- tians," vol. i.
BOOK I.] EGYPTIAN AND ASIATIC PAINTING. 6
paintings on the cloths and cases of mummies, and those on the papyrus rolls, — the illuminated manuscripts of Egypt, — all of which help us to form an estimate of Egyptian painting.
Amongst these latter have been found several rolls taken from mummy-cases, which appear to be transcripts of different chapters of some very ancient sacred book called ^' The Book or Litany of the Dead," ^ each roll having a symbolic picture at the end which has helped materially in the deciphering of the text.
The paintings of the mummy-cases are often excellent specimens of Egyptian art. They are mostly of much later date than the tomb-paintings above described, and in some of them we recognise a distinct attempt at portrai- ture of the person embalmed. The earliest portrait on record, however, is one mentioned by Herodotus as having been sent by Amasis, king of Egypt, to the G-reeks at "Cyrene, about 600 b.c. This portrait was not improbably j^ainted upon panel (wood) in the manner of portraits of later times ; for the art of painting upon panel, as proved by some of the works at Beni Hassan, was known to the Egyptians 2,000 years before our era.^
But although the Egyptians were thus acquainted with several methods of painting at an extraordinarily early date, painting never rose with them to any true im- portance. Their painting, in fact, was at best httle more than hieroglyphic writing, setting forth a symbol for the thing, and not an image of it, as conceived by the artist. We do not find in any Egyptian work of art a free expres- sion of the artist's own mind. No scope, indeed, was allowed for individual talent by the rigid rules laid down by the governing priesthood, who regulated the mode of art representation as it regulated everything else in the <!Ountry, and allowed of no innovation on the orthodox and established type. In other countries we see art rising,
^ The best preserved copy of this Ritual, or Egyptian Service for the Dead, is now in the Museum at Turin. It has been translated into Enghsh by Dr. Birch, and into French by M. Rouge, " Revue Aruh6)- logiqiie." There ai-e some portions of Papyri with extracts from it in the British Museum.
^ Wilkinson, " Ancient Egyptians."
6 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [cOOK I.
flourishing, and declining ; but in Egypt we see no- development and no decline.^ One fixed type meets us in every age and under each succeeding dynasty, until we grow utterly weary of the everlasting sameness, and are inclined to believe that the interminable stereotyped forms were the work, not of artists, but of slaves. And this to a great extent was the case. The pyramids and the other gigantic works of Egyptian architecture would have been impossible achievements except under a despotic system that took no count of the individual man, but reckoned its. workmen in masses. The intelligent mind of the work- man, as revealed to us for instance in a mediaeval cathe- dral, is nowhere apparent in them ; and without this ex- pression of independent thought, art soon becomes paralysed, and repeats, as we find in Egypt and most oriental nations, and as we shall afterwards find in Byzan- tine work, the same fixed type for centuries. It is dead, and not living art.
There are several Egyptian paintings of great interest preserved amongst the numerous other remains of Egyptian art in the British Museum. Unfortunately, the originally brilhant colours of these have faded, and many of them are now fast decaying ; but when first discovered, such at least as had not been exposed to the influence of the atmosphere, their colours were as bright and pure as when they were first painted. Red, yellow, green and blue, with black and white,^ were the colours employed. These were applied singly, so that no variety of tint was pro- duced. Different colours were used for different things, but almost invariably the same colour for the same thing. Thus men and women were usually red,^ the men several shades darker than the women, water blue, birds blue and green, and so on.
The Egyptian Court at the Crystal Palace affords the student an excellent idea of the manner in which the Egyptians covered their buildings with painting. They painted their walls, they painted their roofs, their pillars,
[^ This is only comparatively true, see " History of Painting," by Wi)ltraann and Woermann, edited by Sidney Colvin, toI. i. p. 415.] [' And brown.] P Reddish-brown.]
BOOK I.] EGYPTIAN AND ASIATIC PAINTING. 7
their obelisks, their bas-reliefs,^ and their sphinxes. Even granite was painted except when its surface was so polished as to have sufficient colour of itself.
Painting on glass, on terra cotta, and on metal, was also practised by the Egyptians.
[Notwithstanding, however, the number and vastness of Egyptian works of art, the effect of which was increased by colour, the art of " painting," as we understand it, was never practised by this nation, nor as far as we know, by any nation before that of ancient Greece. For this reason the arts of the great nations of Mesopotamia — Chaldaea, and Assyria, with all the wonders that have been unearthed at Babylon and Nineveh, require but a passing notice here, nor is there any sufficient reason to dwell upon the pictorial art of other early Eastern civilizations, Persian, Indian, Hebrew, Phoenician, or Chinese, while that of Japan has been recently proved to be no older than that of modern Europe. Those who wish to pursue inquiries upon these subjects are referred to the works of Rawlinson, Layard, Place, Botta and Flandrin, Lenormant, Oppert, Perrot and Chipiez, and William Anderson.]
' The Egyptian reliefs are rarely bas-reliefs, properly speaking, being merely figures rising from a slightly depressed surface, usually coloured. They were called, koilanaglyphi, — bas-relief a en creiix.
BOOK 11. CLASSIC PAINTING.
THE Grreek religion was a pure nature wors"hip. Tlie mystic element that we have seen prevailing so largely in the religions and art of the Eastern nations was banished as far as possible by the clear and active Greek mind, which did not strive to express its idea of the Deity by means of symbols and fantastic forms, but clothed it with a definite human shape.
Homer had indeed represented the gods as beings like ourselves, endowed with human passions and sensibilities, moved by anger, jealousy, revenge ; sorrowing, rejoicing, even suffering as we do. Here, then, in the national reli- gion, the Greek artist found a true basis for a naturalistic art, and instead of the monstrous gods of Egypt and Assyria, with heads of animals and wings of birds on human bodies, or with human heads on animal bodies, he fashioned the gods that he conceived in his own image —
" And then most godlike, being most a man."
This ideal of the perfectly harmonious man in the free exercise of all his physical and mental powers was in truth the highest ideal of Greek life as well as of Greek art. No nation ever exalted to such an extent the physical side of human nature, nor paid so much attention to the educa- tion of the body, which it esteemed fully as important as that of the mind. And no people ever worshipped beauty as the Greeks did. They honoured the fortunate possessor of a beautiful form and face, without reference to any mental quality, and even instituted prizes at various public
BOOK II,] CLASSIC PAINTING. 9
f.stivals to be bestowed on whoever was decided to bear the palm of beauty.^
The artists were commonly the judges on these occasions, and here and at the gymnasium had unbounded opportu- nities of studying the human form in its most beautiful developments. An accurate knowledge of the human body in movement and repose thus formed the basis of Greek plastic art, but from this study of the individual human body the Greek artist gradually rose to the conception of a lofty ideal form, uniting the beauties of various individuals, but transcending each by the perfection and harmony of the whole. The noblest Greek statues are never mere portrait-like representations of athletic youths or beautiful women, but they are the visible expression of the idea or mental image, which by the imagination of the artist had been built up from many simpler impressions in his mind.
In this ideal beauty ^ lay the overwhelming superiority of Greek art over Egyptian. The Egyptian artist never rose to the conception of an idea. When not employed in copying as accurately as he knew how the scenes of actual life around him, he worked from a type set before him by previous ages, and this he never developed into new forms. But no sooner was this type transplanted into Greece, than, uncontrolled by priestly despotism, it took different form in each artist's mind, and a glorious art was produced which expanded in intellect and beauty with the nation that created it. The material body of this art was doubt- less received from Egypt, but to the Greek belongs the glory of having first endowed that body with intellectual life, and of having raised it from being the slave of priests and despots to be the interpreter to mankind of some of the
^ " At the festival of the Philesian Apollo a prize for the most ex- quisite kiss was conferred on the youthful." — J. Winckelmann. Gcs- chichte der Kuiist des Alterthums.
' The Ideal in art is not necessarily le beau ideal, to which many seem to limit it. We may have ideal ugliness as well as ideal beauty, but the Greeks, the greatest idealists that the world has ever seen, in their worship of the beautiful tolerated no deformity or ugliness. They even represented the Fates and Furies as young and beautiful virgins, and from them the word ideal in art is generally used to signify an ideal of beauty and harmony, rather than of ugliness and deformity, lor explanations of the terms Real and Ideal, see note, infra.
10 HISTORY OF PAINTIXG. [bOOK II.
noblest thoughts and aspirations of the human mind. The divine Pallas Athene of the Parthenon, and the Zeus Olympios at Elis, were not merely, one may well believe, the expression of the mind of the one man Pheidias alone, but rather the sum of the thoughts of a whole people con- cerning its gods, imaged in the mind and chiselled into visible form bj its greatest artist. " If the gods had made their appearance in life," says Aristotle, " all others would have looked like slaves beside them, as the barbarians be- side the Greek," and this is what we insignificant modems really look beside even the mutilated remains of the greatest of the Greek sculptures.
The period of the highest development of Greek art came after the ever-memorable victories over the Persians, when not only Darius and Xerxes were defeated, but the ancient despotism of the East received its first blow from young European liberty. It was after Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis, when Athens was being rebuilt under Pericles, that the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, and the temple of Theseus arose, and Pheidias and his contemporaries called into life a world of marble forms of imperishable beauty.
Painting was much later than sculpture in becoming an independent art in Greece. At first, as we have seen it in Egypt, it was chiefly employed in colouring statues and reliefs of clay or wood. Homer does not allude to it except, indeed, by his simile of the " red-cheeked ships ; " but no doubt some rude kind of painting was practised, especially at Corinth, " the city of potters," from a very early time ; but it seems to have been principally applied to vase- painting.^
It was not, indeed, until sculpture had reached its highest perfection, that Greek painting assumed any great impor- tance. We hear, it is true, of several early masters, such as Cleanthes and Cleophantos of Corinth, Telephanes of Sicyon, Eumaros of Athens, famed by Pliny as having been the first to distinguish the figures of men and women, and CiMON of Cleonse, who seems to have made a conside- rable advance on preceding methods ; but the first painter af any great renown was Polygnotos of Thasos, who was
^ Muller, " ArchaologtC rkr Kunst."
BOOK II.] CLASSIC PAINTIXG. 11 .
called to Athens about the year 462 b. c, by Cimon, the son of Miltiades, and was there employed in adorning several of the public buildings with paintings. His style was exceedingly simple, only coloured outlines on a coloured ground, without shade, without perspective, in sculpture- like relief ; yet such was his power of expression, that it. was said of his Polyxene, that " the whole Trojan war lay in her eyelids." Aristotle also speaks of him as "the painter of noble characters." His most famous works were in the Leschd, or public open hall at Delphi, where he re- presented the taking of Troy and the visit of Odysseus to Hades in large wall paintings. These paintings are so minutely described by Pausanias, who saw them six hun- dred years after their execution, that not a few artists and scholars have attempted to reproduce them from his description.^
Unhappily, no remains have been found either of these or of any of the other great works of Grreek painting whereby to judge of their merit. We only know that the critical Greeks, whose refined and cultivated taste was not easily satisfied, bestowed as many praises on their painters as on their sculptors ; and as the surpassing excellence of their sculpture is universally acknowledged, it is naturally inferred that their painting did not fall far below it in beauty.^ Moreover, from the relics of inferior works, such as the lovely vase-paintings found in every museum, and the wall- decorations of Pompeii and other places, that have been preserved, and which must be considered the work of the artisan rather than of the artist, we are enabled to form some slight notion of the grandeur and beauty of the greatest creations of Greek iminting; al- though, alas, not one remains.
Mythical legends and mythological and heroic histories were the usual subjects of the early Greek painters, the
[^ "Woltmann and Woermann, English translation, vol. i., p. 41, and note.]
[^ It did not, however, in the school of Polytjnotos get beyond the tinting of an outline design, knew nothing of chiaroscm-o or perspective, had a flat monochrome background, and represented natural objects such as trees and water symbolically. Much improvement in these res] ects were due to Agatharchos of Samos, who was firat of all a scene- painter.]
tl2 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK II.
representation of the gods being left more especially to the sculptors. Poljgnotos seems to have worked in an earnest ireligious spirit.
MicoN of Athens, distinguished for his painting of horses ; ' Dionysios of Colophon, who seems to have given a more portrait-like character to his figures than Poly- gnotos, Aristotle having recorded that he " painted men as they were ; " Pan^nos of Athens, and several other painters of lesser note, belong with Polygnotos to the earlier and severer development of G-reek painting, which took place about 600 b.c. ** We see," says Liibke,^ " in this epoch, painting applied to great monumental objects, simply and strictly directed to the representation of heroic events and to the spiritual and thoughtful element they contain; yet still far from realistic perfection — aiming rather at simple grandeur, worth, and solemnity, than at sweetness and variety. In sober severity of execution it consequently appears allied with the works of Christian art in the early Middle Ages, but in the delicacy of its forms, and in the delineation of various expressions of the mind, it is indisputably superior to it."
The second age of Greek painting was ushered in by -Apollodoros of Athens, who lived about a generation later than Polygnotos, and was the first to study the various phenomena of light and shade. For this reason he had the name of the Shadower, or Shadow-painter, given to him.
But the most celebrated painter of this time was the famous Zetjxis of Heracleia, born about 450 b.c. With him painting attained to a marvellous expression of sensuous beauty, and to a perfection of illusory effect that was almost complete.^ His chief charms lay in the soft grace and delicate expression that he gave, especially to his female figures, and in a dramatic power of expres- sion that has never perhaps been equalled. One of his
^ A celebrated judge of horseflesh could find, it is said, no other fault -with Micon's horses than that he had painted eyelashes to their under -eyelids, which horses have not.
2 Liibke's " History of Art," trans, by F. E. Bunnett, 1868.
^ As, for example, the story of the grapes, at which the birds came •and pecked; and the curtain painted by his x'ival Parrhasios which deceived even Zeuxis himself.
BOOK II.] CLASSIC PAINTING. 1$'
most extolled works was the Centaur family, so minutely described by Lucian, in which he succeeded in blending the human and animal nature so intimately, that "it wa& impossible to discern where the one ceased and the other began." His Helen, painted for a temple of Hera at Croton also, for which the people of Croton allowed him to select five of their noblest and most beautiful maidens for models, was one of the most famous pictures of the ancient world, Zeuxis, it is said, exhibited this picture to- the public, charging so much a head for seeing it, after the manner of modern exhibitions.
Penelope bemoaning Odysseus, the infant Heracles strang- ling the serpents, Menelaos mourning for Agamemnon, Zeus on the throne surrounded by gods, are among other- subjects chosen by him for representation. He frequently invented the subject of his pictures himself, and even when he did not, he always, we are told, represented it in some new and striking manner, setting it, in fact, in the light of his own mind. The life-like character of his painting is well exempHfied by the absurd story that he died of laughing at the portrait of an old woman which he had painted.
Parehasios of Ephesos was a formidable rival even to Zeuxis. He styled himself indeed the prince of painters, and boasted of descent from Apollo. According to Pliny he was the first to study the rules of proportion, and he came very near Zeuxis in his power of depicting passion and feeling. An allegorical painting by him of the Attic State or Demos, wherein he set forth all its good and evil qualities, is especially celebrated.
Both Zeuxis and Parrhasios belonged to what is usually called the Ionic school of painting, but they and their followers may be more conveniently classed under the general name of the Asiatic school ; for after the troubles of the Peloponnesian war, art no longer found a home at Athens, which had been the chief seat of the previous or- Attic school, but made its resting place in the cities of Asia Minor, especially in Ephesos.
An opposed school to the Ionic or Asiatic was that of Sicyon, of which the principal representatives are Timan- THES of Cythnos, distinguished for his inventive faculty
14 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK II.
and his expression of passion and emotion ; ^ Eupompos, the founder of the Sicyonic school ; Melanthios, one of its most thoughtful artists ; Euphranor, a painter of gods and heroes ; and Pausias, distinguished for his foreshorten- ing, and his painting of ceilings,^ and for his encaustic painting, which method was likewise practised by Aris- teides "" of Thebes.
Uniting the sensuous beauty and rich colouring of the Ionic school with the severer intellectual qualities of the Sicyonic, we next come to the great Apelles of Cos, the hero-painter of the ancient, as Raphael of the modern world. (Painted probably between 350 and 310 b.c.) As with Zeuxis, grace and beauty formed the distinguishing charms of his works, but he seems more than any other painter, except perhaps Leonardo da Vinci, to have united and harmonized in himself all the various gifts and facul- ties of the artist nature.^ It was this marvellous harmony doubtless that rendered his celebrated Venus Anadyomene so perfect. The goddess was represented rising from the sea, wringing the water from her hair, which fell in a veil- ing shower around her lovely form. There was nothing more than the single figure of the goddess, but the ancients seem to have lost themselves in admiration of it^ Ovid even declared that but for this picture Venus would for . ever have remained hidden beneath her native :waters.*
' His famous picture of the Sacrifice of Iphigeneia, in which he ex- -pressed the overwhelming grief of Agamemnon by hiding his face from view, has given rise to more criticism than any other painting ever evoked ; and " the trick," as Sir Joshua Eeynolds calls it, of Timanthes, has been i-epeatedly copied by lesser men, who forgot that what in him may be esteemed an evidence of latent power, became with them an ■evidence of actual weakness. A wall-painting, probably derived from this great work, has been preserved at Pompeii.
^ " He introduced the decorative ceiling paintings, afterwards common, consisting of single figures, flowers, and arabesques." — Muller, Archdo- logie der Kunst.
P Euphranor and Aristeides his master are now generally classed in a third Greek school of the fourth century b.c, called the Theban- Attic]
* It was originally painted for the Temple of Asclepios at Cos, but was subsequently carried to Rome by Augustus, who remitted a hundred talents of tribute, imposed upon the island, in consideration of it. It was in a decaying state as early as the time of Kero, but no artist Tentured to restore it.
BOOK II.] CLASSIC PAINTING. 16
Besides heroic and mythological subjects, Apelles l>aiuted many portraits, one in particular of Alexander of Macedon, to whom he was, as we should call it, court painter. The great king was represented in the character of Jupiter, with the thunderbolt in his hand ; which hand, Pliny records, stood out in a wonderful manner from the picture. Alexander admired Apelles' style so much that he would not be painted by any other master, and was wont to say that " there were two Alexanders, one the un- conquered son of Philip, and the other the unrivalled work of Apelles." He paid the painter, we are told, as much as twenty talents (about <£5,000) for this portrait. Perhaps in this instance something was paid for the flattery of being represented as Jupiter, as well as the likeness, still it is in other cases astonishing to read of the enormous sums that Greek artists received for their works, and of the sumptuous style in which many of them lived and dressed. Zeuxis made presents of his pictures in his later life because their price could not be estimated.^ ApoUo- doros wore a lofty tiara after the Persian fashion, and Parrhasios rivalled both him and Zeuxis in the ostentation I of wealth. Apelles possibly led a simpler life, at all events he was famed for his industry, and to him is referred the origin of the proverb " Nulla dies sine linea."
Protogenes was the contemporary and friend of Apelles, and owed to his friend's generous nature, which raised him above every low feeling of jealousy, the recognition of his talents. He was chiefly praised for the elaborate detail and minute finish of his works. His most celebrated picture — that of the Rhodian hero lalysos and Ms dog, is said to have transfixed Apelles with admiration.
Theon of Samos, also of the same epoch, is ranked sometimes among the great painters of Greece.
But with Apelles, Greek painting reached its highest point of perfection. After this short blooming time, the inevitable decay began, and when once it began it pro- ceeded with such fearful rapidity, that soon representa- tions of barbers* shops, cobblers' stalls, and similar genre -subjects, as well as caricatures of mythological histories,
* Pliny, XXXV. 36.
16 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOZ I:
and worts of a still more reprehensible and sensual cha racter, were the chief productions of the art that ha formerly delighted in setting forth the deeds of gods an heroes. Even before the age of Alexander, Greek paintin; had declined from its early epic grandeur; it was no longe regarded as an embodiment of the religious ideas of th. people, but it was still an embodiment of their ideas o beauty, and its greatest perfection was thus attained After the Alexandrian period, however, neither religioi nor beauty were much desired, for such was the depravity of the public taste, that the low-life pictures that th( masters of that time produced were more esteemed thai the great creations of earlier times.
Greek art rose and fell, in truth, with Greek freedom Its noblest development was in the time immediately fol lowing the Persian wars, when Greek life had been straine( to its highest pitch of heroism ; its greatest beauty wai reached when intellectual culture and philosophic inquir had taken the place of simple faith, and the Beautiful wai worshipped as the Good ; and its fall came when luxur and sensuality had done their work, and the Greece tha had so nobly defeated Persia could offer no resistance t< the arms and power of Rome.
The last painters of Greece were genre painters, and s< numerous were they that the Greeks invented a name fo: their style of art. They called it " Rhuparographia,' which in its literal signification is dirt painting.
Etruscan Painting can only be regarded as a brand of Greek, but it developed several peculiar characteristics The plastic genius of the Greeks, which, to a certain exten dominated even in their paintings, was not so conspicuou with the Etruscans ; instead of sculpturesque relief the; sought after picturesque effect, and painting was earl; cultivated by them in preference to sculpture. Still, how ever, no Etruscan painters ever attained to the celebrity o the Greek artists, nor have the names of any been handec down to us. On the other hand, a few remains of Etrus can wall paintings have been discovered in subterraneai passages, and such like places, which give us a genera idea of their style of art. These wall paintings generally
BOOK II.] CLASSIC PAINTING. 17
represent scenes from ordinary life in simple coloured outline, but a frequent subject, as in Egypt, is the destiny of the soul after death. In many respects, indeed, Etrus- can painting seems to have adhered more faithfully to its Egyptian parentage than Greek. One singular cha- racteristic of it is that green trees, or branches of trees, sometimes with birds on them, are usually placed between the separate figures, in order, it would appear, to divide the picture into compartments.
EoMAN Painting. — Eome accepted her art from Greece with more subservience than the Oriental nations had shown towards Egypt. She did not invent one new type nor conceive one new idea. The practical sense of the Romans urged them, it is true, at an early period, towards the construction of mihtary roads, fine aqueducts, strong bridges, and other useful works for the good of the com- munity ; but when they turned their attention to artistic works they were content to imitate the style of other countries, Etruria first and then Greece. The Eomans, in fact, utterly lacked that artistic faculty which, as we have seen, the Greeks possessed in so high a degree. With the latter, every citizen was an amateur and critic, a lover and a judge of art, and had as much national pride in the production of a master- work as in the conquest of a town ; but the encouragement of art with the Romans seems to have been more a matter of ostentation than of love, or rather, they loved it as a means of displaying their mag- nificence, not from any true vocation to its service.
The name of no Roman-born artist of any extraordinary merit has been preserved. There were, in fact, but few Roman artists, for with an understanding, perhaps, of their own deficiencies, the masters of the world left all their great artistic undertakings to the Greeks, who, espe- cially after the degradation of their own country, flocked to Rome in great numbers, and vied with one another in executing grand and beautiful works for their conquerors.
A Graeco-Roman school was thus founded which in architecture and sculpture, at all events, has achieved a lasting fame. Under conditions of dependence and national slavery the Greek artists in Rome tried hard to revive the
c
18 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK II.
glory of the former days of their plastic art, and although this was impossible, the free spirit of that art having de- parted, yet they succeeded in producing works of such grandeur and beauty that they have remained the admira- tion of all succeeding ages.
In painting, the Grraeco-Roman school was of less im- portance than in sculpture, but on the other hand the Eomans themselves evinced a greater capacity for painting than for the other arts. Even as early as the days of the Republic, Fabius Pictor is mentioned as having painted the temple of Salus (about 300 B.C.) in a masterly manner.^ The Poet Pacuvius also painted the Temple of Hercules (200 B.C.). But in the time of the emperors painting had sunk from the service of the gods to be the mere slave of wealth and luxury. Under Caesar, it is true, it had a short period of revival, Timomachus of Byzantium being extolled as a painter of passion, comparable to those of the palmy days of G-reek art ; but he must be regarded rather as one of the last of the distinguished masters of the native Greek school, than as belonging to the Graeco- Roman. It is not recorded that he was ever at Rome.^ Pliny regards painting in the age of Vespasian as an art fast dying out. With the exception of portrait-painting, for which there was a constantly increasing demand, nothing beyond mere decorative works seems to have been produced, and even portraiture, which when nobly con- ceived is one of the greatest achievements of art,^ fell to such follies as representing the Emperor Nero 120 feet high, and executing likenesses inlaid in silver, and even in pearls and precious stones, the richness of the material being evidently esteemed more than the art. A woman artist named Laia or Lala of Cyzicus was especially famous for her portraits.
^ Liry, x. 1. Pliny, xxxv. 7.
^ His Ajax and Medea, a picture greatly celebrated in epigrams, was purchased by Julius Caesar for eighty talents, and dedicated in the Temple of Venus Genetrix. It is doubtfnl, however, whether the painter was alive at this time; more probably it was purchased from the Cyzicans.
^ " The highest thing that art can do is to set l)efore you the true image of a noble himian being. It has never done more than this, and it ought not to do less." — Ruskin, Lectures on Art.
BOOK II.] CLASSIC PAINTING. W
Landscape painting was also practised under the em- pire, but only, it would seem, for decorative purposes. A painter named Ludius, in the time of Augustus, " invented this charming art," Pliny tells us, for the decoration of walls, " upon which he scattered country-houses, porticoes, shrubs, thickets, forests, hills, ponds, rivers, and banks, in a word, all that the fancy of any one could desire."
We have, however, a better means of judging of the nature of these wall decorations than from Pliny's account. The paintings that have been discovered at Pompeii and Herculaneum and a few other places, although undoubtedly the work of inferior artists, in an age when art was greatly degraded, yet possess such a wonderful charm in their correct design, their perfectly harmonious colour, and their easy classic grace, that we are enabled to form some notion of the perfection that painting must have attained in the palmy days of G-reek art, when we reflect that even in the time of its degeneracy, and in a foreign country, it was enabled to produce works such as these. It is true that these paintings are often copies and imitations of older Greek works, so that the conception can scarcely be reckoned as belonging to the age in which they were painted, but their execution, harmony of colour, and graceful archi- tectural effect, are qualities peculiarly their own. They were mostly painted in tempera on a coloured ground, generally a deep red or a soft yellow. The subjects chosen were usually from the mystic history of Greece, but perhaps the most beautiful of all the representations are the figures floating, as it were, above the earth, of gods, dancing girls, genii, and fluttering winged forms, interspersed generally with garlands and other floral decorations. Nothing indeed can well be conceived of greater elegance and beauty than many of these Pompeian decorations, and yet this art lacked all the qualities that constitute noble intellectual work.
During the whole of the Graeco-Roman period we must indeed regard art, in spite of its many lovely productions, as becoming more and more degenerate, until at last, about the time of the Christian era, it sank into a state of utter exhaustion. The old classic life was at an end, with all its physical and intellectual beauty and moral deformity, the
20 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [eOOK II.
old forms of belief were no longer credible, the old gods had fallen from Olympus ; it is not to be wondered at there- fore that the conditions that had produced classic art having ceased, the art itself should likewise die out. A new religion was needed to express the new ideas of the Deity that were gradually gaining possession of men's minds, and a new art was needed to embody these ideas. This religion and this art were found in Christianity.
BOOK III. EARLY CHRISTIAN PAINTING.
CHRISTIANITY, in its first noble protest against the idolatry of the world, wholly rejected art from its service ; it even shrank from it in horror as having proved so efficient an embodiment of the pagan religion. The commandment, "Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image," was still binding on the Jewish converts, and their Gentile brethren although educated in the wor- ship of visible forms, when they first attained to the con- ception of the one true and invisible God, turned to Him in the spirit without the aid of any material representations such as the old religion had supplied them with by means of art.
Instead, therefore, of imitating the bold naturalism of the Greeks, the early Christians adopted the use of symbols to express Divine things.
At first these symbols were extremely simple, being, in fact, merely a mode of hieroglyphic writing such as we have seen practised in Egypt. Thus, the Cross and the mono- gram of Christ cemposed of the Greek letters, X P, gene- rally in the form \p signified redemption by Christ's suffer- ing. The lamb and the wine were the hieroglyphs for Christ himself, as also the fish, from the Greek word for it, ichthus, 1X0Y2, containing the initial letters of the name of Christ, and the words that signify his divine mis- sion (Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour).^ The ship sym- bolized the Church, the dove the Holy Spirit, or with 'the
^ The fish denotes ns well, sometimes, the regenerating water of baptism.
22 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK III.
olive-branch, peace ; the cock, watchfulness ; the anchor, hope ; the phcenix and peacock, eternity ; the palm-branch, victory ; and so on through a great number of outward signs used to denote spiritual ideas.
But after a time, when the Christians had ceased to be a persecuted minority, and were rising into power in the state, declining at the same time from the purity of their early faith, these simple signs failed to satisfy their artistic instincts. The Church also, there being now less danger of lapse into idolatry, began to perceive the value of art in embodying its ideas and teaching its doctrines. It took, therefore, such degenerate Classic art as it found at hand, fostered it, and turned it to Christian purposes ; for the broad line of demarcation drawn by many historians be- tween Pagan and Christian art did not exist in these first centuries of Christianity. The first Christian artists were probably converted pagan artists, or had learnt from pagan teachers, and naturally their work as Christians bore the impress of their previous modes of thought. This is espe- cially seen in the Catacomb paintings.
But although the outward forms of Pagan art were thus transmitted to Christian, the spirit of the one was wholly different from that of the other. The ideal of the Christian was indeed totally unlike that of the Greek ; and this diffe- rent ideal gradually developed a new art. For a time, how- ever, it almost seemed as if the Christian ideal would lack original expression, and that in the domain of art, if in no other, the spirit of Greece and Eome would retain its hold even over the followers of Christ.
The paintings in the Catacombs at Eome and Naples, the earliest examples of Christian painting of which we have any knowledge, are conceived completely in the spirit of antique art, and in all cases we find a classical treatment of Christian subjects the distinguishing feature of the early Christian school at Rome.
Christ, under the figure of Orpheus taming the wild beasts of the forest by the sound of his lyre ; ^ Christ as the good shepherd; a beautiful beardless youth in a short shepherd's garb carrying the recovered lamb over his
^ Christ is depicted under this figure no less than three times in the Catacomb of St. Cah'xtus.
BOOK III.] EARLY CHRISTIAN PAINTING. 23
shoulders ; Christ as the teacher, with disciples in antique garb on either side of him, and a gracefully conventional vine, with winged boys or genii gathering the grapes, filling up the tympanum of the arch. Noah in the ark, Daniel in the lions' den, Moses striking the rock, and Elijah ascend- ing to heaven in a chariot resembling that of Apollo, are some amongst the many paintings in the Catacombs in which the direct influence of classic models is clearly apparent.
The meaning of all these subjects was still no doubt entirely figurative. Thus, Elijah is supposed to have typified the resurrection of the body ; Moses striking the rock, the living water of the Gospel, and Orpheus probably its attractive power — but it is clear that in this pictorial and figurative language, there was already an immense advance upon the earlier system of signs and hieroglyphs. There was only one step more, in fact, to the actual repre- sentation of the idea itself, and the disuse of symbolism altogether, and accordingly we find that at the Council of Constantinople, in the year 692, the substitution of the human figure of Christ for his figurative representation, was permitted to the Christian artist.^ From this time there was manifested by the artist a constantly increasing tendency to represent directly the object of worship, and soon to the image thus established, there began to be attached a pecuHar sanctity. It became, in fact, an object of worship.^
The traditional head of Christ with which everyone is familiar, we owe to Byzantium rather than to Rome, al- though the first time we meet with it is in the Catacombs.^ All the efforts of the Emperor Constantine to revive in his new capital —
" The glory that was Greece, And the grandeur that was Kome,*
proved in the end as unavailing as those of Julian to rein- state the old religion. " The Galilean had conquered," as
1 Earlier than this, by the Council of Ephesus, in a.d. 431, the man- ner in which the Virgin was to be represented by art had likewise been defined.
^ Lecky, " History of Rationalism," vol. i.
' See article in " Quarterly lieview," Oct. 1667, " Portraits of Christ."
24 HISTOEY OF PAINTING. [bOOK III.
Julian is said to have acknowledged on his death-bed, and classic art fell with the religion that it had embodied. Henceforward a new idea found expression in the art as well as in the life of mankind, and a Christian type was founded by the Byzantine monks '■ that gradually developed from the rigid staring sorrow of the Christs and Madonnas of Byzantine art to the tender love of Leonardo, and the holy purity of Eaphael. The whole teaching of Christianity as distinguished from Paganism lies, one may almost say, within the Byzantine conception of Christ. It is the Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief ; the Saviour, who suffered death for his people ; the Redeemer, who paid the penalties of our sins, who is here represented, and not any G-od of Greek mythology. Nothing indeed can well be more unlike the Greek ideal of the godlike. Sorrow and suffering were never, except in rare instances, made pro- minent in Greek art, and even in these instances they were idealized ; but in Byzantine art their expression is one of its chief characteristics. All Christian art, in fact, is sad and incomplete, producing in us a sense of some deep underlying mystery, whereas Greek art is always complete, harmonious, and well-defined. Beauty even was not a necessary element in the Christian ideal ; one party in the Church indeed went as far as to propose that the outward form of Christ should be depicted by art in as repulsive a manner as possible, in accordance with the prophet's words, " He hath no form nor beauty that we should desire him." Happily, in the controversy that took place on this point, the fathers who contended for the personal comeliness of Christ, gained the day, and Adrian I. decreed in the eighth century that he should be represented under as beautiful a form as art could bestow.
The type being once founded, endless repetitions of it were soon produced, and jDictures and images multiplied to such an extent in a church that had begun by condemning their use, that the Iconoclasts, whose work of destruction began in the year 728 and was continued until the follow- ing century, found ample employment in casting down the images and destroying the pictorial representations of
^ It is at all events in their works, and not in those of the early Cata- comb artists, that the spirit of Christian art first becomes apparent.
BOOK III.J EARLY CHRISTIAN PAINTING. 25
sacred persons which had been set up in almost every church both in the east and the west.
This extraordinary multipUcation of pictures did not, however, by any means imply a taste for art among the early fathers and children of the Christian church. On the contrary, artistic merit for its own sake was the last thing required in these works. ^ Almost all the artists were, as before said, monks, shut into their convents, and pursuing their j^eacef ul avocations, whilst the wild chaos that succeeded the overthrow of the ancient world was gradually becoming moulded into the new forms of the modern world. Their chief aim seems to have been to copy as closely as possible the type that had been set before them as exi)ressive of religious ideas, and from this type they never deviated. Progressive development was thus rendered impossible, and Byzantine art became as stationary in its character as Egyptian. Melancholy Christs, with large ill-shaped eyes, looking forth into space and seeing nothing ; Madonnas, with a deep olive green complexion, suggesting a bilious temperament ; ^ infant Saviours, whose attenuated limbs and old-looking faces, would seem to speak of the most direful effects of starvation ; saints with distorted arms and legs, and emaciated to a degree that even S. Simeon Stylites might envy ; these are the well- known features of Byzantine painting. Nor are such fea- tures to be wondered at when we consider the asceticism to wliich this curious ideal of the Byzantines owed its birth. How could a poor half- starved monk who considered that the mortification of his body was his primary duty, under-
[^ The author in these and the following remarks is evidently thinking of the Byzantine pictures of comparative! j late date, and is leaving out of account (see note 4, on p. 27) the grand mosaics of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries. These possessed great artistic merit, especially of a decorative kindj and, therefoi-e, for its own sake. It must also be remembered that it is to Byzantine artists that we owe the dramatic conception of the leading events of the Bible narratives <»f buth the Old and New Testaments, which formed the basis of Italian religious design from Giotto to Kaphael.]
[^ The " green complexions " so common in old paintings do not repre- sent the oi'iginal appearance of the faces when painted, but are caused by the green ground upon which it was accustomed to lay the flesh-tints predominating either by chemical action, or by the removal of the glazes by over cleaning.]
26 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK III.
stand humanity in its broad, natural, and healthy charac- teristics. The art of these men was necessarily as restrained as their lives, prej ing on its own forms for generation after generation. This asceticism, however, was not altogether an evil. The Greeks, we must remember, had fallen at last into base sensuality by their glorification of the human body. To represent the naked body in all its strength and beauty had been the highest aim of their art, but the Christians regarded the body as a temj)tation to evil, and sought on all occasions to mortify and subdue its passions and desires. Their aim, in direct contrast to that of the Greeks, was to subjugate the animal nature of man, and thereby, as they imagined, exalt his spiritual nature, and this aim is manifestly attained by their art.
Those solemn dark-visaged Madonnas, weird Infants, and long-Hinbed lean saints have often a mysterious super- natural life that awes us more than the natural and earthly beauty of more perfect works, and in time Christian artists arose who developed the ascetic type created at Byzantium into the highest forms of spiritual beauty. But before de- veloping. Christian art sank to a very low ebb.
But with the thirteenth century a new epoch commenced in the intellectual history of Europe. Modern painting dates its birth from this century ; but in modern Europe, as in ancient Greece, we find that sculpture preceded it in artistic development.
Nicola Pisano (born about the beginning of the thir- teenth century, worked until 1280) was undoubtedly the first who gave expression in art to the forward movement of his age, for, casting aside the traditions of Byzantine art, he turned back to the antique for inspiration, and formed by its teachings a new and nobly classic style. Eor it was not that he copied antique forms in the manner of the early Catacomb artists, who did so because at that time they had no others to copy, and were not original enough to invent, but that, deeply imbued with the spirit of antique sculpture, he attained to a feeling for form such as no pre- vious Christian artist had ever manifested. This is es- pecially visible in his celebrated pulpit (completed 1260) in the baptistery at Pisa,^ where many of the rehefs, es- ^ A cast from this pulpit is in the South Kensington Museum.
BOOK III.] EARLY CHRISTIAN PAINTING. 27"
])ecially the one representing the Last Judgment, show a knowledge of the human form, which, although imperfect enough compared with Greek knowledge, or even with that to which Christian artists afterwards attained, is yet sur- prising when we consider the early days of art in which he worked. But, as Lord Lindsay says,^ he was "the bright harbinger of the morning." He did not, it is- true, go like Griotto straight to nature for instruction, but he did the next best thing — he studied the Grreek expres- sion of her beauty,^ and gave the first shake to the hitherto immobile Byzantine type.
Byzantine art,^ indeed, it soon became evident, was. awakening from the long sleep of the dark ages, and be- ginning to manifest signs of life.
The CosMATi, a family of mosaic artist at Eome, at the beginning of the thirteenth century, worked in a much freer spirit than their predecessors ; and at Venice, also, many of the magnificent mosaics of St. Mark's, supposed to have been executed about this time, show a distinct impulse towards nature.
But more especially in Tuscany, the ancient Etruria, which was to witness the full glory of the revival, these first stirrings of a new life in art were early apparent..
Andrea Tafi, " Painter of Florence," (still living in 1320), the earliest artist to whom Vasari accords a separate biography, executed many works in mosaic which were greatly admired, and was considered ** an excellent, nay, a divine artist by his contemporaries." Mosaic workers were then, we must remember, fully entitled to be ranked as artists, for they generally worked from their own de- signs, and did not, as in later times, simply copy pictures.
The Byzantines excelled all others in this rich style of work, which was, in fact, extremely well suited for the mas:nificent ornamentation of their churches.*
^ " Sketches of the History of Christian Art," vol. ii.
P Not directly from Greek work. His models were probably bas- reliefs on Eoman sarcophagi.]
P Or rather, perhaps, Italian art under fresh Byzantine influence.]
^ It was likewise practised by the early Christian artists at Rume as early as the fourth century ; indeed, although the limits of this work would not allow me to dwell upon them, the remarkable mosaics at
28 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK III.
Gaddo Gaddi (still living 1333), was another mosaicist of Florence of considerable merit for his time. Both he and Andrea Tafi were contemporaries and friends of Cimabue, but they did not attain to the same degree of fame, although they also had the advantage of the " sub- tilty of the Florentine nature, which is wont to produce fine and ingenious spu'its."
Besides Andrea Tafi, G-addo Gaddi, and a few other mosaicists, there were several fresco painters deserving of mention, who lived before or were contemporary with Cimabue. Not only in Florence, but in Pisa, and also in Siena and Arezzo, schools of art existed at an early date. Siena seemed indeed, at first, as if it would rival Florence in its achievements, but the Sienese school produced no Giotto, that is to say, no artist quite great enough to free it from Byzantine bondage. It continued, therefore, long after the Florentine school had put it forth ; its new gained energies still perpetuating the old forms, although it in- fused into them a wonderful grace and tenderness.
GuiDo of Siena, supposed to be the painter of a large Madonna and Child, in the church of S. Domenico, at Siena, was the predecessor of Duccio, Ugolino, Simone Martini, and other artists of the Sienese school in the fourteenth century. The Madonna of S. Domenico, by Guido of Siena, is superior to Cimabue' s celebrated work ; but there seems to be some doubt as to whether Guido was really the painter of it.^
GiUNTA of Pisa, although contemporary with and work- ing in the same city as the great Nicola, was not influenced by him in any degree. His reputed works are entirely Byzantine in style.
Another doleful Byzantine of this date is Maegaritone of Arezzo, bom 1216, died 1293. A specimen of this I)ainter's work was added in 1857 to the National Gallery, and will enable students to judge of his curious style. It
Rome and Ravenna afford as good an evidence of the classic proclivities of the early Roman school as the paintings in the Catacombs.
^ It is engraved in the handbooks of Kugler, and Crowe and Caval- caselle. The latter critics consider it to be the work of a later artist. [The date it bears (1221) is nuw proved to be a forgery, it was probably painted 1281.]
BOOK III.] EARLY CHRISTIAN PAINTING. 29
is said to be " a characteristic " work, and is mentioned by Vasari, who praises its small figures, which he says are executed "with more grace and finished with greater deli- cacy " than the larger ones. G-race seems to us a curious word to apply to such a work, yet Margaritone was not more rigid than most of his brother artists, and was accounted an excellent painter in his day. Nothing, how- ever, can be more unlike nature than the grim Madonna of the National Gallery, and the weird starved Child in her arms.
Giovanni Cimabue, born at Florence in 1240, ends the long Byzantine succession in Italy, which had continued uninterrupted from the time of Constantino until the thirteenth century.^ In him, ** the spirit of the years to come " is decidedly manifest ; but he never entirely suc- ceeded in casting ofE the hereditary Byzantine asceticism, although, in his later years, he attained to much [greater freedom of drawing, and even, in some of his works, to something like a natural expression. Whether this was owing to the influence of his great pupil Giotto, or whether he himself had a dawning perception that nature was more likely to be right than tradition, it is difiicult to say : but at all events, the progress in his art is so distinct,
^ Strange to say, this succession is still continued in Greece up to the present day. M. Didron, the French traveller and archaeologist, actually saw a monk-painter of Mount Athos, in 1839, pursuing exactly the same method, and working from exactly the same types as his early Christian forefathers. Mount Athos, which was formerly called the Holy Mount, and is still " a perfect warren of monasteries," is the prin- cipal school from which issue the saint pictures of the Greek church. No revolutionary ideas have ever disturbed the traditions of this holy school. Nature has never ventured to intrude on its sacred ground, and anything like invention is regarded as sacrilege. ;M. Didron found, in fact, in the bands of the monks a manuscript which had been com- piled in the fifteenth century from older treatises, in which not only the whole technical process of Byzantine painting is described, but likewise the rules to be adopted in the treatment of sacred subjects are rigidly laid down. This manuscript, which has been published by M. Didron, under the title of" Manuel d'Iconographie Chretienne," is the sole text- book of these wonderful modem painters, who faithfully reproduce not only the same type of beauty, but even the very same folds of drapery as their early Byzantine predecessors. [M. Didron's book has been translated into English, and published in Bohn's Library under the title of " Christian Iconography " (Bell and Son^.l
so HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK III.
that most writers place him at the beginning of the new epoch, and Vasari extols him as having given " the first light to the art of painting." So much praise has indeed been accorded to Cimabue, and Yasari's enthusiasm is so ■catching, that we can scarcely help believing that he was a great artist ; yet it must be owned, that when we come to study his works, they produce a feeling of disappointment, and when we compare his feeble efforts at naturalism with the noble achievements of Griotto, we can scarcely avoid thrusting him back amongst his Byzantine predecessors, rather than setting him forward as the father of such a great race as the Italian painters.
But the Florentines of that time were more than satis- fied with the achievements of their high-born artist, and stiff and melancholy as his Madonnas appear to us, they were then reckoned marvels of grace and beauty, and awoke the warmest feelings of love and devotion in simple pious minds. One of these Madonnas, Vasari tell us, was carried in solemn-procession with the sound of trumpets, and other festal demonstrations from the house of Cimabue to the church of Santa Maria Novella, the people shouting with joy on the occasion.
This colossal Madonna, the largest that had as yet been attempted by art, still exists, and, strange to say, in the same church — namely, S. Maria Novella — for which it was originally painted. There is no doubt of its authenticity, :and therefore it is fair to take it as a standard of his at- tainments. The Virgin, alas ! is incorrigibly doleful, but there is a soft human expression in her countenance dif- ferent to the hard staring grief of preceding artists. The Child, also, has come to life, and stretches out his little ^rm in quite a natural manner. Still, however, in spite of these merits, the Byzantine type is faithfully preserved. The hands of both Virgin and Child are painfully thin and •unnatural, and the angels surrounding the chair have all got stiff necks, notwithstanding that there is a slight in- tention of motion apparent in their attitudes. The features are in all cases traditional, but pleasantly softened.
Another and earher Madonna in the Florentine Academy is much more Byzantine in character than this. The Maria Novella Virgin is indeed always considered his most
BOOK III.] EARLY CHRISTIAN PAINTING. 31
advanced work,^ and it is certainly a most imi^ressive picture. Not only its large size and majestic aspect, but likewise its solemn religious feeling, produce a powerful influence upon the beholder ; indeed, whatever artistic qualities Byzantine works may lack, a fervent religious belief is always ap- parent in them. For this reason, no doubt, they were more effective in exciting the emotions of the pious, which we must remember was their chief aim, than the more beautiful and realistic productions of later times. ^
It is always pictures of this class that gain the reputa- tion of being miracle-working. We never find a Madonna, by any great Italian painter, winking her eyes or healing the sick.
Besides his Madonnas, Cimabue was no doubt the master who executed many of the earlier wall paintings in the Church of S. Francis, at Assisi. This church has a peculiar interest in the history of art, for the whole progress of painting in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries may be studied on its walls. It was built during the first half of the thirteenth century, when the worship of S. Francis, the patron saint of poverty, had grown to be second only in importance to that of Christ. It is remarkable as con- sisting of two churches built one over the other, the lower containing the remains of the saint, whilst the upper was devoted to the service of his order. Both the upper and lower church were adorned with paintings, and all the artists of note of that time were summoned by the monks of Assisi to execute these works.' The church formed in
' It is engraved in Kugler's Handbook, in Crowe and Cavalcaselle's History, and in Woltmann and Woermann.
^ It is related of one of the later Italian painters that although he painted beautiful Madonnas himself, and had those of Raphael and other great masters constantly before his eyes, he always preferred to say his prayers to an ugly little olive-coloured Virgin of the Byzantine school ; and this feeling is quite comprehensible.
^ It is impossible in the limits of this work to give any idea of these marvellous series of paintings. In the upper church alone in three lines along the walls of the nave were depicted, 1. The History of the Jews, from the Creation to the finding of Benjamin's cup, in sixteen frescoes ; 2. The History of Christ, from the Annunciation to the Descent of the Holy Spirit, in twenty frescoes ; and 3. The History and Miracles of S. Francis, in twenty-eight frescoes. The roof, the transept, and the portals were likewise painted.
32 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK III.
fact a vast history book for the unlearned, wherein all might read, without the help of letters, the events recorded in the Bible, and the legendary history of their saints. It is impossible to over-estimate the educational value of such works as these before the introduction of printing.
The frescoes at Assisi were not executed all at one time,, nor, as before said, by one hand. They were probably begun before Cimabue, but he no doubt had the entire superintendence of them in his day, although assisted in the actual work by other artists. Giotto seems to have worked at Assisi at two different periods — first, when still young, and under the influence of Cimabue, and lastly in the fulness of his fame, when he executed the latter scenes in the history of S. Francis, and the noble allegories illus- trating the vows of the Franciscan order — namely. Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience, in the Lower or Sepulchral Church.
Many of the paintings thought to be by Cimabue, are so obliterated that it is impossible to judge of them ; a few, however, remain, one of the best preserved being, the Betrayal of Christ, belonging to a series representing the Passion. The Christ in this remarkable work is of the Byzantine type — the bullet-shaped head, the staring eyes, the totally expressionless countenance, and the little tufts of hair coming down on to the forehead, being all faith- fully repeated from the earliest portraits, but several of the Roman guards betray an unwonted amount of anima- tion, and an individual character is perceptible in many of the heads. ^
Here then was a considerable advance made upon tra- ditionary art, and it is further stated that Cimabue actually painted a head of S. Francis " after nature." This could not mean from S. Francis himself, who died in 1226, but from a living model instead of a traditional type.
The increasing light of the centuries was in fact every year revealing new truths to artists as well as to othei' men, and gradually to the early morning time of Cimabue succeeded the full noonday of art in the sixteenth century.
^ The Madonna in the National Gallery, although supposed to be genuine, is too much injured by time and retouching for it to be taken as a fair sample of his work.
BOOK IV. PAINTING IN ITALY.
Chapter I.
THE EISE.
Giotto — The Giotteschi — Orcagna — The Sienese School.
WITH Giotto, the revival of art was finally and fully accomplished, and a noble Christian school founded. He was in truth the first master of real creative genius that Christianity had as yet produced, and the impulse given by him was transmitted through succeeding cen- turies, until the highest perfection of Christian art was reached.
The romantic story of his life has been often told. The son of a simple husbandman ^ of Tuscany, named Bondone, Giotto (1266-1337) spent his early years in tending his father's flocks, and might possibly have remained a shepherd to the end of his days, had not the famous artist Cimabue, as he was riding one day along the valley of Vespignano, chanced to notice the youthful shepherd-boy intently occu- pied in drawing one of his sheep upon a smooth piece of rock, with no better instrument than a slightly pointed stone. Struck with the truthfulness of the drawing, Cimabue asked him whether he would not like to be an artist, and receiving a joyful assent, and the father's permission
[^ From documents recently discovered it would appear that Bondone was of good family and a man of some property.]
D
34 HISTOEY OP PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
being gained, he took Giotto back with him to Florence, and instructed him in all the mechanical methods of painting.^
Such instruction was no doubt very valuable, and al- though Cimabue's " name is now eclipsed," ^ we must not forget that Giotto doubtless owed much to his prompt recognition and training ; still, it is evident from the first that he had a wiser and greater teacher than even the father of painting, no other, indeed, than Nature herself, from whom, as we know, he had received his earhest les- sons on the hillside, and whose guidance he never after- wards forsook.
It is not, indeed, surprising that the worn-out traditions of ascetic art should have failed to satisfy this young artist, who had been accustomed to watch the sun rise on the hills of Yespignano, who had drawn the flowers of the valley, and had studied the forms of real living sheep, so unlike those of the twelve holy sheep of Byzantine paint- ing. His genius could not work in such fetters, therefore he boldly broke through them, and by his daring naturahsn effected a total change in the art of his time.
It is evident how much this return to nature was needed by the admiration that Giotto's innovations excited amon^ his contemporaries. The feeblest attempt to represeni anything like passion or emotion was then esteemed a marvel, and for two hundred years, Vasari affirms, such a thing as drawing living persons from nature had not been attempted.^
[^ This is Vasari's account. According to another, by an anonymous commentator on Dante at the end of the fifteenth century, Giotto was placed with a wool merchant at Florence before he was apprenticed to Cimabue.]
^ " Credette Cimabue nella Pittura Tener lo campo, ed ora ha Giotto il grido j Sicche la fama di colui oscura."
" Cimabue thought To lord it over painting's field ; and now, The cry is Giotto's, and his name eclipsed."
Dante, Purg., xi. 93.
[^ Vasari adds, " Or, if some had attempted, it was not by any means with the success of Giotto."]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 35
It is difficult to trace Giotto's development, for so many of yhis works have perished by time and neglect, that we waiit the links that would connect the boy-shepherd pupil of jfche Byzantine Cimabue with the great inaugurator of modern painting. Some of his earliest works were exe- cuted, we are told, in the Abbey (Badia) of Florence, but none of these remain. Vasari celebrates an Annunciation among them as having given an expression of fear and astonishment to the Virgin.
In 1298, Giotto was invited to Rome by Boniface VHI.,^ where he executed, besides other works, the celebrated Mosaic of the Navicella for S. Peter's. This mosaic is still to be seen in the portico of S. Peter's, although so greatly altered and restored that it is doubtful whether any of Giotto's original work remains. It represents alle- gorically the Holy Catholic Church under the similitude of a little ship (Navicella) — manned by the Apostles driven on a stormy sea, with the winds in the form of demons blowing upon it. Christ walks on the waves and saves Peter from sinking.
After a short period in Rome, Giotto probably returned to Florence, which he appears to have made his head- quarters. He could never, however, have stayed for any long time together at one place, for we find him travelling throughout the length and breadth of Italy, visiting Padua, Verona, Ravenna, Assisi, Milan, and Naples, doing his work, and earning his wages wherever he went. In
' His visit to Rome was the occasion of a joke which has been per- petuated even to the present day. Boniface VIII. desiring to know what manner of artist Giotto was, before he took him into his service, sent one of his courtiers to Florence to visit him, and to gain, if possible, some proof of his skill. The courtier accordingly appeared one morning at Giotto's bottcga,oT workshop, and asked him for a drawing to send to his Holiness. Whereupon " Giotto, who was very courteous, took a sheet of paper and a pencil dipped in red colour ; then resting his elbow on his side, to form a sort of compass, with one turn of his hand he drew a circle so perfect and exact that it was a marvel to behold. This done, he turned to the courtier, saying, * Here is your drawing.' " The courtier seems to have thought that Giotto was fooling him; but the l*ope was easily convinced, by the roundness of the O, of the greatness of Giotto's skill, and the feat gave rise to the saying, " Piu tondo che rO di Giotto" (Rounder than the O of Giotto), the point of which lies in the word tondo signifying dulness of intellect as well as a circle.
36 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
fact, Giotto, says Ruskin,^ " like all the great painters of the period, was merely a travelling decorator of walls at so much a day, having at Florence a bottega or workshop, for the production and sale of small tempera pictures." This " travelling decorator of walls," had, however, a creative genius of the highest order, and the walls he painted were not filled with grim Madonnas, ascetic saints, and instruc- tive Scripture histories as heretofore, but were made alive with human thought and human emotion ; his whole art was a " protest of vitality against mortality, of spirit against letter, and of truth against tradition." In the frescoes of the Church of the Arena at Padua his powers were first brought into full play, and scope given for the inventive and dramatic qualities of his art.
The Scrovigni chapel in the Church of the Arena, at Padua, was built in 1303, by Enrico Scrovigno, a noble citizen of Padua,^ who employed Giotto to adorn it with paintings. In a series of thirty-eight magnificent frescoes the lives of the Virgin and of her Son are unfolded in a triple course along the walls, many of the old incidents being rendered in a new manner. Beneath the lines of these frescoes are placed thoughtfully conceived allegorical figures of the antagonistic virtues and vices. The Last Judgment is depicted above the arch of the entrance, and the Annunciate Virgin, to whom the chapel was dedicated, above another arch. The chapel forms, in fact, one lovely painted poem, which, in its first beauty, must have been almost worthy to rank with the written one of Dante. Dante himself, indeed, it is possible, may have had some share in its production, even beyond the influence that his mind always exercised over Giotto ; for we know that he visited Giotto whilst he was working at Padua,^ and it is natural to suppose that he would have aided his friend with many suggestions and imaginations. Several of the
^ " Giotto and his Works at Padua," Printed for the Arundel Society.
^ With the money that his father had accumulated by means of an avarice that handed him down to posterity in the seventh circle of the '• Inferno."
5 Benvenuto da Imola, " Antiquitates Ital." [The date of Dante'* visit to Padua was 1306.]
EOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 37
subjects, at all events, have a certain Dantesque expres- sion, and many of the allegorical figures are conceived in the style of the poet. Amongst them may be mentioned Justice, a noble female figure, who holds the discs of her balance evenly poised in her hands, whilst Industry in one scale, working at an anvil, is crowned by an angel, and the execution of a criminal takes place in the other. Prudence has two faces, one old and the other young, looking behind and before ; she holds a mirror and a pair of compasses in her hand. Faith plants her cross upon a prostrate idol. Unbelief — the contrasted vice — is fastened, by means of a chain round his neck, to an idol that he holds in his hand, tind which is gradually drawing him towards the flames of hell, springing up in his future path. A grave spirit above tries to counsel, but in vain, for the ears of Unbelief are tied down by the strings of his helmet-like cap. Several other of these allegories evince a similar fertile and poetical imagination, and if he owed something of the conception of this work to Dante, the thoughtful execution of it was entirely his own. His forms are dignified and graceful, his drawing free, the folds of the draperies simple and flowing, in strong contrast to the stiffness and complexity of Byzantine draperies, and the expression of the faces varied and emotional. " The personages who are in grief look melancholy, and those who are joyous look gay," says tin old writer (quoted by Mrs. Jameson) in a tone of ad- miring surprise.
From Padua, when the painting of the Scrovigni chapel was finished, Giotto returned to Florence, where he painted no less than four family chapels in the newly-built church •of Santa Croce. All these frescoes had disappeared under the barbarous hand of the whitewasher, but those in the Bardi and Peruzzi chapels have been partially recovered.
In 1841 what remained of the celebrated fresco of the Dance of the daughter of Herodias, in the Peruzzi chapel, was brought to light, and after this the whole chapel was restored, and a grand series of frescoes, illustrating the lives of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist revealed. In the Bardi chapel a set of frescoes, illustrating the history of St. Francis, were disclosed in 1853. Like those in the Peruzzi chapel, they have suffered much from bad
38 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV,
" restoration." The subject is the same as in the twenty- eight frescoes of Assisi/ but the treatment is somewhat different.
The Death of St. Francis, in the Bardi chapel, became a standard type for the representation of this event with succeeding artists. Ghirlandaio, in the fifteenth century,, copied Griotto's composition almost exactly, only he left out the ascending spirit of the saint, which in Giotto's concep- tion is carried by angels to glory.
[The church of Santa Croce also contains the celebrated Baroncelli altar-piece, one of the few existing panel pic- tures by Giotto. It is composed of five panels, and repre- sents the Coronation of the Virgin, with the angelic choir, and patriarchs, prophets, and saints in glory.]
Like Dante, Giotto was devoted to the Franciscan order ; ^ indeed the two powerful orders of Dominicans and Franciscans at that time divided the genius of the wholo world between them. Giotto, as we have seen, probably worked at the great church of St. Francis, at Assisi, in his youth, but whatever doubt there may still be about the masters of the upper church, there can be little about the painter of the Lower or Sepulchral Church, for here the magnificent allegorical representations of the vows of the Franciscan order — Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience — and St. Francis in Glory, a rich composition, painted in the fourth compartment of the vaulted roof, reveal Giotto in the full exercise of his powers.
Although an important series of frescoes at Naples has been attributed to Giotto, it has at the same time been doubted by many critics whether he was ever in that city. The recent researches of Crowe and Cavalcaselle have, however, brought to hght a document which certainly proves that Giotto was in Naples in the year 1333, but whether he executed the well-known " Seven Sacraments of the Church," in the Incoronata, is still open to doubt.^
^ See p. 30, note.
^ A satirical poem, however, still exists, ascribed to him, entitled, "A Canzone on Poverty.-' But if he ridiculed the Bride of St. Francis ia his verse, he certainly exalted her in kis art.
[^ The cliapel was not founded till 1352. There are no existing: Works of Giotto at Naples.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 39
His last work in Florence was not as a painter, but as an architect.^ In 1334 he was appointed by the Kepublic to superintend the works of S. Maria del Fiore, and it was from his design that the beautiful bell-tower arose which —
" Soars up in gold its full fifty braccia, Completing Florence as Florence Italy."
Several amusing stories are related of Giotto, which show him to have been a man of genial humour, happy disposi- tion, and well skilled in repartee. He married in the first years of the century, Ciuta di Lapo di Pelo, and had six children, who seem to have been remarkable only for their ugliness.^
Giotto was favoured with very intelligent pupils, who spread his teaching far and wide, and diffused the " new method," as his style was called, throughout most of the schools of Italy. In one sense, indeed, all the great painters of the modem world may be said to be followers of Giotto, for he was the earliest pioneer to that vast king- dom of Nature from which succeeding artists have drawn their noblest inspirations; but the term is more con- veniently limited to his immediate successors, " The Giot- TEscHi," as they are generally styled.
Foremost amongst these stands the name of Taddeo Gaddi ' (b. 1300, living in 1366), the son of Gaddo Gaddi,
[^ He was also a sculptor. Of the basreliefs on his Campanile, all of those in the lowest range are supposed to be more or less after his designs ; two of them (Sculpture and Architecture) were executed by him, the rest were cut \gf Andrea Pisano and Luca della Robbia after his death. They are remarkable for their vigour and simplicity, and for the illustration of ideas by subjects taken from real life. He also made designs for the bronze door of the Baptistery at Florence, which was afterwards executed by Andrea Pisano.]
^ The single fragment of a painting that represents Giotto in our National Collection, was saved with a few other pieces, when the church of the Carmine, in Florence, was burnt down in 177 1. A knowledge of some of the frescoes in this church has been preserved by the means of the drawings Thomas Patch had previously made of them.
3 Rumohr, " Italienische Forschungen." [His principal wall painting is in the Bai'oncelli chapel of Santa Croce, Florence. There is an ahar- piece by him in the Berlin Museum, and another in the gallery at Siena, and remains of wall paintings in S. Francesco at Pisa.]
40 HISTORY OF PAINTING, [cOOK IV.
and the godson of Giotto, and for a long time his pupil and fellow-worker. His son ^gnolo ^ was likewise a painter, thus carrying on the calling to the third genera- tion. Taddeo Gaddi was an architect as well as i)ainter,- and was on the Council of Works of S. Maria del Fiore after Giotto's death.' Giottino (1324-1396), or the Httle Giotto, is the name given to a master whose real name is not very certain. Yasari calls him Tommaso di Stefano, [and says that he greatly improved on the manner of Giotto.']
Stefano (1301 P-1350), supposed to be the father of Giottino, is extolled by Vasari as having left Giotto him- self far behind, but [we have no certain information about the works of himself or his son]. He was called II Scimia della Natura — the ape of nature — by his contemporaries. Puccio Capanna, Buonamico Christofani, called Buf- FALMAcco, Calandrino, and several other Giotteschi are known by name, to whom few if any works can with any certainty be attributed; on the other hand, numerous works exist which can only be assigned arbitrarily to painters of the fourteenth century working under the in- fluence of Giotto.*
This influence extended far beyond his immediate school. The effects of the revival that he had inaugurated were felt all over Italy, and even architects, sculptors, and mosaists became impregnated with his teaching as well as those artists whom we more directly recognize as his fol-
[^ His most important frescoes are in the Cathedral at Prato, and Santa Croce, Florence.]
[•^ There are three works of his school in the National Gallery. He was the master of Jacopo Lakdini da Casentino (1310?-1393)5 by whom there is an altar-piece in the National Gallery (No. 580), and GiovANKi da Milako, a few works by whom still exist at Prato and Florence, which justify Vasari's opinion of his merits.]
[^ The most important of the few works usually attributed to Giottino are some frescoes representino^ scenes from the legend of Constantine, in the chapel of S. Sylvester in Santa Croce, Florence ; but these, as well as two frescoes of the Birth and Crucifixion of Christ, are now supposed to be by INIaso, a celebrated pupil of Giotto, who was confused with Giottino by Vasari.]
[^ The name of a forgotten pupil of Giotto, Bernardo di Daddo (painted 1320-1347) has recently been resuscitated. He painted the Madonna of Urcagna's Shrine in Or San Michelej Florence.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 41
lowers. Especially at Pisa, where the revival was begun even before his time, bj Niccola Pisano, we see how com- pletely Giotto ruled the art of the fourteenth centurv. Andeea Pisano,^ a sculptor of high excellence, who carried on the revival began by Niccola, was a pupil of Griotto, and worked completely in his spirit, as did also his son Nino Pisano.
Pisa, in the fourteenth century, was undoubtedly the greatest school of sculpture in all Italy, but, strange to say, she produced no great native painter.
Yet we have at Pisa some of the most remarkable painted works in the world, the far-famed frescoes of the Campo Santo.
" There are few places in the world," writes W. B. Scott,^ " likely to make a deeper impression on the traveller than the Campo Santo of Pisa. . . . Singleness of aim, simpli- city of execution, and the absence of small things, make one feel stronger and breathe freer than in a modern exhi- bition." This cemetery was founded at the close of the tweKth century, by the Archbishop Ubaldo, who is said to have brought home fifty-three vessels laden with earth from Palestine, and to have formed with it the Campo Santo, so that the bodies of the departed Pisans might rest in holy ground. A cloister was built ^ round the sacred burial-place, and during the two following centuries numerous artists were employed by the Pisans to adorn it with paintings. Like the Church of S. Francis at Assisi, the Campo Santo thus contains a grand pictorial history of early Italian art ; indeed, were there no other remains of the works of the artists of the fourteenth century^ we should be able to form a very good idea of their style and capabihties from these two places alone. A painter named Datus is supposed to have been the earliest artist of the Campo Santo,"* but what he executed is not now discover- able : other painters, some of whose names are mentioned
[^ Andrea di Ugolino, of Pontedera, commonly called Andrea Pisano, was also a pupil and assistant of Giovanni Pisano, the son of JSiecoIa.]
■■* " Half- hour I^ec;turcs on the Fine Arts."
[^ By Giovanni Pisano between 1278 and 1283.]
* He is considered by Forster to be the same as Deodati Orlandi of Lucca. See "Kunstblatt," 1833.
42 HISTOET OP PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
in the records of tlie Duomo di Pisa, succeeded, but it was not until late in the fourteenth century that any important work was undertaken. The frescoes illustrating the trials of Job were then produced, probably by an artist named Francesco da Volterra,^ who, although not a Pisan by birth, had been long settled in Pisa in 1370, when we find a record of payment being made to him for work in the Campo Santo. In the Trials of Job a certain dignity of thought elevates into poetry the quaint realistic treatment of the subject, and the religious earnestness of the painter always impresses the mind of the beholder. These works were long attributed to Giotto, and his spirit undoubtedly animates them, but it is nearly certain that they are by a disciple and not by the master himself, who does not seem ever to have worked at Pisa.^
Another seemingly earlier series of frescoes represents the Passion of Christ and the subsequent scenes of his history. These works have been ascribed to Buffalmacco, but without any real evidence ; on the other hand, Pietro di Puccio is known to have executed the scenes from Genesis, and Spinello Aretino and Andrea da Firenze illustrated the lives of several saints.^
But the most remarkable frescoes at the Campo Santo are those erroneously attributed by Vasari to the Floren- tine artist Andrea Orcagna, or more correctly Arcagnolo, son of the goldsmith Cione (about 1308-1368). Orcagna was undoubtedly an artist of powerful original genius ; and for this reason he cannot be, strictly speaking, classed with the Giotteschi, who, although many of them were good painters, were all directly dependent on Giotto for their inspiration. Orcagna, on the other hand, although
\} There is now no doubt about this. They were painted by Fran- cesco between 1370 and 1372.]
^ The earliest paintings in the Campo Santo are now almost all ruined and obliterated by time, damp, and neglect. Of this history of Job only a few ghastly fragments remain visible at all, and the same with many of the other frescoes ; but fortunately the memory of these weird frescoes is preserved in Lasinio's " Pitture del Campo Santo," and there are outlines of them in several works on Italian Art.
[3 The scenes from the legends of SS. Ephysius and Hippolytus were executed by Spinello, those from the legend of S. Ranieri by Andrea da Firenze and Antonio Veneziano.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 4S
he owed much to Giotto, had his own thoughts and ex- pressed them in his own style.
The two frescoes that Vasari attributes to him in the Campo Santo are the well-known Triumph of Death and The Last Judgment. These works are evidently by an artist of considerable merit and of an imaginative turn of mind, but whether this artist was Orcagna or not, it is. difficult to determine in the absence of all external evidence excei)t Vasari' s statement.^
The Triumph of Death was probably meant to set forth the advantages of an ascetic Hfe. On the right, Death, a fearful harpy-like woman, descends swinging a scythe in her hand upon a company of gay ladies and cavaliers who are listening to the songs of a troubadour. On the left, a merry hunting party is stopped on its way by an old hermit (S. Macarius), who points to three corpses lying by the road-side, as a memento mori. The careless party do not, however, seem much concerned, only one fashionable young gentleman holds his nose, as if the smell of mor- tality were too much for him. Other hermits are seen in the background, and a heap of dead bodies lies in front, from which the souls, rising in the form of new-bom babes, are received by angels or devils according to their appointed destination.
The Last Judgment is a grand conception of this oft- repeated theme, and its composition has often been adopted by succeeding painters. Even Michael Angelo did not dis- dain in his celebrated version of the subject to take ideas from the earlier master. A severe dignified treatment dis- tinguishes this fresco from the extravagant representations we so often meet with in early art. There is nothing trivial, no exaggerated horror, and a singular absence of that element which for want of a better word we call fan- tastic or grotesque.
Li a third fresco representing Hell, this element, how-
^ Crowe and Cavalcaselle and Forster decide in the negative, from internal evidence, but in the present ruined state of these frescoes, it ia next to impossible that any critics should be able to detei-mine the point with certainty. [C. and C. and other authorities now ascribe these frescoes to the brothers Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti. Vide Sienesc School, p. 47.]
44 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
ever, largely prevails. Hell is depicted as a huge cauldron divided into four parts, all full of devils and the souls they are tormenting. Satan, a monstrous giant with flames issuing from his hair and from all parts of his body, ap- pears to gloat in savage delight over the work he has accomplished.
Such are Orcagna's reputed works in the Campo Santo, the most important, perhaps, of all the frescoes there, but still far below his undoubted paintings of the same sub- jects in the Strozzi chapel of S. Maria Novella in Florence. These latter frescoes are the work of an artist " who had profited so well by the teaching of Giotto, that he was en- abled in his turn to become a teacher to his successors. His simple, dignified forms, his graceful female heads, his self-restraint, and his excellent execution, entitle him, indeed, to rank far above the other followers of Giotto." ^
There is a large altar-piece by Orcagna in the National Gallery, which Wornum points out as " thoroughly illus- trating the character of the great altar decorations of the period, architecturally and aesthetically, as to the conven- tional religious style of pictorial representation." There was still, we must remember, very little room for the artist's own invention in these grand religious displays ; for al- though the bold innovations of Giotto had given a blow to traditional forms, still it could not be expected that the Church should at once give up the direction of her artists, a,nd they were, for a long time to come, content to express her teaching with siinj)le undoubting belief in its truth.
Orcagna was one of the architects of the magnificent ■church of Or San Michele at Orvieto. Francesco Traini was his pupil.
Spinello di Luca Spinelli, called Aretino, about 1333-1410, before mentioned as one of the artists of the Campo Santo, is principally known by his Fall of the Eebel Angels, a fresco in the church of S. Maria degli Angeli, at Arezzo. Vasari relates that Lucifer was highly affronted at his portrait in this picture, and appeared to the artist in the form under which he had represented him, and de- manded to know why he had made him so ugly. Si^inello
* Crowe and C vr.ljaselle.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 45
never recovered from the friglit of this dream, but " fell into a dispirited condition, with eyes from which all intel- lifT^ence had departed." The original fresco has now en- tirely disappeared, but many drawings and engravings of it exist. The fantastic element largely prevails in it.. [Spinello was a pupil of Jacopo da Casentino. His Death of S. Benedict, in S. Miniato, Florence, his best preserved work, shows a mixture of Sienese feeling with the vigorous manner of Giotto. There is a picture ascribed to him in the National Gallery (No. 581), and three fragments of frescoes (No. 1216).]
[Signs of Giotto's influence in the fourteenth century are visible in many places in Italy, but it is at Padua that the signs are most marked. Here worked together two artists of much power and originality, Altichiero da Zevio of Verona and Jacopo d'Avanzo. Theirmost important works are a series of paintmgs in the chapel of S. Felice, in the church of S. Antony at Padua, and another in the con- tiguous but independent chapel of S. George. These were executed probably between 1375 and 1380. A contem- porary of theirs was Giusto di Giovanni de' Menabuoi of Florence, called Justus of Padua (about 1330-1400), who was a follower of Giotto of some originality. His small triptych in the National Gallery, dated 1367 (No. 701), is the most perfect example we possess of a follower of Giotto.]
The Sienese School. While the followers of Giotto at Florence and Pisa were thus successfully pursuing the course that their master had pointed out, the painters of Siena were steadily infusing life, grace, and beauty into^ the rigid Byzantine forms.
The Sienese masters are chiefly distinguished by a- dreamy religious sentiment, which gives a pecuhar melan- choly beauty to their works. Their school never produced any great genius like Giotto, but it went on from one master to another, gradually softening and improving the old types, until the hard staring grief of the earlier masters became holy pensive sorrow in the later ones ; indeed, the- holy beauty of Fra Bartolommeo, Perugino, and Raphael, was but the perfection of what these early Sienese masters, attempted.
46 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
Duccio Di BuoNiNSEGNA (about 1260-1340), was con- temporary with Ciinabue and Giotto. [His principal work was a very large altar-piece for the Cathedral of Siena, where the greater portion of it is still preserved. It was painted on both sides of the panels, but has been sawn in two, so that back and front are now detached. In the centre of the front are the Madonna and Child, surrounded by twenty angels and six saints, and four patrons of the -city on their knees ; on the back were twenty-six scenes from the Passion. In addition were predellas on both sides, and other pictures which ornamented the top, eighteen in all, -all of which still exist. This altar-piece was honoured as Cimabue's Madonna had been at Florence, and carried in triumph from the artist's studio to the church. Duccio had more sense of natural grace and gentle sentiment than •Cimabue. The three works in the National Gallery (Nos. 566, 1139, and 1140) show personal observation of natural form, sweetness of expression, animation in the action of the figures, a feeling for beauty of line in the drapery, and :a careful skill in execution far in advance of any of his predecessors. In No. 1140, Christ Healing the Blind, great advance is shown by a street scene replacing the usual gold background.]
[Ugolino da Siena, of whose life nothing is known, worked in Florence, where he painted an altar-piece for the church of Santa Croce. Two portions of its predella are now in the National Gallery (Nos. 1188 and 1189), and show his execution to have been even more elaborate than Duccio' s, whilst the same germs of naturalism and tender sentiment are visible. Segna di Buonaventura was a pupil of Duccio. There is a Crucifixion bv him in the National Gallery (No. 567).]
[Of NiccoLO BuoNACORSO, another early Sienese painter •of the fourteenth century, of whom nothing is kno\vn, the National Gallery possesses an interesting Marriage of the Virgin (No. 1109).
But perhaps the greatest Sienese painter of the fourteenth .century was Simone Martini, often called Simone Memmi (1284-1344), from following an error of Yasari, who took him for the brother, instead of the brother-in-law, of Lippo Memmi, his fellow-worker. He holds the same place in the
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 47
iSchool of Siena that Giotto holds in the School of Florence, and his genius seems to have been quite as independent. His <;hief work at Siena is a fresco in the Pubhc Palace cover- ing a whole side of the Council Chamber. It was com- pleted in 1315. It represents the Virgin enthroned, with the Child standing on her knee, surrounded by thirty saints and angels. The Virgin, with delicate oval face, is full of sweetness and dignity, the angels are lovely, and the arch- angels noble. On the opposite wall is a spirited equestrian portrait of the famous warrior, Guidoriccio Fogliani. Simone also painted at Assisi, Naples, Orvieto, Pisa, and Eome. The frescoes in the lower church at Assisi (attri- buted by Vasari to Puccio Capanna) are the work of Simone. In 1339 he painted at Avignon, in the cathedral and in the pontifical palace, in both of which portions of his work still exist. A picture dated 1342 (when Simone was at Avignon), in the Liverpool Institute, is a charming small example of the master, representing the youthful Christ's return to his parents. His mother receives him with an expression of gentle reproach. The conception of the scene is thoroughly natural and original. Another panel of the same period is in the Museum at Antwerp.] Petrarch celebrated Simone in two of his sonnets, in return, Vasari says, for the painter having portrayed the image of his Laura, " beautiful as he could imagine or desire."
Lippo Memmi (died 1356), the brother-in-law of Simone, aided him in his works, and completed those he left un- finished. [There is a picture of the Madonna and Child, signed by him, in the Royal Museum, Berlin.]
[PiETRO and Ambrogio di Lorenzo, known as the LoRENZETTi, wcre painting at the same time as Simone, and the latter is considered by many to be a greater artist than Martini. His type of female beauty was more clas- sical and less sentimental, his conceptions more forcible and manly. The greatness of his manner is still perceptible in the vast frescoes representing allegories of Good and Bad Government in the Sala del Nove of the Public Palace at Siena (1339). Amongst the numerous figures that of Peace is specially celebrated for its natural grace and clas- sical style. A full account of this elaborate and monu- mental work (now in a sad state of decay) will be found in
48 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
Woltman and Woerman's " History of Painting," Part I.^ Book II., sec. 3, cap. 5 (Kegan Paul, 1880). Of Am- brogio's pa.nel pictures there are existing a Presentation in the Temple in the Academy at Florence, and an Annuncia- tion, and some small pictures, in the Academy at Siena. A fine and genuine fragment of one of his frescoes is in the National Gallery (No. 1147). Pietro often worked with Ambrogio, and to the two brothers are now ascribed the Last Judgment and the Triumph of Death, in the Campo Santo, formerly ascribed to Orcagna.^ According to Vasari, Pietro was also the author of another fresco in the Campo Santo, representing Hermit Life, or the Fathers in the Desert. Of Pietro' s pictures on panel the finest is a Birth of the Virgin, in the Sacristy of the Cathedral at Siena (1342). There are others at Siena, Florence, and Arezzo; and to our National Collection has lately been added a small panel legendary in subject (No. 1113).]
[The splendid promise of Sienese art shown in the works of Martini and the Lorenzetti was never fulfilled. Severe dearth, followed by the plague in 1348, which is said to have been fatal to both the Lorenzetti, reduced the state to beggary and carried off three-fourths of the population.^]
[Taddeo di Bartolo (1362-1422) was the best artist of the decadence. His principal work, frescoes from the life of the Virgin in the chapel of the Public Palace at Siena, are fine in composition, expression, and colour.]
Antonio Veneziano ^ is spoken of by Vasari as a Vene- tian, but is considered by Lanzi and other historians to have been a Florentine by birth. He executed some of the frescoes of the Campo Santo in 1386-87,^ and seems to have united the Sienese and Florentine styles with happy effect. He was " no less expert as a physician than excellent as a painter," Vasari tells us, but Vasari's statements about this painter require to be received with caution, as many of them have been found to be utterly wrong.
Gherardo Starnino ^ (born about 1354) was a pupil of
^ See page 43.
[2 Bevir's " Guide to Siena."]
[' Neither Antonio nor Starnino belongs to the Sienese School. They worked in the traditions of Giotto.] * See note to p. 42.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 49
Antonio Veneziano. Becoming involved in one of the many political disturbances of Florence, he escaped to Spain, where he acquired great wealth in the exercise of his calling, and likewise learnt from the Spaniards " to be L^entle and courteous," a lesson, it would appear, that he stood much in need of. Starnino is principally important from the fact that Masolino was his pupil, a name which brings us to the fifteenth century in Florentine art, and to a new period in its development.
The painters mentioned in this chapter are sometimes called the Trecentiati, or masters of the fourteenth century. The next chapter will be devoted to the Quattrocentisti, or masters of the fifteenth century, who prepared the way for the great masters of the sixteenth century, the Cinquo- centisti.
Chapter II. THE DEVELOPMENT.
MaSACCIO — FbA AnGELICO — MaNTEGNA — LUCA SiGNORELLI —
Perugino — Fbakcia.
THE fifteenth century was an age of rapid intellectual growth. Everywhere the germs that had been planted in the two preceding centuries started into vigorous life, and sent forth shoots in new directions. With this age, indeed, the history of the modern world may fairly be said to begin, for with the knowledge of the true solar system, the discovery of America, and the invention of printing, the mitid of man first attained its enfranchisement from ignorance and superstition. Yet in all paths of knowledge the works of the fifteenth century can only be regarded as the preparation for those of the sixteenth. In art espe- cially this was the case. The great artists of this age were the forerunners of the still greater artists of the next. Masaccio and Mantegna prepared the way for Mich a/el Angelo; Fra Angelico and Perugino for Raphael, and Bellini for Titian.
50 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
At the beginning of the century Florence, so soon to fall under the golden yoke of the Medici, was still a free re- public, constantly torn, it is true, by the struggles of her factions, but enjoying a large amount of material pros- perity. It is a theory with many writers that a settled and beneficent government is necessary to material and intel- lectual progress, but the growth of the cities of Italy in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries gives a rude shake to this opinion. The government of Florence, for example, may be compared to a fiery volcano that was con- stantly emitting smoke and flames, and from which every few years torrents of lava burst forth and desolated the whole city ; and yet we not only find commerce prospering amidst the struggles of aristocratic factions and the fearful outbursts of popular feeling, but we also find the restless intellectual activity of the Florentines seeking vent in the more lasting channels of literature, science, and art.
Florence, the city of the Lily, Florence republican, Florence oligarchical, or Florence Medicean, seems indeed, under whatever form of government she chose, to have still remained the loved abode of the arts. In architecture, sculpture, and painting she expressed her thoughts with a power and a beauty that no other city ever before had done, except indeed Athens, to which she has often been compared.
The history of Italian art now limits itself, for a time, almost exclusively to the history of Florentine art, for the schools of Siena and Pisa, which seemed to be putting forth their energies in the preceding century, had no develop- ment in this.^ It is true that the Venetian School arose during this period, and made considerable progress under the Bellini, but the Venetian School in its aim and mode of expression is so totally different from the Florentine, that it will be best to consider it apart, and to follow the line of
^ The religious feeling of the Sienese School was, however, trans- mitted to the Umbrian. [The Sienese painter, Matteo di Giovanni (b. about 1435, d. 1495), is the best of his time, and although his work is archaic in comparison to contempoi'ary Florentine painting, it possesses much beauty and tenderness of feeling. In the National Gallery there is an Assumption (No. 1155) by him and an Ecce Homo (No. 247), and by a contemporary, Benevenuto da Siena (b. 1436, living 1517), a Madonna and Child Enthroned (No. 909), which is a good example of fifteenth century Sienese work.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 51
Florentine painters through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries unbroken.
As in the thirteenth century we saw sculpture preceding painting in artistic development, so in the fifteenth cen- tury we again find a sculptor at the head of the foi'ward movement of the age. Lorenzo Ghiberti occupies, in fact, the same position with regard to Masolino, Masaccio, and their followers, as Niccola Pisano with regard to Giotto and the Giotteschi. Each was the herald of progress, and of a progress that was to be achieved by painting as well as by their own plastic art.
The celebrated Ghiberti gates of the Baptistery of San Giovanni, at Florence, of which Michael Angelo said " that they were worthy to be the gates of Paradise," were begun by Ghiberti in 1402,^ when he was not quite three-and- twenty, and were only finished after forty-two years' labour, labour on which he bestowed " the greatest diligence and greatest love " — grandissima diligenza e grandissimo amore, as he himself tells us in his Commentario sulle Arti, the earliest memoirs we have relating to Italian art.^
These gates may be taken as inaugurating the new era in the progress of art, for the scientific principles which were now for the first time applied to art were fully carried out in them, and the rules of perspective intelligently obeyed.
The knowledge of perspective seems to have come to the early painters of this century almost as a new revelation. Giotto, indeed, had often obeyed its rules, but we may pre- sume that he did so to a certain extent unconsciously, for there was no science of perspective in his day.
Now, however, when mathematical science was being pursued with untiring energy by several distinguished scholars, the painters and sculptors of the age seized upon perspective with the utmost enthusiasm, and especially it was studied with indefatigable zeal by a band of young artists who worked in Lorenzo Ghiberti' s workshops.
Foremost amongst these devotees to perspective was
[^ Ghiberti executed the Northern Gates of the Baptistery about this time, if not earlier. The Eastern Gates, the " Gates of Paradise," were not begun till 1439, and were unfinished at his death in 1456.]
=* Partly printed in Cicognara, " Storia della Scultura," vol. ii.
52 HISTOEY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
Paolo Doni (1396-7-1475), caUed Uccello, from his fond- ness for painting birds, who nearly went mad in the pur- suit of his favourite study. He sacrificed eveiy other branch of his art to this, and Yasari relates that he was so engrossed by it, that when implored by his wife to take necessary rest and sleep, he would only answer, " Oh ! what a charming thing this perspective is " — Oh ! che dolce cosa e questa prospettiva. There is a most remarkable battle- piece by Uccello in the National Gallery (No. 583), in which his efforts at perspective are to modern eyes somewhat amusing, but he accomplished good work in his time, by which succeeding painters greatly profited.
[PlERO DELLA FrANCESCA, Or PlERO BORGHESE (1423-
1492), whose real name was Piero di Benedetto, although some five-and- twenty years the junior of Uccello, and Umbrian by birth and sentiment, approaches Uccello in his professional spirit, and belongs intellectually to the scien- tific school, whose centre was Florence. Chiefly employed in religious art, he, while simple and reverent in composi- tion and expression, would paint saint. Madonna, or angel, from the men and women around him. He was an earnest student of anatomy and perspective, and of nature gene- rally, and endeavoured to substitute for traditional modes of representation others founded upon knowledge and observation. He was also noted as a 2X)rtrait painter, and was an original colourist of a high order. He was one of the first Italian painters in oil. His finest frescoes are at Arezzo, and at his native city of Borgo San Sepolcro. In the National Grallery are two undoubted works of his, Nos. 908 and 665.]
Masolino da Panicale ^ was another scientific painter of this time, but he did not study perspective so much as chiaroscuro (light and shade), which likewise had hitherto been but little understood. Some important frescoes by him in the church at Castiglione d'Olona have recently ^ been recovered from whitewash, but those attributed to him in the Brancacci chapel, at Florence, are now con- sidered, on strong evidence, not to be his work.^
[^ Now supposed to be identical with Tommaso, son of Christofano di Fino of Florence (1383-1447 ?).] P About forty years ago.]
3 Crowe and Cavalcaselle. [See, for contrary evidence, " Geschichte
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 53
The intellectual spirit of the age is, however, most clearly apimrent in Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Castel San Giovanni (1401-1428), better known as Masaccio, a name given him, it is said, by his companions in boyhood on ac- count of his abstracted, air and slovenly appearance, and which has remained to him through posterity. Masaccio, or " Slovenly Tom," ^ is undoubtedly the representative painter of his age, as Brunelleschi is the representative architect, and Ghiberti and Donatello the representative sculi)tors.
In him the revival of ancient learning, to which the great scholars of that time were devoting their whole attention, first bore fruit in painting. The scientific principles that all the other artists were reaching after were by him attained, and we have an intelligent apj^lication of perspec- tive, a boldness of foreshortening, that even Paolo Uccello never reached, a masterly modelling of the nude, an effec- tive knowledge of chiaroscuro, and a noble naturalism which never descends to the trivial. The spirit of classical antiquity lives again, in fact, in his works, but the spirit of Christianity, such as we have seen it in the Giotteschi and the Sienese painters, and as we shall see it again in Fra Angelico, and several other religious painters contemporary with Masaccio, is fast dying out.
The painters of the fifteenth century may, in fact, be divided into two great classes, those in whom reason, and those in whom faith predominated: those who, having studied the works of Greek art, became, like Masaccio, imbued with the same desires as the artists of the old world ; and those (chiefly monks) who remained attached to the Christian school, and only sought to express the teachings of the Roman Church.
Masaccio's earliest works are supposed to be the frescoes
der Italienischen Kunst," by Ernst Forster ; "Masaccio og den Floren- tinske Maleikonst paa haus Tid," by F. G. Knudtzon ; " Masaccio und Masolino," by Dr. Thausing, " Zeitschrift fiir bildende Kunst," May, 1876, and Dr. Itichter's notes to Vasari, forming vol. vi. of Vasarrs " Lives of the Painters" (George Bell and Sons, 1885), pp. 49-50 ; and for an able summary of the controversy see Woermann's " Masaccio " in " Kunst und Kiinstlcr."]
[' Masaccio is formed of Maso (short for Tommaso) and " accio," a ter- mination of contempt.]
54 HISTORY or PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
in the church of S. Clemente/ at Eome, where he repre- sented various scenes from the life of S. Catherine [of Alexandria, and a Crucifixion] ; but those by which he is best known are the celebrated paintings of the Brancacci chapel, in the church of the Carmelites at Florence. Here his powers had full room for their exercise, and here in a noble series of frescoes illustrating the life of S. Peter, he clearly proved himself the first artist of his age. He died at the early age of twenty -seven, so that his remark- able works must be regarded, not as the matured produc- tions of a long course of study, but as the efforts of his youth. His naturalistic style, which Rio has characterized as " naturalisme classique," was adopted by all the pro- gressive artists of his own age, but received its fullest development in the succeeding century. There is scarcely any term, indeed, that more nearly expresses the grand style of Michael Angelo, and of Raphael in the cartoons,, than this same one of " naturalisme classique."
There is a vigorous portrait, stated to be by Masaccio, and to be his own likeness, in the National Gallery ; un- fortunately there is no proof of this, and Wornum and several others are of opinion that it is really by Filippino Lippi.^ Whoever it is, and whoever it is by, it is certainly a most masterly work of the age.
Very little is known of the outward circumstances of Masaccio' s life, even Vasari relates little concerning him, though he does tell us that it was not from any vice of disposition he acquired the nickname Masaccio, " for he was goodness itself, so ready to oblige and do service to others, that a better or kinder man could not be desired." Let us hope Vasari was correct in this estimate of his character as well as in his statement of the date of his death, which, after having been long discredited, is now proved^ to be right after all.
The struggle between the spirit of classic G-reece and the spirit of Christian Rome, which, dating from the re-
[^ Vasari ascribes them to Masaccio, and Crowe and CaA-alcaselle and Woermann accept this ascr'iption ; others give them to Masolino. See- authorities quoted in note to p. 52.]
[^ No. 626. Others ascribe it to Botticelli.]
P Scarcely " proved " yet.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 55
vival of ancient learning, marked not only the literature, but, as we have seen, the art of this period, disturbed not the peaceful mind of Gtiovanni da Fiesole, called Fra Angelico (1387-1455). Although a contemporary of Masaccio, and the other intellectual artists of this time, he belonged in feeling entirely to the preceding century. He remained, therefore, true to the traditions of Catholic art, but he infused into its ascetic types a holy cheerfulness and beauty that were the direct expression of his own happy and holy life. With him, to paint was to pray ; it was the expression of his heart to his Grod, the service of a child to its Father. He lived like all visionaries in a world of his own, more peaceful than even the cloisters of Fiesole, and peopled with holy beings, with whom, says a monk of his order, "he conversed, wept, and prayed by turns." When by means of a long course of prayer and fasting he had gained a satisfactory conception of his subject, no after consideration would ever induce him to alter it. His ideal, so he imagined, had been revealed to him from above, and not built up in his own mind.
Such a painter, it is not surprising to find, missed alto- gether the intellectual development that was going on around him. Shut in his convent away from the tumults of Florence, he took no heed of the signs of the times in which he lived. He desired inspiration and not knowledge, and the restless spirit of inquiry which had taken posses- sion of men's minds, and was so soon to trouble even the hearts of holy monks, never suggested any doubts to his childlike faith.
Nowhere, perhaps, are the two opposed schools of Faith and Reason more strongly contrasted than in his works and those of Masaccio.
A delicate feminine purism charms us in Fra Angelico, and a strong masculine naturalism in Masaccio. Each excels in exactly the qualities in which the other is deficient.
Vasari tells that Fra Angelico began his artistic career as a miniaturist, and even in his larger works the cramp- ing effects of this style of painting are often apparent. The design, though graceful, is frequently feeble, and
5G HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
there is a total absence of that dignity and grandeur that strikes us in the works of Masaccio. Era Angelico's knowledge of the human form was in fact extremely de- fective ; it is not only that he had not studied it anatomi- cally, as the artists of his time were beginning to do, but he seems to have been utterly unable to draw a vigorous human being.
Yet Fra Angelico's works possess a charm that defies criticism. They are the expressions of a pure and lovely nature, and were never meant to be subjected to the bold sacrilegious stare of the critic, who coldly comments on their incorrect drawing and defective anatomy, but does not open his heart to their mystical loveliness. Those exquisitely beautiful Virgins and female Saints, painted, not as some common-sensible critic avers, from the graceful maidens of Florence, but from an ideal in the artist's mind, revealed to him, as he believed, in answer to prayer, can only be appreciated by an enthusiasm resembling that of their painter. " They sink into the heart," writes Lord Lindsay, who undoubtedly possesses this requisite enthu- siasm, " and dwell there in the dim but holy light of memory, in association with looks and thoughts too sacred for sunshine, and * too deep for tears.' "
One of the most important and best known of Era Angelico's Virgin pictures is that rich composition, the Coronation of the Virgin, in the Louvre. Of this picture, which was originally painted for the Convent Church at Fiesole, Vasari speaks in tones of rapturous admii'ation. " One is convinced," he says, " that those blessed spirits can look no otherwise in heaven itself ; or, to speak under coiTection, could not if they had forms appear otherwise ; for all the saints male and female assembled here, have not only life and expression, most delicately and truly rendered, but the colouring also of the whole work would seem to have been given by the hand of a saint, or of an angel like themselves."
Still more beautiful, though not so rich in composition as the celebrated Coronation of the Louvre, is a smaller picture of the same subject in the Convent of S. Marco, in Florence, a convent to which the monks of Fiesole re- moved in 1438, at the invitation of Cosmo de' Medici, who
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 67
gave it Tip for their use. The tender dreamy spirituality of this work is the true product of poetical mysticism.^
Era Angelico was the chief painter of the Dominican order, as Giotto was of the Franciscan. Giotto, however, was a shrewd man of the world, and it was the age rather than the artist which is reflected in the religious sentiment of his pictures, but Fra Angelico would have been a reli- gious artist even if he had lived in the eighteenth century, for it is the individual holiness of the monk that is breathed forth in his works. He was so simple-minded, we are told, that he refused to be made Archbishop of Florence, because he did not consider himself fit for so great a dignity, and once, when invited to breakfast with the Pope, he scrupled to eat meat of which his holiness was partak- ing, because although he had the Pope's permission, he had not that of his own spiritual director.
Besides his works at Fiesole and Florence, Fra Angelico executed others at Orvieto and Rome. In the latter city he painted two chapels of the Vatican, but only one of them, known as that of Nicholas V., now remains. Here in one of his finest series of frescoes, he has represented scenes from the histories of S. Lawrence and S. Stephen. Although painted after he had attained the age of sixty, there is no deterioration perceptible in these works. Such a mind as Fra Angelico' s could indeed never grow old. He died at Rome, at' the age of sixty-eight, and was after- wards raised to the ranks of the beatified. He is therefore called by Italians, " II Beato Angelico," a title only one degree below that of saint. The Predella of the Dominican altar-piece in the National Gallery (No. 663, containing 266 figures), is a marvellous piece of work, and affords an ex- cellent idea of his style.^
Lorenzo, usually styled Lorenzo Monaco (1370?- 1425 ?), a monk of the order of the Camaldoles, is another religious painter who was not in the least influenced by the forward impulse given to painting in his century. He be- longs, indeed, even in date to the very beginning of the century, before this impulse was really felt. He adliered to the style of Taddeo Gaddi, says Vasari, but Fra Angelico
* It has been engraved in outline by the Arundel Society. ' The altar-piece is still at S. Domenico, Fiesole.
58 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
seems likewise to have influenced him. The side wings of an altar-piece in the National Gallery, representing various saints, Nos. 215 and 216, are supposed to be wings of a known altar-piece by him.^
Benozzo G-ozzoli, the son of Lese di Sandro (1420-1498), was a pupil of Fra Angelico, but he was not a monk, and regarded life from a less ascetic point of view. His works are much more human in character than his master's, and although he remained a religious painter, it is evident that the naturalism, and even the classicism of Masaccio, pro- duced a greater effect upon his art than the mysticism of Angelico.
In 1468 Gozzoli was called to Pisa, where he was em- ployed to continue the work that the artists of the preced- ing century had so nobly begun in the Campo Santo, but which had been set aside for a long period, owing to the political disturbances and ceaseless misfortunes of that city. Here, in a series of twenty-four frescoes, he set forth in a dramatic manner the whole history of the Old Testa- ment, from Noah to the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon. " The endless fertility of fancy and invention," says Mrs. Jameson, " displayed in these compositions ; the jjastoral beauty of some of the scenes, the Scriptural sub- limity of others ; the hundreds of figures introduced, many of them portraits of his own time ; the dignity and beauty of the heads ; the exquisite grace of some of the figures, almost equal to Raphael ; the ample draperies, the gay rich colours, the profusion of accessories, as buildings, land- scapes, flowers, animals, and the care and exactness with which he has rendered the costume of that time — render this work of Benozzo one of the most extraordinary monu- ments of the fifteenth century."
These frescoes were finished after sixteen years of labour,^ in 1484. G-ozzoli is the first among the Italian painters who seems to have had any true feeling for landscape.^
^ Crowe and Cavalcaselle. [One of the few works known to be his is a Coronation of the Virgin, found in an abbey of his order at Cerretto, near Certaldo, executed in 1413. It is now in the Uffizi at Florence.]
^ It appears that he contracted to paint these frescoes at the rate of three a year, for the small sum of ten ducats each, about equal to ^£'100 at the present day.
[^ Masaccio showed a truer feeling, and Piero della Francesca and
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 59
His landscape backgrounds, although unfortunately often filled with architectural details, show a real appreciation of the beauty of the earth, and an honest endeavour to express it. The Pisans, it appears, were so delighted with his work in their Campo Santo, that they presented him in 1478 with a grand tomb there, in order that he might enjoy the advantage of resting in their holy ground. The date of the gift of this tomb has long been supposed to have been that of his death, but he hved some time after this sugges- tive present. [Of the many other works executed by Benozzo at Pisa scarcely any remain, but the little chapel of the Medici in their palace at Florence is covered with a finely-presei-ved fresco representing, under the guise of the story of the Magi, a magnificent hunting-party, in which portraits on horseback of the Emperor of the East, the Patriarch of the Greek Church, and several of the Medici family, from Cosmo Vecchio to the young Lorenzo, are in- troduced. At San Gemignano, in the church of S. Agos- tino, there is a series of beautiful frescoes by his hand, re- presenting scenes from the life of the saint, full of incidents of real life. Many of these are well preserved.] Besides the grand altar-piece by Gozzoli in the National Gallery, there is a very quaint little picture by him, assumed to re- present " The Rape of Helen." There is certainly not much evidence of the influence of classicism in his render- ing of this classic subject. It is impossible to help laughing at the grandly attired Helen, who sits composedly on the back of Paris, her flowing blue dress hiding to some extent his bright green coat, but not his ridiculously slender legs encased in scarlet stockings. Other ladies are borne off by the heroes in a similar manner.
CosiMO EossELLi (1439-1507), is another follower of Era Angelico, who is deeply tinged with the naturalism of the opposed school ; in fact Masaccio, having by far the more powerful genius, quickly drew into his lists all the rising artists of the time, even the undoubted pupils of the holy mystic. Artists of other schools continued in many cases faithful to the old traditions ; but after Era
other artists might be named whose feeling was as sincere as that of Gozzoli, but in the etfective scenic treatment of landscape as a back- ground Gozzoli made a great advance.]
€0 HISTORY OF PA.INTING. [bOOK IV.
Angelico, we do not find any other Florentine who was not influenced, more or less, bj the prevailing naturalism of the age. Not even monks, as we shall see, escaped the general infection.
Fra Filippo Lippi (b. about 1412, d. 1469) was in no way allied to his Dominican brother, Fra Angelico. No greater contrast can indeed be afforded than between the charac- ters and artistic styles of these two contemporary monks. Fra Filippo Lippi, a poor orphan, thrust into a Carmelite convent by his aunt when he was only eight years old, early made it apparent that if he had no vocation for a holy life, he had a decided vocation for art, and the prior of the con- vent, conceiving that an artistic brother would be useful to the order, gave him every facility for practising painting. The young artist soon made such progress " that many," says Yasari, " affirmed that the spirit of Masaccio had entered into the body of Fra Filippo." ^ His paintings, however, seem totally wanting in that calm dignity that distuiguishes those of Masaccio ; on the other hand, he in- troduced a new element into them, that not even Masaccio had arrived at — the element of sensuous beauty. It is easy to understand the shock that Filippo's daring natura- lism— "un naturalisme gracieusement scandaleux," Eio calls it — must have given to pious souls accustomed to the set formulae of religious expression, and to Fra Angelico' s spiritual beings. Fra Filippo's virgins are by no means spiritual,^ but painted simply from the most beautiful faces he saw around him, and especially, it is said, from the beautiful Lucretia Buti,^ a young novice with whom he fell in love as he was painting her portrait as a Madonna, and whom he induced to run away with him from her convent. The scandal that this caused was great, but the friendshii>
\} Masaccio commenced liis frescoes in the Carmine, which adjoined Lippi's convent, in 1421, the year after the latter'sname appears on the convent's register, and Lippi's first frescoes, now destroyed, were painted on the walls of this church.]
[^ This is not true of his earlier works. See Woermann in " Kunst and Kiinstler." In the National Gallery are two exquisite examples of the master painted for Cosmo de' Medici (Nos. 666 and 667), full of re- verence and spiritual expression.]
P In 1461, Pope Pius II., at the instance of Cosmo de' Medici, granted him a dispensation, thereby recognizing them as a married couple.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 61
of Cosmo de' Medici shielded the monk-painter from the consequences of his sacrilegious deed, and he continued to live with Lucretia, and to make her serve as a model for his Madonnas, without, it would seem, drawing down upon himself the thunders of the Church, as he assuredly would have done had he not been the favourite painter of the Medici, who only laughed at his error. ^
Fra Filippo's principal works are in the Duomo at Prato, where in a series of frescoes he set forth the lives of S. John the Baptist and S. Stephen. " These works," says Kugler, " are full of character, and sometimes show a humorous conception of life ; the artist has even intro- duced sharpers and low characters painted from nature, though it must be confessed, not always in the appropriate place. The compositions, considered generally, display feeling, and an impetuous ardent mind. It is worthy of observation that the drapery now also underwent a trans- formation consistent with the realizing tendency of the time. Not only is the costume of the day introduced into the most sacred scenes, so that the angels themselves appear in the gay Florentine garb, but even the ideal drapery of the Virgin and of the First Person of the Trinity is treated in a realistic style, and that without any particular skill to* recommend it."
If this realism of Fra Filippo's shocked a few consei-va- tive and pious minds, it is evident that it pleased the great majority of his contemporaries, for he was not only the favourite painter of the Medicis, but received commissions from many religious houses, and was greatly esteemed as a painter of altar-pieces. His Madonnas were most in de- mand, Madonnas whose human sensuous beauty now attracted more admiration than the ideal spiritual beauty (which was sometimes, it must be admitted, remarkably like human ugliness) of the earlier religious painters.
But, said Fra Filippo —
" If you get simple beauty and nought else, You get about the best thing God invents." *
^ In a letter written by Giovanni de* Medici, in ^lay, 1458, he says: " E eosi dello errore di Fra Filippo n'aviamo riso un pezzo " (And so we laughed a little at Fra Filippo's error). Gaye, " Carteggio."
^ Robert Browning, " Men and Women,"
62 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOZ IV.
And so he painted the beauty he saw around him, nor strained his eyes after an ideal that was not revealed to his oominonj)lace nature. The difference between him and Fra Angelico lies perhaps in this, that Fra Angelico as an ascetic painter and religious purist, and follower in spirit, if not wholly in type, of the Byzantines, desired to paint only just so much of body as would make soul tangible, whereas Fra Filippo delighted in making the body excellent, careless perhaps whether the soul shone through it or not.
Fra Filippo' s personal history as given by Vasari reads more like a romance than genuine fact, yet recent investi- gation does not seem to have done much to disprove its substantial accuracy. He died whilst executing some frescoes in the choir of the cathedral at Spoleto, in 1469. Vasari states that it was thought by some that he was poisoned by the relations of his mistress, but this seems improbable, as his death did not occur until many years after the scandal that her abduction had caused. He had a son by her, who was twelve years old at the time of his father's death, and was afterwards distinguished as Filippino Lippi.
Such were the painters, and such was the development of art during the first half of the fifteenth century. In the latter half of the century the Renaissance, both in litera- ture and art, was triumphantly established in Florence, under the rule of the Medici, who had been from the first the devoted admirers of classic learning and ancient art.
Cosmo de' Medici, the patron of Paolo Uccello and Fra Filippo, died in 1464, but his son Piero, in spite of strong opposition, succeeded him in the government. At Piero' s death, which happened in a few years, his two young sons Giuliano and Lorenzo, known as Lorenzo the Magnificent, became rulers of Florence, the freedom of the republic now existing only in name. " But," says Hallam, *' if the people's wish to resign their freedom gives a title to accept the governmeut of a country, the Medici were no usurpers. That family never lost the affections of the populace."
The name of Lorenzo the Magnificent calls up the re- membrance of a grand constellation of scholars, politicians, poets, historians, architects, sculptors, and painters of which he was the central star, although, perhaps, of less
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 63
real magnitude than many of the others. It is only with the painters that we have here to do, but it is as well to remember that the achievements of art at this time were but one part of the general achievements of the human intellect.
Besides the internal development that art was under- going at this period, two especial inventions of man's genius gave it a strong external impulse — namely, the in- vention of engraving, whereby works of art were multiplied and diffused abroad, and the invention of oil painting, which greatly added to the beauty and durability of paint- ings. The latter invention was made in Flanders by the famous brothers Van Eyck,^ but the process was quickly introduced into Italy, and was at once practised by all the great painters of the time, for whereas in the first half of the fifteenth century we have no Italian oil painting, in the latter half we find that mode even more general than fresco and tempera.
Engraving on copper it is now tolerably certain was an Italian invention, and due, as Vasari states, to a goldsmith of Florence named Maso Finiguerra. At all events the famous Pax, the oldest ^ copper engraving known to exist, is by Finiguerra, and is dated 1452. Wood engraving is of earlier date, and is undoubtedly of G-erman origin. Both modes were employed by German artists, and aided greatly in disseminating a knowledge of northern art in Italy.
[Sandro Filipepi, called Botticelli, after the goldsmith to whom he was apprenticed (1446-1510), was the most celebrated pupil of Fra Filippo. He also worked in connec- tion with the Pollaiuoli, goldsmiths, sculptors, and painters, and the influence of plastic art in his work is visible in the strong definition of his forms. He was of an ardent and imaginative temperament, and his best work is marked by a poetic fire peculiar to himself, sometimes restrained, as in the faces of his brooding Madonnas, sometimes breaking out into fantastic ecstasy, as in the remarkable picture of the Nativity (No. 1034) in the National Gallery. He was one of the first artists who delighted to paint scenes from clas-
[^ Rather perfected than invented.]
[' No longer regarded as the oldest. See Duplessis, " Ilistoire de la Gravure."]
64 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
sical mythology, and though his ideal of beauty was very- different from that of the Greeks, it has a strange fantastic charm of its own which, combined with the vigour of his fancy, has made his works specially attractive to the pre- sent generation. He was perhaps the first illustrator of a modem work of imagination, illustrating both Dante and Boccaccio, and was perhaps one of the first engravers on metal.^ His most important frescoes are in the Sistine Chapel at Rome, where he was summoned by the Pope in 1481, and appointed, according to Yasari, to superintend the pictorial decoration of the chapel. Besides numerous frescoes of the Popes, he executed two of the series from the life of Moses, and one from the life of Christ. The other jDainters were Signorelli, Perugino, Eosselli, and Ghirlan- daio. Amongst the finest of his religious pictures are the Coronation of the Virgin in the Academy at Florence, and the Adoration of the Magi in the Uffizi ; of his works of poetry and allegory, the Birth of Venus in the Ufiizi, the Spring in the Academy, Florence, and the little exquisitely finished Calumny in the Uffizi, are perhaps the most celebrated. He is well represented in the National Gallery, but there is so much dispute as to which of the pictures there can be properly ascribed to him that we shall only mention the great Assumption of the Virgin (No. 1126), the Virgin and Child (No. 275), thoroughly representative in the expression of the Virgin, though by some considered to be a " school " pic- ture, the Mars and Venus (No. 915), and the Nativity already mentioned. The two beautiful Adorations (Nos. 592 and 1033) have been variously ascribed by different authorities, but according to Morelli and others are the work of Botticelli. They are given to Filippino Lippi in the catalogue. (See Dr. Richter's " Italian Art in the National Gallery.")]
Filippino Lippi (1460-1504), the son of Fra Filippo, and the pupil of Botticelli, was undoubtedly an artist of great power. He added to his father's bold naturalism a dra- matic talent in composition, which places his works above the mere realisms of Fra Filippo, and renders him worthy
[^ The designs of the Florentine edition of Dante, 1481 , are ascribed to him, and a copy of Dante with original drawings by him of great imagi- native force, was purchased by the German Government from the Ash- burnham collection.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 65
to be placed next to Masaccio in tlie line of progress. He continued the frescoes that Masaccio had left unfinished in the Brancacci chapel of the Carmine ; and of him, far more truly than of Fra Filippo, it might be said that " the spirit of Masaccio dwelt in his body." The figure of the naked boy in the Raising of the King's Son, has been praised as not inferior in any respect to Masaccio,* and the sleeping guard also, in Peter delivered from Prison, has a forcible reality -which at the same time is far removed from vulgar imitation of human nature. Another series of frescoes was undertaken by Filippino in the Strozzi chapel of S. Maria Novella, where he set forth the histories of S. John and S. Philip. The most remarkable painting of this series has for its subject the Resuscitation of Drusiana ^ by the Apostle S. John, wherein the painter's dramatic powers are exhibited in their highest degree.
The expression of returning life in the face of the reviv- ing Drusiana is very fine, but S. John scarcely realizes one's idea of the loved disciple of Christ, and the fright evinced by the bystanders somewhat disturbs the solemnity of the scene. Too often, indeed, the solemn grandeur of Filip- pino's central idea is marred by the introduction into his pictures of trivial accessories that disturb the mind of the spectator without adding to the general imj^ression. He delighted in architectural details, especially in that archi- tecture of the Renaissance which was now everywhere triumphant in Italy. Besides this, he had imbibed in Rome, where he had painted a chapel for Cardinal Caraffa, a taste for the antique remains of the capital, and we often find ruined classical buildings introduced into his pictures. He frequently introduced the portraits of his contempo- raries into his works. Altogether we may safely say of Filippino that although he missed the simple classic gran- deur of Masaccio, his works display a richness of composi- tion, an effective colouring, and a dramatic skill that the
f ^ This picture was commenced by Masaccio, and Filippino may have had Masacctio's sketches to guide him ; but the opposite large fresco of the trial and crucifixion of S. Peter is entirely by Filippino, and his greatest work.]
2 See Legend of Drusiana, given in Mrs. Jameson's " Sacred and Legendary Art."
66 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
earlier master never attained. The picture of the Virgin and Child with S. Jerome and S. Dominic, in the National Collection (No. 293), is an undoubted work of FiHppino's.
Another pupil of Fra Filippo's was Francesco di Ste- FANO, called Pesellino (1422-1457). He has been con- fused with his grandfather Gitjliano d'Arrigo Pesello (bom in 1367), who is said by Vasari to have been clever in the delineation of animals. Pesellino painted so well that his works are often mistaken for Gozzoli's and those of Pollaiuolo. A Trinity in the National Gallery (No. 727) is a fine specimen of the most skilful work of the time.
But the painter upon whom the spirit of the Eenais- sance took the strongest hold, was Domenico Carrado DI BiGORDi, called Ghirlandaio,^ or the Garland-maker (1449-1494), a name given him, says Vasari, because he was the first to invent the beautiful silver bands or garlands that the Florentine maidens of that day wore on their heads. This statement cannot be quite correct, for the Florentine maidens wore these ornaments long before this date, but he may very likely have added to the beauty of their design, or the name may simply have clung to him from his having first practised art in the workshop of his father, who was a broker and goldsmith of Florence. Much in Ghirlandaio's style tends to show that he was thoroughly acquainted with the laws of modelling, whether he was brought up as a goldsmith or not.
His draperies have a peculiarly sculpturesque character, and his forms have a hardness and want of flexibility as though he were limited in painting by the same restraints as in the plastic art. " Without adding anything specially to the total amount of experience acquired by the efforts of successive searchers, he garnered the whole of it within himseK and combined it in support and illustration of the great maxims which he had already treasured up, and thus conduced to the perfection of the masculine art of Florence, which culminated, at last, by the joint energy and genius of himself, Fra Bartolommeo, Raphael, and Michael Angelo." '
^ Pronounced Grillandaio by the Florentines. [He was a pupil of AlessD Baldovinetti and master of Michael Angelo.] ' Crowe and Cavalcaselle.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 67
One of his finest series of frescoes (completed 1485) is in the chapel of the Sassetti in the S. Trinita, at Florence, where he has set forth the life of S. Francis. The progress of art, and the different conceptions of the same subject in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries are made strikingly manifest by comparing the history of S. Francis as con- ceived by G-iotto in the church of Assisi, and as conceived by Ghirlandaio in the church of S. Trinita. In the latter the art has, it is true, progressed, the laws of perspective are understood, the composition is more dramatic, the pride of Renaissance architecture is fully displayed, and the skill of the painter made manifest, but we look in vain for the noble thought and singleness of aim of G-iotto, and the reverent forgetfulness of the art in the subject of the art, which characterizes the earlier Christian painters.
The Death of S. Francis is one of the finest subjects of the Sassetti series. In it he has adhered to a great extent to the traditional mode of representation of this scene, as established by Giotto, but it is not without significance that in the faithless fifteenth century, the glorious ascent of the spirit of the saint, which forms one of the most striking episodes in G-iotto' s rendering, is left out. One of the attendants round the dead saint's bier, however, looks up in surprise, as though he saw something more than Renaissance friezes and capitals. The distant landscape seen through the pillars of the building is very beautiful. Ghirlandaio, as was his wont in all his works, has intro- duced the portraits of several distinguished Florentines into this fresco, and a bishop, no doubt a portrait, who is standing chanting litanies at the head of the bier, wears spectacles, which at that time had been only recently in- vented. But in spite of this little touch of realism, there is a grandeur and elevation of sentiment in this work that lifts it entirely out of the region of the common-place. Layard, who has given an interesting description of the Sassetti frescoes,^ says of the death of S. Francis, that it is " one of those works of the fifteenth century which is especially characteristic of an epoch in the history of painting, when the imitation of nature was no longer con-
' In his "Domenico Ghirlandajo." Printed for the Arundel Society.
68 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IT.
trolled by the conventional and religions spirit which had distinguished the fourteenth century, and had not yet yielded to the influence of the Academies, who took their models from the stagnant pools of artificial life, and not from the fresh and living springs of nature. In the works of the painters of this period, and especially in those of Masaccio, Ghirlandaio and the two Lippi, we have the source from which Raphael and the greatest masters of the golden age of painting drew some of their noblest in- spirations, when they combined with the strictest imitation of nature the most poetical and elevated treatment of it, and before they felt the influence of the new and evil taste gathering around them."
Another great series of frescoes (completed 1490) was executed by Ghirlandaio in the choir of S. Maria Novella, where the paintings of Andrea Orcagna had already fallen into decay. Here he depicted on one wall the life of S. John the Baptist, and on the other, incidents from the life of the Virgin. The most celebrated fresco of the latter series represents the birth of the Virgin, a scene into which he has introduced the portrait of Grinevra de* Benci, a celebrated Florentine beauty of that time, who, attired in the magnificent dress of a fashionable Florentine lady, advances to pay a visit of congratulation to Anna, the mother of the newborn Virgin.
Besides these and some other important frescoes in the Vespucci chapel of the Ognisanti (painted 1480), in one of which, now unfortunately destroyed, he depicted the cele- brated Amerigo Vespucci, who first sailed to the West Indies, and gave his name to a continent, Ghirlandaio painted altar-pieces for numerous churches in Italy.^ His industry, indeed, was indefatigable, and he is said to have advised his pupils to paint everything that was offered to them, even if it were only '* for a lady's petticoat pan- niers." He worked in mosaic also with his two brothers
[^ He also painted numerous other frescoes. The finest existing ia The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew, in the Sistine chapel at Eome, but there are some interesting ones at San Gemignano, in which he was assisted by his brother-in-law, jVIainardi. His most im- portant altar-pieces are in S. Spirito, the Uffizi, the church of the Innocenti, and the Academy, Florence ; that once in the choir of S. Maria Novella is half at Berlin and half at Munich.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 69
David and Benedetto, and was wont to declare that the art of mosaic was eternal, whilst that of painting was fleeting.
[By his son Eidolfo del Ghirlandaio (1483-1561) we have a work in the National Gallery (No. 1143). He studied under his uncle David, and in later life became an imitator of his friend Eaphael.]
Antonio Pollaiuolo (1429-1498) was a sculptor and goldsmith more than a painter ; still he has left us suffi- cient examples of his painting to prove that he did not, €ven in this art, miss the development of the period in which he lived, and decidedly, in his plastic works, he carried on that development to a considerable extent.
His master-work in pictorial art is the Martyrdom of S. Sebastian, No. 292 in the National Gallery, painted for the Pucci chapel in the church of San Sebastiano de' Servi, at Florence.^ " This painting," says Vasari, " has been more extolled than any other ever executed by Antonio." It is, however, unpleasantly hard and obtrusively anatomi- •cal. Pollaiuolo is said to have been the first artist who studied anatomy by means of dissection, and one of his aims in this picture seems to have been to display his knowledge of muscular action. He was an engraver as well as goldsmith, sculptor, and painter.
PiERO Di CosiMo (born about 1462, died 1521), an eccentric and fanciful artist of this time, was scarcely as important a painter as those before mentioned. There is, however, a most charming picture by him, the Death of Procris, in the National Gallery, No. 698. The tender ■dreamy melancholy of the landscape, the surprised grief of the simple-natured faun, and the pathos that is thrown into the whole scene, reveal an artist of true poetic feeling. Piero was a pupil of Cosimo Rosselli, but his works differ greatly in character from those of his master. He usually painted fantastic subjects from pagan mythology.*
[' Painted in oils ; remarkable for its fine landscape and sombre liarmony of colour. The likeness of the pathetic figure of the saint to that sculptured by Civitale at Lucca has been pointed out. Antonio was •often assisted by his brother riERO (1441, d. before 1496), who had studied under Andrea dal Castagno, and whose only signed work is a •Coronation of the Virgin at S. Gemignano.]
' George Eliot has introduced Piero di Cosimo into '* Romola."
70 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
We must now turn from Florence for a time and look to Padua for the next great artist of this age. The Uni- versity of Padua was at this time one of the most con- siderable in Europe, and the revival of ancient learning was carried on there by a great number of scholars. The classical taste thus created soon communicated itself to the art schools, and the study of the antique was prose- cuted with as much eagerness as at Florence. Especially was this the case in the school of Francesco Squarcione (1394-1474), a master not so much remarkable for the works he himself accomplished, as for the numerous dis- ciples who issued from his classic school, and who spread his principles in all parts of Italy.^
The most important of all these scholars was Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506). Mantegna perhaps is the most pagan of all the pagan painters of his age, yet his religious pictures have such a forcible reality, that they affect us more powerfully than the weak spiritualisnib of many of the religious painters of the Christian school.
Squarcione was the first to perceive Mantegna' s powers,, and taking him, as Cimabue did Giotto, from his calling as a shepherd-boy, he had him instructed in art and adopted him as his foster-child.^ Whatever teaching the school of Squarcione afforded, it is evident that Mantegna soon supplemented it by the study of such Florentine art as came within his reach at Padua. Especially he seems to have been influenced by the works of Donatello. So deeply, indeed, was he imbued with a feeling for sculpture, that too often his figures have the coldness and rigidity of marble, and many of his designs seem as though intended for bas-reliefs.^ Squarcione, when he quarrelled with Mantegna, severely criticised this peculiarity, saying that he should have coloured his figures white in order to com- plete the effect,* and Mantegna himself saw and to a
^ In the course of his career he taught no less than 137 pupils, and won the title of the Father of painters.
^ He was thus registered in the Paduan Guild, Xov. 6, 1441.
P There are three works of this kind in the National Gallery (Nos. 902^ 1125, and 1145).]
[* This is what Yasari says ; but, as has been pointed out, such a re- proof would come badly from Squarcione's mouth, for it was Mantegna^
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 71
certain extent remedied this fault, for although he always made form his principal study, and kept his tones of colour at a low pitch, yet in his later works the colouring is thoroughly harmonious and well balanced, and therefore does not produce snch a chilling effect.^
Mantegna, however, was never in any sense a colourist ; and this is strange, considering that he was intimately associated with the Bellini family, and might be supposed to be acquainted with Griovanni's method.* It was this association with the Bellini and marriage with Niccolosia, the daughter of Jacopo Bellini, that divided, so Yasari says, Mantegna from his foster-father and master, Squarcione ; the Bellini belonging to the rival, or Florentine faction in Padua, with which Mantegna henceforward united himself.
The most important of Mantegna's early works are some frescoes setting forth the history of S. James in the chapel of the Eremitani at Padua, a chapel which occupies the same position with regard to Paduan art as the Brancacci with regard to Florentine. It was Squarcione who received the commission to decorate this chapel, but, as was usual with this master, he did not work there himself, but em- ployed his pupils, several of whom, besides Mantegna, executed important works there.
In 1459 Mantegna entered the service of Ludovico Gonzaga, Margrave of Mantua,' from whom he received a pension of seventy-five lire a month, equal to about <£30 a year of our money,* at that time a considerable salary for an artist. After this, he spent the greater part of his time at Mantua, but in 1488-90 he was called to Rome for a time, where he executed some frescoes for Innocent VIII. in the Vatican, that were afterwards destroyed.
who animated the cold sculpturesque style taught by Squarcione with real life.]
[^ The National Gallery possesses a beautiful painting of the Virgin and Child enthroned, with S. John the Baptist and the Magdalen (No. 274). In this the colour, though subdued, is varied and harmonious.]
[^ They painted so much alike at first, that some of Bellini's early works have been attributed to Mantegna.]
[•' He had previously painted the magnificent altar-piece at S. Zeno, Verona, the greatest of his works in his earlier or Paduan style.]
[^ He had also a dwelling assigned to him, with corn and wood and a barge.]
72 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
One of his most famous works is the celebrated Triumph of Julius Caesar, now at Hampton Court. It consists of nine water-colour drawings, each nine feet square, originallj executed for a saloon in a palace of Ludovico Gronzaga.^ They exhibit the powers of the artist in their highest exer- cise, " In their present faded and dilapidated condition," writes Mrs. Jameson, "hurried and uninformed visitors will probably pass them over with a cursory glance, yet, if we except the cartoons of Raphael,^ Hampton Court con- tains nothing so curious and valuable as this old frieze of Andrea Mantegna, which, notwithstanding the frailty of the material on which it is executed, has now existed for three hundred and sixty- seven years,^ and having been frequently engraved, is celebrated all over Europe."
The great Madonna della Yittoria of the Louvre is another of Mantegna' s important works. It was painted in commemoration of a victory of the Marquis of Mantua over the retreating army of Charles VIII. of France after his unfortunate invasion of Italy.
Like so many of the fifteenth century artists, Mantegna excelled, not in one branch of art alone, but in several. He was a sculptor, architect, and engraver, and likewise we are told a poet. " He found great pleasure," says Vasari, *' in engraving on copper," and indeed his style is better suited for engraving than painting. He did not, however, begin to engrave until late in life, but there are a good number of prints by his hand in existence, although, of course, not nearly so many as are attributed to him : they are among the earliest examples of engraving in Italy.
[Another interesting but very inferior pupil of Squarcione was Geegoeio Schiavone, by whom there are two pictures, Nos. 630 and 904, in the National Gallery.
Cosmo TuRA (1420 P-1498) was the first master of im- portance in the school of Ferrara. The examples in the National Gallery are more distinguished for a hard and
^ They were sold by one of the descendants of the Marquis to our Charles I., and came to England with other pictures bought by him from the Gonzaga family. "NVhen the Parliament disposed of the Rojal Collection, Mantegna's "Triumph" was sold for ^"IjOOO.
' Now in the South Kensington Museum.
^ This was written in 1845.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 73
somewhat coarse vigour than for beauty of form or concep- tion, but (No. 773) S. Jerome in the Wilderness is a master- piece of severe art.
Melozzo da Forli (1438-1494) is an artist of whom little is known, and very little remains of his work. But it is certain that he was a master of considerable power, celebrated for his fine foreshortening and skill in perspec- tive. A fresco transferred to canvas, now in the Vatican, representing the installation of Platina (Bartolommeo Sacchi) as Prefect of Sixtus IV., is the finest existing example of his art, and almost the only one which is of un- doubted authenticity. Melozzo worked at the decoration of the Duke of Urbino's palace in 1470-80, and the National Gallery possesses two pictures ascribed to him — (No. 755) Rhetoric and (No. 756) Music — and said to have been executed for that purpose.
He and Mantegna are both credited with being among the first to master the difficulty of representing figures and architecture as seen from below, an ai*t brought to perfec- tion by Michael Angelo in the Sistine Chapel.]
But far more than Melozzo, Luca d'Egidio di Ventura, called SiGNORELLi DA CoRTONA (1441-1523), may be called the Michael Angelo of the fifteenth century. He aimed at what none but Michael Angelo ever attained, but his aim came so near attainment, that even Michael Angelo' s inde- pendent genius was obliged to f oUow obediently in the path in which he had led the way. Strength of intellect is the quality predominant in Signorelli's works, as in those of his great follower, and his daring foreshortening and powerful naked forms are but the expressions of a mind delighting to put forth its strength. He [was the pupil of Piero della Francesca, and] one of the early painters of the Sistine chapel of the Vatican.^ His frescoes there repre- sent scenes from the history of Moses. But his genius was called forth to its highest exercise, not in the Sistine frescoes, but in the decoration of the Cathedral at Orvieto, a work that had been begun by Fra Angelico, but never finished. " Seldom," says Liibke,^ " have such contrasts been combined in the execution of the same work in so cir-
[* See account of Bottictlli, p. 6r.] * " History of Art," \o\. ii.
74 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
cumscribed a space. Beneath the pure and blessed figures of Fiesole, which look down from the vaulted ceiling, the powerful creations of Signorelli cover the walls like a race of mighty beings struggling against the imiversal annihila- tion. The demon-like and gloomy representation of Anti- christ, the Resurrection of the Dead, Hell and Paradise, are all the productions of his hand. In the Resurrection he evidences his correct knowledge of the human form in a number of naked figures, who appear in the most diffe- rent attitudes in bold foreshortening. The representation of the condemned is especially rich in powerful touches, the horror of those struck by the avenging lightning from heaven is well depicted." Different, indeed, from the mystic beauty of Fra Angelico, who excelled in Paradises only, and was very weak in his rendering of the horrors of Hell. Several of the figures in Luca's Last Judgment,, judging at least from engravings, are as powerful as any of Michael Angelo's ; indeed, the great master borrowed many ideas from his predecessor, or rather contemporary, for the two artists were working in the same period, although the one so long outHved the other. Luca Sig- norelH's works may be taken as the farthest expressions in painting of the knowledge of the fifteenth century.^
Masaccio had opened the century with his simple classic naturalism, which set forth the human form with a certain dignity under given conditions, but was not yet perfect in a knowledge of the nude, Luca Signorelli closed it with a knowledge of form inferior only to that of Michael Angelo.
The end of the fifteenth century is perhaps the most brilliant era in the history of Florence. Under the splendid rule of Lorenzo the Magnificent, every branch of human knowledge was cultivated with an enthusiasm that has no precedent in history ; and art especially, under his direct personal superintendence, was stimulated to ever greater achievements.
The Renaissance in Rome, as well as in Florence, was completely triumphant, being especially manifest in grand
[^ His picture of the Circumcision in the National Gallery (No. 1128) affords an example of his bold conception and mastery of the human figure. The Nativity (No. 1 133) is inferior ; he was unsuccessful in rendering the expression of tender sentiment.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 75
architectural works in which the severe classicism that at first marked the revival was already giving place to a more luxuriant and decorative style.
But notwithstanding the outward magnificence of Italy at this period, and especially of Florence under the Medi- cean government, the whole fabric of Italian society was utterly rotten, and the utmost moral foulness existed side by side with the highest intellectual culture and the greatest refinement of manners that had as yet been at- tained.
Already, indeed, the great Savonarola was warning his loved city of the doom that would assuredly overtake her in her wickedness, and although his voice was too weak to stem the torrent of her iniquity, yet his words bore fruit in the lives of many thoughtful men, and his teaching exer- cised a powerful influence over the art of his time. The Renaissance, it is true, still went on pursuing its victorious course, but a reaction against it now set in, and the spiri- tual, or Christian school, which had languished since the time of Era Angelico, assumed a new and deeper signifi- cance.
The early school of Siena, which in the fourteenth cen- tury numbered several excellent masters, missed as we have seen the development that Florentine art underwent in the fifteenth. It had never, in fact, the vigorous manly qualities of its rival, and its tenderness was apt to dege- nerate into weakness, and its grace into affectation. Its deep religious sentiment and its mystic spirituality were destined however to find a lasting expression in the works of the favourite painter of Christianity, for although Raphael is not generally reckoned as a master of the Sienese school, yet the tJmbrian school, from which he gained all the spiritual qualities of his art, grew naturally out of the Sienese, as the Sienese out of the Byzantine ; the ugly and ascetic ideal of Byzantium gradually deve- loping into the lovely, and at the same time spii'itual ideal of Perugino and Raphael. The TJmbrian painters, like Fra Angelico and the early religious painters before the revival, strove above all things to express the mystic beauty of the Christian soul, but they clothed this beautiful soul in a fitting garment of flesh. Their art in fact was no
76 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
longer ascetic, but was the expression of the purest and holiest aspirations of the Christian life.
This grand development of religious art occurred, as be- fore stated, at the very time when the worship of the an- tique was at its height, and the Eenaissance was in its full glory, but, as we might expect, it was not in intellectual Florence that this development was first made manifest, but in a place farther removed from the effects of that re- Tival of classic learning, which both for good and for evil had so powerfully affected the culture of the age.
TJmbria, a country district of the Upper Tiber, had been from an early period the chosen seat of mysticism. It was here that S. Francis, the favourite saint of the middle ages, was born, and here at Assisi was the most celebrated con- vent and church of his order. It is not so much to be wondered at therefore that the simple inhabitants of the quiet valleys of the Tiber, who were thus placed, as it were, in direct personal intercourse with their miracle-working «aint, should have maintained a more fervent religious belief than their rationalistic neighbours.^
In art, at all events, we find that they preserved tradi- tional types long after other schools had adopted natura- listic ones, and whilst Florentine art reflected that strong •desire for knowledge that was one of the most marked ten- dencies of the age, Umbrian art reflected that mystical de- Totion which, as evinced by the lives of so many ecstatic visionaries, was another and an opposite tendency. The Umbrian conception of human life also was totally diffe- rent from the Florentine. The keen-eyed Florentines re- garded life ever from a cheerful point of view, and like the Greeks strove to drive mysticism and sadness away from their lives and their art, but the Umbrian character was less vivacious, and that deep religious enthusiasm, which was awakened only at times of excitement in the Floren- tines, was with them a normal characteristic.
NiccoLO DA FuLiGNO, Called by Vasari Niccolo Alunno (painting between 1458 and 1499), is the first master in whom the distinct Umbrian characteristics be-
[^ Piero della Francesca, Melozzo da Forli, and Luca Signorelli be- long to the Umbrian school, though they shared the science of the Florentine.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 77
come apparent.^ His works have a dreamj religious feel- ing closely allied to the Sienese school, but expressed in purer and brighter colour, and with more natural beauty.^
But PiETEO Vanntjcci (1446-1524), better known as II Peruqino, from the place where he principally worked,, is beyond all others the representative master of the* Umbrian school.
Pietro's father, Christofano Vannucci, although poor,, was not of low condition, as Vasari implies, but he had several children for whom, no doubt, it was difficult to pro- vide, and at nine years of age Pietro was sent to Perugia, and articled (" given as a shop-drudge," says Yasari) to a painter in that city.^ But he soon found " that Florence was the place above all others wherein men attain to per- fection in all the arts, but more especially in painting." To Florence, accordingly, he went, where the greatest artists were then working. He is said to have studied under Andrea Verrocchio, the master of Leonardo.* After acquir- ing a considerable reputation in Florence, he was called to
[* Gentile da Fabriano (see Venetian School) was an Umbrian and had Umbrian characteristics. So had Lorenzo di San Severing (early fifteenth century), by a descendant of whom there is a fine altar-piece in the National Gallery (No. 249).]
[^ He is supposed by Morelli (" Italian Masters in German Galleries ") to have been a pupil of Benozzo Gozzoli. An altar-piece in the National Gallery (No. 1107) of the Crucifixion and other scenes from the life of Christ is violent in expression of intense grief. The landscapes show study of nature remarkable for the time. Morelli says : " In his later works, when left to himself, Niccolo da Foligno always betrays that tendency to exaggeration which marks the inhabitant of a provincial town." By Niccolo's contemporary Fiorenzo di Lorenzo there is a fine altar-piece in the National Gallery (No. 1103), which shows the influence of Benozzo Gozzoli.]
^ Frobably Benedetto Buonfigli, a painter of some reputation in Perugia. [He early acted as assistant to Piero della Francesca at Arezzo. Niccolo da Fuligno and several other artists are also allotted to him as masters.]
* Andrea Verrocchio (1435-1488) is best known as a sculptor; he was besides a painter, a goldsmith, and a musician. His grand equestrian statue of Bartolommeo Coleoni at Venice bears witness to his skill as a modeller. His painting of the Baptism of Christ, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, is the only known authenticated work in that branch of art. As a teacher, Verrocchio ranks very high; at his school in Florence, Leonardo da Vinci, Perugino (perhaps), and his favourite- Lorenzo di Credi studied under his direction.]
78 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
Rome, where lie executed the frescoes before mentioned in the Sistine chaj^el. The greater part of these were de- stroyed to make room for the Last Judgment of Michael Angelo ; but in one that remains, the DeHvery of the Keys to S. Peter, there is a stronger affinity to the Florentine style than in any other of his works. It would have been difficult, indeed, for any painter residing at that time in Florence to have remained uninfluenced by the grand and noble works that he saw going on around him. After- wards, however, when Perugino returned to Perugia, he fell back into his Umbrian manner, only he added to the religious sentiment of that school a more perfect mode of execution and a pure beauty of colour such as no Italian painter had ^ver before attained. He was one of the earliest painters on the south of the Alps who adopted the Flemish method of oil painting, and his success in it was almost as great as that of his Flemish contemporaries.
His school at Perugia was one of the most celebrated in Italy, numerous students from all parts being attracted to it to learn the secret of the rich oil colouring of the master. None of his scholars, however, except perhaps Raphael, attained anything like the deep purity of Peru- gino's colour. He and Francia are, indeed, distinguished beyond many of their greater contemporaries for this one quality.
Michael Angelo is said to have spoken with much con- tempt of Perugino, calling the soft Umbrian, indeed, a " dunce in art " {goffo nelV arte), for which insulting ex- pression Perugino summoned him before a magistrate, but got, as one might suppose, nothing but ridicule by his action. The style of these two painters was so essentially different, that it was no doubt difficult for them to arrive at a just appreciation of each other's art. Perugino was quite as bitter about Michael Angelo, whose fame was now growing so much greater than his own. Towards others also he seems to have acted in a quarrelsome manner, and the records of Florence prove that once, in company with a man of most violent character, he actually laid wait in a dark street to attack and beat with staves someone to whom he owed a grudge.^ Vasari also tells us that " he ^ Crowe and Cavalcaselle, vol. iii., p. 184.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 79
was an irreligious man, and could never be made to believe in the immortality of the soul, nay, most obstinately did he reject all good counsel with words suited to the stub- bornness of his marble-hard brain." It was, therefore, not from the religious enthusiasm of his own nature, as was the case with Fra Angelico, that the exalted devotion of his works was derived, but it must be taken as an expres- sion of the school to which he belonged rather than as the individual expression of the painter's own mind. Peru- gino, indeed, gives a rude shake to the theory that the art of the painter is an accurate exponent of his ethical state.^ It is so in many instances undoubtedly ; but here we have a violent-tempered and low-minded man producing some of the holiest works that art has ever accomplished.
All English students know, or ought to know, Perugino's lovely altar-piece in the National G-allery (No. 288), origi- nally painted for the Certosa, or Carthusian convent at Pavia (about the year 1504 or 1505).* It is perhaps my love and admiration for this work that make me rank Peru- gino so high as a Christian painter ; for it must be con- fessed that too many of his works fall very short of expec- tations founded on this Certosa Madonna. Several critics account for the exalted beauty and purity of this work by assuming that Eaphael aided in its execution. "It is RaphaeUzed throughout," says Eumohr, and Passavant also speaks of the " Eaphaelesque feeling which pervades every part." But it seems more just to speak of Raphael's early works as Peruginized, than of Perugino's as Raphae- Uzed. No doubt master and pupil had to some extent a reciprocal influence; but the tender and pure sentiment of Raphael's Madonnas was a quahty derived entirely from tJmbria, and one in which Perugino had previously excelled.
It is possible, of course, that Raphael assisted in the execution of this work, but to assume that, because the sentiment of it is pure and holy, that therefore it must have emanated from Raphael, is unfair to the older master, in most of whose other works the same holy feeling is
^ See Ruskin's " Lectures on Art," " Relation of Art to Morals." ^ There are several reproductions of this picture by Perugino's own hand, but none come up to our English original.
80 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
manifested. In beauty and brilliancy of colour it far sur- passes Raphael, who never reached to real greatness of colour, whereas Perugino is, even in this particular, worthy to be placed side by side with Bellini, the founder of the Venetian colour school.
[Besides this masterpiece the National Gallery contains an interesting early Virginand Child (No. 181), and a large but rather conventional Virgin and Child with S. Jerome and S. Francis (No. 1075). There are important frescoes by him at Perugia and at his birthplace, Castello (now Citta) delle Pieve. Of his oil pictures. Madonnas in the Vatican and the Louvre, at Bologna and Vienna, a Deposition in the Pitti, an Agony and Crucifixion in the Academy, Florence, are among the best. His Marriage of the Virgin, on which Eaphael modelled his Sposalizio, is at Caen, and at Lyons is the Ascension of Christ, formerly part of the altar-piece in S. Pietro Maggiore, in Perugia.^]
[Of Perugino' s pupils, Lo Spagna, properly named Gio- vanni di Pietro, after his master, was, excepting Raphael, the most worthy. A Spaniard by birth, he became a citizen of Spoleto. His best work was painted at Assisi in 1516, in the manner of Raphael's early works. He died before 1530. His fine picture in the National Gallery (No. 1032), The Agony in the Garden, is a free rendering of one by Peru- gino in the Academy at Florence. Another pupil of Peru- gino, GiANNicoLO DI Paolo Manni, is represented in the National Gallery by an Annunciation, No. 404.]
Bernardino di Betto, called Pinturicchio (bom 1454, died 1518), [is the most important follower of Perugino who cannot be called a pupil. He was an accomplished artist, though hedidnot reach Perugino' s depth of] religious feeling, nor his beauty of colour. [His types are more varied, and sometimes very beautiful.] He worked for a long period under Perugino, with whom he entered into a sort of artistic partnership, he receiving a third part of the gains of their joint labours. His principal works are at Siena, where he decorated with frescoes the great Piccolo- mini library. [These frescoes are almost as fresh as when
* This altar-piece was taken away by the French. The central portion is now in the Museum at Lyons, and is painfully restored. The other parts are scattered in different towns in France and Italy.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 81
painted, and the best preserved works of the kind in the world. The great beauty of some drawings still extant of their designs have induced the supposition that Eaphael had a large share in their design, but there is now no doubt that the drawings are by Pinturicchio. A specimen of his later fresco work is in the National Gallery (No. 911), being a portion of the History of Penelope, painted on a wall for Pandolfo Petrucci of Siena after 1507. Pinturicchio was especially noted for his landscape back- grounds.^]
Francesco Eaibolini, called Francia (1450-1517), is so closely allied in sentiment, expression, and colour to Perugino, that, although he belongs in point of birth and education to the early school of Bologna, he seems naturally to rank in his art with the Umbrian painter.
He was originally a goldsmith and worker in niello, and adopted the name of Francia out of love, it is said, for a master of that name to whom he was apprenticed. It was not until he was nearly forty years of age, according to Vasari, that he turned his attention to painting, being stimulated thereto by his acquaintance " with Andrea Mantegna and many other painters who had attained to riches and honours by means of their art."
The same fervent religious exaltation that marks the works of the Umbrian school is apparent in those of Francia, but whereas the Umbrian painters, Perugino especially, are apt to fall into the old Byzantine melancholy, Francia is ever cheerful and contented. His mind seems untroubled even whilst painting a Pieta, and his sorrow is full of hope.*
^ Vasari, who is fond of making his artists die of grief or " vexation," tells an absurd story about the cause of Pinturicchio's death. He was working, he tells us, one day in a room in a convent, in which there was an old chest. Finding this in his way, he insisted on its removal ; but when the monks came to take it away, one of the sides broke, and it was found to be full of gold. " This discovery so vexed Pinturicchio, and he took the good fortune of those poor friars so much to heart, and so grievously did this oppress him, that not being able to get it out of his thoughts, he finally died of vexation.'' [Another version is that his wife deserted him, and that he died of neglect and starvation.]
* A " Pieta" is the name given by Italians to a composition repre- senting the dead body of Christ moiu-ned over by the Virgin, or other holy women, or disciples.
a
82 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
This agrees with his character as drawn by Vasari, who says " that he kept all around him in good humour, and had the gift of dissipating the heavy thoughts of the most melancholy by the charms of his conversation." Francia, as well as Perugino, excelled in the new process of oil- painting, and his colours have a depth and beauty that exceed all the Florentine masters of his time. Colour, an important element in rehgious art, was never satisfactorily attained by any of the scientific painters of Florence, who made form their exclusive study. Francia painted in fresco as well as oils : his most important wall-painting is a large fresco of Judith and Holof ernes m the palace of his friend Griovanni Bentivoglio. Scenes from the history of S. Cecilia were also executed by him in a beautiful series of wall-paintings in the church of S. Cecilia in Bologna, but it was in oils that he attained his greatest celebrity, and the influence of the Venetian school is clearly apparent in his deep warm colouring.
Francia' s Madonnas are to be found in most galleries on the Continent, but he was so well imitated by several pupils, especially by his son and nephew, that it is often difficult to decide whether the paintings ascribed to him are really the work of his hands. There is a perfectly lovely Madonna at Munich, about which there can be but Httle doubt. It is a so-called " Madonna in a Rose garden." Tlie Virgin sinks on her knees in loving adoration of her child, who lies before her on a plot of grass surrounded by a hedge of roses.
The quiet peaceful beauty and depth of feeling in Fran- cia's works were never reached by any of his pupils. The ablest of them, Lorenzo Costa of Ferrara, however, came very near to his master in style and colour.^
The two beautiful paintings by Francia in the National G-allery, the Virgin and S. Anna, and Saints, No. 179, and the Pieta, 180, originally formed one altar-piece.
' P Lorenzo Costa (1460-1535), of Ferrara, is thought by Morelli to have been rather the leader than the follower in painting of Francia, but he was ten years the junior of the latter ; at all events he was an artist of much originality. He is said to have studied under Gozzoli at Florence. He afterwards worked with Francia at Bologna. Tliere is a specimen of his religious art in the National Gallery (No. 629).]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 83
Shortly before Francia's death, Eaphael gave into his friend's charge his celebrated painting of S. Cecilia, destined for the same church of S. Cecilia at Bologna which Francia himself had formerly decorated with frescoes. Francia re- ceived this picture, we are told, with the greatest dehght, and took care to see that it was properly placed. He seems, indeed, to have had the fullest appreciation of Raphael's genius, and in a sonnet he wrote to him after receiving the promised portrait, he calls him the painter of painters.
" Tu solo il Pittor sei de' Pittore."
It is therefore absurd to suppose, as Vasari does, that his death was caused by grief at seeing himself, in this picture of S. Cecilia, so far outstripped by his youthful rival. He seems, as we have seen, to have cordially admitted Raphael's superiority long before seeing the S. Cecilia, and as he was nearly seventy years of age at the time of his death, other causes than jealousy, we may hope, were in operation.
With Francia, whose death, according to a document discovered by J. A. Calvi, took place on the 6th of January, 1517, this chapter may fitly close. The progressive art of the fifteenth century had now reached its highest point of development — Renaissance art in Ghirlandaio, Mantegna, and Luca Signorelli, and religious art in Perugino and Francia. The art of the sixteenth century is not progres- sive. It reaches perfection all at once in the works of several painters, has a short flowering season, and then, alas ! according to the universal law, falls into decay. Its history and laws must be studied in another chapter.
[There are a few more painters who should be mentioned in this chapter of Development. Two artists of Florence, Andrea del Castagno (1390-1457), and Domenico Veneziano (died 1461), are supposed to have been among the first in Italy to practise painting in oils. Few of their works now exist, but there is a small crucifixion in the National Gallery, No. 1138, ascribed to Andrea, and three works in fresco by Veneziano, two heads of Saints, and a Madonna and Child, Nos. 766, 767, and 1215. Two artists of Ferrara, named Eecole Grandi, must not be confused. The earher Ercole di Roberti
84 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
(died before 1513) shows strong Mantegnesque feelings the other, Ercole di Giulto (died 1531), was a pupil of Lorenzo Costa. There are two works, probably by Ercole di Roberti, in the National Gallery, No. 1217, which is ascribed to him in the Catalogue, and No. 1127, a little picture of The Last Supper, which has recently been ascribed to him by Mr. Walter Armstrong.
ViTTORE PisANO, Called PisANELLO (1380-1450) was probably the pupil of Altichiero (see p. 45), and was the greatest Veronese artist of the early fifteenth century. Ho is best known now as the greatest of ItaHan medallists, but his reputation when alive was great as a painter, and it is sustained by the remains of his wall paintings at Verona, and his skill as a draughtsman of animals is attested by drawings in the Louvre. Of his rare easel paintings, the National Gallery possesses one (No. 776)^ S. Anthony and S. George in conversation. In the same Gallery are also specimens of Bono of Ferrara, and Giovanni Oriolo, pupils of Pisanello, of Domenico- MoRONE (b. 1442), Francesco Morone (1473-1529), and of LiBERALE DA Verona (1451-1536).^
An important painter of this period was Vincenzo^ FoppA (first dated work 1458, died 1492), a native of Brescia, and the founder of the Lombard School. He is- supposed to have been a fellow- student of Mantegna in the school of Squarcione, and his works are remarkable for the study of nature and the antique, and for knowledge of perspective. Most of his frescoes have perished, but one of S. Sebastian in the Brera, attests his claim to be the greatest artist of the Lombard School before the coming of Leonardo da Vinci to Milan. Other works in fresco and easel pictures by Foppa exist at Brescia, Milan, and other places in Northern Italy. In the National Gallery the picture ascribed to Bramantino, No. 729, is now considered to be by Foppa. The principal pupils of Foppa were the Brescian Ferramolo (the Master of Moretto), Bernar- dino Jacobi (called Buttinone), Bernardino Martini (called Zenale), Bernardino de' Conti, and AMBROOia DA FossANO (called Borgognone). All of these, except
^ For other Veronese painters, see p. 45 and p. 173.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 85
Ferrainolo, belonged to the earlier Milanese school. The most important of these pupils was Ambrogio Boegog- NONE (painted from 1485 to 1522), an artist remarkable for the unaffected sweetness of his Madonnas and female saints, and the realistic power of his male figures. There are early frescoes and altar-pieces by him in the Certosa of Pavia, of which the Crucifixion of 1490 (an altar-piece) is considered the finest. There are many works of his at Milan and other places in North Italy. He is represented by two pictures in the Berlin G-allery, and four in the National G-allery. Of the latter the finest is The Marriage of S. Catherine, No. 298. Borgognone was one of the yery few Milanese painters of his time in whose works the influence of Leonardo da Vinci is not felt. His originality was not affected by the genius, nor his technique by the example and precept of that great artist.
Another artist of the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixtenth century, who was influenced by Foppa, was Bartolommeo Suardi (called Bramantino). He after- wards studied under Bramante, the great architect (but also before he left Milan, a painter), and went with the latter to Rome, where he painted some pictures in the stanze of the Vatican, subsequently removed to make room for those of Raphael. He returned to Milan and founded a school there. The influence of the old Milanese School is also seen in the works of Girolamo Giovenone and Macrino d'Alba, which can be best studied at Turin. There are two groups of saints by the latter artist in the National Gallery, Nos. 1200 and 1201.]
86 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV»
Chapter III.
THE BLOOMINa TIME.
Leonardo da Vikci — Eaphael — Michael Angelo.
LEONAEDO DA VINCI, rather than Raphael, Michael Angelo, or Titian, may he taken as the representative artist of the sixteenth century.
In point of date it is true he helongs to the fifteenth more than to the sixteenth century ; but whilst thrusting his contemporaries, Perugino and Francia, back amongst the quattrocentisti,^ we naturally place Leonardo forward in that brilliant period when the lovely flower of Italian art, that we have watched gradually expanding through two centuries, at last bloomed in its fullest and final per- fection.
In him the two lines of artistic descent, tracing from classic Eome and Christian Byzantium, meet. We cannot say of his art that it is either pagan or Christian, realistic or ideal, intellectual or spiritual. It is simply the perfect art of Leonardo da Vinci. All the various elements that we have seen striving for mastery in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries are blended by him into one harmonious, whole. Thus his style is, in a certain sense, eclectic ; but nothing can well be more unlike the forced egotistic eclec- ticism of the later schools than Leonardo's unconscious assimilation of all that is excellent in the works of his predecessors.
This " truly admirable and divinely endowed Leonardo da Vinci," ^ as Vasari calls him, was the illegitimate son of a notary of Florence, and was born at Vinci, in the Val
^ Perugino lived farther into the sixteenth century than Leonardo^ and Francia nearly as far.
^ Vasari is rapturous in his praise of this master. *' Whatever he did," he says, " bore an impress of harmony, truthfulness, goodness, sweet- ness, and grace, wherein no other man could ever equal him."
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 87
d'Amo, below Florence, in 1452. His genius was marvel- lously precocious, and his bent towards art so early appa- rent, that bis father, struck by some remarkable designs that he had made at a very young age, placed him with Andrea Verrocchio^ to study painting The pupil soon ecUpsed the master, who " took this so much to heart, that a mere child should do better than he had done, that he would never touch colours more," but continued to work in marble, and also to execute those exquisite little works in metal for which he was greatly celebrated, although unfor- tunately but few of them now exist.^
[He was entered in the Red-book of the Painters' Guild of Florence m 1472, and in 1476 is still mentioned as Verrocchio's assistant.
In 1478 he was commissioned by the Signoria to paint a picture for the chapel of S. Bernard in the Palazzo Pubblico at Florence, and two years later the monks of S Donato in Scopeto ordered him to paint them an altar- piece. The former commission was never executed. For the second, the half- finished Adoration of the Magi in the Uffizi was probably commenced.
From this time until 1487 we have no record of Leo- nardo's work or whereabouts. In 1487 he was in Milan, employed on the cathedral there. In the meantime it is thought he must have spent some time in the East, as engineer in the service of the Sultan of Cairo.]
Nothing exceeded the powers of Verrocchio's astounding pupil. Not only was he the greatest painter and sculptor of his day (for Raphael's and Michael Angelo's stars had as yet scarcely risen), but he likewise ranks as one of the' earliest leaders in science. Mathematics, geometry, phy- sics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, botany, were all studied by him with an ardent love of knowledge that would not allow him to rest content with mere superficial acquire- ments, but led him to search out the secrets of nature for himself. His scientific theories are often strangely in ad- vance of the knowledge of his time ; indeed, many of his treatises reveal a dim insight into natural phenomena which have only been understood rightly at the present
^ Before mentioned as the master of Perugino. * Kio, " Leonard da Vinci et son Ecole."
88 HISTOEY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
day. "The discoveries," says Hallam/ "which made G-alileo, and Kepler, and Maestlin, and Maurolycus, and Castelli, and other names, illustrious, the system of Coper- nicus, the very theories of recent geologists, are anticipated by Da Vinci within the compass of a few pages, not per- haps in the most precise language or on the most conclu- sive reasoning, but so as to strike us with something like the awe of preternatural knowledge. In an age of so much dogmatism he first laid down the grand principle of Bacon, that experiment and observation must be the guides to just theory in the investigation of nature."
Nor did he rest content with " just theory" alone. He applied his scientific knowledge to several branches of practical and mechanical science, and carried out engineer- ing works that were a triumph of human skill. In a letter hereafter quoted, he boasts, indeed, that he could invent machines, build fortresses, construct bridges, and " equal any other as regards architectural works."
More especially, however, he turned his attention to those sciences that bear upon art, and in his celebrated treatise on painting has left us a most valuable record of his investigations. Anatomy he made a profound study ; perspective likewise engaged his attention, and even geology and botany were attacked by him with fruitful results.^ In fact, there is scarcely any branch of natural science to which he did not contribute some pregnant thought.
In the lighter accomplishments of society he was no less distinguished. The charm of his conversation was such, 'we are told, that all were fascinated who heard it, and his rare beauty of face and dignity of form seemed to be only a fitting setting for the beauty and dignity of his intellect. He was a poet and a skilful musician, and used to play on a kind of lyre invented by himself, often improvising both words and music. Added to these versatile mental powers, he possessed physical ones no less remarkable. His strength was prodigious, and he excelled in all manly exer-
^ " Literature of the Middle Ages," vol. i.
^ In the latter scieuce it appears that he anticipated the discovery of certain botanical laws with which botanists of a much later age have until recently been accredited. See "Nature," May 19, 1870.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 89
cises, especially in horsemanship, of which he was an accomplished master.
Such was this "divinely endowed" Leonardo, of whom it might fitly be said that his was —
" A life that all the muses deck'd With gifts of grace, that might express All-comprehensive tenderness, All-subtilizing intellect."
Of the works of this great master but few and faint reUcs now remain — rehcs whose sweet lingering beauty only makes us mourn the more for that which is lost.
His Last Supper, which ranks, perhaps, as the best known and most famous picture in all the world, and which may be taken as the highest expression of Christian art, is now a hopeless ruin. Only the dim outline of a few of the heads can still be traced of the original work, and yet by means of copies and engravings, which have found their way alike into the poorest cottages and the richest palaces, it is known to almost every Christian child. And often as we see it, in coarse woodcut or in Eaphael Morghen's noble engraving, it ever speaks to us with some new significance, so unfathomable is its solemn beauty.
Endless criticisms have been written upon it. Fuseli, lecturing on the celebrated copy belonging to the Eoyal Academy, says, " The face of the Saviour is an abyss of thought, and broods over the immense revolution in the economy of mankind which throngs inwardly on his absorbed eye, as the spirit creative in the beginning over the water's darksome wave, undisturbed and quiet. It could not be lost in the copy before us ; how could its subUme conception escape those who saw the original? . . . I am not afraid of being under the necessity of retracting what I am going to advance, that neither during the splendid period immediately subsequent to Leonardo, nor in those which succeeded, to our own time, has a face of the Redeemer been produced which, I will not say equalled, but approached the sublimity of Leonardo's conception, and in quiet and simple features of humanity embodied divine, or, what is the same, incomprehensible and infinite powers."
90 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
And yet this divine face is but the perfect development of the type founded at Byzantium. We have the same cast of features, the same oval face and melancholy expres- sion ; but instead of the hard staring ugliness and crude art of the early Christian artist, we have the deepest soul- beauty expressed by an art that has reached its final perfection. Of all the representations of Christ, none has ever satisfied the heart like this, for we find in it at the same time divine intelligence and yearning human love.
There is a strange contrast m this solemn " brooding " head of the Saviour to the dramatic rendering of the other characters in the scene ; for Leonardo has not treated the subject according to the set tradition that other painters had followed, but has given it a deeply tragic significance. Each one of the disciples is moved in a diiferent manner by the Master's fearful words : " One of you shall betray Me," so that their different characters mount, as it were, to the surface, and can be easily read on their countenances. Only the Master himself sits unmoved and calm in the storm of feeling around him.
The Last Supper was painted on the wall of the refec- tory of the convent of S. Maria delle Grazie, at Milan. It was painted in oils, a more perishable process for wall painting than fresco, but still it is more from neglect and barbarous ill-usage that it has perished than from natural decay. ^
It was [probably not before 1485] that Leonardo esta- bhshed himself at Milan, having been summoned there by
' No picture has ever suffered more shameful ill-treatment. Its first injury arose from an inundation in the hail in which it was painted, when it remained for some time under water. Then a door was cut by some unfeeling Prior right through its lower centre, destroying the feet of the Christ ; next it was given up to two misei'able bunglers, named Belotti and Mazza, who added insult to the injury that it had already received, by completely painting it over by way of restoration ; and finally, when Napoleon entered Italy, his generals, in spite, it seems, of his orders to the contrary, used the refectory of S. Maria delle Grazie for a stable, and aftex-wards for a magazine for hay. Now, when only the mouldering relics of the work remain, the greatest care is taken to preserve them. " But even now," says Liibke, who seems to have seen the picture quite recently, " the gleam of its former beauty is so inde- structible that the effect of the original still surpasses that produced by Eaphael Morghen's engraving."
BOOK IV.] PAINTIXG IN ITALY. 91
Ludovico Sforza, then the Regent, and soon after the usurping Duke of Milan.
Vasari implies that he was onlj invited by the Duke on account of his musical and social powers, and " because he was one of the best improvisator! of his time," but the letter happily is still extant in which he offers his services to the Duke, and proves that he had quite other ideas than of improvising verses and " amusing " his patron.^
The equestrian statue of Francesco Sforza, the father of
^ This remarkable letter begins by offering to make known to Ludo- vico various engineering secrets that he thmks will be useful in war. '• Having seen," he says, " and sufficiently considered the works of all those who repute themselves to be masters and inventors of instruments for war, and found that the form and operation of these works are in no way different from those in common use, I permit myself without seek- ing to detract from the merit of any other, to make known to your ex- cellency the secrets I have discovered, at the same time offering with fitting opportunity, and at your good pleasure, to perform all those things which, for the present, I will but briefly note below.
" 1. I have a method of constructing very light and portable bridges to be used in pursuing of, or retreat from, the enemy, with others of a stronger sort, proof against fire or force, and easy to fix or remove. I have also means for burning and destroying those of the enemy.
" 2. For the service of sieges I am prepared to remove the water from the ditches, and to make an infinite variety of fascines, scaling ladders, etc., with engines of other kinds proper to the purposes of a siege.
" 3. If the height of the defences or the strength of the position should be such that the place cannot be effectually bombarded, I have other means whereby any fortress may be destroyed, provided it be not founded on stone.
" 4. I have also most convenient and portable bombs, proper for throwing showers of small missiles, and with the smoke thei'eof causing great terror to the enemy to his imminent loss and confusion.
" 5. By means of excavations made without noise, and forming tor- tuous and narrow ways, I have means of reaching any given . . (point?), even though it be necessary to pass beneath ditches or under a river.
" 6. I can also construct covered waggons, secure and indestructible, which, entering among the enemy, will break the strongest bodies of )nen ; and behind these the infautry can follow in safety and without imi^diment.
" 7. I can, if needful, also make bombs, mortars, and field-pieces of beautiful and useful shape, entirely different from those in common use.
'• 8. Where the use of bombs is not practicable, lean make cross-bows, mangonels, and balist£e, and other machines of extraordinary efficiency, and quite out of the common way. lu fine, as the circumstances of the case demand, I can prepare engines of offence for all purposes.
" 9. In case of the conflict having to be maintained at sea, I have methods for making numerous instruments offensive and defensive, with
'92 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
Ludovico, wliicli in the letter given below Leonardo pro- fesses his willingness to undertake, was actually modelled by him in the most perfect manner, but owing either to its ^colossal size, which necessitated a vast amount of metal,^ or some other cause, it was never cast in bronze, and the clay model, which had excited the utmost enthusiasm, was wantonly destroyed by the French when they took Milan in 1499. Only the anatomical studies which Leonardo made for this great work are now in existence.
One of his celebrated female portraits, that in the Louvre, known by the title of La belle Ferroniere, was likewise executed during his residence at Milan. It is supposed to represent Lucrezia Crivelli, a mistress of Ludovico Sforza.'^
The other famous portrait of the Louvre is the enchant- ing Mona Lisa, the wife of his Florentine friend Francesco del Giocondo. "Who that has seen Mona Lisa smile," says an enthusiastic critic, " can ever forget her ? " " It fascinates and absorbs me," says another.^ " I go to it, in spite of myself, as the bird is drawn to the serpent."
vessels that shall resist the force of the most powerful bombs. I can also make powders or vapours for the offence of the enemy.
" 10. In time of peace I believe that I could equal any other ; as re- gards works in architecture, I can prepare designs for buildings whether public or private, and also conduct water from one place to another.
"Furthermore, I can execute works in sculpture, marble, bronze, or terra cotta. In painting I can do what may be done as well as any other, be he who he may.
" I can likewise undertake the execution of the bronze horse, which is a monument that will be to the perpetual glory and immortal honour of my lord your father of happy memory, and of the illustrious house of Sforza.
" And if any of the above-named things shall seem to any man im- possible and impracticable, I am perfectly ready to make trial of them in your excellency's park, or in whatever other place you shall be pleased to command. Commending myself to your service with all possible humility."
^ Computed at 100,000 lbs. weight.
^ This is by no means proved, and Crowe and Cavalcaselle have re- cently brought forward evidence to show that Leonardo did not return •direct to Florence from Milan, but passed some time in other cities, and ithat whilst in Venice in 1500 he delivered a portrait of Isabelle d'Este, Duchess of Mantua, to the agents of the Gonzagas. Is this La belle Ferroniere ? See " Academy," " Two lost years in the life of Leonardo -da Vinci," vol. i., page 123.
^ Michelet, "La Renaissance."
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 9^'
Excelling thus in depicting the charm of female beauty, it is natural that he should have painted the most exquisite Madonna pictures. Unfortunately, there are not many of these in existence. That known as La Vierge au Bas-relief is a lovely conception that has been often repeated, but the original is usually thought to be in England, in the possession of the Earl of Warwick.^
La Vierge aux Rochers also, where the Virgin and Child, the little S. John and an angel, are seated in a rocky cleft by the seashore, is to be found both in the Louvre and in the gallery of the Earl of Suffolk,^ but although both claim to be original, it is very doubtful whether either of them is- really by his hand.
The truth is that Leonardo conceived much more than he executed. His fertile mind was perpetually throwing out great ideas, but owing to the perfection he aimed at he worked but slowly,^ and he often, in the excitement of new creations of his genius, allowed the old to remain unfinished, or to be finished by his pupils. It is partly owing, no doubt, to this prodigality of his mind that the works of his pupils and followers approach so closely to those of the master. It is not merely his manner which his disciples caught, as is the case in most schools, but it is his spirit that animates their works.
In 1499, after Milan had submitted to the French, and his patron Ludovico Sforza, defeated in battle, had been, taken prisoner by the enemy, Leonardo [spent some sixteen years in working for different princes in various parts of Italy, settling in Florence from 1503 to 1506].
The first work that he executed after his return to Florence was the chalk drawing of the Holy Family, called the Cartoon of S. Anna,* which was publicly exhibited in Florence after it was finished. Old and young, men and women, flocked to see it.
[^ Now in possession of Lord Monson, and ascribed by some critics to Cesare da Sesto. It was exhibited at the Koyal Academy (Old Masters) in 1885.]
^ [Now in the National Gallery. There is a large early copy in the Naples Gallery.]
■' He took four years, it is said, to paint the !Mona Lisa.
* This, as Avell as Marco d'Oggione's invaluable copy of the Last Slipper, is now in the safe keeping of the Koyal Academy, and is in a.
•94 niSTOEY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
After this, and when his fame was at its height, he was ■chosen by the Council of Florence to prepare a cartoon for the decoration of one of the walls of the Palazzo Vecchio,^ the other wall being assigned to Michael Angelo. With this commission began the rivalry of these two great artists. Leonardo chose for his subject the victory of the Floren- tines over Nicolo Picinnino in 1440, whilst Michael Angelo chose an incident from the Pisan campaigns, and repre- sented some Florentine soldiers surprised by the enemy whilst bathing. Both cartoons have now perished, but the memory of Leonardo's is preserved in a powerful group, that Rubens copied from it, of four horsemen fighting for a standard, whilst a small copy exists to show the strength of Michael Angelo's conception.
Two more opposite natures than those of Leonardo and Michael Angelo could perhaps scarcely be found. The rich, generous, handsome Leonardo, with his trains of servants a,nd studs of horses, living in the most extravagant manner, and attracting everyone, rich and poor, by the spell of his manners and conversation ; and the proud, repellant, bitter-tongued Michael Angelo, whose real heart lay too deep for men to discover, and whose solitary soul found expression only in his works and not in his words.
G-reat was the excitement and interest in art-lovmg Florence, when the rival cartoons of these two men were ■exposed to view, and every artist ranked himself with one or the other master. Raphael appeared in Florence about this time, drawn there perhaps by the news of this very contest, and the influence of Leonardo was soon perceptible in his art.
[Leonardo returned to Milan in 1506, where he entered the service of Louis XII. He paid visits to Florence from time to time, and in 1514, at the invitation of Leo X., he ac- companied Griuliano de' Medici to Rome.] He was kindly received by Leo, and commissions were given to him, but from some cause he did not stay long. Either he was offended by a remark of the Pope, who, on hearing that he
remarkably good state of preservation. [The cartoon was for an altar- piece commissioned by the Servite brethren. Leonardo afterwards ceded "this commission to Filippino Lippi.] [^ This cartoon was finished in 1505.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 95
Tvas distilling oils for the varnishing of a picture before he had begun to paint it, is reported to have said, " Alas the while ! this man will assuredly do nothing at all, since he IS thinking of the end before he has made a beginning," or else he who had been first in Milan, found it difficult to share his honours with Michael Angelo and Raphael, who already held the field in Rome.
However this may be, he left Rome and joined the bril- liant French king, Francis I., at Pavia, and [in 1516] re- turned with him to France. Honours and commissions were showered upon him by Francis I., but his health and spirits seemed to fail from the moment he entered France. After five years of languor and exhaustion, during which he was unable to accomplish any of the great works he had undertaken, he died on May 2, 1519, breathing his last, not in the arms of the French king, as Vasari and tradition relate, but probably as a reconciled child in the arms of Mother Church, from whom in life he appears to have strayed away.
Leonardo's pupils and followers have a rare excellence, which must in part be attributed to the master. There is no man amongst them of distinct original thought, but the purity and beauty of the language that they learnt in Leonardo's school enables them to express their ideas with a poetical grace that is very charming, even though the ideas themselves seldom rise to greatness.
[Of his pupils Andrea SALA,or Salaino (died after 1519), and Francesco Melzi (1493-1568) httle is known ex- cept that they were friends as well as scholars of Leonardo. Melzi went with Leonardo to France, and inherited his drawings, MSS., &c. Salaino is mentioned in his will. Marco d'Oggione (1470-1549) and Giovanni Antonio Beltraffio (1467-1516) are better known by their works. Marco painted the fine copy of Leonardo's Last Supper which belongs to the Royal Academy, and there are several paintings by him in the Brera at Milan. Bel- traffio was a more original master, and first studied under Foppa and Civerchio. He afterwards lived and worked with Leonardo. He was of noble family, and his pictures are remarkable for their careful modelling, their refine- ment, and sweet, but unaffected expression. There is a
96 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
beautiful Madonna and Child by this artist in the National Gallery, a portrait at Chatsworth, and other fine examples of his art at Berhn, Pesth, Milan, &c. Cesare da Sesto (born between 1475 and 1480, died 1524,) was another ac- complished painter of tender sentiment peculiar to himself, who felt Leonardo's influence strongly, but he was after- wards influenced by Raphael. Most of his known pictures are at Milan, but there are examples of his art at St. Petersburg, Vienna, and Naples.]
[Bernardino Luini, or di Ltjvino (bom between 1475 and 1480, died after 1533), Andrea Solario (born about 1460, died 1530), Gtatjdenzio Ferrari (bom about 1481, died about 1545), though belonging to the late Milanese school as influenced by Leonardo, were not his pupils. The reputation of Luini has suffered much from the similarity of his works to those of Leonardo ; even now many of his pic- tures pass for the works of Da Vinci, and his individuality is still under-estimated. It was not till 1500, when he was already a master in his art, that he came to Milan, and Leonardo had at that time left the city, not to return to it till 1506. He no doubt felt strongly the effect of Leo- nardo's work which he saw, and the principles of his teaching which were active at Milan, for Leonardo had been Director of the Academy at Milan since 1485, and many of his treatises appear to have been written for the instruction of his pupils there. He also executed a copy of The Last Supper (now lost) for Francis I. But of Leonardo's personal guidance he must have known little or nothing. It is from 1510 to 1520 that the influence of Leonardo is paramount in his works, but there was a period before unaffected by it, a period after in which his individuality emancipated itself. To the last period belong his finest works, like the fresco of the enthroned Madonna in the Brera, the frescoes in the church at Saronno, and S. Maria degli Angeli at Lugano. To the Leonardesque period belongs the Christ disputing with the Doctors in the National Gallery, which was long attributed to Leonardo. In colour bright and beautiful,, he was always original, and if he did not possess the subtlety and profundity of Leonardo, in the purity of reli- gious sentiment and the perception of a tender loveliness
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 97
he was scarcely surpassed by any master. Of his early ■works, perhaps the most famous is the fresco of the Body of S. Catherine borne by Angels, now in the Brera, but once with many others on the walls of the Casa la Pelluca, near Monza ; the finest of the last period, the Crucifixion in the church at Lugano. It is only at Milan and in its neighbourhood that the artist can be fully studied. The Brera contains a number of his frescoes, and three easel pictures, including a lovely Madonna with the Eoses ; in the Poldi-Pezzoli collection are the beautiful Tobit and the Angel, and Marriage of S. Catherine, and in the Ambrosiana a fresco of the Flagellation.
Gatjdenzio Ferrari was a Piedmontese by birth, who is said to have studied under Griovenone, Luini, Leonardo, Perugino, and Eaphael, but it is probable that he received the influence of Leonardo through Luini, and of Eaphael through engravings. His best works are marked by a pure and elevated religious sentiment, brilliant, but gaudy colouring. According to Woermann "he ranks high among the second-rate painters of his time ; he is inven- tive, energetic, dramatic ; what he lacks is balance of mind, and when he most strives after ideal and simple treatment, he too often sinks into bathos, or verges on extravagance." There are fine frescoes by him at Varello, Vercelli, Saronno, and Milan. At Turin are some small early easel pictures, and some grand cartoons at the Brera, besides frescoes a late Martyrdom of S. Catherine. Of his beautiful altar-pieces at Arona, Novara, and Canobbio, the last is considered the finest. One of his pupils was Bernardino Lanini, by whom there is a very beautiful Holy Family in the National O-allery (No. 700).
Andrea Solario was born probably at Milan about 1460, and died after 1515. He was strongly influenced by Leo- nardo, and it is the opinion of Signor Morelli that no Lombard painter comes so near Leonardo as he. The same writer thinks the influence of Bramantino may be seen in an early Madonna in the Brera, and that probably the superb modelling of his heads is due to the schooling of his brother Christopher, a sculptor. He went to Venice in 1490 and perhaps afterwards, and the influence of Giovanni Bellini and Antonella da Messina is evident in
98 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV,
the fine Portrait of a Yenetian Senator (No. 923) in the National G-allerj. To the period after his return to Milan belongs the other fine example of Solario in the same col- lection— the portrait of his friend Gio. Christophoro Longono (No. 734), which is dated 1505. He was afterwards employed to decorate a chapel at the castle at Gaillon, now destroyed. In the Louvre are several of his works, in- cluding the famous Yierge au coussin vert. In the Poldi- Pezzoli collection at Milan are a wonderfully modelled Head of Christ, and a Eiposo, dated 1515, his latest signed picture. There is an altar-piece in the Brera, and another at the Certoza at Pavia, which he left unfinished. Leonardo's influence extended also to Siena. The cele- brated painter of the Sienese school, Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, called Sodoma (1477-1549), was bom at Yercelli, and studied under Leonardo. He worked at Siena from 1501 to 1507, when he went with Agostino Chigi to Eome, where Julius II. commissioned him to paint the Stanza della Segnatura. His frescoes, with the exception of the ceiling, were destroyed to make room for those of Eaphael, who painted his portrait close to his own in the School of Athens. In 1510 he was again at Siena, and to this time belongs the fine but ruined Flagellation, painted for S. Francesco, and now in the gallery of Siena. He afterwards returned to Eome, and painted the beauti- ful Marriage of Alexander and Eoxana, and other fres- coes in the Chigi bedroom in the Farnesina. He was knighted by the Pope for a picture of Lucretia, now lost. After 1515 he worked principally in Siena, though between 1518 and 1525 he appears to have visited many other places. In 1525 he executed the decorations in the chapel of S. Catherine, in the church of S. Domenico at Siena, perhaps his finest works, in which he shows himself thoroughly imbued with the classical sj^irit of the Eenais- sance and a master of expression. Another work, in which saintlike ecstasy of feeling and beauty of form are combined in an exceptional degree, is the banner now in the Uffizi, painted on one side with the Yirgin and Saints, and on the other with S. Sebastian. The latter is rightly considered by Woermann as one of the finest figures in the whole range of Christian art. It is impossible here to
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 99
enumerate more of the very numerous works of this prolific master, whose rank is on a level only lower than the highest. They are chiefly at Siena. The National G-aUery possesses one genuine but unimportant example of Bazzi (No. 1144). His principal pupils were G-iacomo Pacchiarotti (1474- 1540) and Gtirolamo della Pacchia (b. 1477). By the latter there is a Madonna in the National Gallery (No. 246). Under his influence, as well as that of Pinturicchio and Eaphael, came also Baldassare Peruzzi (1481-1537), an architect, decorator, and painter second to few of his time. His work is chiefly to be studied at Rome, and at and near Siena. There is a fine drawing of the Adoration of the Kings by him in the National G-allery (No. 167).^ Domenico di Jacopo di Pace, called Beccafumi and Meca- rhio (b. about 1486, d. 1551), was also a pupil of Sodoma. He also studied under Eaphael and Michael Angelo. He was an able but conventional artist, and a skilful deco- rator. The designs from sacred history inlaid in the marble pavement of the cathedral, some frescoes in S. Ber- nardino, and a ceiling in the Palazzo PubbHco, at Siena, are his principal works.]
Lorenzo di Credi (1459-1537), a Florentine artist and the fellow-pupil of Leonardo and Perugino, in the school of Yerrocchio, owed much to the former. The best example of his work is in the Louvre. The two Madonna pictures in the National Gallery, Nos. 593 and 648, are strained in expression, because he seems in them to be striving after ease and grace, but has not quite got rid of the old religious formality.
Lorenzo di Credi was one of the band of artists in Florence who were moved by the words of Savonarola, who was at that time thundering forth his eloquence against Florence. But foremost among the painters who went to hear the Florentine Jeremiah, was a young man called by his Tuscan associates Baccio della Porta, because he lived with his mother near one of the gates of the city,'' but who is better known to posterity by the title
\} The painting from this drawing, also in the National Gallery, No. 218, is not by Peruzzi. The three kings are portraits of Titian, Raphael, and Michael Angelo.]
^ His family name was Bartolommeo di Pagholo del Fattorino.
100 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
of Era Bartolommeo (1475-1517). The mind of Bar- tolommeo, in the impressionable season of youthful aspi- ration, was completely subjected to the influence of Savonarola, and when, in the Lent of 1495, the words of the preacher excited the Piagnoni, as his followers were called, to fanatic extremes, he, as well as other young artists, threw all the drawings and studies he had made from the antique upon one of those " pyramids of vani- ties " which were lighted by the excited Piagnoni, and which, unfortunately, burned up many things besides, rouge-pots, false hair, playing-cards, and other even less reputable " anathema."
Bartolommeo, however, though thus renouncing profane studies, still pursued his art ; but happening to be in the convent of San Marco when it was besieged by the mob, and Savonarola dragged forth, his mind was so completely unhinged by the fearful scenes that then occurred, and by the subsequent martyrdom of Savonarola, that after that event he took the vows of a monk and entered the Do- minican order, entirely abandoning painting, and leaving his friend Albertinelli [who had been his comrade in the workshop of Cosimo Eoselli] to finish all the works he had in hand.
Mariotto Albertinelli (1474-1515), although the intimate friend and assistant of Fra Bartolommeo, was a manof a totally different stamp of mind. In politics, as in. everything else, these two artists took opposite sides, Albertinelli being an adherent of the Medici and a scoffer at Savonarola and his mission. Nevertheless, in spite of this contrast in their characters and opinions, he and Fra Bar- tolommeo seem to have been much attached, and when, after spending four years in religious melancholy in the convent he had entered, Bartolommeo again began to paint, he summoned his old associate, Albertinelli, to work with him in the monastery, and the layman and the monk entered, as it were, into partnership,^ the monas- tery dividing the profits with Albertinelli. [There is a small picture in the National Gallery (No. 645) by Alberti- nelli.]
^ Ci'owe and Cavalcaselle, vol. iii.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING W ITALY. 101
Fra Bartolonimeo's principal Subjects are Madonnas, generally surrounded by cherubs or boy angels of ex- quisite beauty. In the pure loveliness of his Madonna pictures, indeed, not even Eaphael or Leonardo excel him. He evinces in them the tenderness of feeling and the mystic devotion of his predecessor, Fra Angelico, and the same spiritual beauty illumines the features of his Virgins ; but Fra Bartolommeo is a far greater artist than the holy Angelico. To beauty of soul he added the dignity of human life, and his pictures are not mere expressions of asceticism or religious ecstasy, but the calm and thoughtful expressions of a sincere but not fanatic belief in the teach- ings of Christianity. He is the only monk-painter (unless we reckon Fra Filippo) who comprehended humanity in its broader characteristics, and did not confine his sym- pathies within the convent walls. His genius was, in truth, too large for any such curtailment, and although in the horror of his mind at the wickedness of the city that had put its noblest teacher to death, he sought refuge from the impending woe in a religious life, he was yet in heart and soul an artist, and only, we are told, regained his cheerfulness when he regained his brush.
Yet, in spite of this sympathy with the world outside his pictures have the same holy purity and deep religious sentiment as those of the TJmbrian school. He never shocks by " un naturalisme gracieusement scandaleux," like Fra Filippo, but gives to his naturalism a solemn religious dignity. It is the sentiment of Umbria, in fact, expressed by the developed art of Florence, and thus it is that we find many points of similarity between the Madonnas of Bartolommeo and those of Raphael.
Raphael, indeed, whose receptive mind received impres- sions from every artist with whom he associated, gained much from his intercourse with Fra Bartolommeo. On his arrival in Florence in 1504, he entered into a cordial friendship with Bartolommeo, and received from him many valuable hints on the management of drapery, learning also the secret of his pure and harmonious colour ; for, like Perugino and Francia, Bartolommeo was a good colourist.^ . . \r ^^^^^
The great influence of Bartolommeo oyer Raplia^^ smkinjiy^^
Of
-!*:«v^^-
102 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV,
The good Frate, on the other hand, also learned much from his youthful rival, who seems to have excited him to- fresh efforts, and so have re-awakened in his mind the desire for fame ; at all events, from this time his art, long dormant, budded anew.
A visit to Rome proved likewise fertile of results, for although whilst he was there he was so overpowered, we are told, by the great works that Michael Angelo and Eaphael had already achieved, that he returned to Florence leaving Eaphael to finish two grand figures of SS. Peter and Paul that he had designed with a majesty that Eaphael alone could have equalled, yet on his return to his native city he showed that this visit to the capital had borne fruit in his mind, even though he had not been able to accomplish any great work whilst there. For, over- coming his Piagnoni prejudice against the nude, he now executed a large undraped S. Sebastian (under the in- fluence, no doubt, of Michael Angelo), which was so truth- ful and beautiful that the poor monks found it necessary to remove it from their church, fearing that it might give rise " to the sin of light and evil thoughts."
But the greatest work that he accomplished at this time^ indeed the master-work of his art, is the celebrated Madonna della Misericordia, in the church of S. Eomano,. at Lucca. ^ The Virgin in all the beauty of holiness, and with the solemn dignity that Bartolommeo has always given her, stands with her arms outstretched and her eyes uplifted to her son, whom she beholds in glory. At her feet kneel groups of suppHants who look to her, as she to her son, beseeching her to shelter them from his wrath. There are forty-four heads in all in this picture, and many of them of wonderful grace and beauty.
The Madonna Enthroned, of the Louvre, was painted for Bartolommeo' s own convent of S. Marco, but was^ afterwards sent as a present to Francis I. We have un- fortunately no example of Fra Bartolommeo in the National Collection ; his pictures, indeed, are rare out of Italy, but in
evinced in the only work that he executed at this period in Florence — the Baldachino Madonna — which might well be mistaken for a work o£" Bartolommeo's.
[^ Now in the public gallery at Lucca.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 103
the collection of Lord Cowper, at Panshanger, there is a lovely Holy Family, one of his most exquisite productions. He worked principally in oils, and his colouring has a purity and soft harmony almost equal to Leonardo. He executed a few works, however, in fresco, of one of which, the Last Judgment, in the Hospital of Santa Maria Novella, at Florence, there are still faint relics : all the others have perished.
We now come to the two most famous names in the history of art. By some singular affinity the names of Michael Angelo and Raphael always rise in our minds to- gether when we think of Italian art, and yet, perhaps, two artists more diverse in their tendencies can scarcely be found. The two opposed schools that we have seen uniting in Leonardo da Vinci, separated again in these two men. In their works the full-blown flower of Christian art, and the full-blown flower of pagan art, bloomed for a short moment side by side before falling into decay.
All that the artists of progress from the time of Masaccio had been aiming at, was attained by Michael Angelo : — Masaccio, Ghirlandaio, Mantegna, Luca Signo- relli, Michael Angelo, — the line is complete. It is pre- sided over by the classic spirit of antiquity. It delights in form, life, movement, as the expression of human power. It seizes on the nude human body as the best means of displaying its knowledge and skill. It studies perspective, anatomy, geometry, and turns these sciences to use in bold foreshortening, in correct disposition of muscles, and im- posing architectural displays, but above all it glories in its intellectual strength, and achieves feats of daring that no other school ever attempted.
The other line begins with the Byzantine painters, and continues through Fra Angelico, Francia, Perugino, Bar- tolommeo, until it culminates in Raphael. It strives to express not so much the triumph of man's intellect as the subjugation of that intellect to his higher spiritual nature. It exalts not reason but faith, and yearns after a spiritual beauty of which it catches now and then an image, an idea. It is by no means so daring as its worldly rival, it seldom soars to the sublime, its conquests are over the
104 HISTOEY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
heart and not over tlie intellect. The spirit of Christianity dwells with it, and its loveliness is that of the soul and not of the mere physical being of man.
Raphael, it is true, as his mind and art developed, broke more and more away from the restraints that the school to which at first he belonged imposed uj^on his art, but even at the last, when deeply imbued with the paganism of Eome, he never wholly forgot his early training, and he therefore remains, above all others, the beloved painter of Christianity.
Raphael Santi (1483-1520) was born on the 6th of April, 1483, in the elegant city of Urbino, where the Santi family had for some time been settled. His father, Gio- vanni Santi, (d. 1494), was an XJmbrian painter of some little reputation, and must likewise have been a' man of cultivated taste, for a long poem of his still exists written in terza rima, celebrating the deeds and virtues of his patron, Federigo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, which, although tedious to modem readers, is well-stored with the learning of his time.^
Of the young Raphael's early productions nothing is known for certain, although much is imagined by his bio- graphers. There seems no reason for doubting, however, that, his father being an artist, he learnt to paint as soon as he learnt anything. At nine years of age he accom- panied his father to Cagli, and it is not improbable that he assisted him in the execution of a fresco that still exists in the church of S. Domenico.^
A beautiful boy angel in this fresco is said by tradition to be the portrait of the child Raphael, and Passavant con- jectures likewise, that a Madonna and Child in Santi's house at Urbino, are portraits of Rai3hael and his mother Magia Ciarla, who died when he was but a child. In 1494, his father died also, and Raphael, whose inclination to-
' This poem, or rliyming chronicle, a class of production in great favour in the middle ages, is principally interesting to us from the num- ber of artists whom he mentions in it. It will be found quoted several times in this volume. [There is a Madonna by Giovanni Santi in the National Gallery (No. 751).— Ed.]
^ " Giovanni Sanzio and his fresco at Cagli," by A. Layard. Printed for the Arundel Society.
BOOK IV,] PAIXTING IN ITALY. 105
wards art was now decided, was placed by his uncles, when he was twelve years of age, in the school of Perngino, the most celebrated painter in Umbria/ Here the quick genius of the boy soon caught the style of the master, and before long even excelled him in that dreamy poetic sentiment which is the chief charm of Perugino's art. He was thus, as it were, steeped in Umbrian sentiment from the beginning.
Eaphael's early works, indeed, resemble so closely those of Perugino, that it is difficult to distinguish them, espe- cially as we know that the master was wont to employ the pupil on works for which he had received the commission ; still, as before said, it seems more likely that Raphael imi- tated Perugino, than that Perugino in the height of his fame adopted the style of his rising pupil, as some have supposed. Raphael had at all times a curious talent for imitation ; curious, that is, considering the undoubted origi- nality of his mind. He could never come within the sphere of any great artist or great work of art without the in- fluence being at once perceptible in his works. It was not perhaps so much that he imitated, as that he assimilated the style of any artist whom he admired, and carried it to perfection ; and thus it was with Perugino — the most per- fect expression of his art is by Raphael.
It is said that the first independent commission Raphael received was for one of the great religious banners to be carried in procession.^ This banner is still preserved at Citta da Castello, as well as some others of his early paint- ings in Perugia, but his most celebrated work of this period, the Sposalizio, or Marriage of the Virgin, so well known by means of Longhi's fine engraving, is now at Milan. It is one of the noblest pictures of the Umbrian school. A Crucifixion, in Lord Dudley's collection in London, entirely resembling Perugino, a Coronation of the Virgin, in the Vatican, and several Madonna pictures of deep sentiment, also belong to this early epoch.
[^ It is now supposed that Raphael studied under Timoteo Viti at Urbino before he entered Perugino's school, and the date when he be- came a scholar of Perugino is disputed. (See Morelli's *' Italian Mas- ters," Woltmann and Woermann's " History of Painting," &c.)]
" Rio, " De I'Art Chretien," Ecole Ombrienne. Speciality de la banniere. [This is now disputed.]
106 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [BOOK IV.
In the autumn of 1504, when he was twentj-one years of age, Raphael, a youth already " known to fame," quitted the school of Perugino, whose teachings he had exhausted, and repaired to Florence ; attracted there, no doubt, by the report of the mighty works that Leonardo and Michael Angelo were executing in that city. " When," says Yasari, " he first saw Leonardo's works, he stood before them per- fectly amazed and astonished. They pleased him at once better than all he had seen before, and he felt therefore impelled to a deeper study of them." The effects of this study were soon visible.
Raphael's life and art divides itself naturally into three distinct epochs and styles. The Umhrian, already noticed, when he was under the influence of Perugino ; the Floren- tine, upon which he now entered, and to the forming of which, not only Leonardo, but likewise Era Bartolommeo, greatly contributed ; and the Roman, when he had felt the power and had studied the works of his great rival, Michael Angelo.
But although we talk of Raphael's early, late, and middle manner, we must be careful not to draw any harsh lines of demarcation between them. He did not suddenly, as some writers would lead us to suppose, change his whole mode of thought and style of painting, and never revert to the old style that he had dropped ; on the contrary, in some of his late Roman works we find the purest TJmbriaD senti- ment expressed with all the power of his developed lan- guage, and the beauty of the works of the Florentine period lies chiefly in this, that whilst adopting the cheerful grace of Leonardo, and the freedom of drawing of the Pagan school, he nevertheless retained the purity and tender de- votional feeling of the Umbrian school, in which he had first been educated.
His Umbrian education, in fact, was of the utmost impor- tance to him as a Christian painter, but he had now gained from it all it could give, and on beholding the more vigorous art of Florence, he at once felt that here alone could his genius have free and full development. He did not, however, stay long at Florence at this time, being obliged, in the spring of 1505, to return to Perugia, where he had under- taken several important commissions, but the effect that
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 107
the study of the great masters of Florence had produced on his mind was immediately apparent in his art. In his beautiful Madonna del Granduca, now in the Palazzo Pitti at Florence, the only work of importance that he executed during his short visit, he so completely assimilated the style of Leonardo, that the picture might almost be taken for one by that master, were it not for the peculiar Raphaelesque spirit that looks forth from the eyes of the Madonna. It is a simple work, only a three-quarter stand- ing figure of the Virgin with the Child held on her arm, but it has the charm of a deeply felt and thoughtful poem, for in this, as well as in his subsequent and more famous Madonnas, there is the expression of intellect as well as of holiness. This intellectual power he put forth first at this time. In all Perugino's Madonnas we have tender, simple- minded, pure-hearted women, but although they have loving souls, they have no powers of mind ; they might be capable of ecstatic devotion, but not of logical reasoning ; but from this time Eaphael's Madonnas think as well as feeh TJmbrian faith is united in them with Florentine reason, and thus they have a far wider and nobler life than the merely spiritual beings of Fra Angelico's and Peru- gino's imagination.
On his return to Perugia, Eaphael executed his first fresco, a painting of the Holy Trinity, in the church of San Severo. This work, it is said, is strongly reminiscent of Fra Bartolommeo's fresco in Santa Maria Novella ; but Raphael afterwards carried out the same composition in the fulness of his power in his celebrated Disputa del Sac- ramento, and thus made it his own for ever. Several altar-pieces were likewise executed at this time, among which may be mentioned the Madonna and Child with the Baptist and S. Nicholas di Bari, now known as the Blen- heim Madonna, from its being in the possession of the Duke of Marlborough, at Blenheim House.^
But it is evident that Raphael, having once become ac- quainted with the achievements of Florence, was anxious to return to that stirring and art-loving capital, and accor- dingly, neglecting a commission he had received from
[* The " Ansidei Madonna," now in the National Gallery.]
108 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
tlie nuns of Monte Luce, who desired an altar-piece by "the best painter," we find him at the close of 1506 again in Florence, after having made, probably, a short visit to Bologna, where he gained the friendship of Francia.^
His stay in Florence, however, was again not destined to be long, although he seems to have gone there with the in- tention of settling, and the development of his art under Florentine influences was steadily progressing. Some of his most lovely and famous Madonnas were executed at this period, and evince the fullest comprehension of the aims of the Florentine school.
The Madonna del Cardellino (with the goldfinch), in the Ufiizi at Florence, the Madonna with the Palm-tree, in the Bridgwater Gallery, the Madonna in the Meadow, at Vienna, the Madonna of the Tempi family, at Munich, the Holy Family of the House of Canigiani, also at Munich, the Madonna with the Pink, and the famous Belle Jar- diniere, of the Louvre, as well as several others less known, are all considered to have been painted at Florence before he had attained the age of five-and-twenty.
The noble S. Catherine, of the National Gallery,^ be- longs also to this Florentine time. It is curious to note in this figure how the mysticism and sentiment of the Um- brian school is subordinate to the more intellectual ideal that Raphael is now reaching after. The saint is no mere ecstatic devotee, but a noble intellectual woman, raised above the commonplace by the holy enthusiasm that carries her thoughts beyond the earth, as she feels the ray of heavenly light descending upon her.
But the work above all others that most strikingly re- veals his study and comprehension of the progressive Florentine masters is the Entombment, of the Palazzo Borghese at Eome. Here his dramatic powers, afterwards so strongly called forth in the cartoons, and in the paint- ings of the Vatican, are first displayed. The vehemence of action in the figures who bear the body of Christ to the tomb, as contrasted with the lifeless body they carry, is £nely expressed, and the design is more studied than any
^ Passavant, " Rafael von Urbino."
* Formerly in the Aldobrandini Gallery at Rome.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 109^'
he had as yet accomplished ; yet, somehow, we miss in this- work the true Kaphael charm. At the most, it can only be considered a feeble imitation of Michael Angelo, whose- cartoon of Pisa was being exhibited in Florence at the time he prepared the cartoon for it.*
It was not Florence, however, that was destined to be- the theatre of Raphael's greatest triumphs. About the middle of 1508, after he had spent about a year and a half at Florence, during which time he had achieved a sur- prising amount of work, he was called to Eome by that extraordinary old pope, Julius 11., who, although he had Bramante and Michael Angelo already in his service, could not rest content without securing also the rising genius of Raphael to decorate his magnificent palace of the Vatican, which Bramante had now reconstructed with unsurpassed skill, and in an incredibly short space of time. Buildings and other works of art rose, indeed, as if by magic in the Rome of Julius II., for such was this pope's impatience to see the great works that he had planned completed before his death, that he left those he employed no peace until they executed his commissions.
Papal Rome, at the time when Raphael entered it at the- age of five and twenty, was at the height of its temporal power, but the spirit of Christianity had long been chased from its splendid palaces, and instead, the spirit of paganism reigned suj^reme in the art of its artists as well as in the lives of its popes.
The glorification of the power of Rome, both in its tem- poral and spiritual extension, was probably the idea of Raphael in those world-famous frescoes in the Vatican that he was now called upon to execute. Never did youthful genius receive such a stimulus before, and never did it rise more adequate to the task. Three chambers in a large saloon, now known by the name of the Stanze of
' The studies that still exist for this work prove that it was the con- scious intention of Kaphael to emulate the great artists then at work in Florence in their own style of art. " Nine drawings," says Eastlake, " of different arrangements for the subject, or particular portions, are in the Lawrence Collection. Another, still differently composed, is in the possession of Mr. Rogers, and seven or eight more exist in various col- lections on the Continent."
110 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOZ IV.
Raphael, were covered by him, ceilings and walls, with paintings.
In the first chamber — Camera della Segnatura — is sym- bolized the power of Intellect. Theology, Poetry, Philo- sophy, and Jurisprudence, the highest pursuits of the culti- vated mind, are represented by noble allegorical figures on the ceiling. Beneath Theology, on the walls of the cham- ber, is the great exj)ression of the power of the Church of Rome, known as La Disputa. The upper part of this fresco represents the Church Triumphant, with Christ in glory. Rays of light glorifying angelic forms, beam down on the Son, the Virgin, and S. John. The Dove of the Spirit flies beneath, shedding rays downwards on the altar in the lower portion. Above, in the midst of the glory, is the grand figure of the Father, represented according to the tradition of earlier painters. The lower half of this subject shows the fathers, bishops, and doctors of the Church grouped on either side of an altar bearing the Host, or mystical embodiment of Christ on earth. The liveliest action is displayed by these figures, who seem to be arguing (hence the name, La Disputa,) about some of the doctrines of the Church.
But it is in vain to attempt to describe the varied character of this remarkable composition. " Here," says Liibke, "with incomparable power and depth of charac- terization, we find lively action, enthusiastic belief, and pro- found investigation, fervent devotion, dispute, and doubt. The picture stands at the head of all religious symbolic painting, and yet at the same time is full of true life and enchanting beauty. The execution exhibits careful finish, even in the smallest details ; the colouring is charming, clear, and fresh." There has been much controversy con- cerning the meaning of this work, and different interpreta- tions have been given of it ; ^ but there seems little doubt that Christian theology, as ojjposed to pagan philosophy, was in his mind when he executed La Disputa and the School of Athens, which occupies the opposite wall. The Disputa, however, need not be limited to any particular
^ Grimm, whose criticisms are remarkable for their philosophic insight, agrees with Vasari regarding the general meaning both of La Disputa and the School of Athens.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. Ill
•allegory, but may be taken, as Mrs. Jameson remarks, to represent " the whole system of Eevelation, like a grand j)oem combining heaven and earth."
The School of Athens, as the well-known fresco is called that was placed by Raphael beneath the symbolical figure of Philosophy, is a no less marvellous production, embody- ing, as it does, the whole spirit of classical antiquity.
The Church of Rome, after having tried hard to shut out the knowledge of the Aristotelian philosophy, had ended by taking the Greek philosopher into her service, and it was, in the sixteenth century, as dangerous to deny the induc- tions of Aristotle as the authority of the Church. The Platonian philosophy had also found enthusiastic admirers, not only at the court of the Medici at Florence, but like- wise at Rome ; but, in spite of the endeavours of Marsilius Ficinus and the Platonic Academy, in which Lorenzo de' Medici took such interest, it never took so strong a hold as the Aristotelian on the mind of Europe in the middle ages. Aristotle, in fact, after having been long looked upon with suspicion, had become the orthodox teacher of scientific truths, and, therefore, it was quite in harmony with the spirit of Rome, at that time, that Raphael placed the two greatest teachers of the ancient world, surrounded by the other philosophers of antiquity, in juxtaposition to the great teachers of the Christian world, who, as intimated by the heavenly vision above, had truths made known to them by revelation, that the science of Greece and Rome had been imable to reach.
The third fresco. Poetry, represents Apollo with the Muses, on the heights of Parnassus, with the poets of the ancient and modern world ranged on either side.
The fourth. Law or Jurisprudence, painted, like the Poetry, above and on each side of a window, represents Gregory XI. dispensing ecclesiastical justice, whilst at the other side Justinian delivers his famous pandects to Tri- bonianus. Above are the symbolical figures of Prudence, Fortitude, and Temperance. This is the least important of these subjects, and the personification of the virtues is much the same as we have seen in early art.
Li the next stanza — Stanza of Heliodorus — the frescoes are more directly historical in character, but they have all
112 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV,
reference to the power of the Church and the overthrow of her enemies, both by her temporal and spiritual power. Thus Julius II. is introduced into the expulsion of Helio- dorus from the Temple, the underlying meaning of which work probably was the triumph that the warlike old pope Julius and the papal party had gained over the enemies of the Papacy, both at home and abroad, and the fate that would surely overtake those who endeavoured to place some boundaries to stop the ever-growing pretensions of the Roman See.
The Mass of Bolsena, at which Julius is likewise present, although the reputed miracle occurred some centuries be- fore his time, is in like manner aimed at the unbelievers of the sixteenth century, who were already troubling the Mother Church with difficult questions, and from amongst whom Luther was soon to arise to shake the very founda- tions of her power. But meanwhile Julius, in the inter- vals of his wars with France and struggles with his car- dinals, was inciting his artists to ever greater achievements. Michael Angelo was painting in the Sistine chapel, whilst Raphael was working in the Vatican, and often the old Pope looked in upon one or the other, and bade them make haste. Raphael, of course, was his favourite — he was the favourite of all men — and he seems always to have given his patron smooth answers, whereas Michael Angelo often irritated him by the rough truth of his speeches.
Great must have been the satisfaction of Julius 11. when he looked round upon the works that his commands had incited the two greatest artists of his age to produce. But whilst planning still greater achievements, he died in 1513, at a great age, his energy and intellect undiminished to the last. We seem to know the man from Raphael's magnificent portrait. His shrewd understanding looks forth from the small piercing eyes, and his inflexible will is set in the firmly compressed mouth. A grand old man, who subjugates us even now, as we look at him with his fine snow-white beard falling on to his velvet cape, and with his great ruby ring flashing from his finger as he grasps the arm of his chair. ^
^ One of the uumerous repetitions of this portrait, of which Passavant enumerates nine, is in the National Gallery. The original is considered to be that of the Pitti Palace, at Florence.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 113
At the time of the painting of this portrait (1511), Raphael's reputation was already greater than that of any other artist, not even excepting Michael Angelo, who seems to have felt some bitterness at the astounding success of his youthful rival. Much has been said of the jealousy exist- ing between these two artists ; but we may hope that it was more the foolish party-spirit of their followers and scholars that produced this impression than any unworthy feeling in the minds of the men themselves. Vasari, in- deed, although a most partial adherent to his master, Michael Angelo, bears the warmest testimony to the amiable character of Eaphael. " Among all his rare gifts," he says, " I consider one to be so wonderful, that it fills me with amazement : that, namely, with which nature has in- vested him — the power to awaken that feeling in our circle which is at variance with the nature of painters ; for all, not only the lesser artists, but even those who claimed to be great, were of one mind as soon as they worked in Raphael's presence. All ill-humour disappeared when they saw him ; every low, common thought was banished from the mind. Such harmony has never reigned but in the time in which he lived, and the cause of this was that they felt themselves overcome by his kindliness, by his art, and still more by his noble nature."
The charm of this ** noble nature " extended itself not only over the artists, but likewise over the great and powerful nobles in Rome. Popes, cardinals, and princes sought his fascinating society, and commissions for paint- ings flocked in upon him so fast, that he was obliged to leave the execution of his frescoes for the most part to his pupils, he himself only preparing the cartoons. Fortu- nately the death of Julius II. did not at all interfere with the work which was going on in the Vatican ; for Leo X., who succeeded him, encouraged art and learning with still greater intelligence than Julius, and immediately extended his patronage to Raphael. No break, therefore, occurred in the plan that the old pope had proposed ; only in honour of the new pope, Raphael's two next frescoes, the Delivery of S. Peter from Prison and the Vision of Attila, had direct reference to the personal history of Leo; the De- liverance of St. Peter referring to the Cardinal de' Medici's
114 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
escape from prison after the battle of Ravenna, and tlie Attila being suggested by the retreat of the French from Italy in the same year.
In the third chamber of the Vatican — Stanza dell' In- cendio — begun about 1515, Eaphael represented an event that had taken place in the ninth century : a fire in the Borgo Yecchio, which had been miraculously extinguished by the intercession of Pope Leo IV. The influence of Michael Angelo in the terrified and vigorous naked figures in this work is very apparent, but the wonderful dramatic power of it was given by Raphael alone, and although the work was doubtless executed in great part by his scholars, it must be ranked as one of his finest composi- tions.^
The frescoes of the Sala di Constantino, as the large hall is called, can scarcely be reckoned as Raphael's work, though Raphael's mind is visible in them. They were executed after his death by his scholars under the direc- tion of Giulio Romano, from drawings previously pre- pared by the master. They represent events from the history of the Emperor Constantine, the first Christian emperor and the founder of the temporal power of the Church. The glorification of the power of Rome is thus, it is evident, the underlying meaning of all the works of the Vatican.
Besides these works in the rooms of the Vatican, Raphael executed others in the Loggie or open galleries round the old court of S. Damasus. These Loggie were begun by Bramante under Julius II., but were afterwards finished by Raphael, " and if," says Kugler, " we consider the harmonious combination of architecture, modelling, and painting displayed in these Loggie — all the production of one mind — there is no place in Rome which gives so high an idea of the cultivated taste and feeling for beauty which existed in the age of Leo X." And there is no place, also,
^ Eastlake points out in his notes to Kugler's " Handbook '* that it is not a storm, as is generally supposed, that agitates the draperies of the figures bearing vessels of water in the iresco, but that Eaphael probably intended to express the rush of air always observable in tne vicinity of a conflagration. If this is the case, it proves that he must have been, like Leonardo, an observant student of natural phenomena.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 115
that reveals more fully the growth of the pagan element in Raphael's mind. Even in the subjects from Scripture historv, known as Raphael's Bible, the feeling for classical antiquity is strongly displayed/ and in the various ara- besques and ornamental festoons, we have all the cheerful variety and beauty of the old classic time. Unfortunately these works have now fallen into a sad state of decay, and only a shadow of their original beauty remains. They were executed, no doubt, entirely by his pupils ; but, as in all the works executed by his pupils during his lifetime, the thought of the master as well as his style of expression is thoroughly apparent.
Among Raphael's other famous works of the Roman period are the Cartoons so well known to English students. Leo X., wishing still further to decorate the Sistine chapel, where Michael Angelo had already produced his mighty Prophets and Sibyls, as well as the History of Creation, on the ceiling, desired that the walls should be hung with tapestry woven in the famed looms of Arras, in Flanders. Raphael was accordingly called on to prepare the designs or cartoons for the weavers, and the seven grand works that now hang in the South Kensington Museum,^ tell us sufficiently how he fulfilled his task.
There were originally ten of these cartoons, and an eleventh intended for an altar-piece, representing the Coro- nation of the Virgin, but only seven now remain,^ and, in- deed, it is wonderful that any should remain, considering the various vicissitudes and shameful ill-treatment to which they have been subjected.*
The original tapestries, ten in number, now hang in the
^ The three angels, for instance, appearing to Abraham are noble graceful forms belonging to Greek art, as different as possible from the pensive Umbrian types of his earlier works.
* Formerly at Hampton Court.
3 *' Notes on Raphael's Cartoons now in the South Kensington Museum," by Charles Kuland.
* In the first instance they were cut into narrow slips by the weavers of Arras, so as to adapt them to their looms, no greater care being taken of them than of any ordinary pattern. As early as 1630 four of them appear to have been lost, for at that date Rubens informed Charles I. of the existence of the remaining seven, and soon afterwards the King scoured them at a considerable expense (*' magno pretio ") for himself.
116 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
Vatican, but they are greatly injured and badly restored, and so faded that the effect of the colouring is quite lost. This makes the cartoons all the more valuable, for in them Raphael's genius still stands forth in all its surprising power. The Miraculous Draught of Fishes, indeed, is admitted by almost all authorities to bear the direct- evidence of Raphael's own hand having been at work upon it, and many of the grand figures and expressive counte- nances in the other cartoons, such as the Lame Man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, and the Christ, S. Peter^ and S. John in the Charge to Peter, were doubtless painted by him ; though for the most part we must suppose that the execution of these large cartoons from the small draw- ings that Raphael in the first instance made for them, was left to his pupils. Fortunately these pupils were them- selves excellent painters — men, indeed, who would have made an independent position at any other time and under any other master, but who were fully content to- rank themselves under Raphael, seeking only to catch the ideas that he scattered amongst them, without adding much of their own. After his death they all fell more or less into mannerism and weakness, and finally into utter vapidity, but while the master lived, his spirit, as Yasari says, seems to have been infused into all around him, and
When the collection of Charles I. was sold, the Commissioners valued the cartoons at d£300, but Cromwell appears to have prevented the actual sale of them, a good deed that ought to reckon against the many acts of vandalism attributed on very slight foundations to the great Protector. Far less creditable was the conduct of Charles II., who actually sold them to Barillon, the Minister of Louis XIV., the purchase being all but concluded, when they were again preserved to England, this time by Lord Danby, who entreated Charles II. not to part with such inestimable treasures. All this time they remained in the same condition in which they had been left by the weavers ; and, strange to say, it was Dutch. William III., who is not generally credited with a taste for art, who had all the slips reunited, and laid down upon canvas under the direction of the painter William Cook, and then had them placed in the gallery at Hampton, which was especially erected for their reception by Sir Chris- topher Wren. From thence they were removed to London, and then to Windsor, but were returned to Hampton Court in 1814. In 1865 they were lent by the Queen to the South Kensington Museum, thus bringing them within the easy reach of students and sightseers, to whom it is to be hoped they will prove an important means of art education. No on& can study these cartoons of Eaphael without having his ideas enlarged.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 117
to *' have made them of one mind." It is amazing, also, however much work we allow to have been executed by liis pupils, and this is probably less than many critics imagine, to find how much remains that could only have been accomplished by himself. His industry must have been unflagging, and amidst all the pleasures and dissipa- tions of the gay Roman Ufe into which he was thrown, he seems to have ever remained devoted to his art, a fact which in itself would go far to prove, were there no others, that Vasari's insinuations respecting the immoral life of the brilliant young artist were unfounded, or at all events went beyond the truth.
The love of Eaphael, as expressed in several sonnets found scribbled on the back of some of his sketches for La Disj^uta, seems rather the natural expression of a sensitive youthful heart, than of an "overwhelming passion," to which Wolzogen attributes it. The beloved one of Eaphael, according to Passavant, was named Margarita, and it is her j^ortrait, probably, that is so well known to the world by the title of "La Fomarina," a name acquired from some vague and utterly unfounded story about her having been a baker's daughter. This wonderful portrait ^ has called forth endless criticisms. " It has about it," says Grimm, *' in a high degree, the character of mysterious unfathom- ableness." Perhaps that is the reason why it affects diffe- rent minds with such different emotions. Each one reads his own thoughts into those large bold black eyes, but what were the thoughts or passions of the woman's soul that lay beneath them none can now tell. To me, the por- trait is repellant, I turn away from it with dislike, but Orimm a^ers, "we like to contemplate it again and again." Certainly as regards the skill of the artist, it is one of Eaphael' s finest works, and this, no doubt, has led to the supposition that it could only have been the magician Love that prompted his hand to such an achievement.
After the death of Bramante, Eaphael was appointed iircliitect of S. Peter's, a position which seems to have afforded him great satisfaction, though one would have
* Now in the Barberini Palace at Rome. Passavant considers that tho lovely woman's portrait in the Pitti Palace, at Florence, represents tlic same individual, call her the Fomarina or by what name you will.
118 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
supposed, considering the multitude of works with which he was then occupied, that one more, and such an one, would have completely overwhelmed him. Nothing, how- ever, seemed too vast for his genius and industry. " With respect to my residence in Eome," he writes to his uncle Ciarla, who had been one of his guardians in his youth, and for whom he always evinced a great affection, " my love for the building of S. Peter's would always prevent my remaining anywhere but here, for I am now in Bra- mante's place. But what city in the world is more glorious tlian Rome? What undertaking more noble than S. Peter's ? Por this is the first temple in the world, and the greatest building ever seen ; it will cost more than a mil- lion of money." And again, in the same letter, he says, " 100 ducats are more worth having here (all things con- sidered) than 200 in Urbino."
One sees by this how deeply he had become impregnated with the prevailing Roman taste. More and more, indeed, in his frescoes and grand decorative works do we see the spirit of Paganism at work. The mania for works of clas- sical antiquity then at its height, under the Medicean Pope, had taken hold of the Christian artist and led him far away from his early faith, but whilst executing Cupids, Yenuses, and Psyches in the Farnesina, and even surpassing the beauty of Greece in the flowing grace, serene dignity and infinite variety of his forms, he yet, in his Madonna pictures, which throughout his life he never ceased to paint, remained true at the bottom of his heart to the old Um- brian sentiments which had inspired his first works. It may be, that sometimes, like other painters of his time, he painted his mistress as a Madonna, but even when he did this, it was not the mere earthly woman that he painted, but the glorified image of her that he had called up in his mind, and which with marvellous truth and skill he was able to transfer to his canvas. This, I think, is what we mean when we talk of the ideal beauty of Raphael's crea- tions. It is a totally different ideal from that of the old Grreek artist,^ whose aim it had been to reach the Godhke through the perfection of the physical nature of the man.
^ See page 9.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. ] 19
The image that presented itself to the Greek mind was of a glorious and perfect animal, free in the exercise of all his jDowers, but the image that rose before the Christian artist was of a spiritual essence imprisoned in the animal body, but often, shining through it and making itself dimly visible to those who had eyes to perceive it. This, as I have said before, was what the early Christian painters strove to ex- press, but none before Raphael, not even Era Bartolommeo, to whom a lovely idea or mental image was likewise visible, was able to express it with such entire beauty and truth. Raphael's Madonnas have a mysterious soul-beauty, such as no other painter has ever been able to give to his con- ceptions of the Virgin-mother. It is not their loveliness of face or grace of attitude, or even their loving maternity, that gives them their peculiar charm, but it is the indwell- ing spirit, and this is even more apparent in his represen- tations of the Christ-child. The Infant Saviour is not the mere representation of a beautiful boy. A marvellous pre- science lies in his mind beneath the tender innocence of childhood. Coleridge has remarked this; he says, "The Infant that Raphael's Madonna holds in her arms cannot be guessed of any particular age ; it is Humanity in in- fancy. The * Babe in the Manger ' in a Dutch painting is the facsimile of some newborn bantling ; it is just like the little rabbits we fathers have all seen, with some dismay at first burst." ^
No doubt Raphael had gained something of this from the Platonian philosophy so eagerly studied by many of the cultivated men at the Medicean court, with whom he was thrown into constant intercourse. In writing to his friend, the distinguished Count Castiglione, he makes use of an expression which has been often quoted. " To paint a beautiful individual," he says, "I should want to see several beauties, with this condition, that your lordship should be with me to select the best ; as there is, how- ever, a lack both of discriminating judges and beautiful women, I make use of a certain idea (certa idea) that presents itself to my mind. Whether this has any excellence as re- gards the art, I do not know ; I labour strenuously to at-
^ Coleridge's " Table-Talk."
120 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
tain it." Thus Plato taught, that the fleeting phenomena of this world are only faint shadows of eternal truth — images of true existences — that there is a certain abstract Beauty, Goodness, and so forth, beneath the visible forms revealed to our senses, or, as Spenser has it :
" That Beautie is not as fond men misdeeme, An outward shew of things that only secme,"
but rather that " wondrous pateme " of which every earthly thing partakes, but
" Whose face and feature doth so much excell All earthly sence, that none the same may tell."
The more nearly the image or idea in the painter's mind approaches to this " wondrous paterne," the more truly he represents the ideal of perfect beauty; therefore the superior beauty of Raphael's conceptions seems to lie, not in any radical difference between his mode of conception and that of other ideal painters, both before and after him, but in the nearer approach of the image that pre- sented itself to his mind to abstract beauty.^
Many of his most beautiful Madonna pictures belong to
^ The words Eeal and Ideal are used so loosely, and with so many variations of meaning, that it will be as well to define, as nearly as may be, the sense in which they are used here. The mind may be compared to a book, written from minute to minute, and constantly illustrated by fresh pictures. Of these pictures some are merely the images of the perceptions of Sense, while others are images formed by aid of the Imagination and Eeason. Shutting our eyes, we call up in endless number images of objects we saw the minute before, yesterday, or years ago. These ai"e images of sense, and when an artist reproduces them on canvas or in marble, he is properly called a realist. The merit of an artist, as a realist, depends first on the truth and depth of his observa- tion— the extent to which he sees into nature — and the accuracy of his memory; secondly, on his mechanical skill; and, thirdly, on his judg- ment in selecting scenes worthy of his brush or chisel.
But there are mental pictures of a different kind, often as vivid as those of perception, and like them capable of objective reproduction. They are the products, the records, of the thoughts and imaginings of the individual mind. Looking at a ruined castle, we all know how easy it is to restore its walls and battlements, and to people its court with the knights and ladies of a feudal age. In like manner we all find that we cannot read a book of " Paradise Lost " without building up an almost visible representation of the scene in our minds. The artist who paints from these creations of his mind, these ideal images, is an idealist.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 121
the later Roman period — easel pictures and altar-pieces executed in the intervals of his vast monumental works. The Holy Family, known by the name of The Pearl, the treasure of the Madrid Grallery ^ ; the magnificent Madonna di Fuligno, painted in 1511, now in the Vatican ; the ever- lovely S. Cecilia, of which Francia took charge ; ^ the well- known Madonna della Sedia, painted in 1516, now in the Pitti Palace at Florence ; the Madonna del Pesce at Madrid; the Holy Family of the Louvre ; the Madonna of the Aldo- brandini family, now called the Grarvagh Eaphael, in the National Gallery, and numerous other Madonnas, many of which were doubtless executed by his pupils, are all re- ferred to the last few years of his life, when the sentiment he had gained from IJmbria was expressed with the in- tellectual knowledge of Florence and the calm power of Eome.
Last and greatest of all his Madonnas is the world- famed Madonna di San Sisto, the glory of the Dresden Gallery. Constantly as we see reproductions of this mar- vellous work, it ever gleams upon us, even in an engraving or photograph, like some vision of heavenly beauty. Sur- rounded by a glory of exquisite angel-heads, the Virgin stands in simple majesty on the clouds, with the Child enthroned upon her arm. She looks forth into infinity with no shade of sorrow on her countenance such as
Of course the merit of the idealist may vary within wider limits than that of the realist. His creations may be commonplace, disgusting, or monstrous, or they may be original and sublime ; and whatever the value of his ideas, the qualities of skill, judgment, and insight into nature are as necessary to him as to the realist. It may be added that scarcely any, if any, painter can be reckoned as a pure realist or a pure idealist.
He who, instead of drawing the images of sense or imagination from his own mind, is content to borrow the work of others, is properly called a copyist. In one sense, however, the pure realist may be said to be a copyist, but then he is a copyist of nature.
This was formerly in the collection of our Charles I., and w^as bought at the sale of his pictures by Philip IV. of Spain, who is said to have exclaimed on seeing it, " This is my pearl." Hence arose its name.
=» Goethe wrote of this picture, "He," that is Raphael, "always achieves exactly what others would wish to achieve, and I will not say more regarding this painting than that it is by him. There are five saints side by side whose existence is so perfect that we wish the picture could endure for ever until we also are ready to depart."
122 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
Raphael lias sometimes cast into his representations of her as the earthly mother, but as if now beholding the mean- ing of those things she had " pondered in her heart " on earth. The Child also has a supernatural beauty that we can only express by the word divine. "It is," writes Liibke, " as if Raphael had wished to combine in this in- comparable creation his deepest thoughts, his most sub- lime ideas, and his most perfect beauty, that it might be, and might remain the highest production of all religious art." S. Sixtus and S. Barbara on either side of this picture are meant as offering the love and worship of the holy Catholic Church.^
The San Sisto Madonna was painted about 1518, when the painter's brilliant but short summer-life was drawing towards its close. To the same time belong two other grand altar-pieces, in which his dramatic powers are more fully displayed, namely, Lo Spasimo di Sicilia, or Christ bearing the Cross, now at Madrid, and the Transfigura- tion, painted in rivalry with Sebastian del Piombo, which was still unfinished at the time of his death, and was placed as a fitting memorial at the head of his bier, whilst his body lay in state in the church of Santa Maria della Rotonda. He died in 1520, on his birthday, the 6th of April, after a short illness caused by cold followed by fever. He was never m arried, but was betrothed for some time to a niece of the Cardinal Bibiena. She however died before him. It seems certain that she was not the beloved one of the sonnets, for in a letter to his uncle he speaks of the Bibiena alliance as if it were a mere matter of business.
The sorrow caused by Raphael's death was felt by all classes of society in Rome. " No eye," says Vasari, " was tearless at his burial," and Count Castiglione wrote to his mother some months afterwards, " I am well, but I cannot fancy myself in Rome now that my poor dear Raphael is no longer here."
His delicate beauty, as we see it in the portrait supposed to be his own, must have gone far to win men's hearts ;
• Eastlake remarks that S. Sixtus in this picture, as well as S. Francis in the Madonna di Fuligno, points out of the picture, as if inter- ceding for the spectator. He is not presenting a votary to the Madonna. — " Contributions to the Literature of the Fine Arts."
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 12S
but he preserved their love by the goodness of his nature and the fascinating charm of his society.
" All he had loved and moulded into thought From shape, and time, aud odour, and sweet sound Lamented Adonais."
On the 6th of March, 1475, Michael Angelo^ Buona- KOTTi was born at Castel Caprese, near Florence, of which small fortified town his father, Ludovico Buonarotti, was the podesta, or governor. On his parents' return to Florence he was put out to nurse with the wife of a stone- mason, thereby imbibing, as he was wont in jest to assert, his love for his profession with his nurse's milk. His taste for art being at all events unmistakably declared at an early age, his father in 1488, when Michael Angelo was only thirteen, bound him for three years to the masters- Domenico and David G-hirlandaii.
Domenico Ghirlandaio was at this time employed on his frescoes in the choir of S. Maria Novella, so that his young pupil found himself at once in the midst of great under- takings. His progress was soon so remarkable that his master, on seeing a drawing of some scaffolding, with men working on it, that Michael Angelo had executed, exclaimed in surprise, " This boy knows more than I do ! " " Stand- ing in amaze," adds Yasari, " at the originality and novelty of manner which the judgment imparted to him by heaven- had enabled a mere child to exhibit."
His first attempt at painting, according to Vasari, was a copy of the celebrated plate of Martin Schongauer, the Temptation of S. Anthony,^ which he reproduced in colours, and on a larger scale than the original. This gained him great credit, and, although copied from the German en- graver, he doubtless threw somewhat of his own mind into- it. We are told he studied attentively the fish exposed in the market at Florence, in order thoroughly to compre- hend the fishy nature of Schongauer' s devils.
His genius, however, in spite of his early education as a painter, turned naturally towards the plastic art, in which
' More correctly Michel Agnolo, but the ordinary form is generally^ usod. ^ See Book VI., Chap. L
124 HISTOET OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
his love of form could more freely be exercised ; but the sight of the treasures of classic art in the famous gardens of Lorenzo de' Medici seems first to have given him a powerful impulse towards sculpture.
These gardens formed a sort of art-nursery for the young artists of Florence, and Lorenzo himself took especial interest in the development of any youths among them whom he perceived to possess talent. Thus it was that Michael Angelo fell under his observation. Passing one day along the garden he noticed the young sculptor as he was copying the antique mask of a faun, one of the statues in the garden. He had not, however, copied the original implicitly, but had given his representation a wide-open mouth, in which the teeth could be seen. " Thou shouldst have remembered," remarked Lorenzo, " that old folks never retain all their teeth — some of them are always wanting." The hint was taken, and the next time Lorenzo passed that way he found that one of the faun's teeth had been knocked out and the gum filed away in such a manner as to look as if it had dropped out naturally.^
Prompt to remunerate genius as well as to recognize it, Lorenzo immediately took Michael Angelo into his own house, making arrangements with his father, upon whom he bestowed a small post in the Customs, that his son should be given up entirely to his care. Thus the early artistic life of Michael Angelo bloomed under the sunny skies and amidst the refined splendour of the court of the Medici. Every day there was a grand public banquet in the palace, at which Lorenzo the Magnificent, the poli- tician, the philosopher, the poet, the rewarder of genius, and the destroyer of the virtue and freedom of Florence, sat at the head of the table, the place at his right hand being free to whoever should come first, regardless of rank. Thus it sometimes happened that Michael Angelo sat next his patron, who always showed him great favour, and once " presented him, for his gratification, with a violet-coloured mantle."
But these prosperous times were not of long duration.
^ [What is believed to be this mask, or a copy of it, is in the Uffiz and there is no tooth missing.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 125"
In 1492 Lorenzo died, and althougli his son Piero suc- ceeded him in the government of Florence, it soon became evident to everyone that the overthrow of the Medici was. near at hand. Michael Angelo, like many other of their adherents, left the city before the storm broke, and retired to Bologna, where Piero himself was soon after obliged to- take refuge.
After passing a year in Bologna under the protection of the noble and generous family of the Aldovrandi, Michael Angelo returned to Florence, where Savonarola was utter- ing his warnings and exhorting his fellow-citizens to re- pentance. He is said to have been one of the adherents of the Florentine prophet, but he could scarcely have been such a devoted disciple as Bartolommeo and several other well-known artists, for in the midst of the wild religious excitement of the Lent of 1496,^ when statues of pagan gods and other antique relics were especial objects of ab- horrence, and when, as we have seen, Fra Bartolommeo- threw all his drawings from the nude, as " vanities," upon the fanatical bonfire Hghted by the Piagnoni, he executed a small figure of Cupid of such classic beauty that he was advised to keep it under groimd for a time, until it had assumed a weather-worn and ancient look, and then to pass it off as a genuine antique. This was done, and the Cupid was bought as an antique by the Cardinal San Giorgio, who afterwards, on fin^g out that it was really the work of a young Florentine sculptor, instead of resent- ing the cheat, immediately invited Michael Angelo to Kome.
It was in June, 1496, when he was just one-and-twenty, that Michael Angelo entered the capital, which was hence- forward to be the chief theatre of his labours, his con- tentions, and his triumphs. His fame was not at this time so great as that of Raphael when he also came ta Rome, at about the same age, twelve years later.
Michael Angelo' s genius was slower in development than that of Raphael, whose fertile imagination and industrious hand produced numberless beautiful works almost in his boyhood. Michael Angelo had done but little at this time^
p Michael Angelo's Cupid was executed in 1496.]
126 HISTOEY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
but sucli works as he had executed showed already the power and intellectual greatness of his mind. Power and intellect, these are the two characteristics that mark his works. He awes us by his grand ideas ; often our minds can scarcely reach up to his meaning, yet when, after deep study, we do at last attain to it, we are forced to o^vn that no master ever had greater thoughts, or expressed them in greater language. The language was gained, it is true, from ancient G-reece and Rome ; but he made it his own, as every great original genius does, by expressing his own thoughts in it ; he did not weakly copy classic art, but the same spirit as had formerly animated the old Grreek sculp- tors took possession of him, and led him on to similar achievements. For Michael Angelo's ideal is essentially a pagan ideal. He derives his artistic descent, not, like Raphael, from Christian Byzantium, but from pagan Rome. It is not, that is to say, the spiritual and moral nature of man that he seeks to represent, but his physical and intellectual nature, his strength and his reason. Therefore it is that he delights in the nude, as the best means of displaying man's physical power and beauty. He studied anatomy, we are told, for twelve years, and his knowledge of the human form was profound, yet we find him often violating the rules of proportion, exaggerating size, placing figures in impossible positions or constrained attitudes, if so be that they were thus wanted to carry out his idea. For, equally as much as Raphael, Michael Angelo painted and chiselled his forms in accordance with a certain image that presented itself to his mind. In spite of his deep study of nature, he is not a great naturalist, but the greatest of ideahsts. His men and women, his prophets and sibyls, are not transcripts of common nature, any more than Raphael's Madonnas, but are his own crea- tions, and live their powerful life by virtue of the mighty spirit he has breathed into them.
The first important work that he executed at Rome was the statue of Bacchus, now in the Bargello, at Florence. Critics disagree greatly in their judgment of this work, some considering it the perfection of manly beauty, and others, among whom may be mentioned Shelley, calling it ""nothing but a detestable representation of a drunken man."
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 127
His famous Pieta, however, a noble marble group repre- senting the Madonna mourning over the dead body of her Son, executed about the same time, at once raised him to the position of the first sculptor in Italy. ^
After acquiring great fame for this work in Eome, he again returned in 1500 to Florence, where the storm had broken in his absence, and had kindled the faggots in the market-place for the martyrdom of Savonarola and his companions. How Michael Angelo was affected by this does not appear, but in his old age he still remembered the mighty voice of the preacher whom he had heard in his youth, and it is impossible, as Grimm says, to avoid the thought, that the sufferings and death of such a man " were not without their influence upon the creative mind of the painter."
The greatest work that he executed at this time was his colossal statue of David, which still stands in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, at Florence, and is hewn out of a single block.^
Soon after the triumphant erection of the David, in 1504, Michael Angelo received the order for the painting of one wall of the Palazzo Vecchio, the cartoon for the other wall having been already prepared by Leonardo da Vinci, who had returned to Florence about the same time as him- self. The subject of this work, Florentine soldiers sur- prised whilst bathing in the Arno, has been already men- tioned,^ as well as the rivalry that arose out of it between Leonardo and himself. Before he could finish even the ■cartoon for this work, he was summoned to Eome in great haste by Julius 11. , who hearing that Michael Angelo was the greatest sculptor in Italy, at once felt a desire to secure his services for the execution of a colossal monument which he desired to have erected for himseK in S. Peter's. Michael Angelo's design for this monument greatly de- lighted the Pope, and he was ordered to proceed to Car- rara forthwith to arrange about the transmission of the marble for its execution.
Whilst he was gone, however, Bramante, who was then
[^ Now in S. Peter's.]
[" Now removed to the Academy.]
^ Page 92.
128 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV,
the architect of S. Peter's, and who appears to have always opposed Michael Angelo, did his utmost to dissuade the Pope from the idea of this mausoleum, suggesting that it was an evil omen to build himself a tomb in his lifetime ; so that when Michael Angelo returned, he found the ar- dour of Julius for this Undertaking considerably abated, and, when the marble finally arrived in Rome, he could not obtain the money to pay the marble cutters.^
In terrible anger at this, and also at not being able to gain admittance to his Holiness, who had before been so gracious to him, he suddenly took flight from Rome,^ and rode without ceasing until he was upon Florentine terri- tory. " If you require me in future," he said in a letter he left for the Pope, " you can seek me elsewhere than in Eome." He must have been a brave man who could thus defy the power of Julius II. Messengers were sent after him, who commanded, entreated, threatened, implored in vain. He would not return, maintaining that he was re- leased from his engagement respecting the mausoleum, by Julius neglecting to fulfil his part of the contract, and that he had no wish to execute any other commissions in Eome.
At last, Julius wrote to the Signiory of Florence, re- questing that his refractory artist should be sent back to him, but promising that he should go " free and untouched," for " we entertain no anger against him, knowing the habit and humour of men of this sort." Julius, in fact, did not care to offend the man whom he recognized as the greatest genius in his capital.
Still, however, Michael Angelo refused to trust these fair promises, and it was not until Soderini, who was then Gronfalonier, or chief magistrate of Florence, sent for him and told him plainly that he would not go to war with the Pope on his account, that he returned to his alle- giance.
After executing a large bronze statue of the Pope at Bologna, where Julius was then residing,^ he obediently
* Grimm, " Life of Michael Angelo."
[2 In 1506.]
[^ In 1507.] The greater part of the letters of Michael Angelo to his family in Florence, during his stay at Bologna, are preserved in the British Museum.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 129
took up his residence in Eome, where, instead of being al- lowed to finish the mausoleum as he desired, he found that Julius was now bent on employing him as a painter, and that the work allotted to him was no less than the decora- tion with frescoes of the whole vaulted roof of the Sistine chapel. The task presented many difficulties. He had never before worked in colour,^ and it was difficult to get artists to assist him. But Julius overruled all objections, and, in the end, the Sistine chapel was covered with those marvellous frescoes which have been the wonder and admi- ration of all succeeding ages. "Words are utterly inade- quate to convey any idea of the profound thought and ma- jestic utterance of Michael Angelo in these works, and space will not permit of any detailed description of their subjects being entered on here. Suffice it to say, that in one comprehensive poem he sets forth the history of crea- tion as told in the book of Genesis, and the various deli- verances of the people of Israel, expressed by the Brazen Serpent, Gohath, Esther, and Judith. The Creation of Light, wherein the Father, upborne as it were on the wings of the wind, and surrounded by spirits, divides the light from the darkness, and sets the sun and moon for lights in the firmament of heaven, and the Creation of Adam, are especially remarkable for their solemn grandeur of conception.
In the triangular compartments of the vault are placed those figures of the Prophets and Sibyls, with which his name is for ever associated. These idealizations have all an underlying reference to the subject of the world's redemption by Christ. They signify the waiting and longing of the world for his advent, as do also the groups of the ancestors of Mary.
JuUus n., as usual, was extremely impatient to see the work he had commissioned finished ; but as Michael An- gelo worked almost without assistance (for he found the few painters who adhered to him unable to carry out his ideas), his frescoes in the Sistine naturally did not progress
[^ Never at least on a very important composition of his own, but he had been the assistant of Ghirlandaio, and the Holy Family in the UflSzi is supposed to have been painted about 1503. The unfinished picture in the National Gallery (No. 809) belongs to a still earlier date.]
K
130 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
SO fast as those of Eaphael in the Vatican, who was helped by a number of first-rate scholars. One day, it is related, Julius came to him, and demanded to know when he would have finished. "When I can," replied Michael Angelo. " When thou canst ! " thundered the fiery old pope. " Hast thou a mind that I should have thee thrown from this scaffolding ? "
Michael Angelo dared not brave the lion's anger any further, and accordingly allowed the scaffolding, which he had constructed on a peculiar plan of his own, to be taken down, and on All Saints' Day, 1509, the whole of Rome crowded to the chapel, the pope first, "who, indeed, had not patience to wait until the dust caused by removing the scaffolding had subsided." ^
When Leo X. succeeded to the papal throne, Raphael, as we have seen, was the favoured artist. Michael Angelo himself desired nothing more than to be permitted to work on at the mausoleum of Julius II., for which he had already executed his great figure of Moses, and he even went on with this mausoleum on his own account, without receiving payment ; but hindrances were constantly thrown in his way, and at last he was sent to Florence to superintend the building of the facade of San Lorenzo, and to execute the sculptures for it. This was a most important commis- sion ; but he contrived to quarrel with the pope, and also with the people of Carrara about the marble, and in the end nothing was accomplished. Indeed, the ten years of Leo's pontificate seem to have been wellnigh lost years in Michael Angelo' s life.
In 1527 occurred the fearful sack of Rome under the Constable de Bourbon. Michael Angelo, more fortunate than many artists, was at Florence during the dreadful days succeeding the siege, when the hideous moral foulness of the holy city was being purged by those retributive scavengers, Grerman soldiery, pestilence, and famine. Some years afterwards, however, when Clement "VTI., with the aid of the imperial cannon, gave the final blow to the free- dom of Florence, or rather, when the city which fire and famine had been unable to subdue, was treacherously
[^ The whole ceiling was not finished till about three years after this.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 131
yielded to the Medici, Michael Angelo was in great danger, for he had taken an important part in the defence of the ■city against his early patrons. He remained for a time <;oncealed ; but Clement VII., who seems to have recognized the advantage of having such a man in his service, pro- mised him not only perfect security, but a continuance of the commission he had received from Leo for the sculp- tures of San Lorenzo. He accordingly came forth from his hiding-place, and worked with such " morbid haste," that in a few months he had achieved the four great re- cumbent figures of Night, Morning, Dawn, and Twilight on the tombs of Lorenzo and Giuliano de' Medici, which are considered by many critics to be his greatest works in flculpture.
In reply to some verses affixed to the statue of Night, alluding to the figure as " sleeping," Michael Angelo made " Night " answer, with gloomy bitterness, " Sleep is dear to me, and still more that I am of stone, so long as dis- honour and shame last among us. The happiest fate is to see, to hear nothing ; for this reason waken me not : I pray you speak gently." ^
"We see in these verses something of the bitterness of feeling in which Michael Angelo was wont to indulge. No doubt pohtical events contributed much to foster his some- what sardonic melancholy ; but, besides outward events, a •deep personal grief seems at some time of his life to have been laid on his heart. We have no hint as to the nature of this grief, only, in a profoundly sorrowful poem on the death of his father, he tells us that, although yielding to reason's teaching, he hides his pain, yet —
" That greater torment springs from the restraint."
Hopeless love is imagined by several of his biographers to be dimly shadowed forth in his sonnets ; but with the ■exception of the noble Princess Vittoria Colonna, whose sympathetic friendship cheered his later life, no woman's name is in any way associated with his.
' " Grate m' e'l sonno, e piu lesser di sasso Mcntre che '1 danno e la vergogna dura ; Non veder, non sentir m' e gran ventura ; Pero non mi destar, deh I parla basso."
132 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
He dwelt alone, a gloomy, self-centred man, with tliouglits too great sometimes for utterance, but Condivi and Vasari, and others who knew him best, testify to the real goodness, of heart of the bitter-tongued old man, and many kind deeds are recorded of him. His style of living, very diffe- rent from that of Leonardo and Eaphael, was almost ascetic- in its abstinence. " Rich as I am," he once said to Con- divi,^ " I have always lived as a poor man." Yet he was never a miser, but contributed freely to the support of hia relations, many of whom seem to have needed his help.
Before the Medicean chapel of San Lorenzo could bo completed, Clement VII. died, and Paul III., who succeeded, not being a Medicean pope, was desirous that Michael An- gelo should leave the works he had begun for that family, and undertake others for him. Michael Angelo, also, was anxious to leave Florence, over which Alessandro de' Medici now reigned as duke, and accordingly, in 1534, he came back to Eome, where, at the pope's request, he was again obliged to lay aside sculpture for painting.
The Last Judgment, the work which Michael Angelo now undertook, to complete the decoration of the Sistine chapel, has suffered more fatally from time, neglect, and injury, than any other of his works. The paintings on the roof, it is true, are faded by time, and blackened by dirt and clouds of incense- smoke. Large cracks also run across them, and the rain has oozed through in many places, but in their inaccessible position they have at least been safe from the ravaging hand of man. Not so the Last Judgment, which has been subjected to every species of ill-treatment, but has received its most fatal injury from the purism of a later pope, who, offended with the nakedness of Michael Angelo' s figures, had most of them painted over with gaudy drapery.
It is now, indeed, easier to form a correct idea of this work by means of good engravings, and the sketches of many of the groups which still exist in various museums, than from the painting itself ; yet, perhaps, no work of the master more fully expresses his great creative genius.
* Ascanio Condivi was a pupil of Michael Angelo, and lived in his house. He published a biography of him about the same time as Vasari.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 133
All traditionarj types for the representation of this event were thrown aside by him. We are struck at once, in look- ing at it, at the immense difference that lies between his conception of the scene, and that of Orcagna, Era Angelico, and other religious painters. The grotesque element which, to a certain extent, was apparent in the works of these men, is no longer at work here. All is terrible, is sublime; Christ is no longer the Eedeemer, but the Avenging Judge, with whom even the Virgin dares not now intercede. Fear, rage, and despair are the prevailing emotions. It is truly the " Dies irse " of the old hymn, the joys of the blessed being entirely lost sight of in the convulsive struggles of the damned, who in every attitude of fore- shortening are thrust by avenging angels, and drawn by devils, down to hell. But although this idea of a day of wrath is pre-eminently a Christian one ; one, indeed, upon which the theologians of the middle ages especially loved to dwell, Michael Angelo has conceived the scene in a wholly pagan spirit. These are not companies of the faithful, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb ; these are not worshippers of the Beast cast into the lake of fire, but rather " some antique race of Titans and Giants dashed into the abyss by the Thunderer Jupiter." It is a tragic l^oem, such as ^schylus'or Euripides might have sung, but not such as we read in the Revelation of S. John the Divine.
This was Michael Angelo' s last work in painting. In 1547 he was appointed by Paul III. chief architect of S. Peter's, an office which he undertook at the age of seventy- two " for nothing but the honour of God." From his plan was raised the great dome of S. Peter's, and the whole of the remainder of his life was occupied with this building.
Almost all his poems ^ express a weary longing for the
^ These poems have been translated into English, and published in a small volume, entitled '• Michael Angelo a Poet," by John Edward Tay- lor. Many of them arg given in Herman Grimm's " Life of Michael Angelo." They are mostly deeply melancholy in sentiment, and have great poetical beauty. Wordsworth also has translated several of his sonnets. [Mr. J. A. Symonds' " Sonnets of Michael Angelo Buonarroti nnd Toramaso Campanella," published in 1878, contains the first trans. Jations into English of the sonnets of Michael Angelo from a pure text.]
134 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IT.
release of his soul from its prison-house,, but it was not until he had reached his ninetieth year that the Angel of Death brought him the desired rest.
He died at Rome on the 17th of February, 1564. His body was carried to Florence by his own desire to be buried,, although he had been a voluntary exile for thirty years from his native city.
Much false enthusiasm is often expressed regarding Michael Angelo's art. People know that he is a great artist, and therefore they feel bound to admire his works,, but the truth is that it needs a severe course of artistic training before the true greatness of his style can be arrived at. He never appeals to the popular taste. Leonardo and Raphael all can appreciate; even the uneducated mind feels their charm, if it does not understand their merits^ but I might almost say that it requires an artist fully to- appreciate Michael Angelo's surpassing greatness.
The National Grallery made, in 1868, an important acqui- sition in the unfinished picture by Michael Angelo, of tha Entombment of Christ, No. 790. Even in its unfinished state it reveals the power of the master's hand,^ There is also one of the several repetitions of the so-called Dream of Michael Angelo in the National Collection, No. 8, probably executed by Sebastian del Piombo.
Sebastiano Luciani, called del Piombo, from his clerical ofB.ce at the papal court of Keeper of the Leaden Seals (1485-1547), was undoubtedly the greatest of Michael Angelo's assistants. He was a Venetian by birth, and learnt the secret of Venetian colour in the schools of Bellini and Giorgione. On coming to Eome he made the acquaintance of Michael Angelo, and was employed by him to colour some of his designs. The soft brilliancy of his tones, a quality gained from Giorgione, was much admired in Rome, where Venetian art was but little known, and, when furnished with designs by Michael Angelo, he was held by many to be no mean rival to Raphael. It is asserted, indeed, that Michael Angelo, too
[^ The National Gallery also contains (No, 809) another fine un- finished picture by Michael Angelo, The Madonna and Infant Christy S. John the Baptist and Angels, purchased from Lord Taunton's, executors in 1870.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTINa IN ITALY. 135
disdainful himself to enter into competition with the popu- lar Raphael, yet pushed the Venetian forward, and helped him in his art to the end that Raphael might be distanced. If this were so, the attempt was a signal failure, although Sebastiano's works have many qualities that Raphael's do not possess. His colouring is forcible, and his composition effective. We have also some very fine portraits by him.^ The Raising of Lazarus, the well-known picture of the National Gallery, is considered to be his greatest work. It was painted in direct rivalry with Raphael, and was exhi- bited at the same time as the Transfiguration in the hall of the Consistory at Rome. Michael Angelo most likely pre- pared the cartoon for this work, and undoubtedly drew the grand figure of Lazarus.^
Jacopo Carucci, or da Pontormo (1494-1557), a scholar of Andrea del Sarto, likewise painted from Michael Angelo's designs, but with less powerful colour than Sebas- tiano. His portraits, as with so many inferior masters, are far better than his composed works. There is a good portrait of a boy by him in the National Collection.^
Marcello Venusti (about 1515-1580) was an imitator of Michael Angelo and of Sebastian del Piombo.*
Daniele Ricciarelli, or da Volterra (bom about 1509, died 1566), is more original, but his originality is unpleasant. He exaggerates Michael Angelo's peculiari- ties ; treads on the dangerous heights of sublimity, and, not possessing his master's calm power, is apt to slip down to the ridiculous. His principal work is the Descent from the Cross, in the Church of the Trinita de' Monti, at Rome.
The other followers of Michael Angelo fell more and more into painful mannerism and exaggerated anatomical
[' Modem criticism assigns to Sebastian the so-called Fornarina at the Uffizi, formerly attributed to Raphael.]
P It is now known that Michael Angelo was absent in Florence at the completion and during the progress of this painting ; it is scarcely pro- bable that he furnished more than the merest sketches for it.]
[' This portrait is ascribed by Dr. J. P. Richter to Bronzino, but a picture of Joseph and his kindred (No. 1131) is an undoubted example of Pontormo.]
[* There is a picture of Christ driving out the Traders from the Temple, by Venusti, in the National Gallery (No. 1194).
136 HISTOEY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
displays. They produced immense paintings with nude figures in every variety of attitude, but instead of the grand ideal of Michael Angelo, which was based on a profound knowledge of the real, we have in them feeble imitations, which strive to reach the ideal by despising the real. Even such qualities as bold drawing and correct anatomy are wanting in these masters, to say nothing of mind, which is entirely absent. Their colouring also is cold and untruth- ful in the extreme ; in fact, their art scarcely possesses one attractive feature. The reason of this, perhaps, was that Michael Angelo' s style was altogether too great for any lesser artist to attain. He could express his ideas in power- ful language, because his ideas were powerful, but when weaker men strove to make use of that language to express trivial ideas, the language itself became absurd.
The two brothers, Taddeo and Federigo Zuccaeo, are perhaps the best illustrations of the great fall from Michael Angelo to his followers.
Giorgio Vasari (1512-1574) was another instance of a tasteless painter, who strove hard to attain his master's " grand style," but failed most deplorably. Perhaps, how- ever, had he been a greater painter (I do not mean a larger one, he seems to have covered acres of canvas), he might not have left us his delightful biographies, which amply atone for all his deficiencies. Federigo Zuccaro was likewise an author, but his written works are said to be as empty and inflated as his painted ones.^
Raphael's pupils and followers approach nearer to their master than Michael Angelo's. During Eaphael's lifetime, indeed, and whilst his influence was still strong, many of them produced works which are almost equal to his in beauty and grace, but very soon they fell into mannerism and weakness, and their later works are sadly degenerate in sentiment from those of the earlier time. The prevail- ing paganism of the age, by which as we have seen even Raphael was influenced in his later time, reaches its height, perhaps, in the works of his most celebrated pupil, Giulio Pippi, called GiTJLio Eomano (1498-1546).*
^ His principal work is a philosophical treatise on art, " L'idea ds' Sciiltori, Pittnri e Architetti."
[2 He was left executor to Eaphael and heir to his designs.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 137
Giulio Romano was an artist of great talent, and of con- siderable fertility of invention. During Raphael's lifetime he copied liis style so closely, that it requires a good judge to tell the work of the pupil from that of the master, and in the frescoes of the Sala di Constantino also, which he executed after Raphael's death from his drawings, the same close resemblance to Raphael's style is apparent. But very soon after this he broke loose from the restraint that Raphael's pure style had imposed upon him, and indulged in the riotous imaginations of his own mind. His taste became, indeed, utterly depraved, and his classicism fol- lowed not the severe art of ancient Grreece, but the debased art of the Roman period, the art of Pompeii and Hercu- laneum.
In 1524, he was summoned to Mantua, by the Marquis Federigo Gonzaga, in whose service he passed the rest of his life, directing works in architecture as well as painting. In the frescoes of the Palazzo del Te that he built and de- corated for his patron, his unbridled style is more fully displayed than in any other of his works. These frescoes are often, it may be admitted, powerful in conception and rich in invention, but there is a coarseness of mind appa- rent in them that it is peculiarly unpleasant to find in the pupil of the refined Raphael. Eastlake speaks of many of these frescoes as being " decidedly bad," and " uselessly in- decorous," and in others, such as the well-known Overthrow of the Giants, the style of Michael Angelo is carried to an immoderate excess. His simpler decorative works are much more pleasing. They have generally a charming antique grace and beauty.
But, in spite of this antique grace, Giulio Romano did more to hasten the fall of art, which proceeded with terrible swiftness after the death of Raphael, than any other artist, for he had an immense number of scholars and assistants,^ all of whom copied the vicious qualities of his art, rather than its excellences, and, without his faculty of invention, attempted similar flights of pagan fancy with miserable results. Pbimaticcio (1504-1570)
[^ One of these was Rinaldo Mantovano, to whom, and not to Giulio K'linano, Messrs. Crowo and Cavalcaselle ascribe Nos. 643 and 644 in the National Gallery.]
138 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOZ IV.
has the glorj of having imported Giulio's style into France, where he decorated the palace of Fontainebleau for Francis I.
[We have spoken in a former chapter of the early painters of Ferrara. In the beginning of the sixteenth century the principal painters of that school were Dosso Dossi and G-arofalo. Dosso Dossi, whose real name was Giovanni Niccolo di Lutero (1479-1542), studied Tinder Lorenzo Costa, and his essentially Ferrarese style was in some degree influenced by the Venetians. His most important works are at Modena and at Ferrara, where he was court-painter to Alfonso d'Este. Two are at Hampton Court, and a small Adoration of the Magi in the National Gallery (No. 640) is a good example of his vivid colouring and original conception. No. 82 at the Liverpool Institution is ascribed to Dosso. Benvenuto Tisio, called from his birthplace Garofalo (1481-1559), is a less original artist than Dosso. He spent his life in many cities of North Italy, and at one time visited Eome, where he was not unaffected by the school of Eaphael. He painted a great deal and mostly religious subjects. Four of his works are in the National Gallery. No. 671, The Madonna Enthroned, is a fine example of his large altar- pieces. No. 669 in the National Gallery is ascribed to Giovanni Battista Benvenuti, called L'Ortolano (about 1500-1525), a contemporary of Garofalo's, about whom nothing is known. Ludovico Mazzolino (1481, died about 1528-30) was a Ferrarese of Garofalo's time who painted mostly religious subjects upon a small scale, of which there are two fair examples in the National Gallery.]
There yet remains to notice one other artist, a Florentine,, who was not a scholar of Leonardo, Eaphael, or Michael Angelo, but who maintained, like Fra Bartolommeo, an in- dependent position, while all lesser men were irresistibly attracted into the schools of one or other of these three great masters. This artist was Andrea del Sarto, or more correctly Andrea d' Angelo (1486-1531). He was the son, as his cognomen implies, of a tailor, and received his earliest education in art from the eccentric old Piero di Cosimo.
It is difficult to understand why Andrea del Sarto-
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 139'
does not rank with the very greatest masters of his time ; in many respects he was their equal, and yet in the bril- liant constellation of painters that rose and set in Italy in. the sixteenth century, he can only be reckoned as a star of the second magnitude. Such a classification affords a strong proof of the surpassing greatness of those few masters whose names shine so brightly in art history, that beside them even that of Andrea del Sarto, " the Fault- less Painter," grows pale.^
His works have many of the elements that usually con- stitute greatness. His drawing is masterly, his modelling perfect, his style dignified, and, above all, his colouring lovely and harmonious ; in this latter quality, indeed, he- exceeds nearly every master of the Florentine school, and approaches closely to the excellence of Correggio and the Venetians. What is it, then, that is wanting in his art, for all feel that there is something wanting, although unable to define exactly what that something is ? Mrs. Jameson says, that "he would have been a far greater artist, had he been a better man," ^ but this confoimding the moral state of the man with the artistic expression of the artist, is somewhat dangerous, although sanctioned by Ruskin.
The truth probably is, that Andrea was an artist of ex- traordinary talent, but of very little real genius. It is in- spiration that is lacking in his works, that mysterious breath of the spirit breathed in and breathed forth again in words or visible images, that we dimly perceive in all those works of man's genius that we truly call inspired.
Andrea del Sarto' s was, after all, but the " low-pulsed forth-right craftsman's hand," and therefore his perfect art does not touch our hearts like that of Fra Bar- tolommeo, who occupies about the same position with regard to the great masters of the century as Andrea del Sarto. Fra Bartolommeo spoke from his heart. He was moved by the spirit, so to speak, to express his pure and holy thoughts in beautiful language, and the ideal that presented itself to his mind, and from which he, equally
^ Vasari states that he was called even in his own time, " Andrea, senza errori."
^ *' Early Italian Painters."
140 HISTORY OF PAINTING, [bOOK IV
with Raphael, worked, approached almost as closely as Raphael's to that abstract beauty after which they botl] longed. Andrea del Sarto had no such longing : he was content with the loveliness of earth. This he could under- stand and imitate in its fullest perfection, and therefore he troubled himself but little about the " wondrous pa- terne " laid up in heaven. Many of his Madonnas have greater beauty, strictly speaking, than those of Bartolom- meo, or even of Raphael ; but we miss in them that mys- terious spiritual loveliness that gives the latter their chief charm, and, at the side of a Madonna and Child by either of these painters, one by Andrea del Sarto looks coarse and vulgar.
Most people know something of the sad history of Andrea's life. How he was married [in 1513] to a beautiful but faithless woman, who exercised a sort of fatal fascina- tion over him ; how he was invited to France by Francis I., where he executed a number of works for the king and his court, especially the splendid picture of Charity, in the Louvre (1518) ; but how, after having pledged himself to execute many commissions, he returned to Florence at the sohcitations of his wife, and not only thought no more of his promises to Francis and his nobles, but [it is said] even used the money with which the French king had entrusted him to purchase works of art in Italy, for his own purposes. This breach of trust does not seem to have met with any direct punishment, [for he was highly esteemed in Florence, and was kept fully employed till his death. ^]
Besides his easel-pictures — Madonnas, Holy Families, and similar subjects for altar-pieces — Andrea executed several important series of frescoes. Those in the SS. Annunziata at Florence are the most celebrated. He seems to have painted here at three distinct periods ; fii'st, when he painted a series of five frescoes, setting forth the history of Filippo Benozzi ; ^ next, when he executed the Adoration of the Kings and the Birth of the Virgin, a
^ His supposed state of mind at this time is set forth in Robert IBrowning's di-amatic poem, " Andrea del Sarto," in " Men and Women."
[2 The founder of the Order of the Servites, to whom the church belonged.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 141
composition of great dignity, and beautiful in colour, and, lastly, when he executed his famous Madonna del Sacco ^ in the lunette above the entrance to the court of the- convent. A Last Supper, painted in the refectory of the- convent of S. Salvi, is also spoken of as being a very grandly composed work.^
It is by his oil-paintings, however, that Andrea is best known. These are to be met with in almost every gallery, and although no doubt many ascribed to him are not genuine, still, considering the shortness of his life (he died at the age of forty-two), he must have executed a great amount of work. In all his representations of the Virgin we have the same type of beauty ; indeed, it is said that he was so completely absorbed by his wife, the lovely Lucretia, that unconsciously, as well as consciously, he re- produced her features in every woman he painted, whether Virgin, saint, or goddess.^
The portrait in the National Gallery, said to be his own likeness, is extremely interesting. There is a sad, weary look in the face which, knowing as we do the artist's his- tory, becomes wonderfully expressive. Mrs. Jameson also^ speaks of another portrait in Lord Cowper's collection at Panshanger,* in which she notices the same melancholy ex- pression of countenance. " One might fancy," she says,, " that he had been writing to his wife."
The Holy Family, No. 17 of the National Gallery, is not a good example of his work, if indeed it be his work.
[One of the best of Andrea's scholars, and his constant assistant in his frescoes, was Francesco di Cristopano BiGi, commonly called Francia Bigio (1482-1525), who,, after studying under Albertinelli, worked with Andrea del Sarto. Many of his portraits, sometimes signed F. B., are
^ So called because Joseph is represented leaning on a sack.
[» Painted 1526-27.]
3 We must not forget that the belief regarding the infidelity and over- bearing temper of Lucretia del Fede rests entirely on Vasari's evidence, who was in his youth apprenticed to Andrea del Sarto, and who, as well as his fellow-apprentices, had much to suffer from the lady's violent temper. It is quite possible, therefore, that he may have been prejudiced against her.
[* Lent to the Royal Academy Winter Exhibition in 1881. It is- doubtful whether it be a portrait of the artist.]
142 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
variously ascribed, to Del Sarto, to Raphael, and to Sebastian del Piombo. There is a portrait in Del Sarto' s manner in the National G-allery (No. 1035), which, though darkened, is an excellent example of Bigio.
Other disciples or fellow-workers with Andrea were Pontormo, already mentioned ; G-io. Battista di Jacopo, called II Eosso (1494-1541), who worked principally in Prance, and was painter to Prancis I. before Primaticcio. In his later works he was an imitator of Michael Angelo ; DoMENico PuLiGO (1492-1527), and Prancesco d'Uber- TiNO, called Bacchiaca (1494-1557), a pupil of Perugino, by whom there are two pictures of the History of Joseph in the National Gallery, Nos. 1218 and 1219].
The blooming time of Italian art in Florence and Eonie, even before the death of Michael Angelo, who survived, so to speak, his age, drew to its close. Before the death of Raphael, indeed, symptoms of decay had begun to show themselves, and these increased so rapidly, that by the end of the century the art of Leonardo, Raphael, and Michael Angelo lay dead in the dust. These artists had no suc- cessors. It seemed as though they had reached the per- fection of art, and from them only decline was possible.
We must now turn to the North of Italy, and watch the flower of Italian art unfolding, blooming, and declining in •a similar manner there.
Chapter IV. SCHOOL OF VENICE.
The Bellini — Giorgione — Titian— Tintoretto — Paolo Veronese — Correggio.
VENETIAN painting was considerably later than Flo- rentine in its development. The influence of G-iotto was, indeed, less felt in Venice than almost any other city of Italy, and the Byzantine style, or " Greek manner," as
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 143
Vasari calls it, continued in favour until far into the fifteenth ■century; such artists as Jacobello del Fiore, Negeo- PONTE, DoNATO, and GiAMBONO, although called some- times early Venetians, being, strictly speaking, only Veneto- Byzantine painters.
It was not, in fact, until Antonello da Messina (living probably from about 1444 to 1493) introduced into Italy the Flemish method of oil-painting that he had learnt in the school of the Van Eycks, that the true colour school of Venice can be said to have been really founded.
Before this time, however, there were several painters working in Venice who claim some mention. Especially in the island of Murano, separate from Venice by a narrow channel, a school of painting seems to have been established from the commencement of the fifteenth century. [It was here that a painter who signed himself sometimes Johannes Alamanus, and sometimes Johannes da Murano, worked together with Antonio Vivabini da Murano for some years after 1440. Some have traced a G-erman influence in their joint work, but it is rather that of Gentile da Fabriano that is evident in the finest work of the two masters, an Enthroned Madonna in the Venice Academy, dated 1446, and in Antonio's Adoration of the Kings in the Berlin Museum. Antonio afterwards worked in Venice with his younger brother, Bartolommeo Vivarini. Of the numerous altar-pieces with which Antonio, first with Johannes and afterwards with his brother, decorated the churches in Venice and the neighbourhood, most are dilapidated. An altar-piece by the brothers in the Pinacoteca at Bologna is dated 1450. When they worked alone, Bartolommeo showed the greater independence. He adopted much of the style of the school of Padua, aimed at greater natu- ralism, and decorated his pictures with gay flowers and coloured marbles. His latest works are dated 1499. An- tonio died in 1470. In the National Gallery he is repre- sented by a picture of SS. Peter and Jerome (No. 768), and Bartolommeo by a Virgin and Child with S. Paul and S. Jerome (No. 284). A younger member of the Vivarini family, Luigi or Alvise (died before 1503), made advances beyond his master Bartolommeo. The Enthroned Mary with the Child and Saints, at Berlin, is considered by
144 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV
Morelli ("Italian Masters") to be one of the most im portant productions of Venetian art in the fifteenth cen tury.]
Carlo Crivelli (working as late as 1495) is said bj Ridolfo to have been a pupil of Jacobello del Fiore, [and b^ others to have learnt from Bartolommeo Vivarini; but indeed, he also was very strongly influenced by the schoo! of Squarcione at Padua.] He is well represented in th( National Collection, which contains no less than eight oi his works, including a magnificent altar-piece in thirteer compartments, formerly in the Church of S. Domenico, a1 Ascoli.^ The Enthroned Madonna between S. Francis and S. Sebastian, No. 807, is far beyond his usual level oi merit.^ It is dated 1491, and was therefore painted at a time when several of the great painters of Venice were working around him. He always, however, adhered to the hard quattrocentisti style, and belongs, therefore, by his art, to an earlier date than that at which he painted. He remained faithful, also, to the old tempera method, whereas all the other painters of Venice were then using oils.
The brilhancy and richness of oil-painting seem from the first to have been peculiarly attractive to the Venetian taste, and no sooner was the secret of Van Eyck's invention known in Italy that his method was almost universally adopted. Antonello, a painter of Messina, has the reputa- tion, as before stated, of having first taught the Venetians the Flemish method, which evidently, by the enthusiasm which it excited, was an immense improvement on all that had preceded it.^
Vasari gives a most graphic and interesting account of Antonello' s proceedings, only, unfortunately, as is usual with the old chronicler, he has blundered in his facts, from his easy habit of setting down every anecdote that was re- lated to him, without taking the trouble to verify it.
^ In the collection of the Earl of Dudley there are also a number of paintings by him.
[^ The National Gallery is richer than any other gallery in the works of this highly accomplished, fantastic, and elaborate master. The An- nunciation, No. 739, is by some considered his finest work.]
3 For the history of Van Ejck's invention, see Book VII., Chap. I.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 145
Antonello, he says, " a man of lively genius, of much sagacity, and of considerable experience in his calling," having heard of a picture that Alfonso, king of Naples, had received from Flanders painted in oils by Jan Van Eyck, obtained leave to see it, and was so forcibly im- pressed by the vivacity, beauty, and harmony of its colour- ing, that, laying aside all other business, he at once re- paired to Flanders, where he sought the acquaintance of Jan Van Eyck, and learnt from him, apparently without any jealous difficulty being thrown in his way, the whole secret of his process.^
Returning first to Messina, but soon after settling in Venice, it soon became known that he had brought the Flemish secret back with him, and his society was greatly courted, not only by artists, but by " the magnificent nobles of Venice, by whom he was much beloved and amicably treated." [Of his three works in the National Gallery, the earliest, the Salvator Mundi, No. 673, is in oil, Flemish in style, and of comparatively feeble execution. It is dated 1465, and is the earliest dated picture by him that is known. The Crucifixion (No. 1,166) is equally Flemish in its minute detail and carefully executed land- scape. The portrait of a young man, supposed to be the painter himself (No. 1,141), is far more Venetian in colour, and is besides a marvel of firm modelling and realistic characterization, showing as complete a mastery over the materials as the great Flemings themselves possessed.] Antonello da Messina is essentially Flemish in his style. It is difficult, indeed, to tell his paintings from those of the Bruges school. His outlines are even harder than those of Rogier Vander Weyden, and his details are as minute and carefully worked. The landscapes in his religious subjects are often predominant, and although not always Flemish views have entirely the Flemish character. His colouring is solemn and powerful, but scarcely equal to that of the
[* For the controversy on this subject see especially Morelli (" Italian Painters"), pp. 376-390. Jan Van Eyck probably died before Anto- nello was born. There were several Flemings in Italy from whom Antonello might have learnt their method of oil-painting. Antonello was in Venice in 1473, probably before, and this is the nearest date we can fix for the introduction of the oil method into Venice.]
L
146 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
school in which he had learnt. One of his finest works is in the Antwerp Academy — a Crucifixion with a distant and detailed landscape. There is also a fine portrait, said to be of himself, in the same gallery. [Belonging to 1475, and showing Venetian influence, are a portrait in the Louvre and a Crucifixion at Antwerp, both fine examples of the master. A splendid portrait in the Berlin Museum (No. 18) bears the latest date (1478) of any picture by him, and is quite Venetian.]
Beyond all other early Venetians, however, the Bellini are the representatives of Venetian art at this time, and must be reckoned as the founders of its true greatness.
Jacopo Bellini (bom about 1400, died about 1464), the father of the more renowned Grentile and Giovanni, was a pupil of G-ENTiLE DA Fabriano,^ an Umbrian master of the early part of the fifteenth century, who resided for some time at Venice, and appears to have exercised a con- siderable influence over early Venetian art. His style somewhat resembles that of Fra Angelico, but, not being a monk, his ideas were less cramped, and his view of human life broader. Not only Jacopo, but likewise several of the Muranese painters studied under him. But although the effects of his teaching are often discernible, it was after all from the Paduan school that the Bellini received their early training. Jacopo Bellini was evidently much attached to his master Gentile, whom he followed to Florence ^ (in 1422), and after whom he named his eldest son, but such of his works as remain reveal for the most part a decided leaning towards Paduan art, as expressed in the works of his son-in-law Mantegna, whose influence became still more apparent in the early art of his sons. Mantegna, in fact, was too powerful a genius for any less original minds to come in contact with him without receiving deep impres- sions, and accordingly we find that the Bellini, both father and sons, who were, as we have seen, intimately associated
[^ The picture by which he is best known is in the Academy of Fine Arts at Florence, an Adoration of the Kings, signed, and dated 1423. Little else of his works remains.]
^ The records of Florence bear evidence that Jacopo was once prose- cuted and ordered to do penance for having beaten someone who had insulted Gentile.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 147
both in relationship and art with Mantegna at Padua, where they long resided, brought back to Venice when they returned there many of the characteristics of his style. Jacopo Bellini is perhaps more important as the father and teacher of Gentile and Giovanni than as an independent master, but he is spoken of by Vasari as having been held in high repute in his day. Unfortunately, scarcely one authentic painting by him is preserved.^
[There are two pictures of the Virgin and Child, signed by Jacopo, one in the Accademia, the other in the collec- tion of Count Tadini at Lovere ; one of the Crucifixion, signed, at Verona. An engraving of a Crucifixion by Paul Veronese reproduces a fresco by Jacopo Bellini, formerly in the Cathedral at Verona.]
Gentile Bellini (about 1426-1507) probably excelled his father as much as he, in turn, was excelled by his younger brother Giovanni. This, we are told, was what the good father desired, who " encouraged his sons, con- stantly telling them that he desired to see them do as did the Florentines, who were perpetually striving among themselves to carry off the palm of distinction by out- stripping each other, that so he would have Giovanni surpass himself, whilst Gentile should vanquish them both."^
It was, however, Giovanni who " vanquished them both," but Gentile also accomplished excellent work in his day. Both brothers were highly esteemed in Venice, and in 1474 Gentile was honoured by the government with a commis- sion to decorate the Great Hall of Council of the Ducal Palace with frescoes, representing events of Venetian his- tory. Gentile da Fabriano had before this executed some frescoes in this Hall, but it appears that they had already fallen into decay when his godchild Gentile Bellini was appointed to " renew and restore them."
He was interrupted in this work by an appointment in
^ A most valuable volume of sketches, however, now safely treasured in the British Museum, tells us probably more of his mode of design than more finished works might do. It is by these sketches that Man- tegna's inHuence is revealed, many of them being completely in his «tyle.
'■' Vasari.
148 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV,
1479 to go to Constantinople, whither he was sent by the Doge, in compliance with a request of the Sultan that the Venetians would supply him with a good painter ; — for the Venetians, who had been regarded as the outposts of Chris- tianity, had, after the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, with their ever keen desire for profit, entered into friendly commercial relations with their infidel neighbours ;. — and Gentile, when he arrived at Constantinople, was re- ceived with great honour. He painted whilst there the admirable portrait of the wily old Sultan Mehemet 11.,^ and the portraits, it is said, of several ladies of his harem. The large painting in the Louvre also, representing the reception of the Venetian Embassy at Constantinople, was doubtless composed if not painted on the spot. But Gen- tile did not stay long at Constantinople,^ for in the follow- ing year we find him again in Venice, and at work on the frescoes of the Council Hall, which his brother Giovanni had been commissioned to continue in his absence.
The two brothers now worked together, and accomplished some great works, all of which, however^ perished by fire in 1577.
The most important works that now remain by Gentile,, are the pictures in the academy at Venice, representing the Miracles of the Cross. In one, a fragment of the true Cross, borne in solemn procession, effects a miraculous cure, and in the other the same fragment, having fallen into
^ Now in the possession of Sir A. H. Layard.
^ A remarkabJe but doubtful story is told by Ridolfi, in his " Mara- viglie deir Arte," concerning the reason of Gentile's hasty return to- Venice.
Gentile had presented the Sultan, so Eidolfi relates, with a painting- of S. John the Baptist's head on a charger. His Majesty was much, pleased with the subject, but criticised the drawing of the neck, which, he said, projected too much from the decapitated head. The painter seemed doubtful ; so by way of showing him the natural appearance in such cases, he ordered a slave to be brought in, whose head he instantly had struck off, thereby forcibly proving the correctness of his know- ledge. Gentile after this, fearing that perhaps some day he might be recjuired in like manner to illustrate a despot's lessons in anatomy, made- all the haste he could back to Venice. It seems more probable, however, that Mehemet's death, which happened in 1480, was the cause of his return. Vasari, who mentions Gentile's voyage, does not relate this- story.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 149
the canal, can only be recovered by the hands of the pious brother Andrea Vendramin.^
S. Mark preaching at Alexandria, in the Brera at Milan, is also one of his principal works. It was left unfinished at the time of his death, in 1607. Gentile never attained to the same development as Griovanni, but his paintings are remarkable for their scientific perspective and general truth- fulness to nature.^
We must turn to the younger but greater brother, to find the true founder of the Venetian school.
The name of Giovanni Bellini (born about 1428, died 1516) stands at the head of that great cluster of painters, who, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, illumined the dark walls of the churches and palaces of Venice with a glorious revelation of colour to which no previous masters had ever attained.
Yet, in the first instance, as before said, Giovanni as well as Gentile was much influenced by Mantegna, whose chief characteristic was, as we have seen, form and not colour. We have two examples of his early style in the National Gallery, the Virgin and Child, No. 280,^ which is cold and brown in colour, and the Agony in the Garden, No. 726, which is so thoroughly Mantegnesque in style, that it was formerly ascribed to Mantegna.
It was not, indeed, until after he had adopted the new method of oil-painting, that the original qualities of his genius became apparent. His greatest works all belong to the later period of his life, for, unlike most painters, his art knew no stand-point, but went on progressing even in his great old age, when, in fact, he still continued learning from the pupils he had formed.
When Gentile was chosen by the state to go to Constan- tinople, Giovanni was not only appointed to carry on the great works in the Hall of Council, but also to fill the
^ There is an engraving of this latter subject in Crowe and Caval- -caselle's " Hist, of Painting in North Italy."
* Tlie L-iuvre possesses two heads that are portraits, it is asserted, of Gentile and Giovanni, ])ainted by the former. He was evidently a good portrait painter. [The Head of S. Peter Martyr in the National Gallery (No. 808) is ascribed to Gentile by Morelli.]
[' This is not considered an eai'ly picture by Dr. Richter ("' Italian Art in the National Gallery ").]
150 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK IV»
office of Senseria, one of the duties of which was to paint the portrait of each successive doge, and introduce it into a frieze round the hall. He painted in his time a great many doges, one of them being the Doge Leonardo Lore- dano,^ of which there is an admirable repUca in the National Gallery, No. 189.
With him, the custom of portrait-painting became ex- ceedingly popular in Venice. Hitherto, distinguished patrons of art had been content to have their portraits introduced incidentally into an historic subject, or to be represented as donors in a votive family altar-piece ; but now it became the fashion for every person of distinction to sit for his portrait, and Venetian palaces became filled with the likenesses of their owners, often painted by the greatest masters. Bellini's portraits are distinguished from those of Titian and the later Venetians by a harder outline, and perhaps less power of characterisation ; but there is a dignity and thoughtful repose in them, as well as in his other works, that in some degree make up for the full glowing life and energy of his successors.
He remained, in fact, to the end, a religious painter, and to a certain extent his ideal was the ascetic ideal of all religious painters, only, as we have seen with Perugino and Era Bartolommeo, the ascetic type developed with him into one of sweet and solemn human beauty, a beauty entirely different from the sensuous life and passion of the worldly painters of Venice who came after him.
The stirring events of the times in which he lived, events which produced a powerful effect on the minds of his younger contemporaries, had but httle influence over their patriarch, who was already sixty years of age when the powerful league of Cambray overwhelmed the Venetian states with calamity. Venice alone, protected by her waters, was spared the invasion of the terrible G-ermans ;, and her children, with a heroism almost beyond their strength, rose equal to the crisis, and finally threw off the^ yoke of their conquerors. The exaltation of the national character that such struggles for life and liberty usually produce, maintained Venice, it is true, for a short time at
[1 Doge from 1501 to 1521.'|
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 151
a high pitch of greatness, hut the decline of her power had begun, and the hideous moral corruption that existed beneath her splendid exterior could not be arrested by individual acts of self-sacrifice and heroism. Her fall, in fact, was already decreed, and before the line of her painters was extinct she was already tottering on her foundations.
Bellini lived to see peace restored to his country, but died in the same year that the treaty of Noyon ended the disastrous wars that had called forth her fortitude and valour. No decrease of power is shown even in his latest works, many of which were painted after he had attained the age of eighty, and in warmth and splendour of colour, many of them rival even Titian.
The moral qualities of his art, however, separate him completely from the school of which he may be said to have been the founder, " There is no religion," says Ruskin, " in any work of Titian's ; there is not even the smallest evidence of religious temper or sympathies, either in himself or in those for whom he painted ; and this is not merely because John Bellini was a religious man and Titian was not. Titian and Bellini are each true repre- sentatives of the school of painters contemporary with them, and the difference in their artistic feeling is a consequence, not so much of difference in their own natural characters as in their early education. Bellini was brought up in faith, Titian in formalism. Between the years of their births, the vital religion of Venice had ex- pired." ^
One of Bellini's greatest works is the Christ at Emmaus, a large altar-piece in the Church of S. Salvatore at Venice. The discijjles here are men of noble dignified bearing, of a race not yet quite extinct in Venice. The divine figure of the Master, conceived at the moment of his disciples' recognition, awes us by its solemn grandeur and thought- fulness. With the strange incongruity that we so often find in the pictures of this time, and particularly of this school, Giovanni, besides the disciples and their Divine Com- panion, has introduced a Venetian senator and a man in a Turkish dress into the scene.
' Ruskin, " Stones of Venice," vol. i.
152 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
Euskin accords liigh praise to Bellini's landscapes, one of which in particular — namely, that forming the back- ground to the S. Jerome in the Church of S. Crisostomo at Venice, he recommends to the study of the young artist as " a nearly faultless guide." The saint in this grand work (painted by Bellini in his eighty- seven th ^ year, 1513) is seated amongst rocks studying in a book. In the foreground are S. Augustine and S. Christopher, the latter looking up lovingly to the beautiful Child, who grasps his short curly hair. The masterly power and deep beauty of colour, as well as the religious feeling of this work, are worthy of almost any master of the time. There are several excellent examples of Bellini in England, among which may be mentioned the celebrated Bacchanal, with the landscajDO by Titian, now in the possession of the Duke of Northumberland.^
Venice, whatever other crimes she may have been guilty of, cannot be accused of having neglected her painters. Giovanni Bellini, especially, was revered by all, and his society courted by the highest in the state, as well as by most of the painters, men of letters, and collectors of the time. Ariosto has celebrated him in his verse, and the celebrated Pietro Bembo wrote rapturous sonnets upon liis portrait of his mistress. Albrecht Diirer also, who visited Venice in 1507, speaks of him in one of his letters as " very old, but the best painter of them all."
His influence was undoubtedly great over the art of his time in Venice, but it scarcely extended beyond, and al- though several of his pupils preserved for a period some- what of his religious feeling, yet very soon, in the worldly current that was now setting in, his spiritually ascetic ideal was lost to view, and in its place was set up the sen- suous ideal that we have seen as the latest development of G-reek art.
As in artistic Greece, in fact, aesthetic perfection had become in Christian Europe the sole thing that was looked for in a painting. Its moral and religious teaching were now unheeded, or rather it no longer existed, for when religion was no longer in demand, artists naturally left it
P More probably eighty-fifth.]
[* Painted 1514, or two years before the painter's death.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 153
out of their works. Thus it happened that Italian art in the sixteenth century became wholly secular in its tone, and that henceforward we do not find an expression of rehgious faith in paintings, but simply an expression of the highest worldly beauty. Not that religious subjects were by any means set aside by artists. On the contrary, they went on painting virgins, saints, martyrdoms, and other Catholic themes for a century to come, as well as their beautiful mistresses, large-limbed goddesses, and las- civious gods ; but as Euskin has so well pointed out, their faith had become carnal, and they chose a religious subject, not Hke the earlier Christian painters, for the purpose of touching men's hearts, but for the purpose of pleasing men's eyes: arraying their mistresses in splendid attire, and painting them as Madonnas or goddesses, according as it suited their purpose, caring only for the exhibition of their own marvellous powers. But it must be owned that this pagan spirit in art was immensely favourable to its development. Painting, as we have seen, whilst under the control of the Church, remained almost stationary, and was cramped and somewhat feeble in expression, but gradually as it threw aside its first ascetic garb it bloomed into fresh beauty, until with these worldly painters of Venice, by whom Christian asceticism was entirely forgotten, it assumed its highest perfection. Never were there such painters, considered only as painters, as these of Venice in the sixteenth century,
Poremost of these great masters stands the brilliant Giorgione, but before considering his work it v,dll be as weU to glance at a few other artists of less original genius, who also belonged to the school of BelHni. Many of these men were very good artists, but in the superlative excel- lence that marks this period, their works are apt to be slighted, or, as frequently happens, attributed to greater names.
ViTTOEE Cabpaccio (painter in the last quarter of the fifteenth and first quarter of the sixteenth century) was a follower of Gentile rather than of Giovanni Bellini. There are several large historical paintings by him in the academy at Venice, of much the same character as those by Gentile.
154 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOZ IV.
[He is supposed to have studied with Luigi Vivarini. His works are distinguished by their grand architectural backgrounds, and the careful painting of elaborate detail, freedom of composition, and rich purity of colour. The History of S. Ursula, and other large works, in the academy and elsewhere at Venice, afford interesting illustrations of the costumes of the East and of old Venice. A votive picture in the National Grallery (No. 750) testifies to his powers as a colourist, and to his likeness to the BelHni in design, and there are good examples of the master at Paris, Berlin, Stuttgart, and Milan.]
GriovANNi Mansueti, Lazzaro Sebastiani, and Marco Marziale may likewise be ranked as followers of Grentile. Of Marziale there are two good examples in the National Gallery, Nos. 803 and 804. Gtiovanni Battista or Cima DA CoNEGLiANO (painted 1489-1517), on the other hand, owes his excellence entirely to his study of G-iovanni, and belongs therefore to the true Venetian school. In beauty of colour and serene dignity of expression, he often, indeed, rivals his master. His finest works are two Madonnas with Saints, in the Gallery of Parma. There are two charming Madonnas with landscape backgrounds by him in the National Collection [and a finely-finished small S. Jerome], but the larger picture of the Incredulity of S. Thomas is stiff in treatment and cold in feeling. [He painted as back- grounds to nearly all his pictures the hills and towers of his native Conegliano. Cima's works largely influenced the art of his native province, Friuli, where his most important follower was Martino of Udine, called Pellegrino da San Daniele, who, however, later on studied in Venice, and successfully adopted some of the grand characteristics of Venetian art. Pellegrino's frescoes in the church of St. Anthony (executed 1498-1522), in San Daniele, approach in merit the works of Pordenone and of Giorgione. The large altar-piece in the National Gallery (No. 778) is a good specimen of his style when Venetian influence began to soften his Cimaesque hardnesss of outline, and to illumine his Friulian dryness of tone. He died in 1547. Worthy of mention is his contemporary, Girolamo da Treviso, son of Pier Maria Peimacchi (also a painter), bom at Treviso in 1497. An imitator of Pordenone and of Giorgione, his best
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 155
work was, however, painted at Bologna, under the influence of the followers of Raphael, and is now in the possession of the National Gallery (No. 623). About 1538 Girolamo entered the service of Henry VIII. of England, as architect and engineer, and he was killed at the siege of Boulogne in 1544.]
Both Andrea Previtali, bom about 1480, died 1528),. and Vincenzo di Biagio, known as Catena (still living in 1531), have suffered somewhat from their too near ap- proach to the excellence of G-iovanni Bellini, many of their best works having been attributed to him. There is a. small but good example of Previtali in the National Gal- lery, No. 695. Catena was likewise greatly influenced in his later life by Giorgione, but he never entirely deserted the traditions of religious art. The Warrior adoring the Infant Christ, No. 234, of the National Gallery, formerly ascribed to Giorgione, but now catalogued as of the school of Giovanni Bellini, is considered by Crowe and Cavalcaselle to be by Catena, and one of the most important of hi& works, illustrating the latest and Giorgionesque phase of his imitative career. The admirable S. Jerome in his Study, No. 694, these critics likewise suggest may be by him.
Marco Basaiti, Pietro Francesco Bissolo, Fran- cesco Rizo DA Santa Croce,^ and several other lesser painters among the " Bellinesques," as they are called, are distinguished by much the same characteristics ; that is to say, they are all harmonious and powerful in colour, solemn and dignified in expression, and truly religious in feeling. It is this latter quality that most effectually separates them from the next group of painters whom we have to consider, and in whom, as before said, the religious element entirely disappears.
[Basaiti began his career as assistant to Luigi Yivarini, and later on assisted Giovanni Bellini. A beautiful speci- men of his style is in the National Gallery (No. 281), St.
[* GiROLAMO DA Santa Croce assisted Francesco, and painted in the- years 1520-49. There are two pictures of Saints in the National Gallery by him (Nos. 632 and 633). Another little-known follower of the Bellinis, Bartolommeo Veneziano (painted 1505-30), is repre- sented by a portrait in the National Gallery (No. 287).]
156 HISTOEY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
Jerome reading, and still more beautiful is the Virgin and •Ohild, No. 599.
There is a portrait ascribed to Bissolo in the National •Gallery, No. 631.]
Giorgio Barbarelli, called Giorgione, because of the greatness of his stature (born before 1477, died 1511), is reckoned bj Ruskin as one of the " seven supreme colourists of the world," ^ and truly from what tradition tells us of his pictures, they must in their first beauty have been miracles of glowing loveliness. Unhappily, his greatest works were executed in fresco on the walls of the palaces at Venice, and even in Vasari's time were already falling into decay. Now, effaced by time, and the salt damps of the lagoon, scarcely a trace of them exists.
Bom at Castelf ranco,in the province of Treviso, Giorgione <;ame to Venice at an early age, and entered the school of the Bellini, where he and Titian, who was his fellow student, soon asserted their superiority, and became, so to speak, •the masters of the master, for undoubtedly Bellini's genius in his later years was stimulated to ever nobler exertions by the works of his great pupils. Their influence over each other is still more apparent, although their minds were of a different stamp, and their view of human life -dissimilar.
For Giorgione, above all things is a poet. His concep- tions, even of biblical or historical scenes, are never com- monplace, but surprise us by the introduction of some unknown and romantic element. They are tinged with the peculiar colour of his mind, as well as with that of his brush, and thus have a mysterious charm that is lacking in Titian, and other masters of the school, who are for the most part essentially objective in their style.
One of his earlier works was a Madonna altar-piece for the church of his native town Castelf ranco, a painting that has happily escaped the fate of so many of his works.^ The Madonna is here represented between S. Liberale and
^ The other six being Titian, Veronese, Tintoret, Correggio, Rey- nolds, and Turner.
2 Vasari tell us that in his youth he painted many Madonnas, but only this and two or three others of doubtful authenticity now a*emain.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 157"
S. Francis, and the sketch for the noble young figure of S. Liberale is now in the National Gallery.'
Giorgione's skill in fresco-painting was first put forth, it is said, on the front of his own house, which he adorned with beautiful frescoes. After this, in 1504, he was com- missioned conjointly with Titian, to paint the exterior of the Fondaco de' Tedeschi, or Hall of Exchange of the German merchants in Venice. Vasari gives but a vague- account of the great works which the two rival young artists here executed, the significance of whose meaning seems to have been lost, even when he saw them. " I, for my part," he says, " have never been able to understand what they mean, nor could I find any one who could explain them to me." They probably formed some poetical allegory, the key to which, once lost, could not be ref ound.^ Many of Giorgione's works are thus allegorical, and puzzle us to decij)her their meaning. [One of these is the un- doubtedly genuine picture of three philosophers in an open landscape, in the Imperial Gallery at Vienna, and known by the name of the Three Eastern Sages. It has also been called the Astronomers, or Chaldean Sages. Another thoroughly authenticated picture is that called the Family of Giorgione, in the Giovanelli Palace at Venice, described by the Anonymus of Morelli^ as " the landscape (on canvas) with the storm, the gipsy woman, and the soldier."
These are the three works of Giorgione now existing the authenticity of which is indisputable.
The following pictures are also ascribed to him by Signor Morelli ("Italian Masters"): two early works — the Moses- with the Burning Bush (No. 621), and Judgment of Solo- mon (No. 630)— and the Knight of Malta (No. 622)— all in. the TTffizi ; Christ bearing the Cross, belonging to Countess Loschi at Viceuza ; Madonna and Child, with S. Anthony and S. Koch (No. 418), in Madrid Museum, and ascribed. to Pordenone by the catalogue; the small Daphne and
^ A Knight in Armour (No. 269). It is said by some that in this figure the painter drew his own portrait, by others that the warrior saint was a portrait of Matteo Costanzo, a promising young soldier of the Republic, who met with an early death.
^ These frescoes are now wholly obliterated.
' [See Nolizia d'Opere di disegno publicata e illustrata da D. Jacopo- Morelli ed : Gustave Frizzoni. Bologna, 1774.]
158 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
Apollo, in the Seminario Vescovileat Venice; Three Stages of Life, in the Pitti (No. 157), ascribed to Lorenzo Lotto in the catalogue ; the Concert, in the Louvre ; a picture of two Young Men in a Landscape, in the Esterhazy G-allery at Pesth, supposed by Signor Morelli to be a fragment of a picture of the Birth of Paris, which is mentioned by the Anonymus of Morelli; and the Sleeping Venus (No. 262), m the Dresden Gallery, till lately described in the catalogue as " a copy of Titian, probably by Sasso Ferrato." All these are now generally accepted as genuine works of Giorgione, and of all Signor Morelli's discoveries that of the Sleeping Venus must rank as the most remarkable. It is in very bad condition, but if properly restored would, in the opinion of Signor Morelli, and not only of Signor Morelli, rank among the most precious gems, not only of the Dresden, but of all galleries in the world. It is en- graved in Sir H. Layard's new edition of Kugler. Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle doubt the Concert (a pastoral picture) in the Louvre, but believe in the Concert in the Uffizi. As to the more or less doubtful pictures the reader is referred to Morelli's " Italian Painters," Wolt- mann and Woermann's " History of Painting," and Sir H. Layard's new edition of Kugler, in all of which books they will find a summary of recent controversy, besides refe- rences to other authorities. The Concert of the Pitti is an exquisite picture, and whether by Giorgione or not quite justifies the following description.] Here are simply three half-length figures, probably portraits, standing together, one of whom, an Augustine monk, touches the keys of an harpsichord with his fingers, looking round the while to one of his companions as if to ask him some question. Nothing can well be more simple, and yet so fully is the genius of the painter shown in the work, and so subtle and harmonious is its varied colour, that we at once recognise it as one of the master- works of that wonderful age.
The Concert of the Louvre is a pastoral idyll, wherein are set shepherds and scantily attired nymphs, who have evidently merely cast aside their clothing in order to give the painter an opportunity of displaying the richness of his carnations. Several such idyllic scenes were, no doubt, painted by Giorgione, but he is by no means responsible for all that
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 159
are now attributed to him. If we wonder at the rarity of his undisputed works, we must remember his life only reckoned thirty-three years, and he does not appear to have been, like Eaphael, a remarkably industrious painter.
Eidolfi tells us that he died of a broken heart, in con- sequence of the unfaithfulness of his mistress, who deserted him for his friend, Morto da Feltre. Vasari also speaks of his fondness for " love-passages," and hints at a similar cause for his death to that which he carelessly assigns for Kaphael's. It is, however, tolerably certain that, whether broken-hearted or not, Giorgione died of the plague in 1511. But even though the broken heart be a poetical fiction, it seems not improbable that at some period a shadow of sorrow crossed the painter's brilliant life, for even in his gayest subjects, there is often an underlying element of sadness and mystery — a " prophecy of sorrow," as Mrs. Jameson calls it — that is very different to the clear, defined expression of the enjoyment of human life that we find in Titian and other masters of this school.
Of the masters who were influenced by Giorgione (he had no direct pupils), Sebastiano del Piombo, before mentioned as having gone to Rome, where he became a follower of Michael Angelo, is undoubtedly the most important.
A more powerful master of this time, whose style was likewise formed to a certain extent upon that of Palma Vecchio and Giorgione, was Giovanni Antonio da Por- DENONE (1483-1539), a painter who is thought by some to have rivalled even Titian in the glow of his colouring and the beauty of his flesh-painting. His pictures are generally of large size and spirited treatment.
David with the head of Goliath, the Daughter of Hero- dias with the head of S. John the Baptist, and Judith with the head of Holof ernes, are among the subjects he has chosen. His principal frescoes are in the Church of the Madonna di Campagna, at Piacenza.^
Two pictures at Burleigh House, the Finding of Moses
' Crowe and Cavalcaselle, " History of Painting in North Italy." [Other important works of this highly dramatic and decorative painter are in the church of Salvatore at Colalto, the cathedrals at Treviso and Cremona, in the Doria Palace at Genoa, &c.]
160 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
and the Adoration of the Kings, are assigned to Pordenone by Dr. Waagen, but besides these, which are doubtful, there are few examples of his work in England. The Apostle in the National G-allery, No. 272, if genuine, is not a fortunate specimen of his powerful and colossal style.
Bernabdino Licinio (painted 1624-1541), a relation of Pordenone's, and several other lesser artists cojjied and carried on this style. [To Licinio may be attributed a large number of the portraits ascribed in galleries to Pordenone, of which the so-called Family of Pordenone at Hampton Court, No. 152, is an example.]
Another master who came very near to the highest point of Venetian greatness, but who just fell below the surpass- ing excellence of Giorgione and Titian, was Jacopo Palma (bom probably about 1480, died 1528), or Palma Vecchio,. as he was called, to distinguish him from a younger painter, his nephew of the same name.
Although influenced, like almost every master of his time, by the seductive Griorgione, he yet preserved a thoroughly independent position. His pictures have not indeed the coarse power of Pordenone's, but they have a soft sensuous beauty, never falling into sensuality, which is peculiarly attractive. Strange to say, although tempted, one might suppose, by his exquisite perception of female loveliness, we have scarcely any mythological subjects by his hand ; ^ no naked goddesses or nymphs. He simply painted the daughters of Venice in their own splendid and voluptuous beauty, without ideaUsing them or spiritualising them in the least. The enchanting Graces of the Dresden Gallery, so well known by engravings, and considered to be the daughters ^ of the master, exhibit his powers in their highest perfection. The magnificent female portrait, known as La Bella di Tiziano, in the Sciarra Gallery at Eome, though ascribed to Titian, is now generally supposed to be by him. His Madonnas and Saints are of the same ripe type of human beauty as his female portraits.
His most important religious work is the altar-piece of
^ There is a Venus at Dresden, but it is not certain that it is authentic. [It is not doubted now. The Dresden Gallery has four or five good examples of this fine painter.]
[2 Palma had a niece named Magdalena, but had no daughters.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 161
the chapel of the Bombardiers in the church of S. Maria Formosa, where S. Barbara is represented as a magnificent heroine, not unlike the proudest of the three sisters in the Dresden Gallerj.
[A contemporary of Palma's, and probably a fellow student of his under Griovanni Bellini, was Lorenzo Lotto, who was bom at Treviso about 1480, and died about 1558. His chief works are at Bergamo and Venice, at both of which places he resided many years. Those at Bergamo resemble Correggio in grace and chiaroscuro, those in Venice are Titianesque. His early works show the influence of Bellini. Though various in style, and much affected by other artists, he was a painter of originaHty and skill, a fine colourist, and though not rising to the highest rank, an artist of an importance that has been only lately recognised. The splendour of his best work, as a religious painter, can only be seen in Italy, but there are examples of it in the Louvre, St. Petersburg, Vienna, Madrid, and the Bridg- water Gallery. There are two of his pictures in the National Gallery, the fine Portraits of Agostino and Niccolo della Torre, No. 699, and A Family Group, No. 1047, and at Hampton Court there is A Portrait, No. 114, till lately ascribed to Correggio.]
[Giovanni Busi Cariani (painted 1508-1541), was another painter of this period whose claims to notice have been recently advocated by Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcasselle. He was a close imitator of Palma and of Lotto, and some of his works are ascribed to Bellini and to Giorgione. Most of his works are at Bergamo.]
We now come to the greatest of the Venetians, the greatest painter perhaps, considered only as a painter, of all time; for whilst Leonardo, Kaphael, and Michael Angelo claim our reverence as artists, and by the beauty and nobility of the ideas that they set forth in their works. Titian calls forth our admiration by the magnificence of his language alone, independently of the thoughts ex- pressed in it. He remains, therefore, the supreme painter — master of the art of laying colour — of Italy, and after his day, painters could desire nothing more than " the drawing of Michael Angelo, and the colouring of Titian."
TiziANO Vecellio (born at Pieve, in the province of
162 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
Cadore, in the Friuli. in 1477, died at Venice, 1576), entered the school of Griovanni Bellini shortly after Grior- gione, and quickly deserted the religious traditions of the teacher to follow the more brilliant and daring style of his fellow student, who had already achieved success. Titian's early works so closely resemble those of G-iorgione, that critics often disagree as to the master to whom they be- long ; indeed, had G-iorgione lived to the same ripe age as Titian, it would probably have been difficult to tell which was the greater master of the two, but Giorgione's early death left Titian to pursue the road to perfection without a rival.
The frescoes already mentioned, that he executed with Giorgione, on the outside of the Fondaco de' Tedeschi, brought him early fame, but caused, so Vasari states, a jealous feeling in Giorgione' s mind, which separated the two friends. After Giorgione's death, Titian continued these frescoes alone, but all have now unfortunately perished.
In 1514, he was invited by Alfonso I., Duke of Ferrara, to his brilliant court, where he formed a lasting friendship with Ariosto, who has celebrated him in his immortal poem. From this time forth, indeed, his life was one continued series of triumphs. Popes, kings, and emperors vied with each other in showing him honour, and poets and philoso- phers were proud to reckon him their friend. " The Friend of Titian, and the Scourge of Princes," was, in fact, a title that the worthless but clever Aretino bestowed upon him- self.
For his patron, the Duke of Ferrara, Titian painted two of the most celebrated of his early works, namely, the Tribute Money (Cristo della Moneta), of which the original is in the Dresden Gallery,^ and the Bacchus and Ariadne of our National Collection, which has been justly extolled as one of his finest works.^
Besides this, and several allegorical compositions, one of
^ There are numerous repetitions of this famous piece, all going by the mme of Titian.
^ It was pointed out to young students by Sir Joshua Reynolds as a wonderful example of harmony of colour. Discourse VIII.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 163
-wliich, a Sacrifice to the Goddess of Fertility, afterwards supplied Rubens with ideas, he likewise executed at this period the well-known picture in the Louvre, to which the title of Titian and his Mistress has been given, but which is more probably the portraits of Alfonso and his second wife Laura. ^
On his return to Venice, about the year 1516, Titian was appointed to continue the works of the Hall of Council, and also to the office of Senseria, which Bellini's death at this time left vacant. His period of highest excellence begins about this date.
His powers were now fully developed, and his colouring became, as Kugler says, " the expression of life itself." Nothing, in fact, in painting, transcends its deep glory of gold and purple, and its glow of light and heat : it is as -unfathomable as the life it expresses. The beauty and significance of colour had, as we have seen, for a long time been revealing itself to the minds of the Venetians. Bellini had expressed himself in pure and tender tones, Giorgione's poetic nature revealed itself in more striking and brilliant •chords. Pordenone had struck the keys with coarse power, and Palm a Vecchio with mild sweetness ; but it was re- served for Titian to bring out the full harmonies of the whole gamut of colour. This he played upon as no master ever before or since has done, producing no startling effects, no vivid surprises, but simply the life-tones of nature, especially as seen pulsating in the naked human form.
It was beauty only, not religion, that was now demanded of painters, and sensuous — indeed, I might say sensual — beauty was naturally better understood and appreciated in a city like Venice, where vice and immorahty reigned im- checked,^ than that higher spiritual beauty after which the early religious painters strove.
The nude accordingly rose into favour. Michael Angelo •gave it its most scientific, Titian its most sensuous expres- sion. Like the Greek painters, he sought to represent human life in its full enjoyment and animal perfection. Even his Madonnas have no existence above this earth,
* His first wife was the notorious Lucrezia Borgia. - Roger Ascham has recorded that he saw more crime and infamy in eight days in Venice, than he had seen in all his life in England.
164 DISTORT OF PAINTING. [eOOK IV.
and his Venuses are simply splendid women, whose love- liness is enhanced by the subtle charms of the artist's colouring.
** The Venetian mind," says Euskin, " and Titian's espe-^ cially, as the central type of it, was wholly realist, universal, and manly. In this breadth and realism the painter saw that sensual passion in man was not only a fact, but a divine fact. The human creature, though the highest of the animals, was nevertheless a perfect animal, and his happiness, health, and nobleness depended on the due power of every animal passion, as well as the cultivation of every spiritual tendency ."
The magnificent picture of the Assumption of the Virgin,, now in the academy at Venice, was painted by Titian, in 1516, for an altar-piece in the Church of Santa Maria de*" Frari, and exhibits the full grandeur of his developed style.^ The powerful figure of the Virgin is caught up, as. it were, into the sky, where an angel, directed by the- Father, waits to place the crown upon her head. Charming groups of youthful boy angels surround her, whilst below the amazed apostles who watch her upward flight exhibit, the most varied emotions and longings. It is truly a work of the utmost beauty of effect and colour, and amazes us- by its wonderful life and energy ; but compare this Assump- tion with the Madonna di San Sisto of Raphael, and we at once perceive the difference between religious and worldly art, between spiritual and sensual beauty. The truest ex- cellence in art is only reached by uniting these two, but this has been seldom attained, never perhaps wholly, except by Leonardo.
In 1530 Titian was invited by the Cardinal Ippolito de*^ Medici to Bologna, where the Emperor Charles V. and Clement VII. were then holding a conference. Here in 1532 he painted his first portrait of the Emperor, repre- senting him on horseback, in complete armour, and also a
^ The brothers of Santa Maria, it is said, were at first somewhat scandalised by the bold beauty and life of their altar-piece, used as they had been to the calm conventionalities of religious art, but they decided to keep their pictm-e when they were offered a much larger sum than they had given for it by one of the ministers of Charles V. [Painted in 1518, Woermann.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 165
fine one of Clement VII., which now forms part of the Bridgewater collection. From Bologna he proceeded to Mantua, where he executed several commissions for Fede- rigo G-onzaga. In 1545 he likewise went to Eome during the pontificate of Paul III., of whom he has left two por- traits.
Whilst at Eome he made the acquaintance of Michael Angelo, and of Michael Angelo's biographer, Vasari, who has left on record the great Florentine's judgment of the great Venetian. " Now it chanced," writes Vasari, " that Michelagnolo and Vasari going one day to see Titian, in the Belvedere, beheld a picture which he had just then finished, of a nude figure of Danae, with Jupiter trans- formed into a shower of gold in her lap. Many of those present began to praise the work highly, as people do when the artist stands by, and Buonaroti, talking of Titian's ivork when all had left the place, declared that the manner ;and colouring of that artist pleased him greatly, but that it was a pity that the Venetians did not study drawing more, * for if,' he added, ' this artist had been aided by art ^nd a knowledge of design, as he is by nature, he would have produced works which none could surpass.' "
Of Titian's domestic life httle is known ; he appears to liave been married about 1512, but to have lost his wife l)efore 1530. He had three children — a profligate and worthless son, named Pomponio ; Orazio Vecellio, a portrait- painter ; and a daughter named Lavinia, who still lives for lis in the magnificent portraits that her father has left of her under various impersonations. One of the finest of these is that in the Berlin Museum, where the splendidly- .attired girl is holding up a plate of fruit.
The magnificence of Titian's style of life in Venice was more that of a prince than an artist. He assembled around him the most brilliant and intellectual society, and reckoned amongst his friends, not only the poet Ariosto, the liber- tine wit Aretino, and the sculptor Sansovino, but most of the distinguished artists and men of letters of his day, who used frequently to meet at his house. One of these friends, in a letter quoted by Ticozzi, gives a description of a de- lightful festival, "Ferrare Agosto," held to usher in August, ■which was celebrated in Titian's garden, and at which the
166 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOZ IV.
charms of wit, teauty, music, and wine were united in their highest perfection.
He was already seventy-three years of age when his last interview took place with Charles V. at Augsburg. Aretino has described the scene that took place, when it was known that Titian was about to depart from Venice. ** It was," he says, " the most flattering testimony to his excellence to behold, as soon as it was known that the divine painter was sent for, the crowds of people running to obtain, if possible, the productions of his art ; and how they endeavoured to- purchase the pictures, great and small, and everything that was in the house, at any price ; for everybody seems as- sured that his august majesty will so treat his Apelles, that he will no longer condescend to exercise his pencil except to- oblige him." The painter, in fact, was at that time almost as great a man as the Emperor, who, according to the well- known story, picked up his pencil, and rephed to his apolo- gies by affirming that " a Titian was worthy of being served by a Csesar."
Although Titian was an old man at this time of triumph,, he had still many long years of life before him, and some even of his greatest works were painted after this date ; it was not, indeed, until after he had attained his ninetieth year that his hand lost its accustomed power. Even then, his princely mode of life was maintained, for we learn that when Henry III. passed through Venice he was magni- ficently entertained by Titian at his own house, and that on. the departure of the royal guest his munificent host pre- sented him with all the pictures that had called forth his. admiration. Vasari, who visited Venice in 1566, relates that he found the patriarch still with pencils in his hand and painting busily, and " great pleasure had Vasari in. beholding his works, and in conversation with the master." Finally, this marvellously prolonged and successful life came to a close in 1576, when Titian, in the hundredth year of his age, fell a victim to the plague that broke out in that year. His son Orazio died of the same disease during the same outbreak. Such was the universal terror that prevailed at this time, that even burial in the churches was denied to those who died of the plague ; but this pre- caution was set aside in the case of Titian, who wa&
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 167
honourably interred in the church of the Frari, for which he had so long before painted his famous Assumption.
As a portrait painter Titian stands unrivalled, perhaps, in all ages. His portraits are pages of history, and he has the merit that so few historians possess, of seizing all that is most important and significant in the characters of his sitters, and leaving out all that is trivial or meaningless. He has left us portraits of many of the most celebrated men of his time. The Emperor Charles V., whom he painted several times, his son Philip II., the Duke of Alva, Francis I. of France, the Constable de Bourbon, Caesar Borgia, Ippolito de' Medici, all the Doges of his time (whom he painted by virtue of his office), three Popes, namely, Clement VII., Paul III., and Paul IV., as well as his friends Aretino, Ariosto, and Sansovino, and many other men of almost equal note, are all revealed to us by his master power; they live, so to speak, on his canvas. And last, not least, there are the portraits of himself. These always represent him in his old age, but in the searching eyes which shine from beneath the massive fore- head and wrinkled brows, the intense, vigorous life, and wonderful intellect of the old giant are seen even to the last.
No estimate of Titian's art would be sufficient without mentioning the marvellous beauty of his landscapes. Like Giorgione, he made his landscape backgrounds of great importance, and has thrown into them a more poetical expression than we usually find in his works. The land- scape of the S. Peter Martyr, for instance, immensely enhances the solemn effect produced by that powerful work.^ The borders of the dark wood, the tall trees bend- ing above in the wind, whilst through their interlaced boughs the light of Heaven streams down on the mur- dered man, the distant hills and the purple banks of evening cloud, are all in poetic harmony with the awful scene that is being enacted amidst their solemn beauty ; and in the landscapes of many other of his works, also, the same poetic feeling is manifest.
' Unfortunately this work, one of Titian's most celebrated paintings, was destroyed by tire in 1867 in the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo. All critics agreed in placing it amongst the highest productions of his art.
168 HISTORY OF PAINTIXG. [bOOK IV.
It would be impossible Here to enumerate even the most famous of Titian's famous works. Suffice it to say that they may be found in almost eveiy important gallery — that the Louvre contains no less than eighteen examples, including the noble Crowning with Thorns, formerly at Milan ; the Entombment, a replica of that in the Man- frini Palace ; and the Jupiter and Antiope, known as the "Venus del Pardo" — that the Dresden Gallery has not only the Tribute Money, but a charming Holy Family with saints, and a Venus crowned by Love, of exquisite beauty of flesh, and several other lesser works — that Munich has seven paintings, principally portraits — Vienna, the great Ecce Homo, several portraits, and other small works — Madrid, most of the master-pieces painted for Charles V. and Philip II., including the Diana and Cal- listo, of which there is a good copy in the Bridgewater Gallery — and that the National collection, besides the Bacchus and Ariadne, and the Madonna with S. John the Baptist and S. Catherine, examples of his earher period, has the splendid portrait of Ariosto, equal in character and colour to almost any portrait by his hand. The Bridgewater Gallery likewise contains one of his celebrated Venuses.
Although Titian had few real pupils, not having, as Vasari tells us, " the disposition to instruct disciples, even though encouraged thereto by their patience and good conduct," yet, as might be expected, he had a great number of followers, who all more or less successfully adopted his style and colouring, and produced works whose rare excel- lence can only be attributed to his powerful and beneficial influence. In no other school, except perhaps that of Leonardo da Vinci, do the works of the lesser men ap- proach so near to the greatness of the master.
Amongst those painters who were more immediately under Titian's influence may be mentioned Paris Bor- DONE (1500-1570), who, in the exquisite beauty and warm hfe of his flesh-painting, often equals Titian himself. His female portraits, of which there is a magnificent examj^le in the National Gallery,^ are splendid representations of
[^ (No. 674.) The gallery also contains another fine e.^:ample of this master, " Daphnis and Chloe " (No. 637).]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 169
the proud, passionate, golden-haired, voluptuous beauties of Venice.
BoNiFAzio DA Verona the elder ^ (about 1491-1540) confined himself almost entirely to religious subjects. [There is a picture by him in the National Gallery, No. 1202.]
[Certain artists of Brescia, though influenced by the ^reat painters of Padua and Venice, retained sufficient in- dependence of style to be separated from the rest of the artists of North Italy. A simpler naturalism, a key of colour inclined to silver rather than gold, prevails through their more distinctive works.
One of these was Gtian Gironimo Savoldo, of Brescia (died after 1548), who studied at Florence and Venice. His most important work is in the Brera. At Berlin is a Venetian Lady or S. Magdalen, of which a replica is in the National Gallery.]
Better known is Alessandro Bonvicino, of Brescia, called II Moretto (born in 1498, died about 1556). He likewise eschewed worldly themes for his art, and although undoubtedly owing much of his excellence of colouring to the study of Titian, he managed to maintain a distinct originality. [His great genius can only be thoroughly studied in the churches of Brescia. But there are a few good examples of his work in the public galleries of Europe. At Milan and Venice, at Paris and St. Peters- burg, he is well represented.] The Stadel Museum at Frankfort possesses a magnificent symbolic altar-piece by him, representing the four Latin Fathers and other sup- porters of the Holy Catholic Church around the throne of the Madonna. The National Gallery also has a grand altar-piece, representing the Vision of S. Bernard, No. 625, another with the birth of the Virgin and two Saints, No. 1165, and two fine portraits, Nos. 299, and 1025.]
[GiROLAMo RoMANiNO (about 1485 to about 1566), though not equal to Moretto, was also a great artist. His colouring is warm and Giorgionesque in his early
[' There were two Bonifazios called Veronese, and one Bonifazio Veneziano. The elder Bonifazio Veronese was the best painter of the f three.]
170 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
works, and is always rich and harmonious. He is also fine in composition, but often faulty in drawing. His greatest works are at Brescia. In the National Gallery is a large composite altar-piece of great beauty. No. 29.]
G-iAMBATTisTA MoRONi (about 1510-1578), studied under II Moretto. His chief excellence lay in portraiture, in which he surpassed almost every master of the period, and all the Venetians were great in this particular line of art. [His portrait of a tailor in the National Gallery, No. 697, is a masterpiece of simple naturalism, and his other portraits there, Nos. 742 and 1022, are little inferior to it.
Although not belonging to this group of Brescian artists, it was near Brescia that another painter of dignity, simplicity, and originality was born. This was Bartolommeo Montagna, the great master of Vicenza, where he worked from about 1484 till 1517. Of his numerous works, the best is the altar-piece with the Madonna, enthroned now in the Brera, Milan, which, ac- cording to Signor Morelli, shows the influence of Car- paccio. The half-length of the Madonna and Child (No. 1098) in the National Gallery is accounted genuine, but not No. 802.
Two painters of the Milanese school, the brothers Alber- tino (died before 1529) and Martino Piazza, of Lodi, may be mentioned here. There is a fine example of Martino' s work in the National Gallery (No. 1152), a S. John the Baptist in a cave, beyond which are seen snow- capped mountains of great beauty.
Francesco Tacconi (painted 1464-1490) and Boccacio BoccACCiNO (1460, died about 1518), two painters of Cre- mona, are also represented in the National Gallery ; and by Altobello Melone, a pupil of Eomanino, who worked chiefly at Cremona, there is a remarkable picture of Christ and his disciples going to Emmaus, No. 753.]
The germ of sensual evil that, as we have seen, was planted by Giorgione and Titian, and grew with Paris Bordone, was more fully developed in the meretricious art of Andrea Schiavone, whose simpering and affected beauties, so perfectly conscious of their nakedness, contrast painfully with the calm, splendid goddesses of Titian, who
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 171
stand clothed in their own serene majesty and womanly beauty/
The drawing of Michael Angelo, with the colouring of Titian, was the aspiring motto of Jacopo Robusti, known as II Tintoretto, from the circumstance of his father having been a dyer by trade (born 1518, died 1594). Whether he ever attained to this much-desired union of the peculiar characteristics of the two greatest masters is a question that is much disputed by critics, some asserting that his daring art really reached the heights it was ever seeking to climb, and others that his genius
" But to sink the deeper rose the higher."
Both are perhaps in part correct in their judgment, for no master's works were ever so unequal in their merit, or at all events, no master ever had such unequal works attri- buted to him. This inequality, though increased to us, no doubt, by works wrongly ascribed, must, however, have existed to some extent in the painter himself, for we find that the Venetians were accustomed to say that " he had three pencils — one of gold, one of silver, and a third of iron." From his rapid mode of painting he acquired the name of II Furioso. Covering walls and ceilings with the boldest designs in less time than the mere decorator would have spent over the work, it is not surprising that the execution of some of these wonderful paintmgs was as rough and mechanical as that of the decorator, whose mode of proceeding he imitated. Much of his painting,, indeed, could have been nothing more than the bold deco- ration of a skilful journeyman.
On the other hand, there are several works by him in which the highest artistic excellence, not only of conception and composition, but likewise of execution, is reached. The celebrated Miracle of S. Mark, now in the academy at Venice, wherein the saint, a powerful-bodied man, descends head downwards from Heaven to rescue a Christian slave from his executioners, is a painting that is astounding,, alike by its boldness of design, its marvellous effects of
' Andrea Schiavone must not be confounded with another painter of the name, Gregorio Schiavoxe, the pupil of Squarcione, v. page 72.
.172 HISTOET OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
light and shade, and its powerful colouring. " C'est un ■oeuvre de coloriste," says Charles Blanc, " qu'aucune autre meme a Venise ne ferait pftlir."
The same, possibly, might once have been said of his Paradise, a gigantic oil painting seventy -four feet long by thirty feet high, in the Ducal Palace, which was executed "by Tintoretto when he was seventy-six years of age (assisted only by his son Domenico), in the incredibly short space of three or four years. Whatever may have been the former beauty of this enormous work, it has now completely dis- appeared, and nothing is left but an inextricable mass of <jonfusion.
Sacred subjects were treated by Tintoretto with a coarse realism entirely opposed to the feeling and dignity of religious art. He even degraded the mystery of the Last Supper into a scene of vulgar carousal, and travestied the Last Judgment until, as Vasari says, notwithstanding the power displayed in it, " it had all the appearance of having been painted as a jest." Mythological subjects were more suited to his bold style, and his rendering of these was often gracefully antique.
Like Titian, he lived to a great age, and painted with vigour to the last. His fine portraits are now about the best specimens of his art that remain ; for unfortunately but few of his great works have escaped destruction. The paintings assigned to him in galleries are very seldom genuine. There is a fine etching by him (the only one he is known to have executed) of the Doge Paschalis Oiconia.
[The National G-allery contains two works by Tintoretto — S. G-eorge and the Dragon (No. 16), a fine examj^le of the master's force and colour, and Christ washing the feet of His Disciples, No. 1130].
Besides his son Domenico, Tintoretto had a daughter, a portrait painter, known as Tintoretta. He had very few followers ; his son, a German named Jacob Eotten- HAMMEE, and Antonio Vasitacchi, called Aliense, were indeed about the only masters who attemj^ted to imitate liis outrageous style.
Paolo Cagliaei, usually known as Paolo Veeonese ^orn 1528, died 1588), was, as his name implies, a native
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 173'
of Verona. The Veronese school had for some time past been rising into note,' and even in the fifteenth century had produced such men as Francesco Bonsigngei,^ Francesco Caroto,^ Francesco Morone,* Girolamo DAI LiBRi,' Paolo Morando," who, in Vasari's opinion, had he lived, would have acquired an immense reputation, Girolamo Mocetto, who principally devoted himself to copper engraving, Giolfino, Torbido, and several others of lesser merit. Many of these Veronese masters had studied at Padua, and all, it would seem, were more or less in- fluenced by Mantegna's art. The Veronese school, in fact, was not much more than a branch of the Paduan until it culminated in Paolo Veronese, who drew it at once to Venice- He is, indeed, a Venetian painter in every characteristic, and as Giovanni Bellini begins the ascending arc of Venetian colour, so Paolo Veronese ends it, bringing it back to earth to have its rich beauty trailed in the dust by suc- ceeding masters.
Veronese went to Venice in 1555, having studied pre- viously under Antonio Badile, his uncle, a painter of some reputation in Verona. He does not, however, appear to have attracted much attention in Venice at first, for we find an author of the period regretting that there were no rising young painters to carry on the glories of Titian's art, and Vasari accords him but a sHght notice, having evidently no notion of the fame he was afterwards to acquire.
[^ For earlier painters of Verona, see pp. 45 and 84.]
[^ (1455-1519) pupil of Mantegna. A fine head in the National Gal- lery, No. 736.]
[^ (1470-1546) pupil of Liberale and Mantep;na, called " The Proteus of Veronese art" from his various styles. Principal works at \'erona.]
[* (1473-1529). Finest works at Organo. Examples in the Brera, Berlin Museum, and National Gallery, No. 2S5.]
[' (1474-1556). Painted with Francesco Morone. Principal works at Verona. Represented in National Gallery by a richly -coloured and characteristic picture, No, 748.]
[•^ (1486-1622). The greatest of these forerunners of Paul Veronese. There are two beautiful pictures by this refined master in the National Gallery, No. 735 and 777.]
[^ Titian recommended him to assist in the decollation of the Council Hall of the Doge's palace (destroyed by fire in 1579), for which work he- received a gold chain from the Senate.]
174 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
His first important work still existing is that executed for the church of San Sebastiano, where he depicted on the •ceiling some gorgeous scenes from the history of Esther. These paintings attracted so much admiration, that the monks engaged him for further work, and their church was soon decorated with three large paintings, representing the Martyrdom of S. Sebastian. In the first, where the :saint is j^roceeding to the place of martyrdom with his fellow- sufferers, Marcus and Marcellinus, the most tumul- tuous life and excitement prevail, people crowding forward, climbing on to balustrades, and clinging to jjillars, in order to get a better view of the scene of execution. The other two, in which the saint is stretched on the rack, and pierced with arrows, are quieter in composition, and must therefore have been less to the artist's taste.
For what Paolo Veronese sought above all things to express, was the pomp and splendour of earthly pa- geantry, the riches of this life, the vain-glory of mortal man. There is no hint in any one of his works] of a belief in any higher life than that of the beautiful Venetian city in which he dwelt.
Quite naturally, therefore, he brings down his Madon- nas, Saints, and most sacred characters to dwell -with him, in this same splendid Venetian world, with its magnificent Renaissance halls, its gorgeous costumes, and festive cele- brations. He has no notion of anything more to be de- sired than such happiness, and accordingly he seeks to solace the pale martyrs, whom early art had represented in mystic beatitude, by bringing them home to his own house in Venice, where, clothed in rich apparel, they receive the homage of his equally richly-attired wife and children, as in the well-known picture in the Dresden Gallery.
But strange and incongruous as such a mode of repre- senting sacred characters appears to us, it does not neces- sarily betoken any irreverence in the mind of the painter. Religion in Venice, even in the sixteenth century, was m.ore a part of everyday life than it is with us English at the present day, who j)ut it aside as something to be at- tended to on Sundays and solemn moments, and deem it irreverent for it to be introduced into our domestic con- cerns or mercantile transactions. But with the Venetians,
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 175
the saints were regarded as a real power in the state, to be <?ntreated, propitiated, or even, it may be, cheated on occasion, but not as yet, at all events, to be shoved aside as useless and incapable.
Paolo Veronese accordingly saw no more harm in intro- ducing his Saviour at a lavish tumultuous Venetian ban- quet, than he did in introducing Eleanor of Austria, Charles V., Erancis I., Queen Mary of England, the Sultan Achmet II., all of whom, as well as the most famous painters then working in Venice, he has represented as present at the Marriage of Cana.
This celebrated picture is so well known, that it needs no description. Every one has formed some idea of the painter's gorgeous style and colouring from it, and no better example, perhaps, could have been taken. It was originally painted for the refectory of the Convent of S. Griorgio Maggiore, but now hangs in the Louvre.
Almost comparable to the Marriage of Cana, in point of size, though perhaps not in general effect, is the Feast of the Levite, of the Venetian Academy. The Supper at Emmaus, was likewise a favourite subject with tliis master. In one of his representations of it, that, namely, in the Louvre, he has introduced himself and his family into the solemn scene ; two of his little girls play with a large dog, at the very feet of the Saviour.
Besides his festal banqueting scenes,^ his Adorations of the Magi, and his grand altar-pieces, generally representing some stirring biblical or legendary history, Paolo Veronese has likewise painted a great number of mythological sub- jects, with great splendour of colouring, but without much taste.
He is wonderfully well represented in the National Gal-
* His fondness for these is amusingly illustrated by a memorandum that, according to liidolfi, was found at the back of one of his drawings. " If ever I have time," it states, " I will represent a sumptuous repast in a superb gallery, at which the Virgin, the Saviour, and Joseph shall be present, served by the richest cortege of angels that it is possible to imagine, who shall offer to them, on plates of silver and gold, the most exquisite viands, and an abundance of superb fruits. Others shall be occupied in presenting to them, in transparent crystal and gold cups, precious liqueurs, to sliow the zeal with which happy spirits serve their Lord."
176 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [eOOK IV.
lery, where tliere is not only his important hut unin- teresting Family of Darius, but one of his Adorations, a splendidly coloured Consecration of St. Nicholas [and the beautiful Vision of S. Helena]. A study for the Eape of Europa, which subject he painted several times, is also in the Gallery.
He died in Venice shortly before Tintoretto, and a few years after Titian. His brother Benedetto, his son Carlo,. and a painter named Battista Zelotti,^ were his principal followers. They signed themselves collectively as his heirs, completed his unfinished works, and executed others in a» similar style, but without his power, imagination and colouring.
With Veronese and Tintoretto the glory of the great colour school of Venice departed ; but before tracing its fall, there remains to be noticed one other master, who like Titian and Veronese, went to nature for instruction, but who, unlike these masters, who only delighted in her glory of purple, crimson, and gold, loved her in her most homely garb. Instead of kings and queens, splendid architecture and rich banquets, Jacopo da Ponte, called Bassano, from his native town (1510-1592), painted peasants, beggars, cottages, cattle, poultry, and even the pots and pans that were afterwards such favourite subjects of the Dutch still- life painters. In fact, he drew the dignified art of Venice down to mere genre-painting, and without any attempt at ideality, simply imitated the ordinary types he saw around him. Thus, whether he represented a saint or a peasant girl, it was all the same, one model did for both, or for the Queen of Sheba if the occasion required it. But yet his execution is so clever, and his colouring so radiant, that his simple scenes of country life are not unworthy to be placed beside Veronese's elaborate representations of pompous city life. In truth, there is not much difference between the aims of these two masters, different at first sight as their styles appear. Veronese, it is true, surrounded his sacred characters with all the attributes of wealth and dignity, and Bassano placed them not unfrequently amidst the ac-
[^ Born at Verona about 1532, d. 1592. There is a portrait of a lady in a green dress in the National Gallery which is doubtfully ascribed to this master.]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 177
companiments of poverty, but they each brought them down to earth, and made them of the earth, earthy.
The Good Samaritan, No. 277, of the National Gallery, is a very fine example of Bassano's style and gem-like colouring.
Bassano had four sons, all of whom he brought up as painters, and who, after his death, inundated the markets with pictures of familiar life, all cast, as it were, in the same mould.
There yet remains one great master of the sixteenth cen- tury who stands alone, as it were, amidst the painters of histime,^ but who, by the sensuous character of his art, is more nearly allied to the school of Venice than to the severer intellectual schools of Padua or Florence, or to the religious school of TJmbria. This master is Antonio Al- LEORi DA CoRREGGio (bom 1494, died 1534). " If," says Herman Grimm,* " we were to imagine streams issuing from the minds of Eaphael, Michael Angelo, Leonardo, and Titian, meeting together to form a new mind, Correggio would be produced." And yet his genius is original, and even pecu- liar in character, and his style — his eigenart, as the Ger- mans call it — is thoroughly individual. Educated in one of the schools of Lombardy, where Leonardo's influence was predominant, he owed more to him, undoubtedly, than to any other master ; but the exquisite grace that but gives an additional charm to Leonardo's works, becomes in those of Correggio a principal feature. The intellectual qualities of Leonardo's art also disappear, and the sensuous are exaggerated.
But what above all else distinguishes Correggio from every other painter, is his wonderful understanding of chiaroscuro, — his delicate perception of the minutest gra- dations of light and shade. Here he is without a rival. He has no lofty ideal, no deep thoughts to express ; but his works diffuse such a marvellous atmosphere of light and joy, that we forget altogether to criticise them, so pene- trated are we by their beauty. His figures seem to live in the serene happiness of a golden age, unstained by sin or
^ Vasari calls him " pittore singularissimo." » '• Life of Michael Angelo," vol. ii.
178 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
sorrow. They are literally bathed in soft dreamy bliss as they—
" Lie reclined On the hills like gods together, careless of mankind."
or are filled, as it were, with passionate rhythmical move- ment.
His father was a merchant of good position in Correggio, and destined his son for a learned career, but he early showed a taste for painting, which was probably cultivated by his uncle Lorenzo Allegri, a painter of Correggio, other- wise unknown to fame.
In 1514, when he was only twenty years of age, he had already executed the large altar-piece of the Madonna with Saints, in the Dresden Gallery. This was painted for the Franciscan convent at Correggio, for the sum of 100 ducats, equal to about £15 of our money.^
In 1518 he was called to Parma, where more important and profitable work awaited him. His first achievement here was the painting of the hall of the Nunnery of S. Paolo, which the abbess, who must have been deeply tinc- tured with the classical taste of the age, chose to have decorated, not, as was customary, with sacred or legendary histories, but with scenes from Pagan mythology. The Virgin Diana, the Three Grraces, and the Fates, all, no doubt, bearing some allusion to the high vocation of the virgin life of the cloister, were accordingly painted in fresco on the walls by Correggio with consummate elegance, the vault being conceived after the manner of classic painting, as a vine arbour, with enchanting little genii peeping through its openings.
After this he received a commission to paint the cupola of S. Giovanni, at Parma. This work, begun in 1520, represents the Ascension of Christ, who soars to heaven, watched by the twelve apostles, and is remarkable chiefly for its powerful foreshortening. Two years later, when his love of foreshortening had developed into a strong passion, he undertook the great dome of the cathedral, which he covered with a multitude of figures foreshortened in every possible and impossible attitude.
^ He received the last payment for it in April, 1515.
:B00K IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 179
In the principal group, the ascending Virgin is borne on the clouds in triumph by the angelic host, whilst Christ, ^ violently foreshortened figure, precipitates Himself from heaven to meet her. Such is the rapturous scene that fills the centre of the dome ; lower stand the apostles gazing into the heaven of light that is opened above them. It is unquestionably a work of boundless power and skill, but unfortunately the effect on the mind of the spectator is too bewildering for him to form any just appreciation of its merits ; and as, in consequence of its excessive display of foreshortening, more limbs than bodies are seen when it is looked at from below, the painter, even in his life-time, was not inaptly accused of having painted a ** ragout of frogs " — only the legs of frogs, as is well-known, being used in cookery.
Although these marvellous frescoes will always excite "the admiration of the critic, it is nevertheless by his smaller easel pictures that Correggio is best known, and most truly to be appreciated. The soft beauty and tender grace of many of these is beyond compare ; and the magic of light shed over them transports us, as it were, into a more radiant world. Take, for instance, the celebrated S. Jerome, or the Day, of the Parma Gallery, where the figures seem literally enveloped in an atmosphere of light, or the not less famous Notte, at Dresden, in which the mystic light emanating from the body of the divine Child glorifies the entire scene, the corporeal forms of the angels iSeing almost lost to view in its effulgence.
The Marriage of S. Catherine was a subject frequently painted by Correggio, but never, perhaps, with such ex- quisite grace and sentiment as in the well-known picture in the Louvre. The Magdalen, also, was one of his favourite heroines, doubtless because he could bestow upon this type of frail but loving womanhood all the charms of sensuous beauty. The magnificent Magdalen of the S. Jerome is characterized by Wilkie as being, "for •colour, character, and expression, the perfection, not only of Correggio, but of painting."
More suitable, perhaps, to Correggio's "picturesque sensuality," are his mythological nudities, in which he has 4ittained to a charming expression of love and physical
180 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
beauty. Leda with the Swan, in a wooded landscape with her bathing companions, in the Berlin Gallery ; the Jupiter and Antiope of the Louvre; the Ganymede at Vienna ; the Danae in the Borghese Palace at Rome ; and the Education of Cupid in our National Collection, No. 10, are among the most famous of these mythological subjects. He has reached in them, perhaps, the utmost development of sensuous life that could be gained without falling intO' base sensuality.^
Correggio formed a few scholars, but none of much note, except Peancesco Mazzuola, called II Parmigianc (1503-1540), and even he merely caught his master's super- ficial manner, which he exaggerated to a disagreeable excess, without acquiring the serene beauty of his style.^ Instead of going to nature for instruction, Parmigiano- tried to improve nature by clothing her in an elegant garb of his own fashioning, and thus doubtless arose the aifec- tation and unnatural straining after effect that we notice in his works.
The Vision of S. Jerome, in the National Gallery, is a. very good example of his style. As usual, grace is exagge- rated by Parmigiano in this picture, and its greatest fault is its too great elegance.
No painter of any merit succeeded to Parmigiano at. Parma; but Federigo Baroccio (1528-1612), who is usually reckoned as belonging to the Koman school, was formed quite as much by the study of Correggio as of Raphael, and his works evince much the same affectation as those of Parmigiano.^ Both masters belong, in fact, by their art, to the period of decline, although the decline is. not so visible in their works as in those of many of their contemporaries, and most of their successors. They may be
[^ In the National Gallery are also the exquisite little Holy Family known as La Vierge au Panier, No. 23 ; the Ecce Homo, No. 15^ which recent criticism has again restored to the master ; and a replica, or more probably a copy, of the Duke of Wellington's Agony in the Garden, No. 76.]
[^ It is doubtful whether he actually worked with Correggio. — W. and W.]
[^ One of his best pictures, known as Madonna del Gatto, is in the- National Gallery (No. 29).]
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 181
•said, in fact, together with Eaphael's more immediate scholars, already noticed, to have somewhat broken the fall of Italian art as it descended from the greatest heights to the lowest degradation.
Chaptee V. LAST EFFOETS AND EXTINCTION.
Eevival of Art — Eclecticism— The Carracci — Gdido Reni — Caravaggio— Spagnoletto— Salvator Rosa.
TOWAEDS the end of the sixteenth century there was a reaction in the article world against the "frothy pathos and empty daring of the mannerists," the merely superficial copyists of the great painters of the beginning of the century ; a reaction in favour of a deeper study of all preceding works of art and of nature itself ; and, as the result, the schools of art known as the Eclectic arose.
At the head of this movement for simpHcity and truth stood LoDOvico Cabeacci, of Bologna, and to him belongs the credit of having given Italian art a fresh and powerful impulse at a time when stagnation seemed imminent.
In Venice the glories of "Kntoretto and Veronese blinded their contemporaries to the symptoms of decay in their works, and the positive decline in those of their followers. "Throughout the rest of Italy painting was at a low ebb, but three artists at least formed exceptions to the general decadence, or were only partially affected by it, viz., Bronzing at Florence, Lanini at Milan, and Baeroccio, who has been already mentioned, at Eome. Angelo Bronzing (1502-1572), the friend of Vasari, and a pupil of Pontormo, painted some good portraits and frescoes in Florence. His fine feeling for form is sometimes marred by affectation. The allegory in the National Gallery (No. <551) is one of his best works. A follower of Gaudenzio Ferrari, Bernardino Lanini (1508-1578), in his later
182 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
style approaches that of Luini, though his sentiment is exaggerated, and his colouring faulty. In his altar-piece in the National Gallery (No. 1700), the head of the Mag- dalen is an example of the Luiniesque sweetness of expres- sion often attained by him. Gio. Paolo Lomazzo, author of the Trattato della Pittura (1584), was one of the best of Lanini's scholars. At Bologna the manneristi Prospeeo FoNTANA (1512-1518), DoMENico TiBALDi (bom in 1540), and Bartolomeo Passerotti (about 1540-1595), were not wholly unworthy the esteem in which they were held by their fellow-citizens. In Bologna the new school was founded.
LoDOvico Carracci (1555-1619), the son of a master- butcher, disappointed his master, Fontana, it is said, by his lack of facility. This want determined the young painter to a course of strenuous endeavour and untiring^ study. During his wander jahre as journeyman-painter,. Lodovico visited the cities of the north and central Italy, diligently studying in each the peculiar excellences of the- great masters of his art. In Venice he made acquaint- ance with Tintoretto, and was particularly attracted by the Venetian mastery of technic, and by Correggio's chiaro- scuro. Keturning in 1578 to Bologna, Lodovico entered the guild of painters, and inspiring his two cousins in the second degree, Agostino (1557-1602), and Annibale Carracci (1560-1609), with a like ambition for hard work and thoroughness of knowledge, he sent them on their travels at the expiration of their apprenticeships. In 1582 the brothers returned to Bologna, and there, with Lodovico, and under his direction, were engaged in seve- ral public works which brought them much credit, despite the jealous opposition all three met with from many of the manneristi.
Having formulated those principles of art which to this; day form the basis of all art instruction, Lodovico opened his academy at Bologna in 1589. This " Accademia degli Incamminati," i.e., academy of those who are on the right road,^ boldly professed to teach painting on a scientific system, which, besides drawing from the antique and the
^ Woermann, " Geschichte der Malerei," vol. iii., p. 118.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 183
life, included practical anatomy, dissection, and lectures on theory. In spite of the antagonism of the older schools, the academy soon became the most important of the time in Italy, artists from all parts of the country being attracted to it by the fame of Lodovico's teaching, and the success of his pupils.
The eclectic principles of this school are set forth in the well-known sonnet addressed by Agostino to Nicolo dell' Abbati,^ wherein the artist who desires to be a good painter is recommended to acquire " the design of Rome, Venetian shade and action, the dignified colouring of Lombardy, the terrible manner of Michael Angelo, Titian's iruth to na. ture, the pure and sovereign style of Correggio, Raphael's true symmetry, the decorum and fundamental know- ledge of Tibaldi,^ the invention of the learned Primati- cus, and a little of Parmigiano's grace, but without so much study and so much toil let him apply himself to imitate the works our Nicolino (dell' Abbati) has left us here." '
The Carracci themselves were far greater artists than the four painters last named in their sonnet, and it is only in their earlier works that the patchwork practice possible from a too literal adherence to the eclectic principle
^ NicoLO dell' Abbati (1512-1571)ofModena, a follower of Raphael, whose Nativity, in the Leoni Palace, and other works, brought him a high reputation in Bologna, assisted Primaticcio at Fontainebleau after 1552.
' Pellegrino Tibaldi (1527-1596) achieved a great reputation as an architect and painter, his conventional style was greatly admired. He was invited to Spain by Philip II.
• " Chi farsi un buon pittorcerca, e desia, II disegno di Roma abbia alia mano, La mossa coll' ombra Veneziano E il degno colorir di Lombardia Di Michelangiol la terribil via, II vero natural di Tiziano, Del Correggio lo stil puro e sovrano E di un Ratfael la giusta simmetria Del Tibaldi il decoro, e il fondamento, Del dotto Primaticcio I'inventare E un po di grazia del Parmigianino,
Ma senza tanti studi, e tanto stento, Vt^^^Uv
Si ponga I'opre solo ad imitare ^ ^^^ Vvi\,\\"'
Che qui lasciocci il Dostro Niccoli^o."
l^\ ^^ "
:N\t^'^
0'
tv^
184 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
is visible. The individuality of the Carracci asserted itself in their maturer work, and the vigorous personality and naturalistic tendency of Annibale made themselves felt even in the early frescoes of the Fava Palace at Bologna, where Annibale was accused of forsaking the classic ideal so far as to paint in figures taken direct from street models. The triumph of the eclectics is to be seen in the great hall of the Farnese palace at Rome, which Lodovico was called upon to decorate in 1597. He, however, made over the work to his two cousins. Agostino, after designing much of the decoration, and executing several of the finest paint- ings, was induced by disagreements with his brother to retire to Parma (about 1600), where he died two years later. Two of Agostino' s cartoons, the Triumph of G-alatea and Cephalus and Aurora, are to be seen in the l!^ational Gallery,
The Farnese frescoes were finished by Annibale and his pupils, Domenichino and others, in 1607 or 1608. Un- rivalled in perfection of technique, monumental in grandeur of composition and harmony of style, these frescoes of sub- jects from the heathen mythology are set in richly decora- tive designs in monochrome of fruit, flowers, caryatids, etc., in keeping with the over-laden style of the sixteenth century Italian architecture. Annibale' s vigorous Triumph of Bacchus became the model for the many compositions of that theme painted during the next hundred years.^
Lodovico Carracci who occupies more the position of a teacher than a painter, has executed works remarkable for their severe drawing, and despite heaviness, for much indi- vidual beauty and pathetic sentiment. A not very favour- able example is in the National Gallery. His cultivated mind and accurate taste exercised a beneficent influence over the art of his time, and the impress of his teaching endured for nearly a century after his death.
Agostino's varied accomplishments^ and highly de- veloped critical faculty were of service to the academy, whilst his amiable social quahties and intercourse with
• For a detailed criticism of the Farnese frescoes, and the ascription of the parts to the Carracci and their pupils respectively, see "Woermann. Also Janitschek in Dohmc's " Kunst u, Kiinstler."
2 Malvasia, " Felsina Pittrice," vol. i., p. 266.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 185
men of letters and of science of the University of Bologna assisted the school to hold its own against old and new rivals. His colour is fresher than Lodovico's. Amongst his rare easel pictures is a landscape at Berlin, but he is best known by his engravings on copper.^
In technique and in versatility of talent Annibale is equal to the other two Carracci ; in vigour and originaHty of con- ception he far surpasses both. In his earlier works, whilst under the influence of his master, Lodovico, he is strongly reminiscent of Correggio, and sometimes of the Venetians. Examples of these manners are No. 9 and the sorely abraded No. 88 in the National G-allery. Later on, Annibale's individuality asserted itself, and his leaning to naturalism is observable in the genre-like conception of some of his small religious easel pictures, and in the few pieces of actual genre by his hand. Amongst these last, II Masca- tone, in the Uffizi, and the Greedy Eater, of the Colonna Palace at Rome, show some sense of humour. His portraits of the Carracci family seated in a butcher's shop (Christ's College, Oxford) is the coarsest and most realistic work of his hand. Amongst his drawings at the British Museum are several which, for their realism, might belong to that new school of " naturalisti " which sprang up beside successful eclecticism, and largely re-acted upon it. Amongst Annibale's finest religious pictures are the Three Marys at Castle Howard, and S. Eochus in the Dresden Gallery.
Annibale Carracci was the first Italian master who practised landscape for its own sake, and made it a separate branch of art. The great Venetians had all manifested a deep feeling for landscape beauty, and Titian's landscapes especially are among the finest that have ever been painted ; but they never ventured upon them except as a setting for their figures, whereas Annibale, without any true feeling for landscape, made it a chief study, and founded the school of conventional landscape, which was afterwards more fully developed by Claude and Poussin. The two
^ Agostino left a son Antonio, a promising painter, who died young, by whom there is a painting in the Louvre. Paolo, brother of Ludovico, and Francesco Carracci, nephew of Agostino, were also painters in Bologna.
186 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
landscapes in the National Gallery by him are obscured by dirt. In the same gallery are two little poetical mytho- logical paintings ; one, Pan and Apollo, possesses an idyllic charm lacking in his larger mythological compositions, which are often cold and heavy. These, and the small Pan and Bacchante in the TJffizi, are forerunners of Nicolas Poussin's joyous crews of nymphs and satyrs, if less redo- lent of animal spirits and sylvan abandon.
Disappointed with the payment of only 500 scudi for his great work in the Farnese, Annibale left the execution of the greater part of his next work in the chapel of S. Griacomo degli Spagnuoli to his pupil Albani. In 1609 he went to Naples, where the jealous persecution of the local painters is said to have added to his vexation of body and spirit, so that he returned to Rome, where he died of malaria, some said of poison, that same year.^
It was in the school of the Carracci that the practice of painting on copper and on slate became common, though Sebastian del Piombo had experimented upon marble, slate, and other stones.
Several of the numerous pupils of the Carracci, or painters formed in their school — Gruido, Albani, Domeni- chino, Lanfranco, and Gruercino — attained to almost equal distinction with the masters, striking oiat for themselves side paths from the " right road " of the eclectics.
DoMENico Zampieri, better known as Domenichino (1581-1641), is, for example, held by many to be superior to Annibale ; but although his works are charged with more sensation and livelier sentiment, he has a less power- ful individuality. His most important painting is the Com- munion of S. Jerome, reproduced in most works on Italian art, and esteemed by the critics of the eighteenth century, by whom these later Italian masters were so greatly exalted, as the greatest altar-piece in Eome, with the exception of Raphael's Transfiguration. At the age of fourteen Domenichino deserted the school of the rough Fleming, Denis Calvert, in Bologna, for that of the suave and cul- tured Carracci family. An earnest and industrious scholar, he assisted Annibale in the Farnese frescoes at Eome, and
^ Janitschek, " Kunst u. Kiinstler."
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 187"
at one time rivalled the popular G-uido there. He executed many important religious series in fresco in Rome, Bologna,,, and 'finally in Naples, where, emboldened by special pro- tection, he braved the threats of the jealous Neapolitan painters for ten years. At the end of this time he died suddenly. His wife asserted that he was poisoned.
One of the most pleasing of his easel pictures is the Diana Hunting, of the Borghese Gallery, Rome, distin- guished for its life-like modelling of the nude and lively colour.^ He decorated the Villa Ludovisi with landscapes in fresco, but his landscapes in oil are usually small, like the bright little S. George and the Dragon, and the softer Tobias with the Angel, in the National Gallery.
Domenichino, though not so facile as Guido, supplied a large number of the Pietas and Matres Dolorosae display- ing passionate grief, for which Lodovico Carracci had set the fashion. Energetic, if sometimes rather heavy of hand, he depicted with effect harrowing martyrdoms — pictures which were demanded by the taste of the time. Tor the Church of Rome, from which, as we have seen, art had become alienated in the sixteenth century, had once more, after the deep wounds she had received from Rationalism and Protestantism, taken her early handmaid into her service ; but she now no longer demanded from her the calm devotional productions of the early time, but admitted passionate and sensational pictures into her churches, seeking to satisfy with such drugs the emotional cravings of her children.
Francesco Albani (1578-1660) and Guido Reni also forsook the school of Calvert for that of the Carracci. They worked together in Rome until the jealousy of the usually amiable Guido drove Albani to abandon the decora- tions in the Quirinal.' Albani then worked with Domeni- chino at Bassano, and again in Rome for Annibale. With neither of these latter had his art much in common ; his religious works are eminently superficial and dry, but in his more numerous and popular paintings of pseudo- classical allegories and myths he attained his ideal of classic prettiness, and displayed a finely-decorative taste^
^ Woermann, p. 160.
^ See Woermann, vol. iii., p. 144.
188 HISTOEY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
His arcli baby-angels and naive cupids, gracefully set in artificial landscapes, sometimes rival in cbarm tbe Pompeian wall-decorations of the Roman decadence. Whilst he painted " amorini " and " putti," for which his own children were the models, Giovanni Battista Mola (1616-1662) and some others painted in most of his landscape back- grounds. His allegory of The Four Elements, of which there are replicas in the Borghese Gallery at Rome, are amongst his best works.
Another eclectic whose work was purely decorative, but devoid of any other aim than the exhibition of his super- ficial skill, was Giovanni Lanfranco (1580-1647). A native of Parma, he imitated Correggio, and outdid him in daring foreshortening, attaining great fame as a painter of cupolas and ceilings. The chief of his tumultuous compositions are in the church of S. Andrea della Valle at Rome. One of the most popular painters of his school, he long held his own against the inimical party at Naples.
GuiDO Reni (1575-1642) was the greatest of the Car- racci pupils, and in his study of the antique became more thoroughly imbued with classic feeling for beauty of line than any other. He early attained to a masterly ease of execution and great popularity, and at the age of twenty- three, in a composition, carried off the palm from Master Lodovico himself. In Rome, in 1605, he was for a short time attracted to the powerful and original style of Cara- vaggio.^ Under that influence he painted the Crucifixion of S. Peter, in the Vatican, and a few other altar-pieces ; ^ but his feeling for the beautiful and his refined, if some- times weak idealism, formed a style of his own, — a strong •contrast to the coarse realism of Caravaggio, to whom, as •to every other painter of note in Rome, he soon proved a formidable rival in popular favour.
Paul v., ambitious of making his pontificate as illustrious in the history of art as that of Julius II. or Leo X., with 'Guido for his Raphael, employed the painter to execute decorations for the Quirinal and other private chapels for liim, works which Guido executed with much taste and
^ See Malvasia, " Felsina Pittrice," vol. ii., p. 13. * An example is the piece of biblical genre in the National Gallery, 2so. 193.
f:^
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 189^
skill. His frescoes and light decorative paintings of clas- sical subjects are superior to his altar-pieces and semi- religious sentimental easel pictures. His masterpiece, Phoebus and Aurora with the Hours/ painted in the garden- house of the Rospigliosi Palace at Rome, in 1609, is "a. work unequalled in the seventeenth century for nobility of line and poetry of colour." His colouring was, in his- middle period, light and smooth, with a golden tone, which in later years he changed for a silvery one. To his best period belong the Christ Crowned with Thorns, of the* Dresden Gallery, and the beautiful portrait in the Barbe- rini Palace traditionally described as Beatrice Cenci, the face of which is touched with a melancholy congenial to the painter's own disjjosition. This face and that of the classic Niobe seem to have furnished the model for Guido's popular weeping Madonnas and Magdalens. There are eight of his works in the National Gallery, fairly exem- plifying his different manners. In 1612 Guido left Kome to settle in Bologna, but after ten years there his attempts to get work again in Rome and in Naples were defeated in both places by the intrigues of professional jealousy. Guido therefore returned to Bologna, where, after Lodovico's death, he became the honoured head of the Academy.
A generous nature, but melancholy and mysogynistic, he was in his latter years reduced to want by gambling, his only vice ; and, trading upon his name, he produced a large number of vapid repetitions of carelessly-executed, poorly- coloured heads, and half-lengths of affectedly sentimental saints and sybils, which have done much to militate against his earlier reputation.
As head of the school of Bologna he was succeeded by .Giovanni Francesco Barbieei, known from a squint as GuERCiNO (1590-1666), who, although not of the Carracci. school, studied much after the Carracci method, and in his travels fell especially under Venetian influence. Guercino is considered the finest colourist of the school or of his time, and his fresco of Fame, painted on a ceiling in the Villa Ludovisi, eclipses Guido's Aurora in richness of
» Engraved by Raphael Morghen,
190 HISTOET OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
•colour as mucli as it falls below that work in beauty of line and composition. The colouring of his earlier period was, however, often strong and crude, with heavy shadows, imitated from Caravaggio; later on, when settled in Bologna, like G-uido, he adopted a more silvery tone and a softer style. There is a good example in the National Gallery, but his great work in his first manner is the immense altar-piece of S. Petronilla in the Capitol at Eome. The British Museum possesses a good collection of his drawings.
LiONELLO Spada (1576-1622), is one of the less-known pupils of the Carracci, who, for a time the pupil and famihar friend of Caravaggio, united some of the charac- teristics of the eclectics and the naturalisti with consider- able power.
Of the noble efforts of the Carracci, their own works and those of their immediate followers were the only worthy result. The eclectic schools founded in imitation of the Accademia degli Incamminati at Cremona, under G-iulio Campi (1500-1572), and at Milan under Ercole Peo- CACCiNi (1596-1676), produced no great works. Through- out Italy a number of mediocre talents devoted themselves to the painting of decorations then in vogue in the palaces of the nobility. Landscape, still life, and all branches of the art were drawn into this service and developed character- istics accordingly. The better-known of these painters were G-iovANNi CuRTi, called n Dentone (about 1570-1631); PiETRO Paulo Bonzi (died between 1623 and 1644), sur- named II Gobbo de' Frutti; Gio. Battista Viola (1576- 1622), the first to practice landscape exclusively; Gio. Prancesco Grimaldi (1606-1680); and Agostino Tassi (1566-1642), the teacher of Claude Gelee of Lorraine, at Bome. In Florence, Matted Eoselli (15 78-1680), formed numerous scholars. His Triumph of David, in the Pitti Palace, may rank with the Judith by Cristofano Allori (1577-1621) for beauty and animation. Allori, the grand- nephew of Bronzino, was one of the best artists of his time. There is a portrait by him in the National Gallery. The most distinguished of Eoselli's pupils was Carlo Dolci (1616-1686), who has, by a large number of half-lengths and heads of saints in languishing ecstacy, smoothly
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 191
painted and poorly coloured, gained a reputation for a sickly affectation of which he is not often guilty. Many of the inferior works attributed to him are by his daughter Agnese and other copyists. The best type of religious sentiment is the S. Cecilia in the Dresden Gallery. There are many of his works in English collections, though but •one poor example in the National Gallery. His art, so popular in its day, was determined by the Catholic revival, in which intemperate zeal and fervent sentiment took the place of piety, and Dolci excelled in the gentler quality. Another popular painter was Pieteo Fbancesco Mola •(1612-1668), a scholar of Albani, by whom there are two small paintings in the National Gallery. Pietro Berre- tini, of Cortona (1596-1669), was the leader of the "mac- chinisti " in Eome and Florence, where he manufactured huge sprawling decorative frescoes, light in colour and tone, superficial and incorrect, but facile in form. He had a large number of followers. His landscape at Devon- shire House is a rich composition, though cold and dull in •colour. In Perugia Gio. Battista Salvi, called Sasso- FERRATO (1605-1685), copied Perugino and Raphael, and studied in Rome with Domenichino. He executed a large number of Madonna pictures, smooth and sentimental, but imbued with some of the pious feeling of the fifteenth century. There are two of these pictures in the National Gallery. His most original work is the Madonna with the Rosary in S. Sabina at Rome. Carlo Maratta <1625-1713), called the last of the Romans, followed neither of the rival schools of the day, but went direct to the study of Raphael. His numerous works are pure in form but devoid of style. He restored the Stanzi of Raphael in the Vatican with much skill and self-control. There is a portrait by him in the National Gallery.
The Venetians, though not insensible to the Bolognese revival of art, retained in the seventeenth century the chief characteristics of their school. Principal amongst them were Jacopo Palma, " II Giovine " (1544-1628), a grand- nephew of Palma Vecchio, and Alessandro Varotari, of Padua (1596-1650), called II Padovanino. Two of the latter's works, of some dignity of colouring, are in the National Gallery ; Palma's works are mostly at Venice.
192 HISTOKY OP PAINTING. [bOOK IV»
A second phase in tlie sixteenth century revival of art is that of Naturalism, which grew alongside and rivalled in its abiding inJfluence the Eclecticism of the CaiTacci. The naturalisti professed to throw off all tradition, and to paint Nature as they saw her, relying for pictorial effect upon the force of their chiaroscuro, the boldness of their technique, and the individuality with which they sought to endow their figures.
Michelangelo Merisi,^ or Amerighi, called from his birthplace, near Bergamo, Caravaggio (1569-1609), was the chief of the naturalisti, who abode chiefly in Rome and in Naples. His vigorous art induced many imitators, penetrated the very heart of eclecticism, and imparted essential impulse to the gre?ire painting of northern Europe.^ The first Italian painter to make genre painting his prin- cipal practice, his forcible style and the novelty of such subjects as his life-size, half-length groups of the Youth and the Eortune-teller (in the Capitol), the Cardsharpers (in the Sciarra Palace), and the Musicians (Lord Ashbum- ham, London), took the Roman art-world by storm. Coarser in subject and in conception than the few elegant genre pieces by Titian or G-iorgione, their boldness and originahty of chiaroscuro and colour, their absolute realism and occasional vulgarity, stood out in strong relief against the classic ideal of the Eclectics. Caravaggio spent his early life in Milan and in Venice, where he painted por-- trait, genre, and decorations for a liveHhood. On coming to Rome he worked for a short time in the school of the Cavahere d'Arpino, with whose feeble mannerism the original genius and rugged, violent nature of the young northerner could ill accord. Popular favour soon made Caravaggio the rival of the Bolognese artists, and party feeling caused ill words and deeds between the two factions of the realists and idealists of the day. In his earlier works the colouring is of an agreeable golden tone, remi- niscent of the Venetians ; but as the influence of his Vene- tian sojourn passed away, he exaggerated his Lombard
^ Woermann.
^ See Rembrandt's etching after the Interior, with St. Anne winding yarn, and the Virgin sewing, in the Spada Palace, Rome, by Caravaggio, and Vouet and Valentin in the French school.
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 193
heritage of strong modelling into the glaring lights and black shadows, which gained for him and his followers the name of Tenebrosi. Amongst his earlier works, besides those already enumerated, may be mentioned the Flight into Egypt, in the Doria Palace, by some attributed to Saraceni. His charming Girl with a Lute, in the Liechten- stein Gallery, Vienna, is the most refined of his genre pieces, and " the veritable ancestress of all similar subjects, even those much smaller ones painted by the Netherlanders during the seventeenth and in the beginning of the eigh- teenth century," the Ter Borchs, the De Hooghs, and the Brekelenkams of Holland. In his Cardsharpers the con- trast of low cunning with simplicity is painted with con- siderable sharpness of characterisation. Of the numerous religious subjects in his second manner, an altar-piece of the Calling of S. Matthew was rejected as too vulgar for a religious edifice ; it is now in the Berlin Museum. Such another is the Supper at Emmaus in the National Gallery, a gipsy-like group, in which a roast fowl is a prominent part of the composition. In his masterpiece in the Vatican, the Burial of Christ, the powerful portrayal of violent grief redeems the coarse types and heavy grouping from any such reproach. The Musical Party, at Devonshire House, is an example of genre in his second manner. His naturalism stood him in good stead in portraiture, of which the Grand Master of Malta, in the Louvre, and a portrait of himself in the Uffizi at Florence, are excellent specimens.
In the year 1606, Caravaggio, charged with homicide, fled to Naples. It is said that similar causes had driven him successively from Milan and from Venice. In Naples, where he took the lead amongst the local artists, he did not live long in peace, and was compelled to flee to Malta, whence he subsequently fled to Sicily and thence to Naples again, driven from one place to the other by the quarrels and consequent differences with the authorities in which his violent temper embroiled him. Nevertheless, he en- joyed high favour in each of his resting-places, and left in each a large number of paintings. In Naples, in 1609, he sought permission to return to Rome ; and at last receiving the Papal pardon, fled in an open boat from Naples, but
o
194 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
landing, was arrested upon Neapolitan territory, lost his boat and belongings, fell ill, and died at the age of forty, alone and ill-tended, at Porto d'Ercole. His powerful in- dividuality attracted lesser talents wherever he went, though his irregular life helj^ed to prevent his forming a school. Spada, already mentioned, followed his master to Malta and in Sicily, and the SiHcian, Mario Menniti (1577-1640), was his pupil.
His followers, Bartolommeo Manfredi (about 1580- 1617), Carlo Saraceni (1585-1625) and Angelo Caro- SELLi (1585-1653), imitated him so closely that their works are often scarcely distinguishable from Caravaggio's.
Caravaggio's influence was felt in Naples, but he cannot be regarded as the founder of the Neapolitan school. His dark and rugged conceptions had, however, much affinity with the gloomy character of Neapolitan art, and with that love of strong effect, to the neglect of detail and back- ground, which it had assimilated together with the rich dark colouring of the Spaniards, who had long been poli- tically and socially dominant in Naples. The veritable head of this Hispano-Neapohtan school was the greater painter, Jusepe Eibera (1588-1656), called Lo Spagno- letto, who, after studying under the Eibaltas in Valencia, came at an early age to the Spanish vice-kingdom of Naples. Eibera travelled for a time in North Italy, rest- ing at Eome and Parma, but his studies there seem not in any marked degree to have affected his art, which was essentially Spanish in feeling and colour. Eibera has been reputed the pupil of Caravaggio, but there is no evidence that the two painters ever came into personal contact. Eibera was but twenty-one years of age when the Lombard master died, but he quickly took up the position of the first painter in Naples, formed many puj^ils, and was recog- nized as the head of the anti-Carracci faction, some members of which, by dint of violent threats and even deeds, succeeded in preventing several of the Bolognese school from practising their art in Naples. Under the patronage of the Viceroy Eibera painted the greater num- ber of his pictures for the Spanish market, supplying the churches with saints in ecstasy and martyrdoms, such as the celebrated and oft-repeated S. Bartholomew, of
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 195
which the finest example is in the Prado Gallery, Madrid. A master of technique, he painted the nude with a fire and life unequalled in his century, his broad, melting touch invested his Marys and Magdalens with a soft golden glow, whilst his sombre shadows enhanced the horror of his scenes of martyrdom — scenes which drew upon him the one-sided criticism of Byron : — <
" Spagnoletto tainted His brush with all the blood of all the sainted."
In these he pictured individual passions, the exaltation of the rapt martyr, the brutal triumph of the executioner, with a demoniac power of reahsm which strongly appealed to the already-mentioned sensational religious taste of the time. The S. Mary of Egypt, at Madrid and at Dresden, exemplify his aesthetic side, his mastery of the brush and beauty of expression. The two pictures by him in the National Gallery are not of first rank. He painted a few mythological subjects in the same taste as his religious ones, viz., the Ixion and the Prometheus at Madrid, and a number of life-size half-lengths of philosophers, profane pendants to his hermits and apostles ; there are several at Vienna, at Naples a Silenus, and there is a curious Homer as a Fiddler at Turin. Eibera was an excellent en- graver.
The most talented of Eibera's scholars was Massimo Stanzioni (1585-1656). After sojourning in Eome and studying Guido he became an important painter in Naples, where most of his works are to be seen. He blended the mild beauty of Guido with the force of his Neapolitan style. His Pieta, in the monastery of San Martino, Burck- hardt calls ** one of the most beautiful productions of the seventeenth century," despite its imperfect state of pre- sirvation. Stanzioni's friend, Andrea Vaccaro (1598- ItiTO), began by imitating Caravaggio, but influenced by ."^tanzioni, later formed his own style by a union of Bolog- 111 so form and composition and the "genuine Neapolitan i<»ne-painting, dark and passionate, but harmonious.'* AN'orks by Vaccaro are frequent in Neapolitan churches, and there is one in the Dresden Gallery.
The knight of Malta, Fra Mattia Preti (1613-1699), of
196 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV.
Calabria, called II Calabrese, earned a great reputation in Rome, Naples, and Malta. Of his numerous religious paintings, the chief is the Incredulity of S. Thomas, in Naples Museum.
Ribera's scholar, Aniello Falcone (1600-1665), called the " Oracle of Battles," founded the school of landscape and battle-painting in Naples. Being concerned in the revolt of Masaniello, in which he led his friends and his pupils, banded together under the name of the " Compagnia della Morte," he fled to Paris. There his biblical and historical battle-pieces made him famous. The few pictures as- cribed to him are doubtful, and only one engraving (Bartsch, No. 18) is signed. Michelangelo Cerquozzi (1602-1660) painted battles and genre in Naples and in Rome, where he adopted something of the Netherlandish manner. The greatest painter of the Neapolitan school was the scholar of Aniello, Salvator Rosa (1615-1673). An excellent poet, satirist, and musician, and a spirited engraver in the manner of Ribera, Salvator stands in the first rank as a painter of ideal landscape and of battle- scenes, in which, like the one in the Louvre, landscape forms an important part of the composition, harmonizing in its wild or gloomy features with the fiery groups of struggling human and equine forms. His best landscapes are in the TJffizi and in the Pitti, but there are two fine examples in the National Gallery. The larger of the two,. Mercury and the Dishonest Woodman, is considerably darkened by time, but it is of gloomy character, with heavy masses of foliage, and characteristically Neapolitan sombre colouring and effect. His colouring is always cool ; and the beauty of his compositions depends, not on line, but on effect, and on that complete expression of mood to which every natural detail contributed when amalgamated by his highly- wrought imagination into an ideal romantic scene. In his youth he wandered much alone in the mountainous regions of the Abruzzi, and studied coast scenery from an open rowing-boat off the shores of south Italy. From the sketches thus taken he patched together little landscapes, and thereby gained a living. These soon attracted attention : Lanf ranco patronized him, and he was introduced into the school of Ribera to study figures. His
BOOK IV.] PAINTING IN ITALY. 197
liistorical and religious pictures bear the impress of these studies. A group of soldiers in the Dulwich Grallery, much blackened by time, is drawn with great force. Sal- vator left Eibera to paint battles under Aniello Falcone ; ^ but his peculiar genius for landscape was self-taught, and his keen eye for the j^icturesque discovered his material in nature itself — in the i3recipices and waterfalls, gloomy caves, rained castles, ambushed banditti, and belated travellers of the Abruzzi. He painted a few sunnier and simpler harbour scenes in a manner betraying the influence of Claude. Salvator spent many years between Naples and Rome, where he consorted with the young Italy of his time — free-thinkers and satirists of church and state ; and he is said to have made one of Aniello' s Compagnia della Morte in 1647. He spent nine years at the grand ducal court of Florence, much courted and honoured, but lived the last twenty years of his life at Rome, where his industry brought him riches and his art made him friends in honourable society.
Salvator's three pupils, Bartolommeo Torreggiani, Marzio Masturzio, and Giovanni Gthisolfi (about 1623- 1680), imitated him closely, without equaUing him. A more important painter was Domenico Gtargiulo (1612- 1679), called Micco Spadaro, the friend and companion of Salvator in the school of Aniello. His frescoes in Naples Museum are slight and decorative in style, but he is famed as a battle and landscape painter. His small easel pictures, somewhat dull in colour, record the revolt of Masaniello, the plague at Naples, an eruption of Vesuvius, and other interesting local events.
A successor to the popularity and to the mannerism of Pietro Berrettini of Cortona was the brilliantly-gifted but eminently superficial painter Luca Giordano (1632-1705), esteemed the marvel of his age for the rapidity with which he covered with frescoes vast ceilings, domes, and walls in Florence, Naples, Rome, Venice, and finally in the Escurial, whither he was invited by the King of Spain. He was a pupil of Ribera, and painted completely in that master's style in his early years, but later attached himself
^ See Dominici, " Vite dei Pittori," &c., vol. iii., p. 435.
198 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IV,
to Cortona at Florence, and adopted his flowing, decorative manner, always, however, retaining some traces of his Neapohtan richer colouring, and, here and there, more powerful drawing. His great talents otherwise directed might have made him something better, but his wonderful facility of hand gained him the name of Fa Presto, and made him the chief of the machinisti, as the popular quick-painting decorators came to be called.
The effects of the revival of art of the Carracci and the naturalisti died away in the eighteenth century, and art stood at a low level throughout Italy. The only painters worthy of mention are Venetians.
Antonio Canale (1697-1768), called Canaletto, painted with considerable skill and accuracy the palaces and canals of Venice, generally in a cold and formal manner, with a dead colouring. He visited England, and painted views of London, One of Eton College, dated 1746, is in the National Gallery, where there is also a fine View in Venice (No. 127), of a much freer composition, warmer in colouring, and with a sense of atmosphere and life absent in his grand Regatta on the Grand Canal (No. 938) in the same gallery. The figures in his pictures were sometimes painted by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770), well known as a fresco painter in Venice and at Madrid. There are two oil sketches by him in the National Gallery. Another architectural painter, Fran- cesco GuARDi (1712-1793), painted in a similar style to Canaletto, but with more colour and less truthfulness of detail. There are two clever little pictures by him in the National Gallery. Pieteo Longhi (1702-1762) painted genre and portraits, of which there are examples in the National Gallery.
For want of space, the flower and still-life painters, and the few followers of Eaphael Mengs and of David at Rome, must remain unnoticed. Rome still remained the great art centre, but it is of the art of the dead rather than that of the living. The modern Venetian school is composed mainly of foreigners; and although Italy has shared to some extent in the modern revival of art, she still remains far behind the more northern nations.
BOOK V. PAINTING IN SPAIN.
Eakly Spanish Painters — Alonso Cano — Zurbaran— Velasquez — Mdbillo.
THE acquaintance of most persons with Spanish art is limited to the names and works of two or three pre- eminent masters. When they have enumerated Velasquez, Murillo, Zurbaran, and, perhaps, Alonso Cano, they find their knowledge nearly exhausted, and are unable to fill up the list. Nor is this much to be wondered at, for in truth these are the only Spanish painters whose works are to be met with in any number out of Spain ; and as com- paratively few students have the opportunity of studying Spanish painting in its native home, their knowledge of it must necessarily be limited to those few painters whose popularity and high excellence have induced the plunder and acquisition of their works by foreign nations. This would be the more to be regretted, but that from all accounts the greater number of the masters whose works Spain shrouds in her dark churches and neglected museums are not worthy of a much better fate. The general igno- rance that prevails concerning the Spanish painters of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries may, after all, be better for their reputation than if their feeble asceticisms were dragged forth into the glaring light of modern criticism and art exhibitions.
The painters of the seventeenth century whose works have penetrated more or less into foreign countries are, we may feel pretty sure, the greatest artists whom Spain has produced ; indeed, by many -writers on the subject, the history of Spanish painting is not reckoned to begin until the period when these men flourished.
200 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK V.
But although Spain produced no Giotto to give a free and natural development to the Byzantine style, and al- though for a long time Spanish art seemed entirely depen- dent upon Italian teaching, yet there were several early Spanish masters whose names and characteristics it is de- sirable for the student to know.
[For our scanty knowledge of the early history of Spanish painting we were until lately dependent upon Stirling's " Annals of Painting in Spain," Head's " Hand- book of the Spanish School," and Ford's " Handbook for Travellers in Spain." For further information we are mainly indebted to the learned Professor Woermann, the results of whose individual research in the Peninsula are embodied in the Spanish section of Messrs. Woltmann and Woermann' s admirable " History of Painting."]
The Moors, in their invasion of Spain in the eighth century, seem, in their barbaric fury, to have destroyed nearly all works of early Christian art that we may sup- pose existed there at that time. A few faint relics of previous artistic work remained,^ however, when the Ma- liomedan power was at last broken, sufficient to indicate that in the early centuries of Christianity the universal Byzantine style i^revailed in Spain as in the other coun- tries of Christian Europe.
Under Mahomedan inspiration magnificent architectural and decorative works, such as the Alhambra, were executed, but no pictures [if we except the remarkable paintings on leather in the Hall of Council at Granada, representing ten Moors seated in council. They are apparently of the fourteenth century, the time of the Moorish decadence]. "^
Strange to say, the first Spanish painter of whom we have any record is met with in England, where, in 1253, in the reign of Henry III., we find that one Petkus de HisPANiA was ordered to repair " the painting in the king's oratory, near his bed," and received " sixpence a day for his wages in the king's service." ^
^ Such, for instance, as the paintings in the Church of St. Peter at CordoA-a, spoken of by Pablo de Cespedes as still existing, though much decayed in his time. Dictionary of Cean Bermudez.
'■^ Washburn's '' Early Spanish Masters."
^ Gage Rokewood, " Account of the Painted Chamber at "West- minster," qiioted in Head's " Handbook of the Spanish Schools."
BOOK v.] PAINTING IN SPAIN. 201
The name of Eodeigo Esteban is likewise on record as having been painter to King Sancho IV. in the years 1291 and 1292. And Cean Bennudez mentions the names of live-and-twenty Sj^anish painters who worked before 1500, consequently before the conquest of Granada and final overthrow of the Moorish kingdoms, which took place in 1492.
After this date, when Catholic Spain was gradually rising in power and tyranny, it is natural to suppose the arts would be cultivated. Indeed, the magnificent cathe- drals that arose about and before this period, prove that the Grothic impulse was felt in Spain quite as fully as in Italy and the North. Still, however, no Sj^anish painter of any great merit seems to have arisen, and for the most part foreigners were employed upon all important works. Vasari mentions two Florentine artists who, at the begin- ning of the fifteenth century, were treated with great dis- tinction in Spain. One of these was G-herardo Stamina, who, as we have seen, improved in his manners as well as his art during his residence in Spain,' and the other was Dello Delli,^ a sculptor in terra-cotta as well as a painter, who, although it would appear but slightly esteemed in artistic Florence, achieved a great reputation in Spain, where he was knighted by Juan 11. of Castile. Other Itahan masters seem likewise to have been employed; and the close union of Spain with the Netherlands caused many Flemish artists ^ to come over, so that perhaps native talent had scarcely a fair chance of assertion.'
' See page 48.
[2 Delli was still living in Spain in 1455.]
[3 John Van Eyck visited Spain, and Petrus Christusand Eogior Van der Wejden painted some of their most important works for Spanish churches. (VVoermann.)]
[* What there was seems to have been a mixture of Flemish and Italian styles, but the Flemish style predominated. At Barcelona, one of the seats of Provencal culture, intercourse with the French and Flemish artists was maintained, and the Flemish method of oil painting was established in Spain earlier than in Italy. A small oil painting by Ludovico Dalmau (1445), from its manner, according to MM. Crowe and Cavalcaselle, might have come out of Van Eyck's workshop. At Sala- manca Gallegos painted in Flemish manner. Pedro of Cordova (1475) painted in the style of Petrus Cristus, and Pedro Merzal worked in like fashion at Seville. There is reason to think that many works in old
202 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK V.
There are, however, a goodly number of Spanish painters whose names are known to ns, belonging to the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth centuries. The most im- portant of these are Juan Sanchez de Castro, Pedro- Fernandez DE G-uadelupe, Juan Nunez and Gonzalo Diaz, of Seville, Garcia del Barco and Juan Rodriguez, of Castile, and Juan Alfon, Pedro Berruguete and Antonio del Eincon, of Toledo. But as almost all the works of these masters have perished under the influence of time and neglect,^ it is nearly impossible to judge of their merits.
The influence of Italian art became more predominant towards the middle and at the close of the sixteenth century.
Nearly all the Spanish masters of this time studied in Italy, and, like the Flemish Italianisers of the same period, fell into a weak imitation of the great masters. Thus we have Spanish Eaphaels, Spanish Michael Angelos, Spanish Titians, and, above all, Spanish Caravaggios, but no master of powerful original genius.
From this general Italianisation in the sixteenth century^ one painter must, however, be excepted. Luis de Morales, called by his countrymen " El Divino," on account of the ascetic piety of his works (about 1510-1586), was in feeling a genuine Spaniard, and in style, also,- owed but little to Italy. His works, more, perhaps, than those of any other Spanish painter (although all Spanish painters were more or less under the same influences), exemplify the narrowing effects of Eoman Catholic teaching upon the intellect. We find in them, indeed, as in the older Byzantine works,
churches and museums, ascribed to Flemings, are really by Spanish imitators.]
^ Most of those which still exist are described in Ford's " Handbook for Travellers in Spain."
[By Juan Sanchez de Castro there is a colossal St. Christopher (1484) in the church of S. Julian, Seville; by Juan Nuiiez, his pupil (living 1507), a Pieta in a chapel of the cathedral at Seville (engraved in Woermann) ; by Pedro Fernandez an altar-piece in the same cathedral ; by Pedro Berruguete (d. about 1500), part of an altar-piece at Avila, finished by Santos Cruz and Juan de Borgona (l495-15o3). At the South Kensington Museum there is a remarkable old Spanish altar-piece f>f the fifteenth century from Valencia, repi'esenting the history of S. George.]
BOOK v.] PAINTING IN SPAIN. 205
merely an expression of asceticism, and of an asceticism that was no longer inspired by lofty ideas, as in the first ages of Christianity, when the ascetic life was often adopted as a personal protest against the foul immorality of the heathen world, but was the result of an abject and slavish state of fear and superstition.
The Inquisition, in truth, exercised its tyrannic power over the art of Spain, as well as over every other province of man's intellect; and in such a manner, that no free development was possible. Everywhere the individual thought of the artist was curbed, and his mode of repre- sentation limited by the rules prescribed for his guidance by holy church. In Italy at this time, as we have seen, art was no longer in the service of the church, but claimed to be judged entirely from an aesthetic point of view ; but it was very different in Spain, where assthetic considera- tions were but little regarded in comparison with an orthodox expression of belief, and where the Inquisition decided upon what was orthodox and what was heretical, and even appointed an official inspector to examine pictures for this purpose.
Luis de Morales had certainly no need of the supervision of the holy office, for his works are the very type of bigoted and dismal asceticism. A deep religious enthusiasm, it is true, animates them ; but it is the enthusiasm of a melan- choly fanatic, rather than of a hopeful Christian. Madonna dolorosas and Ecce Homos were his favourite subjects, de- picted in the passionate delirium of grief, or in exhausted despair. He seems, so far as one can discover from descrip- tions and catalogues, to have rarely indulged in more cheerful themes, but alternated between these, Crucifixions, Descents from the Cross, and Pietus.
His works, it is needless to say, are rarely to be met ^vith out of Spain.^
Amongst the other masters of this time, which is usually reckoned as the middle period of Spanish art, may be mentioned Alonso Bereuguete (about 1480-1561), who-
^ Even in Spain it is very difficult to study them, for like those of most other Spanish masters of this date, they are scattered in remote churches and convents, to which the traveller seldom penetrates. There are six paintings by him, however, in the Koyal Gallery at Madrid.
'204 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK V.
was one of the first to import Italian Renaissance into Spain. He had studied in the studio of Michael Angelo, and, like, that master, was an architect and sculptor as well as a painter. Several of his architectural works remain, but the only paintings now to be identified are eight pic- tures of the Passion in the College of Santiago at Sala- manca. He also studied with Andrea del Sarto, and re- turned to Valladolid from Italy in 1520.
Pedro Campana (Pieter de Kempeneer) was born at Brussels, 1503. He went to Bologna and Rome in 1530, and ;after studying in Italy, settled in Seville sometime before 1548, which date is upon his great Descent from the Cross,^ a picture showing Flemish rather than Italian power of 'execution and expression.^ His talents' were higbly honoured in Spain, Murillo was a great admirer of this master. He used sometimes, we are told, to stand for hours before Cam- pana's master-work, the Descent from the Cross, now in the -cathedral at Seville, and once replied to someone who asked him why he stayed so long, " I am waiting till these holy men have taken our Lord down." He likewise desired to be buried in front of this altar-piece. Its power must cer- tainly have been remarkable, for Pacheco tells us that he was afraid to remain alone with it in the gloomy chapel, where it originally hung, in the church of Santa Cruz,
Alonzo Sanchez Coello (1515-1590), supposed by ;Some to have been a Portuguese, and called by PhiHp II,, to whom he was painter in ordinary, " his Portuguese Titian." [His portraits resemble those of Antonio Moro, with whom Coello journeyed to Lisbon in 1552. His best j)upil was Pantoja de la Cruz (1551-1609), a good por- traitist, with a " thin and precise, but masterly execution." There are three portraits by Coello in the Museum of Brussels, and one of Philip II. in the National Portrait Gallery.]
Pedro Machtjca, Pernando Yanez, GtAspar Becerra, Luis de Vargas, who introduced oil painting into Seville (1502-1568), and Vicente Juanes (1507-1579), the head of the school of Valencia, belong to the schools of Rome and Florence in their decadence after the death of Raphael.
[' " La peinture riamande," p. 180 (A. Wauters).] [^ " Geschichte der Malerei," p. 39 (K. Woermann).]
BOOK v.] PAINTING IN SPAIN. 205"
Those now about to be considered were more especially imder the influence of the great masters of Venice, Titian, as we might naturally expect, considering the great number of his works in Spain, even if he were never there himself, being the chief model of their style.
Juan Fernandez Navarrete, surnamed El Mudo, or the Dumb (1526-1579), worked, it is said, in Titian's studio, where he acquired something of that master's rich colouring. He was one of the painters of Philip II.'s magnificent palace of the Escurial, upon the decoration of which that gloomy bigot employed all the artistic talent he could gain over to his service. There is a small picture by Navarrete in the possession of Lord Landsdowne, at Bo wood.
DoMENico Theotocopuli (1548-1625), known as Ii^ Greco, although, as it would seem, a Greek by birth, i& usually reckoned as a Spanish painter. His style seems to have been essentially Venetian, and he attained to very high excellence in colour. Like many painters who mado colour their chief study, he underrated Michael Angelo, of whom he is reported to have said that he was " a good sort of man, but did not know how to paint." ^
Luis Tristan and Juan Bautisti Matno, who became a Dominican monk, and Pedro Orrente, called " the Spanish Bassano," were pupils of El Greco.
Juan de las Roelas (about 1558-1625) was one of the most important of the sixteenth century Spanish masters. His style, it would appear, must have been founded upon that of Tintoretto, his works having sometimes been mis- taken for those of the gorgeous Italian ; but he has decided original talent, and his works are spoken of by critics in terms of high praise. Unfortunately " it is at Seville, and Seville alone, hat this master can be properly appreciated." '^ One of his principal works is a grand painting of Sant lago riding over the moors at the battle of Clavigo, in the cathedral at Seville.
Roelas was loudly condemned by Pacheco, who, as we shall see, held the office of Inspector of Paintings for the
• Pacheco, " Arte de la Pintura." [There is a S. Jerome by II Greco in the National Gallery (No. 1122).] » Head, " Handbook of the Spanish School."
206 HISTOBY OF PAINTING. [bOOK V.
Inquisition, for having in a picture of the Nativity repre- sented the Christ-child naked. "How dare artists," he exclaims, in virtuous indignation, " paint him thus, — even if the Holy Scriptures did not tell us so [that he was wrapped in swaddling clothes], no one could presume so little prudence and so little compassion in his most holy Mother as to imagine that she would expose her Child in such a rigorous season, and in the middle of the night, to the inclemency of the weather."
This amusing piece of prudery is but a sample of the sort of criticism to which all Spanish art was exposed, and to which, strange to say, all Spanish painters appear to have submitted; for although I have spoken of the Italianisation of Sj^anish art at this period, it must be borne in mind that this Italianisation extended only over the style and execution of the Spanish masters, and not by any means over their choice of subjects or mode of repre- senting them.
The license that characterises Itahan art in the sixteenth century was never admitted into Spanish. No naked Venuses, no frail nymphs, were allowed to seduce mankind by their charms, and the saints and other holy personages were so rigorously draped that it was considered highly indecorous to permit the Virgin's naked feet to be seen.^ Such an improi)riety was, in fact, " corrected " by the Holy Inquisition, and not even Murillo dared to commit it. In his Immaculate Conceptions the feet are always hidden.
In spite, therefore, of the Italian education of most of the Spanish masters, and of the Italian taste that every- where prevailed, the religious, or rather, perhaps, the ecclesiastical element predominated at this time far more in Spanish art than in the contemporaneous art of any other country. Several of the masters that have been men- tioned were men of the most fervent and orthodox piety, and superstitious to such a degree as to believe in their own pictures being inspired and miracle-working. Luis
* Carducho points out the want of truth as well as the want of de- cency in those painters who have represented the Virgin unshod, inas- much, he says, that it is certain our Blessed Lady wore shoes, " the much venerated relic of one of them being still preserved in the Cathe- dral of Burgos."
BOOK v.] PAINTING IN SPAIN. 207
•de Vargas, for instance, was almost an ascetic in life, and used, we are told, to lie in a cofl&n some hours every day- considering his latter end. Vicente Joanes, a thorough Italianiser, yet produced a picture of the Virgin that had the reputation of being miracle-working,^ and which he beheved to have been revealed to him in a dream. He never began a religious work without taking the sacrament and confessing. Becerra, likewise, although an admirer of Michael Angelo and a diligent student of anatomy, was the sculptor of "the portentous image of our Lady of Solitude," which, draped in widow's weeds, worked miracles in a convent in Madrid " to the great gain of her masters," ^ until her solitude was disturbed by the French during the war of independence, since which time she has disappeared. In truth, the pagan and rational spirit that we have seen in Italy triumphing over the spirit of asceticism that in earlier times animated Christian art, never gained any real hold over the Spanish intellect, which was always more or less faithful to the national religion. Nor had art in Spain any such incentives to throw off the discipline of Kome as in Italy, where the revival of the classic learn- ing, and the discovery of the beautiful remains of the antique world, brought to an end the long night of me- diaevalism, and caused " the spirit of ancient Greece to arise from the tomb, and the fabric of superstition to crumble and totter at her touch." *
^ It has been ab^ady remarked that most miraculous pictures are'bad works of art.
' Palomino de Castro y Velasco. Palomino was the Vasari of Spain. Besides his learned and dull disquisitions on the art of painting, he wrote the earliest biographies of the Spanish painters, which formed the foundation for the great work of Cean Bermudez and all subsequent historians. Like Vasari, he was fearfully inaccurate and careless con- cerning dates, and his statements need the most careful verification. He was also very superstitious, and believed with the fullest faith in the miraculous origin of many of the works (such as our Lady of Solitude) that he describes. The biographical portion of his great work, the " Museum Pictorium," has been translated into English, with the title, " An Account of the Lives and "Works of the most eminent Spanish Painters, Sculptors, and Architects." London, 1739. He was himself a painter, but his reputation is greater as an historian than as an artist. lie was born in 1653.
^ Lecky, ** Hist, of Rationalism," vol. i.
208 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK V.
In Spain, on the contrary, the effects of the revival of learning where felt less, perhaps, than in any other country of Europe. Classic art was scarcely known, and " the fabric of superstition" was upheld by a strong and tyrannic arm.
It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that the Church, which effectually crushed every effort at free thought and philosophic enquiry in every other direction, should have forbidden it also in painting : it is only remarkable that under such despotic supervision the great painters that Spain undoubtedly produced should have been developed.
Roelas, who was a licentiate of holy orders, and there- fore often styled El Clerigo Eoelas, was one of the earliest masters of the school of Seville, a school which afterwards, as we shall see, rose to the highest importance. He was excellent as a portrait painter, and " no one," says Ford, " ever painted the sleek grimalkin Jesuit like Eoelas."
Pablo de Cespedes, of Cordova (1538-1608), was an- other distinguished master of the early school of Seville ; he is earlier in date, in fact, than Eoelas. Pacheco calls him " a great imitator of the beautiful manner of Correggio, and one of the best colourists in Spain." He was also admired for his masterly chiaroscuro. He enjoyed a lite- rary as well as an artistic reputation, being known as a learned linguist and scholar, and a philosophical writer on art.^ But few, unfortunately, either of his painted or plastic works remain. (He was a sculptor and architect as. well as painter). Even his grand painting of the Last Supper in the cathedral of Cordova, considered his master- work, has been suffered to fall into decay.^
[Feancesco Collantes, of Madrid (1599-1656) was
^ His treatises on art were published by Cean Bermudez, in an appen- dix to the fifth volume of his " Dictionary." They comprise " A Com- parison between the Ancient and Modern Arts of Painting and Sculp- ture, a Poem on Painting, a Letter on the Ancient Methods of Painting, and an Essay on the Temple of Solomon." Stirling has translated a few verses of his poem on painting.
2 Ford, " Handbook for Travellers in Spain." [Now in Seville Mu- seum. There is an Ascension of the Virgin in the Museum S. Fer- nando, Madrid, in which, according to Woermann, little trace of beau- tiful colouring remains, though it is well drawn, and the faces are of noble type.]
BOOK v.] PAINTING IN SPAIN. 209
celebrated for liis landscapes, some of the best in the Spanish school. There is one in the Louvre.]
Feancisco Ribalta (about 1551-1628) was a painter of Valencia, to whose name a romantic history is attached. He fell in love, we are told, like many other apprentices, with his master's daughter, and the father being of course unpropitious, he went away to Italy to improve himself in art, the young lady promising meanwhile to remain faith- ful. On his return, after an absence of some years, he sought out his beloved one, but instead of spending his time in fruitless love-making, he entered the old studio, and the obdurate father being from home, boldly finished a sketch that was standing on an easel, and left it there as a silent witness of his visit, his faithful love, and his im- proved powers as an artist. When the father returned he was astonished at the excellence of the work, and exclaimed to his delighted daughter, " If this man were your lover, you should marry him with my full consent, but not that poor bungler, Eibalta." Thus Ribalta won his wife and fame at the same time, for this story soon spread abroad, and others besides his father-in-law admitted his talents, and gave him commissions.
The altar-piece in the chapel of Magdalen College, Oxford, Christ bearing the Cross, is considered by Ford to be by him, and to be a grand example of his style. It was formerly attributed to Morales, but there seems no real ground for so attributing it, any more than for assigning it to Lodovico Carracci or other eclectics, as some writers have done. Ford describes Eibalta's style as being a com- bination of that of Domenichino and Sebastiano del Piombo, so that it is likely that his work might easily pass for that of an Italian master.^
Ribalta's chief works are in the College of Corpus Christi, at Valencia, which Ford describes as " a museum of Ribaltas." 2
' Tlie Magdalen altar-piece was brought from Spain in 1702 by the last Duke of Ormonde, and there seems but very little reason to doubt that it is really Spanish.
P Notwithstanding his Italian education, Ribalta's later works are "thoroughly Spanish in feeling and style, worthy in colour, Jind freedom from the archaisms of the transition masters, to be classed with the jjreat
P
210 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK V.
GuiSEPPE DE EiBEEA (born at Valencia, 1588, died at Naples, 1656), already mentioned amongst Italian masters, is said to have been in the first instance a pupil of Ribalta, but he went early to Italy, where he was known as Lo Spagnoletto, by which designation he is likewise best known at the present day. There are a good number of works by him in Spain, but he may be better studied in other countries. [There are two works of his in the National Gallery.]
Juan de Ribalta (1597-1628), the son of Francisco, died in the same year as his father, but not before he had achieved an almost equal success as an artist. The paint- ings in the Madrid G-allery bearing the name of Ribalta are now considered to be the works of Juan, which con- noisseurs find very difficult to distinguish from those of Francisco.
Jacinto Gteronimo de Espinosa (1600-1680), studied under Ribalta and afterwards in Italy. " No painter,'* says Stirling, " was ever more industrious or more popular, and few more prolific or more pious," The greater number of his works are now in the Museum at Valencia.
The name of Francisco Pacheco (1571-1654), has been already mentioned several times. It is in truth a celebrated name in the history of Si)anish art, but its owner is best known to fame, not by any great achievements of his own, but, like the Paduan Squarcione, by the great- ness of one of the pupils who emanated from his school, and by the influence that he exerted over the art of his time. His work upon painting, before quoted,^ is charac- terised by Stirling as " pompous, prolix, and wearisome,'* and such we may surmise the author likewise to have been : but his book was not written until he was, accordirisr to his own account, seventy years of age, when a little dogmatism may be permitted to man. The book is divided into three parts, treating of the history, theory, and prac- tice of art, and in it he lays down especial rules for the guidance of artists in painting religious subjects, rules to which no doubt his official position as Commissioner of the
ones of the seventeenth century. (Woermann, and '* Catalogo de los cuadros del Museo del Prado de INIadrid.")]
^ ''Arte de Pintura, su Antigiiedady Grandezas." Seville, 1649.
BOOK v.] PAINTING IN SPAIN. 211
Holy Inquisition gave peculiar authority. Thus he gives the young painter " salutary counsel " concerning the painting of the nude figure, of which he recommends that " the face and hands should be painted from nature, with the requisite beauty and variety, after women of good character ; in which," he graciously admits, " in my opinion, there is no danger." " But with regard to the other parts," be says, " I would avail myself of good pictures, engravings, models, ancient and modem statues, and the excellent designs of Albert Diirer, so that I might choose what was most graceful and best composed without running into danger." Caring little, evidently, for the danger that Diirer and other heretics must have run in preparing these excellent designs. He likewise gives in structions concerning the proper mode of representing the Virgin in her various characters, and the traditional mode of representing certain Saints. In the Last Judgment the nakedness of the risen souls greatly perplexes his mind, it being correct from an aesthetic point of view, but inadmissible from an orthodox. He gets over the difficulty by saying that " as angels with- out wings are not known to us, and our eyes do not allow us to see the saints without clothes, as we shall do here- after, therefore there can be no doubt that to paint them BO is improper."
With such restrictions as these it is wonderful that Spanish painters should have ever achieved anything be- yond the most narrow and conventional works, for most of them abided by Pacheco's authoritative injunctions, apparently as much from their own sense of propriety as from any fear of the Inquisition. Velasquez, it is true, once painted a naked Venus,* but it was for a private patron, and was doubtless not allowed to imperil the souls of the orthodox. And then Velasquez was the son-in-law of Pacheco ! No other Spanish painter would have dared to have done so.
Pacheco's greatest triumph in his later years seems to have been in the genius and success of his pupil and son- in-law, Velasquez, whom he accompanied to Madrid in 1623, and whose brilliant career shed upon his master a
1 Stirling's " Annals," p. 685.
212 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK V.
sort of reflected glory. But few of Pacheco's pictures now remain. Such as there are, are said to be painted in the hard manner of early art, and to show no original talent.
Francisco de Herrera el Viejo (1576-1656), the rival of Pacheco in the school of Seville, was in all things the very opposite of that learned, gentlemanly, but some- what incapable master. His manners were as coarse and his temper as violent as the execution of his pictures. He flung his paints on his canvas in a rage, and worked up his vigorous sketches in a passion. He beat and drove away his pupils [Velasquez and Alonso Cano were pupils of his], ill-treated his son, who robbed him and fled to Eome, was accused of coining, and in general behaved in an utterly reckless and disreputable manner. At the same time his art is bold, truthful, and original, qualities entirely lacking in Pacheco's learned productions. [He painted much in fresco and engraved on copper.] His principal work is a picture of S. Hermengild, now in the Museum at Seville. This picture, it is said, obtained his pardon when he was charged with coining ; for Philip lY. happened to see it at Seville, and inquiring for the painter, extended him his forgiveness, with the admonition, however, that such powers as his ought never to be abused. [There is a Saint Basil dictating his Doctrine by him in the Louvre.]
Herrera el Mozo (or the younger) (1622-1685), the son of the elder Herrara, fled to Eome, as before stated, to escape from his father's ill-usage, and became known there as a painter of still-life subjects, or, as the Spaniards call them, Bodegones. Especially he was noted in Italy for his painting of fish, by which he acquired the title of il Spag- , nuolo del Pesci, but on his return to Seville at the death i of his father he adopted a more ambitious style, and executed large altar-pieces — Saints, Virgins, and even Im- maculate Conceptions, the favourite theme of Spanish art at this time. He was, it is recorded, a man of an envious, satirical nature, and was especially jealous of Murillo, of whom he was a contemporary in Seville, and whose fame far eclipsed his own. For this reason, it is said, he removed to Madrid in 1661, and was soon after appointed painter to Philip IV.
EsTEBAN March (end of sixteenth century — 1660) was
BOOK v.] PAINTING IN SPAIN. 2V6
a painter of the same violent stamp as Herrara. He only painted when he had lashed himself into a fury ; but as his principal subjects were battle-pieces, his furious moods were not, perhaps, inappropriate ; at all events, by dint of breaking heads and furniture he succeeded in producing many bold and spirited representations of battle-fields.
Alonso Gang (1601-1667) [pupil of Pacheco] was an- other violent-tempered artist of this period, but he did not, like Herrara and March, carry his violence into his manner of painting, for his pictures, although vigorous in design, are soft and rich in colouring, tender in sentiment, and careful in execution, with none of the broad, dashing effects and contrasts that so many Spanish masters loved to produce. Alonso Cano was, in truth, a painter of strong original genius, and ranks next to Velasquez and Murillo as the third greatest artist of Spain.
Like Berruguete and several of the artists of the fifteenth century, he was proficient in the three arts of architecture, sculpture, and painting, and for this reason, it may be supposed, he obtained the title of the Spanish Michael Angelo, for in no other respect can he be said to resemble the great Italian.
His coloured retablos and small carved statues are highly praised by Ford, and Stirling speaks of one of his Madonnas, **^vith deep blue eyes and mild melancholy grace," as " one of the most beautiful pieces of the coloured carving of Spain."
His paintings, with the exception of a few admirable portraits, are exclusively religious, and full of sentiment and pathos ; the tender grace of many of his Virgins sur- passes even that of Murillo.
In 1637 Cano had to escape from Seville in consequence of a duel with another painter, in which he severely wounded his adversary. He settled at Madrid, where Velasquez shielded him from the consequences of his act. Soon, however, he fell into far greater trouble, being accused, whether justly or not it seems now impossible to determine, of the murder of his wife, who was found stabbed in her bed with fifteen wounds upon her. Suspicion, by some means, fell upon the husband, in spite of contradictory circumstances, and without waiting for a trial he fled from
214 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK V.
Madrid and took refuge in a Franciscan convent of Valencia, where he remained for some time, and painted several re- markable works for the Franciscan friars. At last he ventured to return to Madrid ; but the suspicion against him had not been forgotten, and he was seized and put to the torture as a means of discovering the truth. By the especial favour of Philip lY. his right hand, on account of its skill, was exempted from ligatures,^ and " as he passed through the ordeal without uttering a cry, he was set at liberty with a character judicially spotless."
Nor did this exciting little episode in his history interfere in the least degree with the success of his future career. It would seem that the charges brought against him could not have been very generally believed, for he was still patronized, not only by the Court, but also by the Church, and was even permitted to occupy the stall of a minor canon in the cathedral of Granada, with the permission of exchanging its religious duties for those of superintending the works going on in the cathedral, and adorning it with paintings. Cano, however, by the violence of his conduct, managed to offend a high functionary of Granada, who, by his influence, caused him to be deprived of this benefice, on the ground that he had neglected to take orders within the specified time. Upon this he appealed to the ever- accessible Philip rV., and obtained from him a chaplaincy which entitled him to full orders, whereupon he returned in triumph to Granada, and, without oi^position, again took possession of his benefice, armed with a Paj^al dis- pensation from the duties of saying mass. He never, however, forgave the chapter for the attempt to dispossess him, nor would he ever afterwards execute any work for the cathedral.
The stories that are told of Cano's eccentric and im- pulsive conduct prove him to have been a most singular man. Although very violent towards those who offended him, he was full of kindly feeling, and exceedingly cha- ritable to the poor. His purse was always open to the widow and orphan, and often, when he had no money to bestow, he would execute some rough sketch and give that
^ Philip IV. was, as we have seen, always ready to befriend an artist.
BOOK v.] PAINTING IN SPAIN. 215
to the claimant of his charity, telling him where to obtain money for it.^ He had the strongest aversion to Jews, and deemed himseK so contaminated if by chance a child of Israel brushed against him in the street, that he would never afterwards put on the garment that was thus ren- dered unclean. Once he found one of the obnoxious tribe in his house, which obliged him to repave the floor upon which the poor hawker, who had hoped to make a bargain with his housekeeper, had walked. The shoes in which he himself had trodden in the Jew's footsteps were likewise cast away. Nay, so great was his prejudice against the Chosen Race, that he positively refused when dying to receive the Sacrament from the hands of a priest whom he found was accustomed to administer it to Jews condemned by the Inquisition.
Francisco de Zurbaran (1598, about 1662) [pupil of Roelus], is pre-eminently the painter of monks. His pic- tures of dark, lean ascetics are to be met with in almost every gallery, and produce an unpleasant shudder as we look at them, so powerful is their ghastly effect. It would not, we feel, be safe to remain alone in a dark church with one of those unearthly Franciscans, for fear the dismal fanatic should step out of his frame and find it his duty to apply the tortures of the Inquisition for the good of our souls.
In his strong contrasts, and powerful effects of Ught and shade, Zurbaran evidently imitated the style of Caravaggio — indeed, he has been called the Caravaggio of Spain — but he applied his art almost exclusively to religious subjects, and has left us none of those coarse dramatic representa- tions of low and evil life in which the Italian took especial delight.
The fashionable Zurbaran, "painter to the king," was in truth more of a gentleman than Caravaggio, and, being a Spaniard, he was also necessarily more under the in- fluences of the Church of Rome ; otherwise, it must be admitted that his works bear a strong similarity to those of the chief of the Tenebrosi, and he may be reckoned as one of that school.
* ** Palomino," torn. iii.
216 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK V.
Zurbaran did not, however, always choose the dark monkish subjects for which he is most famed. Occasionally he painted female saints, with charms reminiscent, Stirhng imagines, of the reigning beauties of Seville, with "the rouge of good society " on their cheeks. His Virgins are rare, but there is one very pleasing Holy Family at Stafford House, which contrasts remarkably with his gloomy saints in the same collection.
His most important work is a grand allegorical com- position known as the S. Thomas Aquinas, originally painted for the college of that saint, but now hanging in the museum at Seville. Like Eaphael's Disputa, it re- presents the Holy Trinity in the opening Heaven above, whilst on the earth beneath, the Emperor Charles V. and the Archbishop Diego de Deza, attended by a train of ecclesiastics, kneel in adoration. Midway between heaven and earth, the four doctors of the Latin Church sit on cloudy thrones ; but S. Thomas Aquinas is leaving them and rising to join the glorious company above, amongst whom S. Paul and S. Dominic are conspicuous. This picture is much praised by critics, who speak of its effective colouring, magnificent draperies, and admirable atmo- spheric depth. It is considered, indeed, one of the finest productions of Spanish art, and equal to any Italian work of the seventeenth century. The figures in it are some- what larger than life.
The Louvre formerly catalogued no less than ninety- two pictures assigned to Zurbaran.^ There is a picture by Zurbaran, of a Franciscan Monk, in the National G-allery, No. 230.
We now come to the two greatest and best-known names in Spanish art — Velasquez and Murillo — painters whose genius, whilst shedding its fullest light upon their own native land, has yet thrown many rays across to us in foreign countries.
Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velasquez (bom at Seville in 1599, died at Madrid, 1660) was the first of these two Spanish stars to arise above the horizon of the
[' This large collection of Zurbarans has been dispersed. There are only three in the catalogue now, and these all came from the collection of Napoleon III,]
BOOK v.] PAINTING IN SPAIN. 217
seventeenth century. He was of gentle bir1;h, and boasted of long illustrious descent, but his parents do not appear to have been rich. They gave their son, however, "the best scholastic education that Seville afforded ; " but, although he made satisfactory progress with his other studies, his predilection for art was early apparent, and his father wisely acceded to his desire to become a painter. His first studies were made in the school of Herrara the elder, but that master's brutal manners soon disgusted his gentle pupil, and he renounced his teaching for that of the more gentlemanly Pacheco, whose school at Seville was then largely attended. Here, however, he quickly found that nature was a better instructor than the learned and theoretical Pacheco, who could teach, it is true, the rules and precepts of the ancients, but was himself incapable of expressing the varied aspects of nature. He resolved, therefore, like all great naturalists, to study real life in its common and ordinary phases, and not as reflected in the works of any master, however great ; and for this purpose, says Pacheco, " he kept a peasant lad as an apprentice, who served him for a study in different actions and pos- tures, sometimes crying, sometimes laughing, till he had grappled with every difficulty of expression ; and from him he executed an infinite variety of heads in charcoal and chalk on blue paper, by which he arrived at certainty in taking likenesses," and thus laid the foundation of his future fame. He likewise seems, at this time, to have been attracted towards the picturesque scenes of low street- life, which, when not employed upon exalted rehgious themes, Murillo and several other Spanish painters were fond of choosing for their subjects. One of his early works of this class is the celebrated Water Carrier of Seville, a most powerful and skilful work. This picture, which is mentioned by Cean Bermudez, Palomino, and others, is now one of the trophies at Apsley House, having been presented to the Duke of Wellington by Ferdinand VII. at the termination of the Peninsular war.^
* It had previously been stolen by King Joseph when he found it necessary to Hy from Madrid, but was retaken in his carriage, together with a quantity of similarly appropriated Bourbon plate, after thedel^at at Vittoria,
218 HISTOEY OF PAINTING. [bOOK T.
After five years spent in Pacheco's " academy of good taste," Velasquez married his master's daughter, Dona Juana, " moved thereto," says her father, " by her virtue, beauty, and good qualities, and his trust in his own great natural genius." Pacheco, who, says Stirling, " had some- thing of the tendencies of a Bos well," was intensely proud of his great pupil and son-in-law, whose abilities he at all events has the merit of having early discerned ; and when, soon after his marriage, he was invited by the Minister Olivarez to the Court at Madrid, and the connoisseur-king, Philip lY., sat to him for his likeness, the happy master's and father-in-law's delight and triumph broke forth in a wonderful sonnet, in which, whilst calling the royal patron a " greater Alexander," he promises Velasquez " the praise of old Apelles."
Velasquez's fortune was, in truth, made from this mo- ment. The king was so delighted with his portrait, which represented him in armour and on horseback, that he de- termined never to be painted by any other master, and Velasquez was, accordingly, in 1623, appointed his Painter- in-ordinary, with a monthly salary in addition to the pay- ment of his works ; moreover, the attendance of the royal physician, surgeon, and apothecary was granted him, as well as the sum of 300 ducats to defray the expenses of his family's removal to Madrid.
From this time forth his chief employment lay in painting the royal family of Spain in every variety of attitude and attire. Innumerable are his portraits of Philip IV., who, if he never sat to any one else,^ must have wearied him- self, one would think, in sitting to his favourite master. "VVe have portraits of him on horseback, at his prayers, in gold and steel armour, in sporting costume, in shooting dress with dog and gun, in black robes, in crimson and ermine, in youth, in middle age, and advanced life ; por- traits— bust-length, full-length, Hfe-size, and mere heads ; altogether, Stirling in his catalogue enumerates no less than twenty-four.^ The chief minister, the Count Duke
^ Stirling affii'ms that he only depai'ted from this resolution in favour of Rubens and Grayer.
[^ In Mr. Curtis's catalogue of the works of Velasquez and Murillo, thirty-four portraits by Velasquez of Philip IV. ai-e described, besides
BOOK v.] PAINTING IN SPAIN. 219
Olivarez, to whom Velasquez owed his first introduction at court, was likewise many times painted by him, as well as the two Queens of PhiHp IV. and all the small infants and infantas of Spain, especially the Infant Balthazar Carlos, whom he painted several times as a boy upon his
All these portraits are characterised by a certain dignity and courtly ease that no other painter, except perhaps Titian or Vandyck, has infused into his works of this kind without sacrificing truth to nature. Velasquez never makes this sacrifice; he is as faithful in painting a king as a peasant ; and yet we feel at once, without the help of dress and insignias, that the one is a monarch and the other a boor, so admirably has he expressed the " divinity that doth hedge a king," and which is in some degree reflected on all his surroundings.
Although most exclusively occupied with portraits of princes, he occasionally found time to devote to less exalted subjects, as, for instance, in 1624,^ when he produced his celebrated painting of Los Borrachos, or the Topers, now in the Eoyal G-allery at Madrid, which represents a coarse, brutish Bacchus surrounded by eight boon companions of the low Spanish type, all in various stages of inebriation. One drunken ruflSan (they are all of a singularly villanous cast of countenance, and look capable of perpetrating any crimes) kneels before the half- naked representative of Bacchus, and receives with mock gravity a crown of vine- leaves on his rough, and one may presume, dirty head. This picture is said to be wonderful in its force of cha- racter and strength of colouring ; its humour also is praised ; still it must be owned that m the engraving ^ it does not make a favourable impression. It is not merely that the subject is unpleasant, but that it is treated in a coldly sarcastic rather than a genial spirit. There is no re-
sixteen doubtful ones, and twelve of Olivarez, besides four doubtful
ones.]
[' This date is doubtful (see Curtis). It was paid for in 1629.]
■■' It has been engraved by Cannona, and etched by Goya, and a
smaller plate of it may be found in Stirling, and several works on
Spanish art. The original sketch for it is in the possession of Lord
lleytesbury, in Wiltshire.
220 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOZ V.
deeming touch of kindly feeling, such as we often see, for instance, in Tenier's drunkards, in any of these thirsty rascals ; they are unmitigated scoundrels, whether drunk or sober.
A picture of a different class is the great historical com- position representing the Surrender of Breda, wherein the Marquis of Spinola receives the keys of Breda from Prince Justin of Nassau, a work especially noteworthy for the number of fine portraits that it contains.
The painting known as Las Meninas, or the Maids of Honour, is likewise one of his most esteemed works ; in- deed, it is often reckoned his masterpiece. It depicts Velasquez himself in his studio painting [the united por- traits of Philip IV. and his wife Mariana, which are seen reflected in a mirror. There are nine figures in the picture], including the little Infanta Margarita Maria and her Meninas, or maids of honour. It was not painted until 1656, when the prosperous career of the artist was near its close ; and tradition relates that the red cross of Santiago, which is conspicuous on the breast of the painter, was painted there by Philip IV., who, coming one day to see how the picture progressed, remarked that there was but one thing wanting in it, and, taking up the brush, gra- ciously painted the insignia of the great Spanish order upon the portrait of Velasquez.^
Like most other Spanish painters, Velasquez spent some time in Italy, but he did not go there until 1629. His style was then thoroughly formed, and he appears to have studied and profited by the works of the great Italians without any sacrifice to his own originality. On his return to Madrid he was made Aposentador-mayor of the king's household, an important and lucrative office, but the duties of which, unfortunately, drew away much of his time from painting.^
In 1660 took place the celebrated conference on the Isle of Pheasants, between the kings of France and Spain, which, following the treaty of the Pyrenees, was meant to ratify a lasting peace between the two crowns, which was
[■ Velasquez was not made a knight of Santiago till 1659, or three years after the picture was painted.]
[■^ In 1648 he again visited Italy to buy pictures for the king of Spain.]
BOOK v.] PAINTING IN SPAIN. 221
further cemented on this occasion by the marriage of the Infanta Maria Teresa with Louis XIV. Velasquez, in virtue of the office that he held of Aposentador, was bound to provide for the entertainment and lodging of the huge cavalcade that escorted the king and the bride ^ to meet the French monarch. He likewise played an important part in the august ceremonials and festivities that took place on the occasion, and it is supposed that the excite- ment and worry that he thereby underwent was too much for him, for immediately on his return to Madrid he fell ill, and, in spite of the attendance of the royal physicians, breathed his last on the 6th of August, 1660, in the sixty- first year of his age. His wife, Juana Pacheco, followed him in a week to the grave.
The family picture, now in the gallery at Vienna, in which Velasquez has depicted himself and his wife sur- rounded by their children, is one of the most masterly of his works. The painter Mazo, who married Velasquez's eldest daughter, is included in the family group, and a portrait of Philip IV., hanging on the wall, and a full- length likeness of the Queen, on the easel before which Velasquez is standing, serve to connect the painter, even in this pleasant representation of his domestic life, with his royal patrons.'*
It is, of course, as a portrait painter that Velasquez is chiefly famous. His detractors, indeed, were wont to say that he could paint nothing but heads, as if this were not enough. He has certainly left but few religious pictures, and such as there are by him cannot rank among his best works ; ^ but his powers were so versatile, that it is evident that, had he chosen, he might have excelled in any branch of his art. His landscapes are uniformly good, and have,
* " Three thousand five hundred mules, eighty-two horses, seventy coaches and seventy baggage-wagons, accompanied the royal party from Madrid to the place of rendezvous. The procession was six leagues in length, and the van had reached the first day's halting-place before the rear had issued from the gates of Madrid." (Stirling.)
' [See, however, Curtis, " Velasquez and Murillo," p. 16, who suggests that this picture is not by Velasquez but by Maso, and that it represents not the family of Velasquez, but that of Maso, or one of his friends or patrons.]
' Except, perhaps, a Crucifixion, in the Nunnery of San Flacido,
222 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK V.
as Wilkie remarks, " the very soul and spirit of nature." The landscape, for instance, in the Boar-hunt, in the National Gallery, No. 197, is by far the best portion of the picture.^ Of the Adoration assigned to him, in the same gallery, nothing can be said but that it is to be hoped that it is not genuine.^ It is nothing more than a vulgar imitation of the vulgar Eibera; but the picture recently acquired from the Pourtalcs Collection, and known as El Orlando Muerto, the Dead Orlando, No. 741, is undoubtedly, whether by Velasquez or not, a most power- ful and striking work. [There are also two splendid portraits of Philip IV., a bust, No. 745, and a full-length. No. 1129 ; and Sir John Savile Lumley has recently pre- sented to the gallery the celebrated picture of Christ at the Column, No. 1148.]
[Velasquez is represented in the Louvre by a portrait, the Infanta Maria Margarita, and a small group of thirteen portraits, known as the Conversation of Velasquez, in which the artist and Murillo are said to be introduced. There are two or three other portraits of doubtful authenticity there.]
Baetolome Esteban Murillo, the second famous painter of the Spanish school, was born at Seville, or at least was baptized in that city, on the 1st of January, 1618.^ Like Velasquez, he received his early education in his native city, in the already well-established school of Seville, where Juan del Castillo, who was also the master of Alonso Cano, gave him his first instruction. He im- proved so rapidly that he soon rivalled his master, but not being, like Velasquez, of noble birth, and his parents
which is engraved in Stirling's " Annals," and is spoken of by him as one of Velasquez's noblest works, and as proving that, " although from choice his pencil dealt chiefly on subjects of the earth, it could rise to the height of the loftiest theme."
[^ Some of the figures in this picture were restored or put in by Lance, but the figures and dogs on the left are masterly.]
[^ There is no reason to doubt that this is an early work of "Velasquez. ] ^ The registry of his baptism was discovered by Count Aguila, which disproved Palomino's statement that he was born in 1613, atPilas. [The custom was to baptise on the day after birth, and therefore he was pro- bably born on December 31, 1617.]
BOOK v.] PAINTING IN SPAIN. 223
being dead, he was obliged to give up study in order to earn his daily bread by executing rough and hasty works, that he himself sold in the street or the market-place for a few reals to such purchasers as he could find/
Having managed to gain a little money by such works as these, and by others that he sold to the American traders for exportation — figures of Saints and Virgin pic- tures that were greatly in demand in the Spanish American states — he determined to proceed to Italy, and there im- prove himself by studying the works of the great Italians. On his way, however, he stopped at Madrid, where he sought out his celebrated fellow- townsman Velasquez, who had already achieved fame and fortune, and asked his advice. Velasquez, who seems to have had no mean jealousy of other artists, received the poor friendless youth very kindly, lodged him at his own house, and gained per- mission for him to study in the Eoyal Galleries. He counselled him, moreover, to wait a little while before going to Italy, and accordingly Murillo spent the summer of 1642, while Velasquez was absent with the court at Arragon, in studying and copying the works of Vandyck, Spagnoletto, and Velasquez at Madrid. On his return, Velasquez was greatly pleased with the progress his protege had made ; and in the following year, when he had already produced works of very high merit, he offered him every assistance to enable him to prosecute his studies at Eome.
But Murillo' s desire for Italy had now weakened, and in spite of the remonstrances of Velasquez, after three years spent at Madrid, he returned early in 1645 to Seville, where he remained for the rest of his life, refusing, it is said, the invitations to court that came to him in his old age.
Immediately on his return to Seville, he accepted a com- mission from the friars of San Francisco to decorate their
> " In ^lurillo's time," says Stirling, " these street artists mustered in prsat numbers. Their works were sometimes executed in the open air, and they always kept brushes and colours at hand, ready to make any alteration on the si)ot that customers might suggest, such as changing a S. Onophrius, bristly as the fretful porcupine, into S. Christopher Uie Ferryman, or Our Lady of Carmel into S. Antliony of Tadua."
224 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK V.
cloisters with eleven large paintings,^ a commission, it is said, that was not given him without much misgiving on the part of the friars, who doubted the young and unknown artist's competency for so great an undertaking, although they were too poor, or too parsimonious, to pay the sum that a more famed master would have required. The way in which Murillo executed this work soon, however, con- vinced the Franciscan friars that they had made a mo&t fortunate choice, and the fame of his paintings spreading abroad, all Seville hastened to the convent to see them, and were forced to acknowledge that the poor youth, whom they had formerly known as selHng rude daubs in the market-place, had developed into one of the greatest masters of Spain.
From this moment his success was assured: commis- sions flocked in upon him without end, and in 1648 his position ^ was such as to enable him to marry a lady of property, and to maintain a comfortable establishment at Seville, where his house became the resort of some of the most distinguished men of the city. For the cathedral he next painted several large pictures representing various legends of saints, especially one of S, Anthony of Padua, which is celebrated as one of his most admirable works, and which still, wonderful to say, having escaped the rapacity of Soult, hangs in its place in the baptistery of the cathedral.^
Before the execution of these works, Murillo had changed his early style of painting, a style designated by critics as his cold (Jrio) manner, in which many of his beggar-boys
^ The cloisters of San Francisco were burnt in 1810, but most of Murillo's paintings had before this been carried off by Marshal Soult. One of the finest of the series, the Death of Sta. Clara, wherein the Virgin, attended by a train of beautiful maidens, bears a shining robe of immortality for the dying saint, passed into the Aguado collection, and from thence into England. It was exhibited by Earl Dudley in the collection of Old Masters, at the Royal Academy, in 1871. [Another S. Diego of Alcula is in the Louvi'e. For list of these pictures and their present possessors, see Curtis's '* Velasquez and Murillo," p. 225.] P The name was Dona Beatriz de Cabrera y Sotomayor.] P The largest of all Murillo's paintings. Painted 1656. On 5th November, 1874, the figure of S. Anthony was cut out of this picture, and stolen. In January following it was recovered in New York, but slightly damaged.]
BOOK v.] PAINTING IN SPAIN. 225
and other scenes of street-life are painted, for a wanner and more transparent colouring, witli softer outlines and fuller forms. This second or warm (calido) style is more univer- eallv admired.
The friendless youth who had sought the patronage of Velasquez in 1642, was now universally acknowledged as the caposcuolo or head of the famous school of Seville ; and although Juan Valdes and the younger Herrera, who were painting at the same time in Seville, fondly considered themselves his rivals, he had in truth no real rival in Spanish art, except Velasquez ; and in the present day, if popularity be any test, Murillo is far more widely known and appreciated than even Velasquez.^ The passionate religious enthusiasm of the Spanish nature finds its highest expression in his works, in which the harsh asceticism of the earlier masters is softened by a loving tender senti- ment, that renders them peculiarly well adapted to appeal to the hearts and awaken the devotions of a race whose religion teaches the cultivation of faith at the sacrifice of reason.
Murillo, in truth, may be taken as the representative in art of the spirit of faith and unquestioning obedience which, in spite of the shock of the Eeformation, still con- tinued to hold its ground in Catholic Spain, even in the seventeenth century ; just as Diirer represents the inquiring and doubting spirit of Protestant Germany ; and Michael Angelo, and Titian, the rationalistic spirit of paganized Italy. The sensuous element also largely prevails in Murillo's works, and colour forms their chief attraction ; nor does this in any way detract from their tender devo- tional character, for the Catholic religion, especially at the time of re-action against encroaching Protestantism that set in in the seventeenth century, sought, by dazzling the senses, and by moving appeals to the emotional side of human nature, to regain the hold it had lost on the human intellect. The effective art of the Carracci, of Guido, and Domenichino, and of many of the Naturalisti and Tene- brosi, was an expression of the same endeavour; but it
* [This is still true, but the appreciation of Velasjuez has spread greatly since this was written.]
226 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK V.
is most clearly apparent in the art of Murillo and Zurba- ran, in which unreasoning faith sometimes rises to the heights of religious ecstasy.
His well-known picture of the Immaculate Conception, in the Louvre, aspires to express this state of heavenly rapture. Whether it does so or not is a question that per- haps the cold northern intellect is incapable of determining, but, compared with the mysterious holy beauty of Eaphael's San Sisto Madonna, or the powerful magnificence of Titian's Assumption, this much-admired work apj^ears like a mere theatrical display of religious sentimentality.
In many other of Murillo's religious subjects the senti- ment is similarly overstrained, whilst, on the other hand, in many of them we have only a commonplace realism, as, for instance, in his smaller Madonnas, who are merely Spanish peasants with their infants in their arms, without any effort at idealization. Many of his biblical histories, also, do not rank beyond genre painting, so completely are they brought to the level of the Spanish life he saw around him.^
It was this picturesque Spanish life, in its poorest and most disreputable aspects, that, as we know, first attracted his attention. His pictures of ragged, dirty urchins, laugh- ing, stealing, eating, and playing cards, are as well known as his more exalted religious conceptions, and strike us by their keen observation and powerful dehneation of youth- ful rascaldom ; indeed, had Murillo chanced to live in Pro- testant Holland in the seventeenth century instead of in SjDain, he would probably have ranked as one of the humourous class of Dutch genre painters, instead of beiag the favourite painter of Inquisitorial Spain, for it was more the influences of country and education that made him a devotee than any natural disposition.
Of all his great series of paintings, those executed for the hospital of the Holy Charity at Seville are generally reckoned the finest. He painted no less than eleven great canvases for the church of this hospital, but only three
^ Such, for instance, as the series exhibited in 1871 of the Old Mas- ters, at the Eojal Academy, from the life of the Prodigal Son, which, but for the title, might have been taken for scenes from some Spanish novel, being nothing more than clever delineations of the career of a spendthrift Spanish youth.
BOOK v.] PAINTING IN SPAIN. 227
Qow remain in their original places, the others having been, IS was so often the fate of Murillo's pictures, carried off by Marshal Soult, and otherwise dispersed. Two are now in Stafford House, in the possession of the Duke of Suther- land, and are undoubtedly splendid examples of his large liistorical mode of composition, or, as it might perhaps be called, of his biblical-genre style. The first of these great paintings represents Abraham receiving the Angels — the patriarch advancing from the door of his tent to welcome his heavenly visitors. The other depicts with impressive force and reality the Prodigal's Eeturn. The centre group of the repentant son locked in his father's arms, in this latter work, is especially powerful and pathetic, and the management of the colour in both is most excellent, and reveals the painter at his best period.
Murillo was the founder of the Academy of Painting in Seville, the first that had ever been established in Spain, but he was only its president for one year, namely, in 1660. He died in 1682, at the age of sixty-four, from the consequences of a fall from some scaffolding whilst paint- ing the Marriage of S. Catherine in the church of the Capuchin friars at Cadiz.
Although his industry must have been remarkable, he does not appear, after a life devoted to art, to have amassed any fortune but at his death.^
Like Giotto, Murillo is pre-eminently the painter of the Franciscan order. His first important commission was given him, as we have seen, by the Capuchin friars of Seville, for whom he executed many other works. He has frequently represented the legends of S. Prancis, and often depicts his holy personages in the Franciscan dress. Murillo's works are better known abroad than those of any other Spanish painter, the Spanish war and the dissolution of the monasteries having effectually dispersed them. Marshal Soult, indeed, has been undoubtedly a most active agent in disseminating a knowledge of Murillo throughout the civilized world, for the pictures that he acquired (" stole " is the word that Stirling uses) during the Spanish
' Palomino. [The amount of property he loft is very uncertain, but he left some. See his will, often printed ; an English translation is given by Curtis.]
228 HI8T0BT OP PAINTING. [bOOK V.
war, and sold for enormous prices in his famous auction- rooms, are to be found in most public galleries.
The Louvre naturally possesses a large number of Soult's acquisitions ; and it has other Murillos, acquired in a less questionable manner.^ The Pinakothek at Munich has several excellent paintings of his early time, of beggar boys and similar subjects. Dresden has a fine religious picture, S. E-oderic receiving the Crown of Martyrdom, and a Virgin and Child [and one of S. Juan de Dios].
In England, the Dulwich Gallery, especially, boasts of some fine Murillos, the well-known Spanish Mower Girl being one amongst them. The National Gallery has only three paintings, but these are excellent examples of his various styles, the Spanish Beggar Boy (No. 74) being one of his early, and the Holy Family (No. 13) one of his latest works, whilst the S. John and the Lamb (No. 176) be- longs to his middle and best period. This subject was frequently treated by Murillo, who painted children with graceful naivete.^
His most frequent theme, however, was the favourite Spanish dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, which was established by the Church, and received by the Spanish people with the most enthusiastic joy in his time. Almost all Spanish painters have found in this Catholic mystery a fruitful source of inspiration, but Murillo, above all, is known in Spain as el pintor de la Concepcion, the painter, jpar excellence, of the Sinless Virgin. His two finest paintings of this subject are at Seville and Madrid, although the Conception of the Louvre is more universally known.
With Velasquez and Murillo Spanish painting reached its highest perfection. Immediately after their deaths it fell even below the standard that it had attained in the sixteenth century, and soon became, like everything else in Spain at this sad period, utterly corrupt, feeble, and worthless.
[^ Ten altogether ; only a few were in the Soult collection, and these were purchased by the state or Xapoleon III.]
^ A picture called the Good Shepherd, of a young and beautiful boy looking up to heaven in a rapture, once formed a companion to the S. John of the National Gallery. It is now in the possession of the Roths- child family.
BOOK v.] PAINTIXa IN SPAIN. 229
Juan de Yaldes Leal (1630-1691) continued for a few years, it is true, after the death of Murillo, to uphold the famed school of Seville, but the glory of that school had departed, and soon it sunk into mere academic mediocrity. Several painters might be mentioned, who, like the Italian machinists, executed vast decorative works with marvellous rapidity, but no painter of any real power or originality arose [until the advent of Don Francisco Groya y Lucientes. This very original artist was born in 1746, and studied at Saragoza under Luxan Martinez. He was in Italy at the same time as Louis David, and enjoyed the friendship of that painter. Groya's fame for originality rests chiefly upon his etchings and engravings in aquatint, especially the three series of Scenes from the French Invasion, The Bull- ring, and the brutally cynical Caprices, illustrating national traits and incidents. These spirited satirical conceptions are executed with a powerful chiaroscuro, which, in part, conceals the hasty, faulty drawing, and in- vests with force a vivacity of imagination not exempt from a tendency to caricature. His works are full of the revolu- tionary spirit, the fiendish hatred of priestcraft, and the licentiousness which distinguished the man and made his life a reckless one — ever embroiled politically and socially. G-oya was essentially a national painter. His portraits of the family of Charles IV. and others are in Madrid, and there are numerous religious subjects by him in the churches of Spain. In the Louvre there are two portraits (Nos. 534 and 535) of the French Ambassador Guillemardet and of a young Spanish girl. Goya died in 1828.
The few Spanish painters of merit since that time belong, in manner, to the French school rather than to the Spanish. Distinguished above all is the brilliant genre painter, Mariano (Jose-Maria Bernardo) Fortuny.* Bom in 1838, he made himself a European reputation before his early death in 1874. His marvellous dexterity of hand, audacious management of light and colour, combined with fine finish and vivacity, despite the multiplicity of detail, induced many followers, and founded what has been termed the h-ic-d-hrac school. Fortuny studied at Barcelona and in
[' " Les Artistes Celebres ; Foi'tuny." Par Charles Yriarte.]
230 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK V.
Rome, but his journey to Moscow in General Prim's train in 1859 furnished material for, and determined the direc- tion of, his art. His best works are La Yicaria (the Spanish wedding), Choosing a Model, the Bibliophiles, the Barocchi, and the Executions in the Alhambra, in all of which the charm rests in the picturesqueness of the subject and its brilliant execution ; his work lacks higher qualities, but is complete in itself. His brother-in-law, Madrazo, is the most gifted of his followers.]
BOOK VI. PAINTING IN GERMANY.
Chapter I.
THE CATHOLIC PERIOD.
School of Cologne — Meister Wilhelm — Meisteb Stephan.
THE rosy dawn of German art began," says F. Von ScUegel,^ "with. Wilhelm of Cologne," but even if the roseate hues of the dawning are first perceptible in his works, we must not forget that the grey morning of art had broken over the land long before his time.
We have no evidence, it is true, of any national Teutonic art before the Christian era, the remains of such buildings of an earlier date as exist in Germany, France, and other northern countries, being (with the exception of the Druidical circles) distinctly of Roman construction. But when the Germanic nations had thrown off the yoke of Rome, and when the chaos that succeeded the overthrow of the ancient world had subsided into something like order, the newly-founded kingdoms began to evince their inde- pendence in their art, as well as in their noble national ix)etry, which arose about the same period.
Gothic architecture, which may be regarded as the petri- licd expression of the religious aspirations, the poetry and the idealism of the mediaeval mind, had its rise in France
^ '^ Gemahlde-beschreibungen aus Paris und den Niederlanden.**
232 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VI.
about the end of the twelfth century, and from this date we may trace a continued development in the art, not only of Italy (though by the influence of G-iotto, that country, of course, took the lead in painting), but likewise of less favoured lands. In France, G-ermany, England, the Netherlands and Spain, Gothic architecture bloomed into a more delicate and ideal beauty than even in Italy ; and although, by breaking up the extensive wall-surfaces that the Romanesque style had afforded for painting it hindered to a certain extent the free exercise of the painter's art, it nevertheless burst the fetters which Byzantine tradition had hitherto imposed, and gave a new direction to his thoughts.
For a time, it is true, the German painter hesitated to obey this impulse, and, as the miniatures and the illumi- nated manuscripts (the only works that we have in paint- ing of the early Gothic period) show, remained under Byzantine influence ; but even in very early northern illu- minations an independent spirit is often visible, which finds its outlet in grotesque shapes, fantastic animals, and other quaint devices.
Painting on glass was carried to the greatest perfection in this age by northern artists, as the exquisite beauty of the old painted glass in many of our Gothic cathedrals abundantly testifies; still, the restraint that the mosaic- like character of glass-painting necessarily imposed con- trasted unfavourably with the freedom that fresco painting offered to the Italian artist.^
The earliest wall-paintings of which we find any men- tion in German history are some said to have been exe- cuted for Queen Theodolinda in the sixth century, and to have represented the Victories of the Lombards, but of these, as well as of the more important paintings with which Charlemagne decorated his church and castle at Upper Ingelheim, we have only the historical record, none of them now existing.
A few traces of early German wall-painting still remain,
* Even after the Gothic style was fully adopted in Italy, care was taken to leave spaces for fresco decoration ; as, for instance, in the church of S. Francis at Assissi, built between 1228 and 1253, by a German master named Jacob.
BOOK VI.] PAINTING IN GEEMANY. 233
however, in various places, which reveal considerable feel- ing for grace and simple beauty.^
More particularly in the early art of Bohemia this feel ing becomes manifest.
The School op Bohemia is about the earliest school of painting that arose in G-ermany. It dates from the begin ing of the fourteenth century, but chiefly flourished in the timeof the Emperor Charles lY. (1348-1378), who employed several native artists in the decoration of his castle and church at Karlstein, near Prague. The names of three of these artists, namely, Theodorich of Prague, Nicolaus Wurmser, and one Kunz, have been handed down tons, but it is impossible now to assign to them their respective work.
The School of Nxjrnberg, during the early G-othic period, was a school of sculpture rather than of painting. It produced the most exquisite carved and chiselled works, works which more than rival those of Italy of the same time in their rich fancy, deep f eehng, and original thought, if not in their classic spirit ; but for a long time painting remained entirely subordinate, and was only used to heighten the effect of bas-reliefs, statues, and wooden carvings.^
The preference for those richly-carved and coloured wooden altar-pieces, of which we still find so many speci- mens in German churches, had, indeed, at this time, a somewhat depressing influence on the development of German painting. The colouring of these altar-shrines, which were entirely filled with small figures in magnificent gilded and damasked drapery, standing in relief from a gold ground, was often the only employment that even a skilful German master could find.^
* The paintings in the apse of the church at Brauweiler, of which there are copies in the Wallraf Museum at Cologne, those once at Ramersdorf, near Bonn, and the important bibhcal series in the monas- tery church at Wifenhauscn, may especially be mentioned, as well as some paintings at Cologne, Hildesheim, and Brunswick.
* " Nurnbergs Kunstleben in seinen Denkmalen dargestellt." K. von Rettberg, 1854.
^ The so-called Rosenkranztafcl, or representation of the Last Judg- ment, in the Burg at Niirnberg, is a splendid example of this kind of work, still one perceives in it the limitations under which the artist must have worked.
234 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VI,
This was especially the case at Niimberg, where, as before said, sculpture was long predominant. We find, however, a few early paintings in Niirnberg, such as the celebrated Imhof altar-piece, executed about 1418-1422, and the beautiful Virgin with Cherubs, in the Lorenz Kirche, that prove that the Niirnberg masters, even in painting, were not behind the other early schools of Grermany in artistic development. The Imhof altar-piece, indeed, is remarkable for its tender sentiment, graceful forms, digni- fied expression, and beauty of colour. Its centre compart- ment represents the Coronation of the Virgin. The name of its painter is unknown.
In SuABiA, also, German art appears to have developed at an early date ; but here, as at Niirnberg, it was sculp- ture that was principally practised.^
In the more celebrated and better-known School op Cologne, on the other hand, painting, although un- doubtedly preceded by architecture and sculpture, rose at a very early date to separate importance. As early as the beginning of the thirteenth century Wolfram von Eschen- bach, in his famous romance of " Percival," in describing the beauty of his knight, declares that —
" From Koln nor from Maestricht No limner could excel him."
proving that even at that date Cologne was celebrated for its " limners."
Cologne, indeed, from the time of Charlemagne, occupied a foremost position amongst the cities of G-ermany, and a constant communication was kept up between her and Italy. It is natural, therefore, to suppose that Italian and Byzantine artists travelling northward would have settled by preference in the city that had most direct inter- course with the south. By such artists, doubtless, paint- ing was first taught and practised in Cologne, and their scholars formed what has been called the Byzantine- Rhenish or Byzantine-Eomantic School, the principal seat of which was in Cologne.
The chief characteristic of the Byzantine-Eomantic school
* C. Heideloff, " Die Kunst des Mittelalters in Schwaben."
BOOK VI.] PAINTING IN GERMANY. 235
is a deep-seated devotional sentiment. The harsh asceti- cism of Byzantium is softened to a tender spiritual beauty and childlike purity of expression, such as only Fra An- gelico and one or two of the Italian purists ever attained. Added to these spiritual graces, if so they may be called, we find in the early Cologne masters a true feeling for form, a dignified grace, a delicate and soft execution, and a sweet harmonious blending of colour; and although their works lack the accurate drawing and powerful colouring of the great school of the Van Eycks, many of them possess a wonderful charm of their own.
The first of the ** limners " of Cologne, of whom we gain any real sight, is that patriarch of German art, Meister WiLHELM OF Cologne (painting in the latter half of the fourteenth century).^
According to some historians, Meister Wilhelm was bom at Herle, but he appears to have settled at Cologne about the year 1358, and to have formed there a large school. Unfortunately but few of his productions survive, or at least can be identified. A Madonna and Child in the Wallraf Museum at Cologne, however, which is still ascribed to him, evinces the before-mentioned characteristics of his school in a remarkable degree. On the countenance of the Virgin there is an expression of the most heavenly purity and peace. No earthly emotions disturb her holy con- templation, as, with the God-child in her arms, she gazes forth from the gold background which surrounds her. A pure harmony of colour adds to the singular beauty of this old work.*
But the fame of Meister Wilhelm has of late years paled before the superior merits of another master of the Cologne school, Meister Stephan, or Stephan Lochner, who was, perhaps, one of Wilhelm' s pupils, and flourished in the first-half of the fifteenth century.
* So called on the authority of the " Limburg Chronicle," which mentions him as " ein berumbt Maler in Colin des gleichens nit ware in der Christenheit j er malet einen wie er lebte. Sein Name war Wil- helraus."
[* Also ascribed to him — St. Veronica, National Gallery ; the Life of Christ, St. John's Chapel, Cologne Cathedral. Belonging to his school — Madonna and Child adored, and Scenes from the Life of Christ and the Virgin, both in Berlin Museum.]
236 HISTOEY OP PAINTINa. [bOOK VI.
The name of Meister Stephan was first made known to critics by an entry in the "Journal of Albrecht Diirer," which states : " Item. I have paid two silver pennies to have the picture opened which Meister Stephan painted at Cologne." This picture was the great " Dom-bild," as it is called, an altar-piece still preserved in the cathedral of Cologne, which, until this entry was noticed, had always been attributed to Meister Wilhelm ; but when, in addition to Diirer's assertion, the name of a painter, Stephan Lochner, or Loethener, was actually discovered by M. Merlo in some old registers of the years 1442 and 1448 in Cologne,^ the evidence seemed strong in his favour. Some writers, how- ever, even now hold to the opinion that Meister Wilhelm was the real painter of the Dom-bild.
The fame of being the painter of such a picture as the Dom-bild, the crowning work of the Cologne school, is truly worth contending for, it being one of the noblest and most beautiful works of early religious art. The spiritual ideal is never for a moment forgotten in it, but the figures are more strongly modelled, and have a greater naturalistic freedom than in most other productions of this school.^ The realism blended with mysticism that produced the Mystic Xamb of S. Bavon, at Ghent, of Hubert and Jan Van Eyck, produced, in fact, likewise this earlier work of G-erman art, which, in many respects, may be compared to the masterwork of the Van Eycks.
It is divided into three compartments, the centre repre- senting the Adoration of the Kings, whilst on the wangs are S. Ursula and her Virgins, and S. Gereon and his men- at-arms, the figures being all painted on a gold background, with a depth and beauty of colour which almost equals Flemish oil painting in effect, although it seems to be painted in tempera on wood. The dark-green foreground, studded with flowers in the Flemish manner, is most care- fully worked out and extremely beautiful ; but we scarcely
' The entries in these registers show that Stephen Lochner was a native of Constance, but owned a house in Cologne, and served in two different years in the town council. Merlo, " Die Meister der Altcbln- ischen Schule." Coin, 1852.
[■■' Intercourse between Cologne and the Netherlands was frequent in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and the influence of the Flemish realism strongly marked.]
BOOK VI.] PAINTING IN GERMANY. 237
notice details in looking for the first time at this work, so impressive is the mild majesty of the enthroned Virgin, the deep reverence and love of the noble old king kneeling before the Child, and the tender beauty and innocence of S. Ursula and her companions. On the outside of the wings, as was customary in these altar-pieces, the Virgin and the Annunciating Angel are depicted. These figures also have an exquisite tenderness of sentiment and deep spirituality.
Another highly-finished and beautifully conceived work of the early Cologne school is the Madonna in the Rose Arbour, Madonna in der Bosenlaube, now in the Wallraf Museum in Cologne. There seems but little doubt that this is by the same master as the Dom-bild, for the same majesty, united with childlike simplicity and purity of character, distinguishes the Virgin, who seems to breathe a different air from the foggy atmosphere which surrounds our poor human life. In execution, also, this small picture is very similar to the large altar-piece of the cathedral.^
A Last Judgment, conceived with great dramatic power, but with very little knowledge of form, and in that quaint, almost comic spirit of symbolism that usually prevails in early representations of this subject, has also, but not without dispute, been ascribed to Meister Stephan.^ There are many other curious works of the same school in the Wallraff collection, which is peculiarly rich in works of early G-erman art. There are also many scattered in old German churches, but space will not permit of any more being mentioned here, except an altar-piece at Jiefenbronn in Swabia, painted in 1431 by Lucas Moser, which displays a national tendency united with the ecclesiastical forms of l)reviou8 years.
Before the end of the fifteenth century the influence of the Flemish school was powerfully exerted over the masters of Cologne. Their spiritual idealism gave way before the
* The learned editor of the Walh*af Museum Catalogue, Herr Niessen, has written two sonnets in praise of this highly-prized work, which forms one of the "jewels " of the Cologne school. The uninstructed observer might, it is true, easily pass it by as " one of those ugly Byzantine things," but a little study reveals its deep feeling and beauty.
[^ There is a picture ascribed to this artist in the National Gallery (No. 705).]
238 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK VI.
noble realism and better technical methods of the Van Eycks, and most of the G-erman painters .of this time be- long to the school of Eogier van der Weyden rather than to that of Meister Stephan. The influence of Flemish realism is especially apparent in the works of a German master who was formerly, but erroneously, called Israel Van Meckenen,^ but who is now usually styled after his principal work, The Master of the Lyversberg Passion (about 1463-1480). The Lyversberg Passion^ is in eight compartments, representing the scenes of the passion of Christ. There is not the elevated feeling in the conception of this work that marks the creations of the earlier Cologne masters, but, on the other hand, there is far greater power of expression and knowledge of form, and much richer colour. Technical execution was, in fact, greatly advanced by this painter, and a more natural life infused into the old types, but the pure religious feeling of the Cologne school is only now and then apparent in his pictures. There are several works ascribed to this master in the cabinets of the Munich Grallery, and there is also one, a Presentation in the Temple, in our National Grallery.
Another anonymous painter of this time is The Master OF THE Death of the Virgin. He is unfortunately but little known, and consequently but little spoken of, even by G-erman critics ; but the one certain work by which he is known, the Death of the Virgin, and its side wings, repre- senting the Family of the Donor (the male portion under the protection of S. G-eorge and S. Nicasius, and the female portion under S. Christina and S. G-udula), is a painting worthy of being classed with many of the most extolled works of the school of Bruges. It has all the power and colour of Eogier Van Weyden, while in the peaceful beauty of the Virgin, who lies dying on the bed, there is a touch of the ideality of Meister Stephan. The scene is laid in a chamber wherein all the Apostles are assembled, as is usual in representations of this kind. S. Jolm supports
^ On the supposition that he was identical with the goldsmith and engraver of that name, who worked in Cologne about the same date.
^ So called because it was formerly in the possession of Herr Lyvers- berg. From him it passed to Frau Baumeister, and was gained, in 1864- by the Eichartz-gift, for the Cologne Museum.
BOOK VI.] PAINTING IN GERMANY. 239
the dying Virgin, and S. Peter, in full pontifical robes, kneels by her side reading prayers. All the rich details that the Bruges masters loved to introduce into their works are present here : on a footstool in the foreground lies a rosary and an incense pot ; a mirror hangs on the wall, and also a small painted altar-piece, in which one can distinguish that the middle compartment represents the creation of Eve, and the wings the figures of Moses and Aaron.
There are two repetitions of this work, one in the Pinakothek at Munich, and the other, slightly varied, in the Cologne Museum.^
[These pictures are probably by a pupil of Jan Joost op Calcar, who in 1505-1508 painted the wings of a large carved altar-piece at Calcar, near Cleves, in realistic style, with traces of Renaissance forms characteristic of the amal- gamated schools of Flanders and Cologne. Jan Joost bought the freedom of Calcar, and was probably a Dutchman. Some of his family dwelt at Harlem, where he married, and died in 1519.^ The painter of the Annunciation in the cloister of Santa Maria di Castello at Genoa, Justus de Allamagna (1451), belonged to this early school of Cologne influenced by Flemish tradition.]
Far less Flemish in style is a Westphalian painter who executed some works in the Benedictine Abbey of Liesbom, about the year 1465, and who from these has received the designation of the Meister von Liesborn. Two portions of the great altar-piece of Liesbom have found their way, after various vicissitudes, into our National collection, and will serve to give English students some notion of the character and execution of these early German masters ; but it is only in German galleries, especially at Munich, that their works can be properly studied.
It must not be supposed that the majesty and sweetness of Meister Stephan, or the powerful realism of the master of the Death of the Virgin, was reached by all or even many of the German masters of this time. A large pro-
* As an example of the realistic detail of this picture, it may be men- tioned that a corner of the rich carpet, in one of the wings, is positively painted on the frame, as if it hung over it.
[' Woltmann and Woorman, " Geschichte der Malerei," bk. ii.]
240 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VI.
portion of them continued, even after the revival that art had experienced in Italy and the Netherlands, to work on in the old Byzantine trammels ; and, indeed, we find, even in the sixteenth century, after the free schools of Upper Grermany had attained to a noble national development, that the Byzantine type was, in many instances, still per- petuated in the Lower Rhine schools.
Bartolomatjs Bruyn (1493-1556), a Cologne master living at the same time as Diirer, in another way also utterly missed the development of the stirring reformation age. His early works are somewhat allied in style to those of the master of the Death of the Virgin, whose pupil he is said to have been, but in his later ones an Italian influence is perceptible, which wholly undermines their genuine character.
The spiritual life of the Byzantine-Romantic school had by this time, in fact, completely died away. That unques- tioning obedience to the Church of Rome which had been, perhaps, a salutary discipline in the art as well as the life of the Euroi^ean nations in the early ages of Christianity, was felt in Germany sooner than elsewhere as a galling restraint by the enquiring minds of the fifteenth and six- teenth centuries. Reason asserted her claims, and the Teutonic intellect, now advanced beyond childhood, listened to her voice, and was the first to break the chains where- with Rome still sought to bind the nations to her foot- stool.
In Italy, when under the Medici the spirit of progress and rationalism prevailed, art, as we have seen, turned for inspiration to the classic works of Greece and Rome, and sought knowledge in ancient writers and beauty in antique forms; but German art, in casting off the traditions of Catholic Rome, did not, like Italy, receive the teaching and adopt the language of Pagan Rome, but immediately set to work to express German thought in honest German language.
It is in its national character and its intellectual and moral dignity that the real worth of German art Hes at this date, and not in classic grace or sensuous beauty.
BOOK VI.] PAINTING IN GEEMANT. 241
Chapter II.
THE EEFOEMATION PERIOD.
Schools of Upper Germany — Durer — Holbein.
OF what may appropriately be called the Reformation School of Germany, Albrecht Durer and Hans Hol- bein the Younger were the two chief masters ; but before their time, before even the time of Luther, we find an artist who in no way swerved from his obedience to Rome, but in whose works, nevertheless, we first become dimly aware of the new thoughts and ideas which took distinct shape in the art of his successors.
This artist was Martin Schongauer, or Schon, so called on account of the beauty, not of his person, but of his art. [Born at Colmar about 1450, the son of a gold- smith, Caspar Schongauer, he died there in 1488.] Like the master of the Lyversberg Passion, the master of the Death of the Virgin, Frederick Herlin,^ and several other German masters of this time, Schongauer appears to have learnt the secret of colouring in the school of Rogier van der Weyden ; but while assimilating all that was important in the Flemish mode of painting, he wholly preserved his German tone of thought, and expressed his ideas with an originality of genius which at once distinguishes him from the subservient followers of the Van Eycks, both in Ger- many and Flanders.
His paintings, unfortunately, are extremely rare, and such as are certainly known to be by him are mostly at Colmar, where he appears to have long resided, and to have formed a large school.'*
A Virgin and Child, which forms the altar-piece in the church of S. Martin, at Colmar, is his most important
' A Swabian master (records 1449-1499) who studied at Bruges, and imported the Van Eyck method into Swabia.
[« No picture can with absolute certainty be ascribed to Schongauer. The Virgin in the Rose Garden, in S. Martin's, Colmar, a small Holy Family in the Pinakothek at Munich, and another in the Imperial Gal- lery at Vienna, are amongst the least doubtful.]
R
242 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VI.
painting. It is spoken of by critics as being exceedingly- graceful, and purely religious in exj)ression, the flesh tones clear and warm, and the execution highly finished. The Virgin is seated on a low wall with the Child in her lap ; behind her is a trellis of roses, in which birds are nestling. Two wings of an altar-piece, in the museum at Colmar, are also said to have a spiritual beauty resembling that of Perugino.^
But it is in his engravings that Martin Schongauer's individuality of mind is most fully displayed, and these, happily, are less difl&cult of access than his painted works. ^
From these we learn that he had a far truer appreciation of beauty than most German masters. We cannot predi- cate of one of Diirer's Virgins that she will be graceful of form and beautiful of face, but we almost can of one of Martin Schon's. In the refined beauty of his female figures, indeed, he approaches very near to Perugino and Raphael, only the ideal that presented itself to his mind was a G-erman and not an Italian ideal. A deep religious sentiment pervades his works ; but now and then, instead of the traditional mode of treatment of a sacred subject, we have it set forth with wonderful force and life, as, for instance, in the powerful engraving of Christ sinking beneath the weight of the Cross on the way to Calvary,"' in which the motley mediaeval German life is marvel- lously contrasted with the grand figure of the sinking Saviour. To modern taste, the exaggerated hate of the executioners, who urge on the Weary One with blows and cuts with a rope, is, it is true, repulsive, but this exaggera- tion of suffering and evil is too often met with in German art ; even Albrecht Diirer is by no means free from it.
But what more especially places Martin Schon forward :
[^ These are now considered to be copies by pupils after parts of engravings.]
» The British Museum possesses a very fine collection of his prints, but as none of them are publicly exhibited, they are but little known ex- cept to students and collectors. Any one, however, desirous of seeing them, may do so by obtaining a ticket for the Print Room, where also one of the finest collections of Albrecht Diirer's engraved works may be studied.
^ Bartsch, " Le Peintre Graveur," No. 21.
BOOK VI.] PAINTING IN GERMANY. 243
as the predecessor of Diirer, and the founder of the Refor- mation School of German art, is the weird, or as writers on art usually call it, fantastic spirit that occasionally breaks forth in his works. Even in the early religious times, when the obedient artist strove faithfully to express the teachings of the Church of Rome, this spirit, which we fail to find in Italian or even in Flemish art, is occasionally visible in the works of the German artist. In early Ger- man manuscripts, for instance, often in the midst of Byzantine Madonnas and ascetic saints, we come suddenly across some strange fantastic monster, whose features bear a much stronger resemblance to the creatures met with in the eddas and sagas of the North, than to the orthodox devils of Christian legend.
It was, perhaps, a lingering remembrance and affection for the old Northern Mythology, with its ice-giants, its world-encircling serpent, and its poetical impersonations of the powers of nature, that gave birth to this strange element in German art.
Only by degrees did the old religion lose its hold, and even now, in the deeply rooted love of nature, in the weird legends and romantic poetry of the Germans, we still find traces of its spirit. In the art of the sixteenth century this spirit assumed a strange prominence. In the School of Cologne it was, as we have seen, lost to view in the de- votion of the painter to the Church of Rome. We find no trace of it in Meister Stephan. The Last Judgment, for instance, of the Cologne Museum, although quaint and even caricatured in style, has nothing weird about it, no- thing hinted at, that is, that our senses are unable to apprehend; on the contrary, everything is expressed in the plainest matter-of-fact manner.
But the fantastic or weird spirit in art loves to dwell in the twilight land of romance. It shrouds its meaning in curiously distorted forms ; it delights in the grotesque, but gives it a poetical rather than a comic expression ; it hides its meaning from common sense, but reveals it to children ; it puzzles the wise and delights the foolish ; it is at once playful and serious, earnest and merry, truthful and romancing ; it is neither theological nor rationalistic, spiritual nor intellectual; it is reviled by all exclusive
244 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VI.
lovers of classic beauty and Italian idealism, but Albreclit Diirer lias expressed some of his greatest ideas by means of it.
A most striking instance of the fantastic treatment of a legendary subject may be found in Martin Schon's cele- brated print of S. Anthony tormented by demons. This, it is said, so drew the admiration of Michael Angelo at the beginning of his career that he copied it in oils, and truly it is a most wonderful work. The saint, who is pulled up into the air by his fiendish tormentors, has a look of holy resignation that forms an effective contrast to the imj^ish spite and fury of the creatures that surround him. One a-miable female devil with bony arms, from which spring fishes' fins by way of hanging sleeves, and with the wings of a flying fish springing from her shoulders, lugs out the few remaining locks that the saint has on his head. An- other, of a goatish nature, beats him over the head with a club, whilst another with a fish's head and bristles sticking out all over him like the quills of a porcupine, and a long snout like a trumpet, assails him with a similar instru- ment. Others claw at his arms, his clothes, and his feet, and persecute him in every conceivable manner, he re- maining passive and submissive to all their ill-treatment. These tricksy fishy fiends are very different to the devils of the bottomless pit of Roman Catholic imagination. In Spinello Aretino's Fall of Lucifer, and a few other repre- sentations of hell of the Early Italian School, we have, it is true, a somewhat fantastic treatment of the subject ; but; for the most part the awful doctrine of the eternity of punishment had taken too great a hold of men's minds to permit of the conception of the devil in any other than a spirit of grim reality. The mouth of hell was no mere figure of speech, but the literal open jaws of a monster who sought to devour men body and soul, and the devils of religious art were not mere creatures of the imagination, but were regarded as direct emissaries from Satan, from whose clutches the soul could only escape by good deeds and an orthodox belief. S. Anthony's tormentors are, how- ever, evidently only phantasmal, and are symbolical perhaps of the animal desires and passions that this saiiil so successfully resisted, for these persecutors have,
BOOK VI.] PAINTING IN GERMANY. 245
is plain, no victory over his soul, however much they may afflict his poor body.
Several other fantastic subjects have been treated by Martin Schon with good effect, and we have also several engravings from scenes of common life, genre pictures they may almost be called, which betray a slight sense of humour, another element hitherto unknown in German art, but for the most part he adhered to religious subjects, treating them in a thoroughly German manner.^
His engravings were widely known and esteemed in Italy even in his own day. He was called by the Italians II Bel Martino, and by Vasari, Martin d'Ollanda. He appears to have been a friend of Perugino's and to have exchanged drawings with him, as Albrecht Diirer did afterwards with Raphael.
Bartolomaus Zeitblom (records 1484-1517), belongs, Uke Martin Schongauer, to the Swabian School. [He was probably a scholar of Hans Schiichlein, of Ulm, his father- in-law, who assisted Zeitblom in an altarpiece.] He did not attain to the same free artistic development as Martin Schon, but his paintings have great spiritual beauty and tenderness of sentiment. His colour also is pure and soft, more like fresco than oil painting. Two paintings by him, S. George holding the white banner of Holiness, and S. Anthony with the Staff, are in a cabinet of the Pinakothek, and there is a Veronica in the BerUn Gallery, but most of
^ The painting of the Death of the Virgin (No. 658) of the National Gallery is ascribed in the catalogue to Martin Schongauer ; and J^r. Waagen also speaks of it in Kugler's " Handbook," as being one of his earliest works, executed whilst under the immediate influence of KogiiT Vander Weyden. But Martin Schongauer, so far as we know, never at any pei-iod entirely adopted the Flemish manner. All his engraved works, at all events, are thoroughly Gennan in feeling, and his paintings also are said to have a distinct German individuality. The Death of the Virgin, on the other hand, is thoroughly Flemish in its realism, execu- tion, and colouring. It is worthy, in truth, not only of a pupil of Van- der Weyden, but of Vander Weyden or even Van Eyck himself. If >i German work at all, is it not more likely to be by the before-mentioned Master of the Death of the Virgin, who in all essential points was a Flemish master, rather than by the entirely national Schongauer ?
In many respects, indeed, the picture of the National Gallery bt ars a striking resemblance to the rendering of the same subject by this n aster in the Munich and Cologne Galleries. E\en the type of several of iLe brads is the same.
246 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOE. VI.
his works are in the Galleiy at Stuttgard, though some are scattered in the churches of Swabia. ' He never, like Schon, indulged in a fantastic imagination, but was purely a religious painter with no sympathy for the Reformation movement.
Martin Schapfner (Hving 1499-1535), was a master of the same school as Zeitblom, but somewhat later in date. His art at first was German in feeling, bearing much affinity to Zeitblom' s, but in his later life he yielded to the influence of Italy, to the great improvement of his style, say those critics who only acknowledge merit in German art when it is imitative of Italian. There are six paintings by Schaffner at Munich, all of them excellent works, but falling far below the standard of the great age of German art in which he lived.
The Niirnberg, or, to speak more widely, the Franconian School of this time, as represented by Michael Wohlge- muth (1434-1519), had not even yet attained to the deve- lopment in painting that it had reached in plastic art. The paintings that pass with Wohlgemuth' s name are widely unequal in merit, some being wretched daubs, and others showing true dignity of thought united with much tender- ness and sweetness of feeling. But if we only receive the best as being really the work of the master, we begin to perceive that he was not altogether the miserable mercenary j)icture-maker that the weary tourist is apt to think him, after having been shown countless ugly wooden altar- pieces in German churches, and having been positively assured that they all were by Michael Wohlgemuth. Un- fortunately he allowed his school to degenerate into a huge manufactory of altarpieces, in which not only paintings were executed, but likewise ma.ny of the remarkable wooden bas-reliefs, for which, as before stated, the Niirnberg School was early famous, were coloured.^ The painting of these wooden carvings was necessarily left to workmen rather
^ Wood-cutting also, we know, went on in "Wohlgemuth's manufac- tory. The cuts for the celebrated " Niirnberg Chronicle," which was published in 1493, under the superintendence of Michael Wohlgemuth and Wilhelm Pleydenwurf, were, we may suppose, executed under his supervision. These do not, certainly, increase his reputation, for they are in general badly designed and worse executed. [He is credited with the cupper engravings signed V^.,vide " Life of Albert Diirer/'Tbausing.]
jj HOOK VI.] PAINTING IN GERMANY. 247
than to artists, indeed, with the exception of Albrecht Diirer, no artist of any note is known to have issued from Wohlgemuth' s school.^
Amongst Wohlgemuth' s most important and best authen- ticated works is a large altarpiece in numerous compart- ments, representing the Life and Sufferings of Christ, in the Marien Kirche, at Zwickau.^
We find also several paintings by him in different churches in Niirnberg ; four wings of an altarpiece in the Moritz- Kapelle representing four female saints of great dignity and sweetness, and a great altarpiece, broken into parts, setting forth the various scenes of the Passion, now in the Pinakothek at Munich. The outlines in these works are extremely hard and draughtsmanlike, the drapery is broken into angular folds, and the colouring is often crude and in- harmonious. They are, in fact, entirely harsh and Grerman in style, unsoftened by that feeling for ideal beauty which is apparent in the works of Martin Schongauer, Bartolo- miius Zeitblom, and other artists of the Swabian School. The Franconian School, indeed, never attained, even with Diirer, to the softness of outline and harmony of colour that marks the Swabian, but there is a force and indivi- duality of character about most of Wohlgemuth' s works that raises them above the mere dull efforts of mechanical skill, although too often it must be owned this force is expended on harsh and unpleasant types. Only now and then, as in the four saints of the Moritz-Kapelle, does he attain to anything like beauty of form and feature.
" It was a fatal destiny for the development of German art," says Liibke, after greatly depreciating Wohlgemuth and his school,' " that from this very teacher and this very school that artist was to proceed, who, in depth of genius, in creative richness of fancy, in extensive power of thought, and in moral energy and earnest striving must be called the first of all German masters. Albrecht Diirer, as regards
* Albrecht Diirer, in his autobiographical sketch, speaks of his fellow- apprentices at Wohlgemuth's as knechten, and says that he had much to suffer from them.
* J. G. Quandt, " Die Gemalde des Michael Wohlgemuth in der Frauenkirche zu Zwickau."
» « Hist, of Art," vol. ii.
248 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VI.
artistic gifts, need fear no comparison with any master in the world, not even with Eaphael and Michael Angelo. Notwithstanding, in all that concerns the true means of expressing art, the clothing of the idea in the garment * the exquisite form, he lies so deeply fettered within th' bonds of his own limited world, that he rarely rises to the same height of thought and expression."
Such criticism is true, perhaps, and yet had Durer had the Italian training that so many of his critics have desired for him, we might not have had another Michael Angelo or Raphael, while we certainly should have missed an Albrecht Diirer.
We must accept his art, if we would truly appreciate it, as it is, and not be perpetually lamenting over the want of those elements which it does not possess. We do not find in it the classic conception of the nobility and beauty of man's physical life, nor the spiritual ideal of the early religious painters ; we do not find the tender, holy charm of Raphael, the sublime dignity of Michael Angelo, nor the glorious sensuous life of Titian ; but, on the other hand, we find in it the Grerman character reflected in all its lights and shades, in its intellectual aspirations, its restless striv- ings, its fantastic imaginings, and, above all, in its genuine moral worth.
He is, in truth, pre-eminently the representative artist of the Fatherland.
Albrecht Dxjrer (born at Niirnberg, 1471, died 1528) was the son of a working goldsmith, and himself worked, for some time, at his father's trade ; but, " his inclination carrying him more towards painting than to goldsmith's work," his father bound him apprentice to Michael Wohl- gemuth, with whom he served for three years. To these student years (Lehrjahre) succeeded four years of travel (Wanderjahre), of which, unfortunately, we have no record. On his return he settled in his native town as a painter, and married Agnes Frey, with whom it is supposed he lived very unhappily.^
' Willibald Pirkhcimer, in a letter written some time after Diirer"s death, tells his correspondent that Agnes Frov by her fretful temper and bitter tongue worried her husband to death. On the other hand Agnes Frey has of late years found several vindicators who attribute
BOOK VI.] PAINTINO IN OEBMANT. 249
In 1505 Burer undertook a journey on horseback to the North of Italy, and was kindly received by the painters of Venice. Especially Giovanni Bellini, whom Diirer calls " the best painter of them all," noticed the German artist, and highly praised his work.
This visit to Venice formed a bright episode in Diirer's restrained work-a-day hfe. *' I wish you were here," he writes to Pirkheimer, from Venice. " There are so many pleasant companions amongst the Walschen " (an old Ger- man term for Italians) " that it does one's heart good to be with them: learned men, good lute-players, pipers, con- noisseurs in art, — all very noble-minded, upright, vii-tuous people, who bestow on me much honour and friendship." And in another letter he says, " Here I am a gentleman, whilst at home I am only a parasite. Oh, how I shall freeze after this sunshine ! "
Yet at the end of 1506 he returned to Niimberg, re- fusing an offer of 200 ducats a year that had been made him by the Venetian Government if he would settle at Venice.
Whilst at Venice he executed a great altar-piece for the guild of German merchants, which, he tells us, effectually silenced the jealous assertion of the Venetians, that " although he was a good engraver, he did not know how to colour." This painting — the Feast of the Eose-garlands — is now preserved in the monastery of Strahof, near Prague. It represents the Virgin with a Pope, an Em- peror (Maximilian), numerous saints and knights, and various members of the German guild kneeling before her, and receiving crowns of roses from her hands, or those of the Child. S. Domenic, the founder of the feast, stands to the right, and also crowns with roses a monk of his order.
In this painting we see that Diirer had greatly overcome the hard and unlovely manner gained from Wohlgemuth, which characterizes his earlier works, and yet it is strange to notice how very little influence Italian art had over him. " The Venetians," he says, " abuse my style, and say that it is not after the antique," and their criticism was true
Pirkheimer's ii^urious expressions to malice. See '* Zeitsclirift tiir bildende Kunste," 1869.
250 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VI.
enough. Nothing can well be less antique than his strongly marked individuality and genuinely national mode of ex- pression. Even in the Madonna of the Rose-garlands, which ranks as one of his most beautiful and poetical works, and which was painted while under the immediate influence of the works of the great masters of Venice, we find no trace of imitation of their style, nor adoption of their ideas. On his return from Venice, it is true, he exe- cuted two large single figures of Adam and Eve,^ which, perhaps, might have been intended to rival the nude dis- plays of Italian art ; but, if so, this was but a solitary and probably conscious effort, and did not in the least affect the thorough independence of his genius.
To the period immediately following his return from Venice belong some of the finest and most original of his works. His powers had now reached their full perfection, and from this time until the journey to the Netherlands in 1520, may be reckoned the most productive period of his life — the blooming time of his art. Before this — namely, in 1498 — he had already published the powerful woodcuts of the Apocalypse, in which the mystic and fantastic spirit before spoken of as lingering in German art, first assumed distinct shape. These woodcuts are, moreover, important as marking a period in the history of wood- engraving, they being far superior not only in design, but also in execution, to anything that had previously appeared.^
In 1511 he followed up the success of his Apocalypse series by another magnificent set of large cuts known as the Great Passion ; a set of thirty- seven smaller ones, called the Little Passion, and the series of the Life of the Virgin.
To the same fertile year belongs also the great painting of the Adoration of the Trinity now in the Belvedere at Vienna, which is usually considered to be his finest painted work. In this, God the Eather throned on the double rainbow holds forth for the love and adoration of the Christian church, the form of his crucified Son, while the Dove of the Spirit hovers above. Two bands of the
^ Now in the Royal Gallery at Madrid. Passavant, " Christliche Kunst in Spanien." See also an article in " Kunstblatt," 1853. ^ Jackson and Chatto, " History of Wood Engraving.'*
BOOK VI.] PAINTING IN GERMANY. 251
glorified elect approach on either side, the female saints being led by the Virgin Mary, who, it is significant to notice, has not the same prominent position accorded to her here as is usual in Catholic art. Below, but still caught up into the air with Christ, are the various classes and conditions of men — emperor, pope, monk, peasant, knight, and burgher, all expressing the same incomprehensible faith, and worshipping the mystic Trinity in unity.
Another of his greatest religious paintings represented the Coronation of the Virgin. It was painted for the Frankfort merchant Jacob Heller, and several of Diirer's letters respecting it are preserved, but unfortunately the picture itself perished by fire in 1674 An excellent copy of it, however, still hangs in the old Town Gallery at Frankfort, It must have been a grand work. But the masterwork of Diirer's art is undoubtedly found in the Four Apostles of the Pinakothek at Munich. So strikingly contrasted are the characters of the Apostles S. John and S. Peter, S. Paul and S. Mark, that it has been supposed that Diirer meant to symbolize the Four Temperaments by them, but there is nothing beyond this forcible indi- viduahsation of character, and a vague statement of Neu- dorffer's, whereon to found such a theory. In these noble figures, which are the size of life, Diirer has thoroughly overcome all the hardness and mannerism of his early style, and has attained to a simple grandeur of expression and deep harmony of colour that may bear comparison with almost any Italian work of his time. Without ex- aggeration, or mannerism, or Germanism, or Italianism, he has set forth with all the power of his great intellect his conception of the Four Teachers of pure Christian doc- trine before that doctrine had been corrupted by the tra- ditions, superstitions, and vain ceremonies of the Church of Rome. Kugler calls these pictures " the first complete work of art produced by Protestantism," and it is possible that Diirer may have remembered some of his conversations with Melancthon when he painted them, but it is not Protestantism or Catholicism, or any other "ism," that they express, but the artist's own individual thought on the subject, unbound by any creed whatever, and free from the dogmas of any Church. They were executed in
252 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK VI.
1526, two years before his death, and as if with a con- sciousness that this was the final expression of his art, he refused to sell these works, but presented them as "a remembrance to his native town." ^
But it is less by his paintings than by his engraved works that Diirer is known to the world. His paintings, even if we reckon all that are attributed to him, are but few and scattered, and none of them, except perhaps the Apostles, are equal in dignity of form or harmony of colour to the works of the great Italians of his time, but his engravings are fantastic poems of which we never grow weary, for there is a sense of mystery in them that exerts a powerful fascination over the mind. Everyone knows the celebrated print of The Knight, Death, and the Devil : each time we see it we regard it with fresh interest, and, although we may not be poets like Fouque, who founded upon it his wild and romantic tale of Sintram, yet we cannot help constructing some theory to explain its strange charm. To how many theories, likewise, has that weird conception called Melancholia given rise. The grand winged woman, sitting brooding in darkness of mind over the hidden mysteries of nature, while the insufficient in- struments of human science lie scattered around — symbols of man's futile endeavours to reach heavenly wisdom. In the Coat of Arms, with the Death's Head also, a less known engraving, and many other of his prints, the same sense of mystery prevails.
"It is the suggestion of this unknown something in art," writes E. S. Dallas,^ "that we are in the habit of signalizing as in a peculiar sense poetical," and it is this " unknown something " that gives a poetic charm to Diirer' s works, although his forms are often harsh and ugly, and the mental image from which he worked had none of the spiritual beauty that Eaphael loved to dwell upon.
Of the execution of his engravings no praise can be too great. They are often perfect miracles of dehcacy and finish.
^ Only copies now hang in the Eath-haus of Niirnberg, the originals having been given up by the Eath, or Town Council, to the Elector Maximilian in the seventeenth centui'y. They are now in the first Saal of the Pinakothek at Munich.
» The'* Gay Science."
BOOK VI.] PAINTING IN GERMANY. 253
In 1520 Albrecht Durer, accompanied by his wife, un- dertook a journey to the Netherlands, probably with a view of gaining from the newly elected Emperor, Charles V. , an acknowledgment or ratification * of the debt due to him from the Emperor Maximilian, and also a continuance of his position as court-painter. The journal that he kept during this tour has been preserved,^ and gives many interesting details of artist-life at that period. Everywhere he was received with high honour and cordial esteem, and his visit appears to have afforded him the greatest satis- faction. At Antwerp the Guild of Painters gave a grand banquet in his honour, at which, he tells us, " they spared no expense." " When I was going in to the dinner," he says, " all the people formed in a line on two sides for me to pass through, as though I had been a great lord. When I was seated at table there came a messenger from the Senate at Antwerp, who presented me with four tankards of wine in the name of the Senators (Baths herrn), and he said that they desired to honour me with this, and that I should have their goodwill. Then I said that I gave them my humble thanks and offered them my humble service."
These marks of respect from foreigners were, perhaps, the more pleasing to Diirer, as he does not seem to have been held in any high honour in his native town. At all events, in writing once to the Rath of Niimberg he told his noble lords that for thirty years during which he had worked in the town he had never received so much as 600 florins of Niimberg money, although both at Venice and Antwerp he had been offered a munificent sum if he would remain in those cities ; in another place, also, he speaks of his circumstances as " lamentable and shameful." Ger- many, indeed, had at this time no munificent patrons of art such as those we have seen in Italy, to give worthy employment to her artists. Holbein, as we know, was forced to come to England to seek his fortune, and Diirer once wrote, " Henceforth I shall stick to my engraving. If I had done so before I should be richer by 1,000 florins than I am at the present day."
' *' Confirmatio," Diirer calls it.
^ It has been translated into English by W. B. Scott and by myself in our lives of Albrecht Diirer.
254 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VI.
But, altliough he had but few patrons, Diirer was the friend of many of the most distmguished men of his time.
Melancthon, the most liberal-minded reformer of his age, had the truest regard for him. " I grieve," he wrote, at Diirer's death, "for Germany, deprived of such a man and such an artist," and again he records, " His least merit was his art." Luther, also, appears to have been person- ally known to him, and from an outburst of feeling in his journal on the occasion of Luther's supposed captivity, it is evident how deeply Diirer sympathized with the reform- ing spirit that Luther had evoked, although it is not certain that he ever entirely withdrew from communion with the Church of Rome. For Erasmus, with whom he became acquainted in the Netherlands, he had less respect, but he has given us a most characteristic portrait of him, as well as of Melancthon.
Like Leonardo da Vinci, Diirer was not limited to one mode of expression. He was an architect and sculptor as well as a painter and engraver. He was likewise the author of several scientific treatises, one in particular, on human proportion, which was for a long time the received text-book on the subject, and was translated into several languages.^
The portraits he has left us of himself, more especially the well-known one of the Munich Grallery, show us a noble thoughtful countenance, with large melancholy eyes, far-seeing, and yet full of human sympathy. The hair parted in the middle, flows down in rich curls on to the shoulders, as in the usual portraits of Christ.^ The hand holding the fur collar of the coat, is exquisitely formed. Altogether we recognize, as Camerarius says, that " nature had given him a form well suited to the beautiful spirit which it held within."
Diirer had a considerable number of pupils and followers, but most of them are better known as engravers than as
^ The greater part of the manuscript and drawings for this work are now preserved in the British Museum.
*■* The likeness of the Munich porti'ait of Durer to the typical head of Christ has been often I'emarked. It has likewise something of the character of the Greek Zeus.
BOOK VI.] PAINTING IN GERMANY. 255
painters. The term " Little Masters," which is often made to include the whole following of Diirer, is more correctly limited to seven artists, all of whom worked during some part of their lives in Niimberg under Diirer, or under his immediate influence. These artists were : Heineich Al- DEGREVER (bom 1502, living 1555) ; A. Altdorfer (bom about 1JJ80, died 1538); Bartel Beham, 1502-40; H. Sebald Beham, 1500-50 ; G-eorge Pensz (died 1550) ; Jacob Bin k (died about 1569) ; Hans Brosamer.^
These are called the "Little Masters," or "the Little Masters of Niirnberg," on account of the small size of their prints, few of which measure more than three or four inches across, some being much smaller. Their painted works are, for the most part, extremely rare, and not re- markable for any particular excellence.'^ Of Hans Sebald Beham, for instance, only one authentic painting is known,' and scarcely more of any of the others, but their prints are often met with, and are highly prized by connoisseurs. Beham's cuts, etchings, and engravings alone amount to about four hundred.'' They are wonderfully skilful in workmanship, and show a fertile invention, only unfortu- nately they are often coarse, indeed, indecent, in subject, a fault into which many of these little masters fell, although their master, Durer, was singularly free from it. An Italian sentiment prevails in the later works of several of them. As Diirer' s influence faded they became less German and less truthful.
Standing somewhat apart from the Niirnberg School, or taking, as Kugler says, " a happy half-way position," between it and the Swabian, is Matthias &Rt7NEWALD (about 1460-1530). Though hard in outline, like almost all German painters, he had a truer perception of beauty than was common with his contemporaries, and his colour- ing is especially rich and harmonious. His principal work
1 W. B. Scott, " Life of Albert Durer."
[* Those of Altdorfer are remarkable for their landscape backgrounds, which rival contemporary Flemish work. He was the first Gorman to subordinate figure to landscape. V. " Kugler's Handbook," edited by Crowe.]
• A series of scenes from the life of David f«)rming a square table divided into four triangles. It is now in the Louvre.
* Wornum,
256 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VI.
is a large altar-piece in the Municli Gullery, of which the centre subject represents S. Erasmus converting S. Maurice, and the side wings the figures of various saints.
Hans Balding G-rien (1476-1545), is principally known by his woodcuts, of which Bartsch mentions fifty-nine, but he was likewise the painter of a grand altar-piece in tli Cathedral of Freiburg, and several other works. ^ He wa a close imitator of Albrecht Diirer, but it is not knowt whether he ever studied in his school.
Hans Schaufelin (1490-1539), on the other hand, is known to have been Diirer's favourite pupil. His works are often attributed to his master.
Hans Suess, of Kulmbach, and Hans Springinklee, must also be mentioned as Diirer's immediate scholars.
Next to the grey old town of Niirnberg we find the equally ancient city of Augsburg, a central point of G-erman art in the sixteenth century. Here, for two or three generations, the families of Burgkmair and Holbein put forth their artistic skill, until their efforts culminated in the works of Hans Holbein the younger, as he is called, to distinguish him from his father, a master who stands next to Diirer in the annals of German art.
[Hans Burgkmair, the elder (1473-1531), called the Diirer of Augsburg, the son of Thoman Burgkmair, re- sembles the elder Holbein in his realistic aim and disregard of beauty. In his earlier works the drawing is very in- correct, but he was a skilled miniaturist, and, according to Waagen, the first, with Altdorfer, to work out the detail of his landscape backgrounds after nature. One of his best-known works is a Holy Family, in the Belvedere at Vienna (painted 1529), in which he introduced the portrait of himself and his wife. The wife holds a mirror, in which, instead of a true reflection, death's heads grin at them (Woltmann and Woerman). His fame, however, principally rests on his designs for woodcuts, some of which show astonishing vigour and imagination, as his terrible Death Choking a Warrior ; but for the full variety of his power we must examine his illustrations of the Life of Emperor Maximilian (Weisskunig).]
^ Schreiber, " Das Munster zu Freiburg." [^More than fifty of his paint- ings have been catalogued. Vide Woermann, " Geschichte der Malerei."]
BOOK VI.] PAINTING IN GERMANY. 257
Hans Holbein, the younger and greater painter of the name was bom at Augsburg, in 1497. His father (1464- 1524), was an artist of considerable merit, by whom there are a number of paintings in the Munich Gallery, as well as several at Augsburg.
His mother was the daughter of Thomaii, and sister of Hans Burgkmair, so that on both sides he may claim an artistic descent. His uncle also, Sigmund Holbein (died 1540), was a painter. An excellent, though stiff, portrait of a Lady, with an extraordinary white linen cap, on which a fly has settled, in the National Gallery is ascribed to him. Hans Holbein, the younger, therefore, was born, so to speak, into an art atmosphere in which the hereditary talent that he soon showed for painting was carefully developed and fostered. Among his earliest works, are supposed to be the two portraits at Hampton Court, known as the painter's father and mother, and also four panels of an altar-piece in the Gallery of Augsburg, dated 1512.^
In 1515, he left Augsburg, and set up for himself at Basel, where he achieved so great a reputation, that he was employed by the town-council in 1521-22, to paint in fresco, the council-chamber of the new Eathhaus. Unfor- tunately, most of these frescoes have been utterly destroyed by damp, only a few detached fragments being now pre- served in the museum at Basel, but by the sketches and copies that remain of them, they must have been power- fully designed works. They set forth, as was usual in the decorations of council- chambers, the virtue of justice, especially illustrated by examples in ancient and biblical history.
Eight scenes of the Passion, executed about the same period, and ten scenes of the Passion drawn in Indian ink, manifest still more strikingly his dramatic power and masterly drawing.^
But by far the greatest work of Holbein's early or Basel period is the celebrated votive picture known as the Meier Madonna, executed for the Burgomaster Jacob Meier of Basel, and representing him and his family kneeling before
[' Now restored to the elder Hans, long deprived of credit in order to augment that of his son. — Woltmann.] ' Likewise in the Museum at Basel.
258 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VI.
the Virgin. Two repetitions of it are known to exist, one in the Royal Palace at Darmstadt, and the other the well- known Holbein Madonna of the Dresden Grallery.^ It is one of the noblest works of which G-erman art can boast : earnest in thought, powerful in characterisation, dignified in conception, pure and holy in sentiment, and of a solemn beauty unmarked by the hardness of the German style, and yet withal intensely G-erman in expression.
Another Holbein Madonna, recently discovered in a private collection at Solothurm,^ is praised in high terms by Liibke. It represents the Virgin enthroned between the German saints, Ursus and Martinus, and is dated 1522, and belongs, therefore, also to the Basel period.
In 1526 Holbein, either because he failed in obtaining a sufficient reward for his labours in Basel, or from some other cause, quitted that city and came over to England, leaving his wife and child behind him. He brought with him a letter of introduction from Erasmus, with whom he had probably become acquainted at the house of the cele- brated printer, Frobenius, at Basel, to Sir Thomas More, who received him most kindly, and lodged him in his own house at Chelsea.
In 1528 he returned to Basel, in order, it would appear, to finish his paintings in the Eathhaus (1530), but in 1532 he was back again in England. England, indeed, at that time, offered a far wider and richer field for his art than the impoverished cities of G-ermany. The Court of Henry VIII. was then about the most magnificent in Europe, and as there were no English painters attached to it, it is not strange to find that Holbein was soon in- stalled as court painter, or " servant of the king's majesty," with a salary of .£30 per annum, besides rooms in the palace. The oft-repeated reply of Henry VIII. to the noble earl who complained that Holbein had kicked him down stairs, illustrates, whether the story be true or not, the estimation in which the painter was held at the court of the bluff Tudor. " I can, if I please, make seven lords
[^ The picture at Darmstadt is now acknowledged to be the original, and the picture at Dresden is generally admitted to be a copy by another hand.]
l^ Kuw in the museum of Solothurra.]
BOOK VI.] PAINTING IN GERMANY. 259
out of seven ploughmen, but I cannot make one Holbein even out of seven lords ; " and no one but a Holbein, the saga- cious monarch was aware, could have executed those incom- parable portraits of himself and his courtiers which even now, when we look at them, carry us back to tLe days of Wolsey and Cranmer, More and Erasmus, and give us a more vivid idea of the men who surrounded the second Tudor, than we gain even from the portrayals of Froude.
It is impossible to enumerate the numerous portraits that Holbein executed in England. He confined himself, indeed, almost entirely to portraiture during his English time, but he threw into his portraits a grandeur of thought and a freedom of expression that added to their noble sim- plicity and truth, raises them at once into the highest his- torical works.
Although Holbein's portraits and religious subjects are characterized by a broad and simple treatment, and a rigid regard for truth, yet it is evident from some others of his works that he did not altogether escape the fantastic spirit which was prevalent in German art in his time. This is especially manifest in his famous Dance of Death, most likely executed during the Basel period, but not pubHshed until 1538, at Lyons.
The enormous popularity of these death -dances, and similar subjects in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, is, indeed, in itself a striking proof of the deep hold that this fantastic mode of viewing even the most solemn subjects had taken on the imaginations of the people. Tragedy takes the form of burlesque, but the skeleton is none the less appalling because it cuts capers and grins. Nothing, indeed, can be more weird than Holbein's conceptions of this terrible dance, in which popes, kings, emperors, lovely women, children, warriors, priests, and peasants, are obliged to bear part. No one is too high or too low for Death to claim as a partner, except, indeed, the poor leper Lazarus, who vainly implores Death to lend him a helping hand. Holbein employed wood-engraving for this series of designs ; but it is conjectured by some writers that he likewise painted a Dance of Death in fresco either at Basel or in the Palace of Whitehall in London.^
' See *' Hans Holbein's Dance of Death. A concise History of the
260 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VI.
Besides the numerous portraits by Holbein in England, there are also a great many of his drawings in this coun- try. The collection at Windsor Castle is especially rich and noteworthy, and there are some fine specimens in the British Museum.'
It has always been known that Holbein died of the plague in London, but it has not been proved until recently that it was the plague of 1543 to which he fell a victim. He died some time between the 7th of October (on which day he made his will) and the 29th of November, 1543.^
The number of portraits resembling Holbein's in style, that are found both in public and private galleries, would lead to the belief that he had a goodly number of followers and imitators ; but, strange to say, but few of these can, with any certainty, be identified. Amongst them were Christoph Amberger (1490-about 1563), and Nicolas Manuel, generally called Deutsch (1484-1531), a Swiss painter, poet, and reformer.
A more important and independent master is Lucas Cranach (1472-1553). Like Diirer, Cranach's mind ap- pears to have been deeply stirred by the great religious movement going on around him. He early embraced tli' doctrines of the Reformation, and was the intimate friend of Luther and Melancthon.
In 1493 Cranach accompanied Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, to the Holy Land, and on his return was ap- pointed court painter to the Electoral House of Saxony, an office that he held under three successive electors, the last being the noble Frederick the Magnanimous, to whom Cranach was so much attached that he preferred sharing that unfortunate prince's five years captivity after the battle of Miihlberg to accompanying the victorious Charles V. to the Netherlands. He spent the greater part of his life at Wittenberg, where it appears he kept an apothecary's shop,
Origin and subsequent Development of the Subject," by N<x)l Hum- phreys, liondon, 1868.
' For a history of Holbein's works in England, see Waagen's " Trea sures of Art in Great Britain," as well as Wornum's biography.
^ There is no picture by Holbein in the National Gallery, an omission that is i-emarkable considering that the greater part of his works are in this country.
BOOK VI.] PAINTING IN GERMANY. 261
called the " Adler," at the south-west corner of the market- place/ He was a man of high mark in the town, and was twice elected to the of&ce of Burgomaster. On returning from his attendance on the Elector during that prince's imprisonment, an imprisonment that he greatly enlivened bv his art and cheerful society, Cranach, then an old man, retired to Weimar, where he died at the age of eighty. A medal was struck in his honour, with his portrait on one side, and on the other his crest, a dragon with a crown on its head, a well-known mark on his pictures and prints.
Cranach' s art is thoroughly national. He delights in quaint invention, and sometimes even indulges in caricature. His pictures have a cheerfulness of character, and a certain naive childhke grace that seems like the unconscious ex- pression of the happy disposition of the artist. They do not affect us in the same way as those of Albrecht Diirer, for there is no sense of mystery in them. The mind of Cranach is as clear as that of Diirer is dark to human sight. Even his allegories, although original in treatment, are of the most obvious kind.
The Fountain of Youth, for example, a painting in the Berlin Gallery, is amusing in its realism. A number of ugly old women are dragged through a barren land down to the large decorative fountain that fills the middle of the picture, and after playing about its waters, turn out as frolicsome young maidens, in the beautiful country that lies on the other side.
He excelled in the delineation of birds and animals, and was especially fond of hunting scenes. The border drawings by him, in what is known as Albrecht Diirer' s Prayer Book,* are admirable examples of his skill in these subjects.
^ This " Cranachhaus " has unfortunately been recently destroyed by fire. " Academy," vol. ii., p. 494. [He also set up a printing press and had a school for every kind of painting, both art and trade work. His sons continued in the same way for some years after him. The most important of these was Ldcas Cranach the todnoer (1515-1586), who finished his father's altar-piece at Weimar, and left numerous works, many of which have been mistaken for those of his father. Examples of his art exist at Wittenberg, Dresden, Leipsig, Vienna, and other places.]
' Preserved in the Munich Town Library, and lithographed by Strixner.
262 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VI.
His mytliological pieces are far less pleasing, often, indeed, appearing like Grerman burlesques on classic form and beauty. His portraits, on the other hand, are power- fully conceived, and he has left us portraits of many of the most noteworthy men of his time. His female portraits have especially a peculiar charm. There is a wonderful portrait by him of a young girl, in the National G-allery (No. 291), which gives an excellent idea of his style. Although so richly dressed, and loaded with ornament, the little girl herself is exquisitely sweet and unaffected, and smiles so pleasantly at us from out her magnificent trappings, that we fall in love with her on the spot.^
Of Cranach's large religious works, a Crucifixion, an altar-piece in a church at Weimar, is perhaps the most important. The blood from the wounded side of Christ is represented as pouring on to the head of the painter, who stands beneath the cross with his friends Luther and Melancthon, the latter in the character of S. John the Baptist directing the attention of the other two to the G-reat Sacrifice.
It is by his engravings that Cranach is best known. He executed a vast number of these, both on wood and copper,'' and his execution was so rapid as to gain him the title of " celerrimus pictor " on his tombstone. Heller enumerates eight hundred of his prints.
After Diirer, Holbein, and Cranach, G-erman art fell from its high independent position to a mere mannered imitation of Itahan. As in Flanders at the same period, the honest national mode of expression was entirely de- serted by the G-erman artists of the seventeenth century, and that " frantic pilgrimage to Italy," as Fuseli calls it, set in, which ended in the utter degradation of all northern art.
Amongst the G-erman Italianisers, Heineich Goltzius (1558-1617), "whose name," says Eastlake, "is synonymous with the falsest exaggeration," is one of the cleverest, and
' The painter's crest, the crowned dragon before-mentioned, may be seen in the left-hand corner of this picture.
[2 Only a few on copper.]
[•'' Cranach has been the subject of much research in recent years, and there is a very full account of his works in Woltmann and Woermann.j
J500K VI.] PAINTING IN GERMANY. 263
at the same time, most offensive. He struggled after Michael Angelo in distorted dreams.
JoHANN RoTTENHAMMER (1564-1623) also, is another artist who was afflicted with the Italian fever. He chiefly imitated the Venetians, never, however, attaining to any- thing approaching their colour.^
Adam Elzheimer (1578-1620) is slightly more original. He is mostly distinguished by his moonlight and torchlight effects, and his small landscapes.^
Joachim von Sandrart (1606-1688) was also a painter of some note at this time, although posterity forgets his great historical paintings, and remembers him only as the industrious compiler of one of the first histories of Teutonic art.^
The name of Balthasar Denner (1685-1749) has become almost proverbial for minute and laborious detail ; detail sought for its own sake, and not made subordinate to any great end. Old men's and old women's heads were his favourite subjects, of which he painted every little hair and wrinkle with marvellous skiU and accuracy, and yet, strange to say, failed in producing, as the great portrait- painters did with haK the labour, a truthful and powerful likeness.
The triviality of Denner, contrasts strongly with the lofty aims of Raphael Mengs (1728-1774), who, in the eighteenth century, under the influence of Winckelman, the first modern expounder of the meaning of G-reek art, attempted to revive the severe spirit of classic art, and to return to a purely ideal conception of human nature. He only succeeded, however, in attaining to a cold, lifeless eclecticism, for although his drawing was correct, his forms ideal, and his style classic, he lacked the inspiration neces- sary to the production of aU truly great creative works.
Christian Dietrich (1712-1774), was in like manner an eclectic; whilst Asmus Carstens (1754-1798), adhered in his severe and noble drawings, which have more the
[' There is a small picture by Rottenhammer in the National Gallery, Pan and Syrinx, No. 569.]
[' Represented in the National Gallery by the Martyrdom of S. Lawrence, No. 1014.]
' " Teutsche Academie," Niirnberg, 1675, fol.
264 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VI.
character of plastic than of pictorial works, to the lofty teachings of antique art.
But the classic spirit of G-reece, though always wor- shipped by the few, has never effected any lasting hold on the sympathies of the many, and the attempted revivals of antique art in modem times have generally resulted in a reahstic or a religious re-action. This was the case in Germany.
In the beginning of the present century, a new and powerful impulse was given to German art by a few youth- ful and aspiring artists who were at that time pursuing their studies at Rome, and who almost simultaneously be- came animated with the desire of reviving not so much the material form, as the true Christian spirit of early religious art. Renouncing the vain worship of sensuous beauty, and rebelling against the cold formalisms of academies, these artists sought once more to awaken that feeling for spiritual beauty which had formerly inspired Italian art, but which had now long lain dormant. Passing by the great masters of the Renaissance, they turned back, therefore, like the English Pre-Raphaelites, to the early religious painters of Italy for guidance in the ways of truth, and endeavoured to found a new Christian school of painting on the old basis of faith and devotion.
Foremost in this movement stand the names of Peter VON Cornelius (1783-1867), Friedrich Overbeck (1789- 1869), Philipp Veit (1793-1877), Wilhelm Schadow (1789-1862), Julius Schnorr (1794-1872), and Joseph FiJHRicH (1800-1876).
A favourable opportunity was soon afforded to these artists for expressing their principles, by the Prussian Consul Bartholdi, who in 1816 had a room in the Casa Zuccari, at Rome, decorated with frescoes representing the history of Joseph.
[Upon this followed the Dante and Ariosto series of frescoes in the Villa Massimi, and a lunette in the Vatican, but the " Roman Brotherhood," of which Overbeck was the founder, and Cornelius, by virtue of his wider range of thought and artistic power, the leader, was soon scattered. Many of " the brothers " had joined the Romish Church. Of these, Overbeck and Veit, Hke the fourteenth century
BOOK VI.] PAINTING IN GERMANY. 265
masters whom they copied, limited their art afterwards to the mere expression of Catholic asceticism/ Schadow followed his bent towards oil-painting and colour, aban- doned fresco, and later on, as head of the Diisseldorf Academy, fostered the reactionary tendency towards genre and the lower style of art, against which Cornelius fought strenuously all his life.
Cornelius, whose lofty ideal linked the pious classicism of Carstens to the pious romanticism of the Overbeck circle, accomplished, with the aid of Schnorr,^ Yeit, and others, several vast series of frescoes at Munich, works of wide symbolic significance,^ grand composition, and mag- nificent drawing, but inharmonious in colour, and often lacking unity of conception. Cornehus emphasized the intellectual in art, and attempted the didactic at the expense of the aesthetic.^]
G-erman enthusiasm saw in these ambitious compositions the inauguration of a new and glorious epoch in G-erman art. These were the flowers to which the hard buds of early G-erman art had expanded;' [but in spite of the inventive faculty and feeling for spiritual beauty of what is now called the elder Munich School, its work leaves us cold, the execution falling far short of the endeavour. It pleases most in black and white, and Cornelius' cartoons for the projected Campo Santo in Berlin are the best work he has left us. It influenced German art of the first
[^ The best works of the so-called " Naasarenes " are Overbeck's Coronation of the Virgin, Cologne Cathedral; Schnorr's Marriage at Cana, private collection, England; andNiike's St. Elizabeth, Naumberg Cathedral. Vide "Geschichte der Kunst in XIX. Jahrhundert." Seemann, 1881.]
[2 Schnorr, perhaps the finest draughtsman of the group, designed glass windows for St. Paul's Cathedral, London, of which the original cartoons are in Dresden Museum.]
^ Especially in those of the Ludwigskirche, where, as in the Sistine Chapel by Michael Angelo, the whole plan of the Christian Redemption, from the creation of the world to the Last Judgment, is set forth by him.
[* Vide Veit, Valentin, Dohme's " Kunst u. Kiinstler des XIX. Jahr- hunderts."]
^ Goethe is said to have remarked, when asked his opinion of the collection of the brothers Boisser^e, not then incorporated with the Munich Gallery, *' I certainly see the buds, but where are the flowers ? "
266 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VI.
half of the nineteenth century, and developed various talents, but was soon combated by a reaction in favour of colour and realistic detail.
WiLHELM VON Katjlbach (1805-1874), Cornelius' most distinguished pupil, advanced a step towards the realistic art of to-day (Battle of the Huns, 1834), but in his great historical efforts (the wall-paintings on the staircase of Berhn Museum, 1847-1863) he shows poverty of form and conventionality in composition ; his fancy disports itself in less exalted regions than Cornelius', and he has often no greater aim than mere pictorial effect. Kaulbach was in- fluenced by the melodramatic style of the Belgians, Biefve, Wappers, and Grallait, whilst the careful and realistic his- toric detail and rich colour of their countryman Hendrik Leys helped to form Karl Friedrich Lessing (1808- 1880). The Diisseldorf School had felt the influence of David Wilkie. KarlHdbner's (1814-1879) genre -pictuTes treated political and social questions (The G-ame-laws), but Lessing struck out a new path in historic art by his brilliant and characteristic pictures of the pre-Ref ormation period (Hussite Conventicle, 1836, Berlin Nat. G-al., No. 208). Following him to some extent, Adolf Menzel (bom in 1815) has, in his truthful dehneations of Frederick the G-reat and his times, touched a chord more strictly national, with great originahty and power of exe- cution. LiTDwio Knatjs (1829-1882), the painter of peasant- life and portrait, is remarkable for clever characteriza- tion and facile technique (Kinderfest, Berhn Nat. G-al., No. 169).
Into landscape Josef Anton Koch (1768-1839) intro- duced the historic element (Macbeth and the Witches, Insbruck). His pupil, Karl Eottmann (1798-1850) exe- cuted in fresco a series of twenty-eight Italian landscapes for King Ludwig of Bavaria. His works are distinguished for their delicate observation of nature and breadth of style. Lessing also distinguished himself in romantic land- scape. The original and essentially national genius of MoRiTZ VON ScHwiNDT (1804-1871) found expression in his poetic, fantastic water-colour illustrations of fairy and folk lore (Melusine, The Seven Eavens, 1858). He also took part in some of the great decorative works in fresco
BOOK VI,] PAINTING IN GERMANY. 267
(Vienna Opera-House, &c.), and designed the glass windows for Glasgow Cathedral (1860). Ludwig Eichter (bom in 1803), an original and humorous illustrator upon wood and copper of great inventive powers, has found many followers.
The modern Schools of Diisseldorf and Munich are principally distinguished for careful and clever genre painting. The realistic style and daring technique of Karl PiLOTY (1826-1886), " a modern Caravaggio," have helped to form artists such as Hans Makart (1840-1884), Franz Defregger, Gabriel Max, and Michael Munkacsy. In landscape the names of Edtjard Schleich (1812-1874) and the Achenbachs are pre-eminent.]
BOOK vn.
PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Chapter I.
THE SCHOOL OF BRUGES.
The Van Etcks— Rogier Vander Wkyden— Memlino.
THE foolish theory, wMcli found at one time a wide acceptance, that the growth of art in a country was a question of climate, and that the sunny skies and balmy air of Greece and Italy were especially favourable in- fluences for its development, receives a decided contradic- tion by the fact, that art developed in Germany and in the foggy Netherlands nearly at the same time as in cloudless Italy. The truth is, that the connoisseurs of the last cen- tury, by whom this theory was started, knew very little of the early art of the Netherlands and Germany, and what little they did know they despised. It was the fashion then to speak contemptuously of everything that was not " antique,^* or " after the antique," and the pseudo- classic pictures of the later ItaHan painters found more admirers than the honest efforts of more homely men.
Of the early Christian painters of the Netherlands we have but few records, [and in those a Roman origin is traceable. The Byzantine conception of art lost some of its immutable character in the process of transmission to the Netherlands by way of Italy and Germany, and Flemish miniatures of the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 269
centuries, although composed in Byzantine form, and rudely executed, afford indications of an independent spirit. In the thirteenth century the returning Crusaders, and the Greek marriage of the German Emperor Otho, tu^ helped to spread a new influx of Greek teaching over the west of Europe. This, however, came too late to check the national reaUstic tendency already beginning to deve- lope in the Low Countries. An example of the dawning spirit of the Eenaissance is seen in the paintings of the Chasse or Reliquary of S. Odile, executed at Liege in 1292, now at the convent of Huy.'] \/
But, dating from the thirteenth century, a gradual im- ^ provement took place in the art of the Netherlands, as well as of Italy, and even before the time of the Van Eycks there were several Flemish artists, whose works manifest a decided advance on the old estabhshed modes of represen- tation. Melchior Broederlain, a Flemish artist of the period immediately preceding the Van Eycks, seems to have had a dawning perception of natural grace and beauty, judging, that is, from two altar-wings painted by him, which are still preserved in the Museum of Dijon (1398). The paintings on this altax-chest are remarkable for their soft and delicate beauty, and several of the figures have distinct individuahty of character. The influence of the Cologne school is, indeed, clearly visible in this work. Broederlain, however, in spite of his greater merit, must be classed, like Cimabue, with the last of the old rather than with the first of the new school of painting in Flanders.
The new impulse that was given to art at the beginning of the fifteenth century, was given by the two Flemish l)rothers, Hubert and Jan Van Eyck. The great success of these masters, it has been asserted, was wholly owing to their invention of a better medium for painting — to their discovery, as it has been called, of the secret of oil-painting ; but no one who has studied the works of Jan Van Eyck, can doubt that the real secret of his admirable painting lay, not in the mechanical medium he used, but in the genius of the man who used it.
It is difficult, in fact, to determine in what this invention
[' Vide '' Le Beffroi," W. J. Weale.]
270 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
of oil-painting, with which the Yan Eycks are credited, really consisted, for it is certain that the idea of mixing oil with solid colours was no new one in their time. In the treatises of Eraclius and Theophilus, written at the end of the twelfth, or beginning of the thirteenth century, we find a process of oil-painting distinctly described ; wal- nut oil, it is proved, was used as a varnish as early as the fifth century, and linseed oil for the same purpose in the eighth.^ Statues and bas-rehefs, also, were constantly painted with oil colours in the Netherlands, long previous to the fifteenth century, and large quantities of oil were supplied to the painters by their patrons, in order that they might produce " de pointure de bonnes couleurs a ole," as a document relating to the erection of the tomb of John III., Duke of Brabant, in 1341, expressly stipu- lates.'^
But although undoubtedly some process of painting in oils was in use before the Van Eyck method, it is neverthe- less clear that the process they invented must have supplied a want that had been long felt by painters, for it was at once enthusiastically welcomed and adopted by all to whom it was made known. The greatest anxiety was evinced by the artists of Italy, as well as by those of the Netherlands, to gain possession of the secret, and many stories are told of the furtive maimer in which this was sometimes accomplished. The Flemish brothers seem, in fact, to have solved a problem that had long been vexing painters' brains. This is Yasari's account of the matter : " It happened," he says, " when matters stood at this pass, that Griovanni da Bruggia [Jan Yan Eyck] working in Flanders, and much esteemed in those parts for the great skill which he had acquired in his calling, set himself to try different sorts of colours, and being a man who de- lighted in alchemy, he laboured much in the preparation of various oils for varnishes and other things, as is the manner of men of inventive minds such as he was. Now it happened upon a time, that after having given extreme labour to the completion of a certain picture, and with great diligence brought it to a successful issue, he gave it
^ Sir Charles Eastlake, " Materials for the History of Oil Painting." ■^ Preserved in the Archives Municipales de Bruges.
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 271
the varnish and set it to dry in the sun, as is the custom. But whether, because the heat was too violent, or that the wood was badly joined, or insufficiently seasoned, the picture jT^ave way at the joinings, opening in a very deplorable manner. Thereupon Giovanni, perceiving the mischief done to his work by the heat of the sun, determined to proceed in such a manner that the same thing should never again injure his work in like manner ; and as he was no less embarrassed by his varnishes than by the process of tempera painting, he turned his thoughts to the discovery of some sort of varnish that would dry in the shadow, to the end that he need not expose his pictures to the sun. Accordingly, after having made many experiments on sub- stances pure and mixed, he finally discovered that linseed oil and oil of nuts dried more readily than any others of all that he had tried. Having boiled these oils, therefore, with other mixtures, he thus obtained the varnish which he, or rather all the painters of the world, had so long de- sired. He made experiments with many other substances, but finally decided that mixing the colours with these oils gave a degree of firmness to the work, which not only secured it against all injury from water when once dried, but also imparted so much life to the colours, that they exhibited a sufficient lustre in themselves without the aid of varnish ; and what appeared to him more extra- ordinary than all besides was, that the colours thus treated were much more easily blent and united than when in tempera."
Here, then, was the solution of the problem. First, a varnish that was drying without being dark, and, secondly, a liquid and colourless medium that could be mixed with the colours, and so do away with the necessity of using the old coloured varnish at all.
Vasari's graphic description of Jan Van Eyck's proceed- ings is, no doubt, substantially correct, though he sums up in a few words what was probably the result of many years' experiments. Moreover, he attributes the whole merit of the invention to Jan, the younger brother, Hubert's name being scarcely known in Italy, whereas Jan's works were enthusiastically admired.
It is reasonable, however, to suppose that Hubert, who
272 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
was, it would appear, twenty years older than Jan,' and who " instructed his young brother in drawing, painting, and chemistry,"^ began the researches which led to such happy results. At the date which Yasari and Yan Mander give for the discovery of oil-painting by Hubert (1410), Jan could only have been a pupil working in his brother's school, and although he might have carried out the experi- ments, it seems more probable that the master of the school began and directed them. But the fame of Hubert has been eclipsed for centuries by the greater glory that sur- rounds the name of Jan. In the rhyming chronicle of G-iovanni Santi, Jan is spoken of as " II Gran Jannes," but no allusion is made to Hubert ; yet, judging from the one certain specimen of his work that remains to us in the altar-piece of S. Bavon, at Ghent, he must have been a truly great painter.^
This altar-piece is one of the most magnificent produc- tions of Flemish art. It represents the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (Eev. vii. 9), and depicts the company of the faithful, "a great multitude which no man could number," coming up from all nations, kindreds, and people, to wor- ship the Lamb that was slain.
The upper portion only of this great altar-piece was painted by Hubert,* the central part and side wings being the work of Jan, who finished the picture after his brother's death. The three large figures of the Father, Mary, and S. John, of the upper central division are, however, quite sufficient to testify to Hubert's genius. They have the same solemn majesty and religious exaltation that the
[^ There is really nothing to prove what was the difference of age between the brothers.] 2 Van Mander. ^ The inscription on this painting is as follows : —
" Pictor Hubertus e eyck, maior quo nemo repertus Incepit pond us qe Jonannes arte secundus Frater perfecit, Judoci Vyd prece fretft. Vers V SeXta Mai Vos CoLLo Cat aCta tVerl."
The last line of this inscription contains what is termed a chronogram, the Roman capitals added together making the date 1432, in which year the picture was hung in S. Bavon.
[* Recent authorities differ widely in opinion as to the share taken by Hubert in this altar-piece.]
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 273
Bjzantine-Roinantic painters infused into their representa- tions of sacred characters ; indeed, the whole treatment oi these figures closely resembles that of the Cologne School, but there is an original power and a noble realism in Hubert's work that lifts him far above these masters, and places him at the head of the school of Bruges. He was truly the Patriarch of Flemish painting, and whether he invented oil-painting or not, he was undoubtedly a com- plete master of the method; for no work of the school surpasses the splendid solemn colouring and detailed execution of his three figures in this altar-piece.^
Little is known of his life. It is supposed that he was born at Maaseyck, in the Duchy of Limburg, in the year 1366. He entered the guild of painters at Grhent in 1421, and died there on September 18, 1426. He was buried in S. Bavon in the vault of his patron, Jodicus Vydt, who had commissioned him to paint the great altar-piece that he left unfinished. Except his epitaph,^ which gives us a curious insight into the character of the man and of the age in which he lived, we have no further record of Hubert Van Eyck. Even his arm, which was severed from his body, and preserved as a relic in the Cathedral of S. Bavon until the sixteenth century, has disappeared.*
Of the life of Jan Van Eyck there exists much more
^ Besides the three central figures, the panels of Adam and Eve, now in the Brussels Gallery, have been attributed to him. These figures exhibit a wonderful knowledge of anatomy for the time at which they were painted.
2 The following is a translation of it from Van Mander : —
*' Take warning from me, ye who walk over me : I was as you are, but am now buried beneath you. Thus it appears that neitlier art nor medicine availed me. Ai*t, honour, wisdom, power, I'iches, are not spared when death arrives.
" Hubert Van Eyck I was once named, now I am food for worms. Formerly highly honoured in painting, this was shortly turned t(» nought.
" In was in the year of the Ix)rd one thousand four hundred and twenty-six, on tlie 18th of September, that death put an end to my pain. IVay to G(k1 fur me, ye who love Art, that I may attain to His sight. Flee sin, turn to the best, for you must follow me at last."
-' Two figures in one of tlie wings of the Mystic Lamb of S. Bavon have been ])ointed out by Van Vaernewyck and Van Mander as por- traits of Hul)ert and Jan Van Eyck. There looks ijuite twenty yeai's' difference of age in these poitraits.
T
274 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
personal detail. He was born at Maaseyck between tlif years 1381 and 1390. His first patron was the infamous John of Bavaria, the warlike Bishop of Liege, surname^ , from his cruelty to his own subjects, Jean Sans Pitie. On his death-bed, this stormy prelate recommended Jan Van Eyck, "his painter and varlet de chambre," to the magnifi- cent PhiHppe le Bon, Duke of Burgundy.
"Des ce moment," says Kervyn de Lettenhove, in his "Histoire de Flandre," "I'art place sur un theatre plus eleve partageavis avis de toutes les nations de I'Europe la domination et I'influence que la maison de Bourgognc exercait sans contestation dans I'ordre politique."
Philippe le Bon was in truth the most powerful, though not the most warlike, prince of this powerful house, as is shown, perhaps, more by the fact that he was able to rule his own turbulent subjects, than by his being able to set up an English or a French king in France at will.
The Flemish towns in the fourteenth and fifteenth cen- turies were in almost constant rebellion against their lords ; but in them, in the history of the middle ages, we meet for the first time with a middle class grown rich by trade.
The same problem, in fact, meets us as in Florence, where likewise we find commerce flourishing, and the arts culti- vated amid the fiercest internal dissensions.
Of all the rich and rebellious towns of Flanders, Bruges, in the time of the Van Eycks, was the richest and the most flourishing. Bold Grhent, alas ! had suffered bitterly for its presumption : its walls were destroyed, and many of its municipal privileges taken away. Lille and Ypres had no ports such as Bruges possessed in Sluys, and never rose to the same political and commercial importance. Bruges, in fact, was at this time a depot for all the world. Sjmin, Italy, England, the countries of Africa, Asia, and, when discovered, America, sent their produce to her markets to be exchanged for grain, cattle, and the rich woollen stuffs that were the chief source of her industry and wealth. This prosperous commercial city was, moreover, the favourite residence of the good Duke Philippe, who more frequently held his court there than in any other of his domains. Could there be more favourable conditions for
BOOK VII,] PAINTINO IN THE NETHERLANDS. 275
the development of the fine arts ? A prosperous city, with a wealthy bourgeois class, and a magnificent court, ruled over by a despotic monarch,^ who loved art for its own sake as well as from motives of ostentation.
It was to this city and this court that Jan Van Eyck came, in the early part of the fifteenth century, accredited by the recommendation of Jean Sans Pitie, who not only left his painter, but likewise his dominions, to Philippe le Bon. Philippe, who possibly might have known Jan at Liege, and who, at all events, was well acquainted with his merits, received him with much kindness, and in 1425 ap- pointed him to be his " varlet de chambre." This was no menial office, as the term would seem to us to imply, but, on the contrary, one of great trust and importance, and implied personal service to the duke. The courtiers, indeed, complain that the duke often took council of his varlets, " et s'en indignaient nobles hommes," * but the varlets, if not noble, were at least of honourable birth, and their counsels were probably of as much worth as those of courtiers who shaved their heads for love of their sovereign, " pour I'amour de lui," as De la Marche says.
Each varlet, we find,^ had two horses and a varlet in livery at his service, the difference between a varlet de chambre to the duke, and a varlet a livree, a domestic servant, being here clearly distinguished.
The salary of Jan Van Eyck as painter and varlet was fixed at 100 livres parisis,* and the duke's treasurers were exhorted to be regular in their payment of that sum half
' The despotism of this Court is amusingly illustrated by a little in- ciflent related by the chronicler Olivier de la Marche. Once le bon Due Philippe had an illness, and the doctors deemed it advisable to shave his head. In order not to appear singular, he ordered all his courtiers to shave their heads also, and more than five hundred did so.
' Chronicles de Chastelain. Buchon.
' De Laborde " Les Dues de Bourgogne."
' " A Johan de Heik jadis pointre et varlet de chambre de feu M. S. le due Jehan de Bayviere, lequel M. D. S. pour I'abilit^ et souffisance que par la relacion de plusieurs de ses gens il avait oy et meismes savait et cognoissoit estre de fait de pointure en la personne dudit Jehan de 'It'ik . . . et afin qu'il soit tenu d'ouvrer pour lui de painture, toutes les tc)is qu'il lui plaira, lui a ordonn6 prendre et avoir de lui sur sa recette gi'Derale de Flandres la somme de C. livres p. monnoie de Flandres." — Dk Laborde.
276 HISTOET OF PAINTINQ. [bOOK VII.
yearly. This exhortation was evidently necessary, for twice Philippe had to write to his " trusty and well-beloved people of accounts," reprimanding them for having been negligent in this particular, and ordering that the pension " of our well-beloved Jan Van Eyck " should be paid " without delay, cunctation, variation, or difficulty,"
Over and above this fixed pension, Jan was paid by the Duke for various missions and " secret journeys " that he undertook for him. What these secret journeys were about, we are not told : " no more need be declared about it," says the record of one of them.
In 1428 he was employed on more open and important service. Philippe, who had already lost two wives, desired again to enter into matrimony, and being pleased with the description he had received of Isabel of Portugal, he sent an embassy to that country to negotiate a marriage. With his ambassadors, Hue de Lannoy, and the Sire de Eoubaix, he associated his painter, who was to paint the portrait of the young princess, and to send it home at once to Flanders, for Philippe to judge of, we may presume, before finally committing himself to the alliance. The ship in which the embassy from Bruges sailed, was driven by reason of bad weather to put into three English ports, Sandwich, Plymouth, and Falmouth, on her outward voyage, so that it is probable England had the honour of a visit from the great Flemish painter. Finally, however, Portugal was reached in safety, December 18, 1428, and Jan Van Eyck obtained sittings from the lovely Isabel, and sent her portrait painted " bien au vif " to her suitor. After having thus accomplished his commission, he went on a pleasure tour through Portugal, and some parts of Spain, returning to Lisbon the following July, when the portrait and the negotiations having proved successful, the marriage of Philippe of Burgundy and Isabel of Portugal, was celebrated by proxy with great splendour, the feasts and rejoicings on the occasion lasting until September, when the youthful bride at last set sail for her husband's dominions.
The expedition on its return was even less fortunate than on its outward voyage. The ships were scattered hy the winds, and the one bearing the bride was obliged to 2jut into Plymouth for shelter, so that she did not reach
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS, 277
Bruges until Christmas day, 1429. The splendour of her entry into Bruges, is described by several chroniclers ; the celebrated order of the Golden Fleece was founded by Philippe on this occasion, and nothing was wanting to con- vince the Portuguese and their Infanta of the wealth and magnificence of the Burgundian Duke and his Flemish town.
But it is with the Duke's painter, and not with his bride, that we have here to do, and the only record that we find of him amid these gay proceedings is, that he received one hundred and fifty livres in payment for the portrait of Isabel and *'his confidential service." The journey to Portugal, however, could not have failed to have exercised a considerable influence over his art. How invaluable would now be the sketches he doubtless made in that pleasant trip through Spain, but unhappily not one is known to exist, and the only paintings of which we have any knowledge, as executed at this time are, the portrait already mentioned of Isabel of Portugal, and another mentioned in an old inventory, by the title of " La Belle Portugalaise."
We have, however, in many of his paintings ghmpses of palm and orange trees, evidently reminiscences of a sunnier land than Flanders.
Soon after his return from Portugal Jan purchased a house in Bruges, where he continued to reside until his death. He probably married about the same time, but the first notice we have of this event having taken place is in June, 1434, when we find that the Duke stood godfather to the painter's infant daughter, presenting on the occasion with his usual profuse magnificence, no less than six silver cups.^
The Duke also used frequently to visit Jan in his work- shop, and on such occasions was wont to distribute all the silver he had in his pocket amongst the apprentices. Indeed, all the records we have of the relations of Philippe
' It is to the preservation of the receipt for the payment of these six cups to Jehan rantin, a goldsmith of Bruges, that we are indebted for the above information. It is strange that almost all the knowledge we have of Jan Van Eyck's life should be from records of money paid to him or for him.
278 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
le Bon and his varlet painter tend to prove that there was a cordial intimacy between them.
The altar-piece of the Mystic Lamb, began, as before stated, by Hubert, was not finished by Jan until 1432, six years after the death of his brother, when it was at last placed, in the presence of an admiring multitude, in its position in the chapel of the Yydt family in S. Bavon, where the two central divisions still remain/
Hubert's work on this painting has been already men- tioned, but Jan's work still remains to be spoken of, de- scribed it can scarcely be, for its marvellous fulness of de- tail baffles description. In the centre compartment, the Lamb of Grod, the Mystic Lamb of Eevelation, stands on the Ark of the Covenant, the blood pouring from his wounded side. Above hovers the Dove of the Spirit, and angels • bearing the instruments of the passion, kneel around. The Fountain of living water springs up in front, with a significant little stream running from it to purify the world. The hosts of the redeemed occupy the fore- ground, whilst farther back are choirs of holy maidens,
* The fate of this celebrated picture has been curiously varied. A predella, representing the tortures of the damned, disappeared as early as the time of Van Mander. It was said to have been painted in tem- pera, and to have been washed out. The picture itself narrowly escaped the fanaticism of the Protestant Iconoclasts in 1566, and it was also nearly destroyed by fire in 1641. After this, Joseph of Austria, ex- pressing his sense of the impropriety of the naked figui'es of Adam and Eve, the altarpiece was closed for a period from the public gaze. Next it was carried off as a prize to France in the Napoleon wars, and placed in the Louvre, where F. von Schlegel saw it in 1802-1804. At the peace it was restored to Ghent and again placed in S. Bavon ; but from some unaccountable reason the wings were not joined to the central parts, but remained in a cellar, where they were found by an undiscri- minating priest, who sold them to M. Nieuwenhuys, the art-connoisseur, for next to nothing. An action was brought for their recovery, but it failed, and M. Nieuwenhuys disposed of them to Mr. Solly, an English connoisseur, for X*4,000. He, in his turn, sold them to the late King of Prussia, and they are now in the Gallery of Bei'lin.
The offending panels of Adam and Eve, the work of Hubert, mean- while still remained in the cellar, but at last a truer appreciation of works of art having arisen, they were in 1860 placed in the Gallery at Brussels.
The central portion and two side wings of the Mystic Lamb have been recently published by the Arundel Society as chrome-lithographs. It is also engraved in several works on art.
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 279
saints, and martyrs. In the distance are tlie towers of the heavenly Jerusalem, the colours of the landscape graduat- ing from green into deep blue.
On the wings on either side, bands of men and women press forward to the one central point. Soldiers of Christ, holy hermits, bold crusaders, martyred maidens, all coming up to worship the Lamb that was slain, one common feel- ing of love and adoration filling their hearts. The Mystic Lamb may, indeed, truly be compared to some grand old hymn of praise divided into separate verses, each verse being complete in itself, yet forming, when regarded as a whole, one harmonious strain of melody.
Of the technical qualities of this work, no praise can be too great. The inventors of the new method of oil-paint- ing seem at once to have carried it to perfection, and no after- work of their school exhibits a more thorough mas- tery over the mechanical medium, or a more complete understanding of the harmony of colour than this. The landscape, both in the centre and the wings is delicately and faithfully painted, every soft blade of glass, every flower is depicted with loving care, but we have not the exaggeration of minute accuracy, such as we find in some of the Van Eyck landscapes, those for instance seen through a window or a door, when a microscope is often needed to appreciate the details.
I have dwelt thus at length on this picture, partly be- cause it is a representative work of the Van Eycks and their school, and likewise because the copies and reproduc- tions of it are accessible to every Enghsh student. These will aid him in forming some idea of the marvellous rich- ness of its composition, even though he should not be able to visit G-hent and Berlin, where only its glorious harmony of colour, and its perfect execution can be appreciated.
Religious symbohsm, deeply devout feeling expressed in a decidedly realistic manner, solemn beauty and power of colour, and perfect mastery of execution, these are the chief distinguishing features of early Flemish art, and these are seen in their full development in the Mystic Lamb.
Next in importance to the altar-piece of St. Bavon stands that of the Santa Trinita Museum at Madrid, representing the Triumph of the Catholic Church. This powerful work
280 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
has only recently been attributed to Yan Eyck, and there IS only internal evidence to show that it is by his hand ; but it bears, according to the critics who have examined it, 50 strong a resemblance in its composition and painting to the Mystic Lamb, that there seems very little reason to doubt that it was really painted by Jan or by Hubert Van Eyck. Passavant, who was the first to make known its merits,^ ascribes it to Hubert, but later critics are more in favour of Jan.
There is but one specimen of Jan Van Eyck's work in the Louvre, but that is a most charming one. The picture is usually styled the Virgin and the Donor,^ and represents the Chancellor EoUin kneeling before the Virgin and Child with a missal in his hand. An angel with gorgeous wings places a crown on the Virgin's head. The landscape back- ground, seen through three arcades, has been supposed to represent Jerusalem ; but if so, the holy city, in its towers, spires, and bridges, has a remarkable resemblance to an old Flemish town. A chain of snow-clad mountains in the ethereal distance alone gives it an ideal character.^ The delicacy of finish and minuteness of detail of the work are wonderful. There are said to be two thousand figures in it.
The Virgin and S. Donat (also called the Pala Madonna, from its having been painted for C-eorge Van der Paele, Canon of S. Donat), in the Bruges Academy,^ is chiefly distinguished by the noble figure of S. Donat. In the same gallery there is an excellent portrait, by Jan Van Eyck, of his wife, painted in 1439, when she was thirty- three years of age.
S. Barbara, in a landscape with a large tower (her emblem) rising up behind her, is a most interesting though unfinished work. Only the sky is coloured, but
^ Passavant " Die Christliche Kunst in Spanien," 1853. There is a detailed description of this work in " Early Flemish Painters," page 92, et seq. Passavant and Crowe and Cavalcaselle imagine that two of" the figures who look on at the overthrow of the Jewish and the triumph of the Christian Church, are portraits of Hubert and Jan [not by either of the Van Eycks according to Woermann and others].
2 Louvre Catalogue, No. 162.
^ Some say the town represented is Lyons.
* There is a copy of this painting in the Antwerp Gallery.
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 281
the drawing in every part is complete, and the admirable care with which this drawing is done, shows how patiently the master worked. It is in the Antwerp Academy.
The Van Eycks in the National Gallery are of un- doubted authenticity, and the nation is truly fortunate in possessing such excellent specimens of a master whose genuine works are exceedingly rare, although his name is often found in catalogues. The solemn Lady and Gentle- man with joined Hands (Ko. 186) is a marvellous piece of painting. Every object in the room is faithfully depicted, even to the ten compartments in the frame of the mirror, representing the Passion of Christ, and the brass chande- Her, with the candle still burning, is a miracle of execution. And not only are the things in the room thus minutely painted, but we even get a glimpse of things outside, by reason of the reflections in the mirror, which have been studied with a perfect knowledge of the laws of incidence and reflection.
The merits of this surprising work do not, however, lie merely in this minute rendering of detail which Gerard Dow and many of the Dutch genre painters likewise accom- plished. Its colouring is well nigh perfect, and the quaint figures of the man and woman (considered to be portraits of Jean Arnolfini and his wife) have a real personal interest such as the Dutch painters never infused into their works. The puritanical couple, supposed to be newly married, are in state costume, and the lady wears her wedding-ring half way up the finger. The perfect state of preservation of this remarkable painting is not the least wonderful thing about it, considering that it was painted more than four hundred years ago.^
The Turbaned Portrait (No. 222) is another excellent example of the master's firm execution and powerful colour. It is signed on the frame, and bears the date 1433, and above is Jan Van Eyck's motto, " Als ixh Xan " (als ich kan), which seems to be a portion of an old Flemish pro- verb, " As I can, not as I will." This motto is found on many of his works.
The other National Gallery portrait (No. 290) is inscribed
^ For the interesting histoi'y attached to it, see Wornum's " Cutu- loirue."
282 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
Timotheos in G-reek characters, and underneath it the words " Leal Souvenir," and the painter's signature, and the date 1432.
There are also several good Van Ejcks in England in private hands. Especially may be mentioned a small Madonna and Child, belonging to Weld Blundell, Esq., at Ince Hall (called the Ince Madonna), and another in the possession of the Marquis of Exeter at Burleigh, which is said to be even more minute in detail and finish than the Eollin Madonna in the Louvre.^
The date of Jan Van Ejck's death was for a long time as uncertain as that of his birth, but it is now proved that he died at Bruges on the 9th of July, 1440.'"^ The last record of him in the ducal accounts is a payment to the church and convent of Maaseyck in 1448-1449, in order that " Lyennie, danghter of Jan Van Eyck," might enter the convent.
Margaret Van Eyck, the sister of Hubert and Jan, was likewise a painter. " She devoted herself to art," says Van Mander, " preserving her maidenhood through life." She died shortly after Hubert. We often meet with pictures with her name in galleries, but none of them are proved to be by her. The name of Lambert Van Eyck also, a third brother, occurs in the ducal records.
The founders of the School of Bruges were undoubtedly its greatest masters. Flemish art did not rise with the Van Eycks, and then proceed to a culminating point of greatness, as we have traced it in Italy from G-iotto to Michael Angelo and Eaphael ; but rising nearly a century later than Italian art, early Flemish art may be said to have had its rise, development, blooming time, and in some degree its fall, all within the lifetime of one master.
But although no after painters of the school ever excelled the Van Eycks in noble conception, colour, or execution, there were, nevertheless, many excellent masters among their scholars and followers.
^ [Other works of Van Eyck in England are, " The Consecration of Thomas a Becket as Archbishop of Canterbury," painted 1431, at Chatsworth, Mr. Beresford Hope's Madonna, and Lord Heytesbury's *' S. Francis," a replica of a picture at Turin.]
^ Weale, " Notes sur Jan Van Eyck."
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 283
A knowledge of the new method of oil-painting had now spread, in spite of the endeavour of the Flemish guilds to keep the process a secret, not only through Flanders, but also in Italy, where it was at once warmly adopted, especially, as we have seen, by the early Venetians.
It soon, indeed, produced a complete revolution in the mode of painting, and whereas, before the middle of the fifteenth century, we have only a few pictures painted in oils by the Van Eycks and their pupils, after that century we barely meet with one painted in any other way.^ "Ce n'est pas," says Paul Mantz, " dans I'histoire un mediocre evenement que cette mobilisation de la peinture, qui va dcsormais, comme bientot le livre imprime courir de main en main, traverser les mers, penetrer dans les maisons qui jusqu alors lui etaient fermees, et apporter a tous un enseignement, une consolation, une lumiere."
This "mobilization" of painting had another good effect : it aided in the liberation of art from the exclusive service of the Church. If these pious old Flemish painters could have foreseen such a result as this they would, per- haps, have kept to the previous methods of fresco and tem- pera, and have exercised their skill on the walls of churches and convents, like their Italian predecessors, rather than on those small panels and canvases which have come even- tually to adorn rich men's houses and public galleries. •
But although the powers of the first oil-painters were solely employed on reHgious subjects or portraits, their successors selected more worldly themes, and painted for other purposes than rehgious instruction and church deco- ration, until at length, in the Dutch genre painters, their true successors in point of execution and finish, we have an entirely worldly school, painting low life, genre subjects, and foolish conversation pieces, as they are called, for rich patrons.
^ The earliest oil-painting on record is probably a Head of Christ, exhibited to the painters of Antwerp in 1420 by Jan Van Eyck. This picture spread the fame of the new method. A Madonna, by Petrus Cristus, in the Stiidel Museum at Frankfort, dated 1417, was for a long time pointed out as the earliest picture painted by this method, but it seems now tolerably certain that the date on this work has been falsified by the restorer, and that it really was 1447. Vide an article in " Le Beffroi," vol. i., page 235, and " Catalogue of the Stadel Museum."
284 HISTOEY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VI I.
The followers of the Van Eycks of the School of Bruges had still, however, the same rehgious sentiment as their masters, and expressed it in similar realistic language. The spirit of doubt had not yet stirred their reverent minds, and they went on painting Virgins, Infants, Saints, Martyrs, representations of heaven and hell. Annuncia- tions, and Crucifixions, with fervid belief in the teaching of the Church.
Among the earliest of these scholars may be men- tioned,—
Petrus Cristus [born at Baerle, near Grhent, bought ftie freedom of the city of Bruges in 1444, and was still fiving in 1472. His religious pictures resembled those of Van Eyck. His earliest dated work (1446) is a portrait of Edward Grimstone, ambassador to the Court of Burgundy, now in the possession of the Earl of Verulam. The cele- brated S. Eloysius selling a Eiug to a Young Couple, in the Oppenheim Collection at Cologne, has been quoted as the earliest example of genre, but it is probably a votive picture, although it shows the ever increasing realistic tendency of the School of Bruges. There are genuine works by Cristus at St. Petersburg, Berlin, and Turin].
G-ERARD Vander Meire is ouly a name in Elemish art, for none of the pictures attributed to him can be satisfac- torily authenticated, and nothing is known of his life but a slight mention of him by Van Mander, who says he lived at Ghent, and the praise of one of his paintings by Sanderus.
Htjgo Vander Goes [said to be a native of Zealand, was settled in Ghent], and already a distinguished painter in [1465-1466], when he was employed at the marriage of Charles the Bold to Margaret of York to produce the "pleasant devices" and "histories" that were set forth in the streets on that occasion. He likewise had the super- intendence of the " entremetz " ^ at the ducal banquet.
' By this word Olivier de la Marche, who has given a detailed account of these wonders, signifies huge whales that cast up dancing mermaids and mermen out of their mouths, lions and dromedaries who made pretty speeches to the bride and bridegroom, and a wonderful pasty containing twenty-eight men inside it, who all played on different instruments.
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 285
But although Hugo did not disdain to receive fourteen sous a day for work of this kind, he was nevertheless a master of great ability, and several beautiful paintings still remain by his hand. [He was dean of the guild of S. Luke in Ghent in 1473-4-5.]
Of these the most important is, perhaps, the altar-piece of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence,^ painted for the rich family of the Portinari, a member of which, Tommaso Portinari, was agent for the Medici at this time in Bruges, and by this means doubtless became acquainted with Hugo. In this altar-piece, a Nativity, he has represented rays of light emanating from the Child, and hghting the scene, as in the well-known "Notte" of Correggio.
Another painting by him, much praised by old writers, was the meeting of David and Abigail, an unusual subject, Flemish painters seldom choosing their themes from the Old Testament. Under the guise of Abigail, it is said, the artist depicted a young lady with whom he was desperately in love, the David being his own portrait.
Lucas Van Here, in the sixteenth century, wrote a sonnet on this picture, in which Abigail and her fair attendants approve of the manner in which the painter has represented them. They can do everything but speak, " an uncommon fault in our sex," they are made to remark.^
But it is to be feared that Hugo Vander Groes did not prosper in his love for his Abigail, for we find that he entered the Augustine Convent, of Rooden Clooster, near Brussels, where [he continued to exercise his art, troubled at intervals by fits of insanity, until his death in 1482.]
Of Justus of G-hent little more is known than of Vander Meire. [His one known work, The Last Supper, was ordered by the brotherhood of Corpus Christi at TJrbino in 1468, and was completed in 1474. The picture was paid for by a subscription, in which the reigning Duke Pederigo di Montefeltro took part. This important work is ten feet square, and the largest painting known of the early Flemish school. The portraits of the Duke and of Caterino Zeno, a Venetian agent on a mission from Persia,
^ This work is still in the church for which it was originally painted, but removed from the altar. It is in a wonderful state of preservation. '^ " Les Peintres Bourgeois." Alfi*ed Michiels.
286 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
are introduced. It is a question whether Justus changed his style sufficiently to have painted the panels of the Duke's library at Urbino, now presei-ved at Eome and in the Louvre.]
RoQiER Yander Weyden [called Eogier de la Pasture in his native town, and Ruggieri da Bruggia by Vasari, was born at Tournay between the years 1398 and 1400. He was undoubtedly the greatest of Van Eyck's contem- poraries. He was founder of a school which exercised paramount influence on the later painters of Germany and the Netherlands.
Whilst Jan Yan Eyck was serving the court of Burgundy, and executing royal commissions for other work than painting royal portraits and altar-pieces, his humbler rival was studying the art of painting in the else unknown workshop of Robert Campin, painter of panel and banner, and tinter of statuary, in Tournay. Roger, already a married man, and father of one child, apprenticed himself to Campin in 1426, when he was not less than twenty-six or twenty- seven years of age. After five years and five months study with Camj^in, he took his freedom of the guild of S. Luke at Tournay, and soon afterwards migrated with his family to Brussels, of which city his wife, Eliza- beth Groffaerts, was a native. The master painter obtained the freedom of Brussels, and we find him in April, 1435, established in that city, now possessing additional impor- tance from the residence there of the court of Burgundy, and before the month of May, 1466, he had been there] appointed to the office of town painter. About the same date he received a commission from the municipality to adorn the [partially- completed] town-hall with paintings, and executed for this purpose four large paintings, setting forth the virtues of justice and truth. The legend of Herli-enbald the Magnificent, a just judge of Brussels, in the eleventh century, who cut off his beloved nephew's head with his own hand rather than allow an invasion of the law ; the Emperor Trajan halting at the head of his army to hear the complaint of a poor widow ; Pope Gregory contemplating the remains of Trajan, namely, his tongue which " never told a lie " ; — were the themes chosen by- the painter, and his paintings were for more than two
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 287
centuries the glory of Brussels, no traveller passing through the city without paying a visit to the Hotel de Ville to behold them. It is supposed that they were destroyed by the French when they besieged Brussels in 1695, but the painter's compositions are not entirely lost, for, frequently rei)roduced in tapestry at the time, in that form they exist still at the Cathedral of Berne, where are preserved three magnificent pieces of arras taken by the Swiss from the Burgundian tents at Morat and Granson in 1476.^
Nothing is known of Koger's early life, but the celerity with which he attained such perfection in his art as to induce the magistrate of Brussels to appoint him painter in ordinary (pourtraictenr) to that city, seems to imply some previous artistic education. It is most probable, judging from his manner, that he had attained skill in tinting the statuary, for which Tournay was noted, before entering upon his five years' apprenticeship to painting in Campin's workshop. Such work was done later on in his own workshop in Brussels, if not actually by his own hand, for in 1439 he was paid for tinting a sculptured altar-piece which Philip the Good presented to a church in the city.]
The Chancellor Rollin, for whom Jan Van Eyck painted the Madonna in the Louvre, was likewise a patron of Rogier Vander Weyden. In 1443 this noble man founded a hospital at Beaune, in Burgundy, and employed Yander Weyden to i3aint its altar-piece. This work is usually reckoned his masterpiece, and is the largest work of the early Flemish school extant.^ It represents the Last Judg- ment, and different scenes of that great event are depicted on the numerous panels that make up the whole. In the centre the Saviour is seated on a rainbow, with his feet resting on the earth, whilst beneath him stands the Arch- angel Michael weighing the souls of men in his balance. The Resurrection of the Just on one side, and of the Wicked on the other, forms the subject of the side panels, the just taking their way to the portal of heaven, a gothic door-way on the extreme right ; while the wicked are
[' Pinchart, " R. Vander "Weyden et les Tapisseries de Berne."] [• Eighteen feet broad, and seven to eight feet high. In nine panels. Vide Crowe and Cavalcaselle, " Early Flemish Painters."]
238 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
thrown, on the extreme left, into the flames of hell, where their bodies are seen suffering hideous contortion and agony.
On the outer panels of this altar-piece are two noble figures of S. Sebastian and S. Anthony, as well as the tneeling figures of the donor, Rollin, and his wife, painted with all the faithful reality of early Flemish art.^
An Adoration of the Magi, in the Pinakothek, at Munich, is another of Yander Weyden's grand compositions. The foremost of the Magi, who kneels, kissing the hand of the Infant Saviour, is said to be a portrait of Philippe le Bon. A Flemish town, with its quaint streets, towers, spires, and houses, forms the background of the holy scene. [A work that became as popular as the townhall pictures, to judge by the number of repetitions of it extant, is a large com • position painted in 1440 for a church without the walls of Louvain, The Descent from the Cross, ^ now in the Museum at Madrid (No. 1,046), whither it was sent by Mary of Hungary.^ This picture exhibits pre-eminently the peculiar characteristics of Vander Weyden's art, intense religious feeling, with the sorrowful side of religious history ex- pressed in dramatic gesture and expression, often exagge- rated to contortion. A member of the Painters' G-uilds of Tournay, Brussels, Louvain, and Bruges, engaged in the service of citizens rather than of princes, Yander Weyden was not uninfluenced by the popular taste of the time, which was stirred by a zeal for moral reform that laid the first seeds for the great Puritan outbreak of the next century.]
The most charming of his works in the Pinakothek, a picture of S. Luke painting the Yirgin, was for a long time attributed to Jan Yan Eyck; and truly the noble and thoughtful figure of S. Luke might have been painted by Jan Yan Eyck at his period of highest attainment. It is one of the most expressive portrait figures in Flemish art, and loses none of its merit from its having evidently been painted from some holy pensive brother of Yander Wey- den's acquaintance. We can imagine Fra Angelico with an expression such as this. The landscape background is remarkably like that of the Eollin Yirgin and Child in the
^ An outline illustration of this altai'-piece is given in Kugler and Waagen's Handbook. German, Flemish, and Dutch Schools. '^ [ Fi(k Forster's '•' Denkmiiler." j ^ [IbicL]
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 289
Louvre; Vander Weyden [may], indeed, have had that work in his remembrance when he painted it. The colour is soft, lovely, and of pure harmony, resembling Jan's brilliant notes, rather than the deeper chords of Hubert ; its hard outlines, angular draperies, and meagre Child, however, proclaim it the work of the pupil rather than the master.
Vander Weyden was, probably, the first Flemish painter who journeyed to Italy, a journey which his successors, as we shall see, rarely undertook without bad results ; it does not seem, however, to have produced any perceptible change in his style of painting. He was at Rome in the year of Jubilee, 1450 [having first visited Ferrara, where he painted, early in 1449, a triptych, of which a portion now hangs in the Uffizi at Florence, containing a portrait of Lionel d'Este. A picture in the Staedel, Frankfort (66), painted for Cosmo de Medici about this time, seems to point to a stay in Florence during Roger's Italian sojourn, but the constant commercial intercourse between Italy and Flanders had already spread the fame of Flemish art in the Penin- sula, and a picture at Bologna appears to have been painted for the Duke of Milan before this date.] ^ He died on the 16th of June, 1464, and was buried in the Church of S. Gudule, as the register of burials states, " before S. Cathe- rine's altar, under a blue stone." ^ [Of his three sons, Pieteb, a painter (1437-1514 ?), had a son, Goswin (1465-1538), a painter also, whose son Roger is called Roger Vander Weyden the Younger. No known works of these three painters exist, though there are several admirable paintings in the National Gallery ascribed to Roger the Younger, who died between 1537 and 1543.]
Hans Memling, Memlinc, or Memmelinghe (died 1494), was probably the pupil of Rogier Vander Weyden [before settling in Bruges in 1477-78.] His works have less force of mind than those of Vander Weyden, but more beauty and grace. Grace and beauty, with great tender- ness of feeling, are the qualities he added to the school of
^ [ ride Crowe and Cavalcaselle, " Lives of Flemish Painters," p. 207, et seq.]
^ Van Mander says lie was the first artist who painted on fixed canvas, instead of on panels, for the decoration of rooms.
U
290 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
Bruges. His outlines are softer, his draperies more flow- ing, and liis Virgins mucli more beautiful than those of his sup230sed master ; he was, in fact, to some extent, an ideal l^ainter, whereas Van Eyck and Vander Weyden were faithful realists. The place and time of his birth have not yet been satisfactorily ascertained, and we have little in- formation about his life. But what history has neglected to tell us is partly made up by tradition, which relates that after the disastrous battle of Nancy, in which the proud hopes of Charles the Bold were finally crushed, a poor, wayworn soldier found his way back to Bruges, and fell, sinking from exhaustion, at the gates of the Hospital of St. John, where he was taken in by the brethren, and nursed back to health and strength. On his recovery he asked for paints and brushes, and left, as a lasting memo- rial of his gratitude, the figure of the Sibyl Zambeth on the walls of the Hospital. Unfortunately, a few stem facts contradict this pretty story. It is unlikely that Memling was ever a soldier, and the Sibyl Zambeth, [dated 1480, is the portrait of Maria Moreel, second daughter of William Moreel, the sturdy burgomaster of Bruges in 1478 and until 1483, and of his wife Barbara Ylaender- berch, whose portraits, painted at the same time and in the same manner (not Memling's best), were formerly with the Sybil in the hospital of S. Julian, and are now in the Brussels Museum. He was, moreover, a comfortable citizen at this time, married, with three children ; he had property in houses, which ranked him amongst the "notables" of the city. An old writer, Yan Yaernewyck, calls Memling " Duytschen Hans," and it is possible that he was one of the many strangers who came to learn in the Flemish schools, and adopted a country so favourable to his pro- fession].^
The Hospital of St. John possesses, besides the Sibyl, three other of Memling's finest works, namely, the Marriage of the Yirgin, the Adoration of the Magi, and the lovely paintings of the Chasse or Ryve of St. Ursula.
This last work was [finished the 24th October of the year 1489], and Passavant has discovered from some docu-
1 [\V. H. J Weale, '•' Bcffrui," ii.]
BOOK VII. J PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 291
ments in the hospital,^ that in 1480 Memling made two journeys to Cologne, the place of S. Ursula's martyrdom, the funds for these journeys being supplied by Adrian Reims, the superior of the Hospital of S. John, who com- missioned him to adorn the shrine. The influence of these journeys to Cologne is clearly visible in this work. Rhine- land views, evidently painted from nature, form the land- scape backgrounds of the various scenes in the life of the saint, who is represented with her attendant virgins. These are eleven, or eleven thousand, in number, according to the faith of the narrator of the legend. Memling, for obvious reasons, chose the smaller number, and told the pathetic history of the British princess and martyr in an exquisite series of little painted poems on her shrine. The shrine itself, a rich gothic ark, is only about four feet in length, so that Memling's paintings on it are little more than miniatures, but they are painted with such feeling and delicacy, and the colour is so soft and lovely, that they rank among the most important of his works.
One of his few faults was representing too many incidents
in one painting. He sought to give dramatic effect by
crowding a number of acts into one scene, but by this
means often marred the unity of his conceptions. This
defect of judgment is especially visible in a picture in the
Pinakothek at Munich, called the Seven Joys of the
Virgin. Here the central idea of the woman whom " all
generations shall call blessed," is lost in the maze of detail
with which the painter has surrounded her history. The
Bye gets fatigued in contemplating this picture, and the
tnind refuses to follow the artist's meaning. Yet, taken
separately, each little incident in the drama has an interest
[)f its own, and each is so perfectly painted, that it seems
angrateful to grumble at the artist for having given us too
oauch of such exquisite work.
Memling's Madonnas have a wonderful charm; they
' li]>proach, in fact, more nearly to ideal beauty than those
)f any other Flemish master, for the later masters who
itrained after the Italian ideal missed it, from the very
jtrain they put forth, whilst Memling attained to it by his
)wn inherently poetical nature.
» *' Kunst-blatt," 1813.
292 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
The Virgin, with the donor and S. George (No. 686), of the National Collection, is a lovely example of his manner in this class of subjects. The calm evening landscape is especially beautiful.
There are more paintings in existence by Memling than by any other master of the School of Bruges. Kathgeber, indeed, enumerates a hundred, but many of these are doubtful. On the other hand, many that he does not enumerate, probably belong to him.
He appears [after 1477] to have resided principally at Bruges, and possessed a house there in the Rue S. George, so he could not have been so poor as tradition has made bim out. In fact, he was in his later life a man of pro- perty [owning three houses, and ground beside], and in 1480 he contributed to a loan raised for the Emperor Maximilian in Bruges. He died in [the first quarter of 1494].
[The most important follower of Memling was Gerard (or Gheeraert) David, bom at Oudewater, in Holland, about the year 1460. In 1483 he was settled in Bi-uges, where he resided, an honoured citizen and industrious painter, until his death in 1623. In 1488, after the execu- tion of the unjust judges of Bruges, their successors, minded like the magistrates of Brussels and of Louvain before them, to keep the honour of their office in lively re- membrance, commissioned Gerard David to paint two pic- tures for their council chamber, the subject — viz.. The Judgment of Cambyses and The Flaying of the Venal Judge Sissamnes — being duly chosen from Herodotus. Completed in 1498, they are now in the Academy at Bruges. " They are painted vigorously in brownish tone, and with admirable finish." The Baptism of Christ in the same gallery, until lately attributed to Memling, was painted in 1508 for a Bruges magistrate, Jean de Trompes, and is remarkable for its brilliant and truthful execution and minute accuracy of detail. The landscape background is particularly beautiful, distinguished by truthful per- spective and delicate aerial gradations, that have earned him the name of father of landscape. His influence is plainly seen in the works of Patinir and Henrick Metten Bles, the first to subordinate figures to landscape. There is
BOOK VII,] PAIXTINO IN THE NETHERLANDS. 293
a very fine picture by him in the National Gallery (No. 1045).
Gerard was a member of the Society of Illuminators and Printers, as well as dean of the Painters' Guild of Bruges. Van Mander speaks of his excellent illuminations. Some of the miniatures in the Grimani MS. at Venice are attri- buted to him, and two miniatures in Bruges Academy testify to his skill. Gerard was a faithful son of the Church ; he worked gratis for the nuns of the Carmelite convent of Sion, and presented them with the high altar- piece of the Virgin with Female Saints, now at Eouen, in which two of the faces are said to be " the most beautiful that the Flemish School has realized."
A school of painting seems to have existed at an early date at Haarlem, founded by Albert Van Oudewater, a contemporary of Rogier Van der Weyden. The paintings of this master were conspicuous, it is said, for the excel- lence of their landscape, but none of them remain.
Gheerardt of Sint Jans or of Haarlem was a pupil of Oudewater' s, according to Van Mander, and several pic- tures are assigned to him by critics — two wings of an altar- piece in the Belvedere at Vienna (Nos. 58 and 60) — with seeming good reason.^ It is sought to identify him with Gerard David, of Oudewater.
Van Mander praises highly the landscape backgrounds of Albert and of his pupil, "Httle Gheerardt," or " Gerrit;" the latter, he says, died at the age of twenty-eight, and lived with the knights hospitallers of S. John, though not of their order. He gives no date. The pictures ascribed to Gheerardt are so Flemish in style — seeming to have derived their inspiration from Bruges — that they, with later pro- ductions of Dutchmen working in the schools of Louvain and Antwerp, must be reckoned with the work of Flemings, as totally apart from the later Dutch School proper.
DiERicK Bouts, formerly confounded with the Louvain family of painters, the Stuerbouts, was born at Haarlem, in 1399 or 1400. He appears to have established himself at Louvain about 1442, residing there until his death, on the 6th of May, 1475. In 1448 the Town Hall of Louvain
• [Vide Crowe and Cavalcaselle, *' Early Flemish Fainter.s,' and Ilyman's " Livre des Feiutres de Van Mander."]
294 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
was "begun building. For some years previously, and until sixteen years later, when that marvel of Gothic ornament was completed, the ancient capital of Brabant teemed with active artistic life and endeavour. The great master, Eoger van der Weyden, had painted there in 1440-1443, and maybe that Dierick Bouts came to see the master's work, if not to study in his workshop. The imposing dignity and gravity of l)ierick's creations are allied to the earnest melancholy of Van der Weyden' s, though a thicker impasto, and greater mastery over the oil-medium, as well as a certain delicacy of the female faces in Bouts' works, have, in the absence of positive knowledge, caused them to be ascribed to Memling, rather than to him who may be re- garded as the master of both artists. In 1466-1468 Dierick painted for the Brotherhood of the Holy Sacrament a trip- tych of the Last Supper, in the background of which he has represented himself as servant, and four other onlookers, which are, according to recent investigations, portraits of the " vmders," or counsellors of the corporation — portraits which " remind us of the models of John van Eyck," ^ and still more of those of Quentin Massys. This triptych still hangs in the chapel in St. Peter's, for which it was painted; but of the four panels that formed the wings, two — The Meeting of Abraham and Melchisedek and The G-athering of Manna — are at Munich, the other two — Elijah in the Desert and The Feast of the Passover — are in the Berlin Museum. The grouping of The Last Supper is original ; the faces exhibit a studied variety of expression. The Christ is of pleasing and refined type, the whole painted with a conscientious, reverent dignity that is altogether characteristic of Bouts, animated by a force rather moral than religious. The colouring is powerful and harmonious, but, with all minuteness of execution, lacks the tender delicacy of Memling' s. The Martyrdom of S. Erasmus in the same chapel was probably painted before 1466, and is a less disagreeable picture than the subject would promise. The figure of S. Bernard upon one wing is very fine, and the background of the centre panel shows the one tower of S. Peter's, and the vanes of the Town Hall of Louvain, and
* [Crowe and Cavalcaselle.]
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 295
beyond them the hills of the Kesselberg and Roeselberg, where Bouts possessed a farm and vineyards. In 1468 Bouts is mentioned as " pourtraicteur de la ville," and, as town-painter, he received yearly a cloth coat, and money for the lining thereof. He completed his first commission for the Town Hall — a triptych of the Last Judgment (now lost) — in 1473, and, for the further decoration of the council chamber, was ordered to paint four large panels similar in meaning to those that Van der Weyden had executed in the Town HaU of Brussels. A learned man received six florins for selecting a subject illustrating Truth and Justice. The subject chosen was the apocryphal legend of Otho III.] The Empress of Otho, actuated by the same motives as Potiphar's wife, procured not only the imprisonment, but the execution of an innocent Joseph of the court, but Joseph's wife, satisfied of the virtue of her husband, appeared before the Emperor with the murdered man's head in her hand, and proved her innocence by undergoing safely the ordeal of fire, whereupon the guilty Empress was condemned to the flames by her husband.
[Dierick did not, however, live to fulfil his contract, two panels only (now in the Brussels Museum) being completed at his death. Hugo Yander Goes was sent for from his cloister near Brussels, to decide upon the value of the work done, and he adjudged the heirs three hundred and six out of the five hundred crowns agreed upon. Dierick, despite the respect in which his art was held, did not make a fortune. He owed his comfortable house and gardens, vineyards and farms to his wife, Catherine Metten Gelde, upon whose death he married a well-to-do widow in 1473.
His two daughters had become nuns, and his two sons, Dierick and Albert, were both painters.^ Amongst the notable contemporaries of Bouts in Louvain was Hubert Stuerbottt, whose name long caused confusion to be made l^etween the two painters. Hubert came of an in- dustrious Louvain family of artistic workmen, who turned their hands to every kind of decorative work, from altar-
[' It is to the researches of Mr. Van Even and M. "Wauters that we owe the small amount of information abodt Dierick Bouts that has been rescued from oblivion.]
296 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [BOOK VII.
pieces and chasuble patterns, to weather-vanes and Last Judgments for the cemetery gateway. A work showing a popular realistic tendency was a series of 250 Biblical compositions for bas-reliefs on the bases of niches on the Town Hall front, to be executed by a sculptor, Beyart. These designs, roughly as they are executed, show a truth- ful picture of the life, conditions, and costumes of the time.
G-erard David continued active in Bruges, but] most of the rising artists of the time deserted the school of Bruges, and went over to the more powerful school of Antwerp, which was now becoming important, and which, owing its origin to the [Schools of Louvain, Brussels, and Tournail, developed in a totally different manner to that of Bruges.
[Jean Peevost, who came from Mons to Bruges in 1494, remained there until his death in 1529. Visiting Antwerp, he made the acquaintance of Albert Diirer, whom he afterwards entertained at Bruges in 1521. In 1525 he was commissioned to paint for the council chamber of the magistrature the striking picture of the Last Judg- ment, now in the Academy of Bruges. On the curious background of sea and sandy shore groups are embarking on ships of various size, conducted by angels, or driven by demons of grotesque hideousness. These and the con- demned already suffering in the flames, as Mr. Weale says, "rival the inventions of Callot or Breughel" in comic horror. A chariot full of ecclesiastics led to torture was painted over in 1550 by Pieter Pourbus, by command of the magistrates, probably piously mindful of existing ecclesiastical powers.
Jerome van Aeken, of Bois-le-Duc, from which place he took the surname Bos or Bosch (died 1518), is an artist delighting in weird and grotesque effects, ghostly and de- moniacal subjects, and may in these be regarded as the forerunner of Breughel; but in other respects he bears more resemblance to Lucas Yan Leyden. The Last Judg- ment, Temptation of S. Antony, and Fall of the Damned are favourite subjects for his wild imagination and fan- tastic treatment. M. Wauters mentions several " pictures of very Flemish merry-makings, precursors of the tavern scenes of Brauwer and Jan Steen," and praises his Adora-
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 297
tion of the Mas^ now at Madrid. No details of his life are known, but he furnished in 1493 designs for glass windows at Bois-le-Duc]
Chaptee II. THE SCHOOL OF ANTWEEP.
EARLY SCHOOL OF HOLLAND. QuENTiN Massts — Mabuse — LucAS Van Leyden.
ALTHOUG-H it is now certain that Qitentin Massys was born at Louvain in the year 1466/ he must never- theless be reckoned as the founder of the School of Ant- werp, rather than as an outcome of the old school of Louvain, in which Dierick Bouts was the only man who rose to any importance. [The School of Antwerp, on the other hand, united the Van Eyck methods of colouring and execution with the qualities of Vander Wey den's art, but was animated by a totally different spirit to that of Bruges or Toumay, and had a far wider aim than either.]
Quentin Massys' works, especially, are distinguished
* Antwerp long contended with Louvain for the honour of Quentin Massys' birth, but in 1861 a manuscript work of the learned Louvain doctor, Jean Molanus, was published, which corroborated Guicciardini and other writers in their statement that he was born at Louvain, and in his early life exercised the trade of a blacksmith with much talent in his native town.
The name of Metsys occurs in the town registry of Louvain ; but this does not prove much, as it likewise occurs frequently in the Antwerp registries. Especially in the archives of Notre Dame, at Antwerp, there is mention made of a certain Jean Metsys, a blacksmith, who executed several works in iron for the church. This might have been a brother of Quentin's, and the beautiful iron tracery ascribed to the painter might have been the work of this Jean. He must likewise have been a clock-maker, for one of the entries records eighteen esculins as having been paid to him annually for keeping the clock of St. Jaques in order {Van der clocken te stellen). Vide "Catalogue of the Antwerp^ ftntt\\ Museum " [and " Ancienne Ecole de Louvain," E. Van EvenX- P \\ \\ uV- *^
f>AE^'^
0?
av
298 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
from those of the immediate followers of Van Eyck, not only by a greater boldness of style and dramatic effect, but also by the independence of his genius, which stamped with originality everything he undertook. [He is said to have learnt painting from one Master Eoger, of Lou vain, of whom no further record is known. His father, Josse Massys, an ironworker and clockmaker, was settled in Lou- vain in 1459, but probably came originally from Antwerp. Quentin's mother was the daughter of a citizen of Lou vain.] According to the well-known story, Quentin Massys for- sook his first calling of blacksmith from love of a painter's daughter. Her father had refused to bestow her hand on any but a member of his own profession. So the gallant young blacksmith of Louvain turned painter, and won his bride, and a noble fame into the bargain. Thus, as tradi- tion relates, and a tablet set up to his memory in the cathedral records : —
" Connubialis amor de Mulcibre fecit Apellem."
[The date of his marriage has not been ascertained, nor whether Alyt Tuylt was of Antwerp or Louvain parentage ; but it] is pleasant to find that this j)retty little narration, which has been long doubted by critics, is in the main really true, so many similar stories about painters having vanished beneath the stern analysis to which recent investigators have submitted the statements of the older art historians.
[Up to the age of twenty-eight, Quentin worked as journeyman in the smithy still kept by his widowed mother, Catherine Massys.^ In the year 1491, the latter declared her children's majority, and Quentin] was re- ceived into the Brotherhood of S. Luke, at Antwerp, as a free-master " franc-maitre,^^ but he must at that time have been a painter of some note, for a few years only after his reception a medal was struck in his honour. [He did not take up permanent residence in Antwerp until three years later, in 1494, when a division of the maternal family pro- perty was made, and Quentin, with his mother, grand-
[' According to the vague orthography of the time Quentin's name is spelled variously in the records of the time, and by himself and his children, MassJ^'s, ^Masys, Mase5's, Matsyss, and Metsys.]
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 299
mother, younger brother, and only sister, went to Antwerp, leaving his elder brother, Josse, established in the family liouse and smithy in the Rue Chateau, Louvain. Quentin was received with honours in the flourishing city of the Schelde. Pupils flocked to him, his school became a large one,] and attracted painters to Antwerp from all the towns of the Netherlands, in the same way as they had before been attracted to Bruges [and Louvain].
We can readily believe Van Mander when he tells us that Massys, besides being a painter and a good musician, had a great love of letters, for we know that he numbered amongst his friends such men as Erasmus, Sir Thomas More, and Petrus Egidius\ How interesting it would now be if we could learn something of his intercourse with these men. Diirer records in his journal that he went "to Meister Quintine's house," but does not gives us any in- formation about its master. [Quentin lived for many years in the Rue des Tanneurs, and by his industry acquired two other houses ; in one of these he afterwards lived, de- corating the doorway with a coloured figure of S. Quentin, and in 1528 he painted one of the rooms in fresco, a gallery of musicians with flutes, in colour, and all round the columns foliage and sporting amoretti in grisaille.]
The great altar-piece of the Entombment, now in the Antwerp Gallery, is usually reckoned his master- work. This picture was painted in 1508, in the full vigour of the artist's powers, and exhibits in a striking manner the in- dependent characteristics of his genius. Instead of the delicate miniature painting of Memling, we here have figures nearly the size of life, painted with a power and reality that forcibly impress the mind of the beholder.'
A strange element of grotesque humour and tendency to caricature crops up in many of Massys' works. It is diffe- rent to the fantastic spirit of early German art, but corre- sponds somewhat with the love of the grotesque evinced by the early Norman sculptors. Often in an earnest impres-
' [The portraits of Erasmus and Egidius, Quentin painted upon a panel as a diptych, as a present from Erasmus to More.]
* [In their solemnity and dignity presenting some characteristics of ])iHrick IJouts's work, which Quentin must have had full opportunity- of studying from his earliest childhood in Louvain.]
300 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
sive representation by him of a solemn event we are moved to a smile by some incongruous bead or feature.
The Entombment of Christ was painted by Massys as an altarpiece for the chapel of the Gruild of Antwerp Joiners in the Cathderal. He was to receive in payment for it 300 florins, equal to about .£25, but even this small sum was not to be paid all at once, but in three parts, and was after- wards commuted into a payment of the interest to two of his children. The Joiners, however, knew how to prize their altar-piece, for we find that they refused enormous sums for it from Philip II. of Spain, and Elizabeth of England, both of whom coveted its possession. However, becoming poorer, they sold it in 1580 to the magistracy of Antwerp for 1500 florins, and, after various changes of place, it has now found its proper position in the Antwerp Grallery.
Besides his religious paintings, Quentin Massys was celebrated for what may be called his money-pieces. A great many pictures of this class that pass with his name were really painted by his son, and by other copyists of his style ; and his admirable representations of subjects of this kind evidently induced a taste for them amongst wealthy purchasers, and led to the frequent repetitions that we meet with of " Quentin Massys' Misers." The Banker and his Wife in the Louvre, and the so-called Misers of Windsor Castle, are the most noteworthy examples of this class. ^
His half-length figures of Christ and the Virgin seem also to have been greatly esteemed, for we usually find several repetitions of them. The Salvator Mundl and Virgin Mary (No. 295), of the National Gallery, is pro- bably a copy, but may stand as an example of these power- fully conceived figures. His female faces are seldom beau- tiful ; in many cases, indeed, they are positively ugly. His outlines are hard, and his colouring lacks the refined beauty of the Bruges masters.
In the Ufiizi G-allery at Florence there is a portrait (1 Quentin Massys and his second wife, Catherine Heyens. dated 1520. His first wife, the painter's daughter, Ade-
\} The latter is now ascribed to Marinus of Romevswalen, as is also a bimilar picture in the National Gallery, No. 944.]
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 301
laide Van Tuylt, died in 1507, and in 1508 he married again. He had six children by his first wife, and seven by his second. [Of his seven sons Jan is said to have painted in liis father's style, and small works by his hand were " esteemed like precious jewels," but signed works of his that remain are powerfully drawn, large compositions in Florentine style. (Brussels and Antwerp.) A younger son, Cornelius, was also a painter.] Another Quentin Massys, probably a grandson, is mentioned as having been received into the Antwerp Guild in 1574 as " fiU de maitre."
Quentin lived to a good old age, dying in 1530. His successors very soon departed from his vigorous style of painting, and fell into weakness and imitation.
[The most powerful and original of these was Marinus Claeszoon of Romerswalen in Zealand (1497, died after 1566). He painted chiefly " money pieces," variations upon the theme given by Quentin Massys in his Miser of the Louvre, and so thoroughly in that master's manner, that all such panels were ascribed to the latter or his son Jan until the recent discovery of Marinus' dated signature upon some of the best of them. Marinus was concerned in the iconoclastic riots in Middleburgh in 1566.
Jan Sanders, surnamed Van Hemessen, from the place of his birth, worked in Antwerp from 1524 to 1548. An imitator of Quentin Massys, Itahan influence is discernible in some of his works, but his manner is coarse, his colour- ing hard and brown, and his types exaggerated. His daughter Catherine painted in the service of Mary of Hungary in Spain.]
Jan GrossAERT, or Mabuse, as he is called from the place of his birth, Maubefge (bom about 1470),^ was the first flemish painter who felt the influence of the Italian Renais- sance. It cannot be much wondered at that the quiet realistic painters of Flanders should have been dazzled by T he glory of the art of the sixteenth century in Italy, and that they should have deserted their old traditions and teachers to follow such masters as Leonardo, Michael
' Some writers derive tliis name form a Latin word Mabimtis, signi- fying the bourgeois of a Flemish town, but this interpi*etation seems far- fetched.
302 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
Angelo, and Raphael ; but by so doing, they undermined the homely national structure of Flemish art, and did not succeed in building up in its place either an Italian palace or a classic temple.
It would seem probable that Mabuse studied in the school of Quentin Massys, but we have no information about his early life. His early pictures, however, are all painted in the old Flemish manner, and have a power of colour, and mastery of execution that no master of his school, not even Quentin Massys has excelled. He was undoubtedly a great Flemish painter, but unfortunately he tried to be a great Italian painter, and in this he failed miserably. A journey to Italy ruined him, as it has ruined so many good national painters since. This journey was undertaken about the year 1513, in the suite of his patron the prelate, Philippe of Burgundy, natural son of Philippe le Bon, who being sent by the Em23eror Maximilian on a mission to the Pope, took Mabuse with him, and employed him in copying the remains of ancient art in Eome. He likewise spent much time in studying the works of Leonardo ind Michael Angelo. What better training, it will be said, could a young artist have ? None, if his mind is strong ind original enough to stand it, and if he is wise enough to turn afterwards to nature as his guide, and to drink in her teachings from the fountain head, and not as filtered through other minds. But Mabuse was not a young artist when he went to Italy, and he had a national and individual style of his own at the time, which he gave up to adopt that of the Italians. On returning to Flanders, he indulged in allegory, mythology, and the nude, departing utterly from the old Flemish realism and propriety. He was, however, too good a painter for his representations of such subjects, even as Jupiter and Danae, or Neptune and Amphitrite, to be utterly worthless. [On his return from Italy, he resided at Utrecht, painting and teaching, still under the protection of Philippe of Burgundy.]
Two pictures in the Antwerp Museum, the Four Maries returning from the tomb of Christ, and the Upright Judges, may be taken as examples of his first or Flemish manner, while a magnificent triptych at Brussels, of Christ in the house of Simon, weakly resembling one of the gorgeous
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 303
banqueting scenes of Paolo Veronese, is a good specimen of Ids Italian style.
The Munich Gallery also affords students an excellent opportunity of judging of his two styles, a noble figure of the Archangel Michael, protecting a solemn Flemish donor (the side wing of an altar-piece), standing for his native art, and Danae in the G-olden Shower, and a beautiful Virgin and Child, for his borrowed style. This last, how- ever, is a most charming work, nearly approaching the Italian masters in grace and beauty. It represents, it is said, the wife and son of the Marquis Van Veeren, who was IMabuse's ^ great patron after the death of Philippe of Burgundy.
It appears probable that Van Mander was correct in saying that Mabuse was in England at some period of his life, but strange to say no record of his stay here can be found. The admirable painting by him at Hampton Court, of three children, long imagined to be the children of Henry VIII., led to the supposition that he was in this country during the reign of that monarch, but that evidence was upset by the discovery that the portraits were those of the children of Christian II., King of Denmark. They are described in an inventory of the pictures of Henry VIII. as " a table with the pictures of the three children of the Kynge of Denmarke, with a curteyne of white and yellowe sarcenette paned together." ^
' An amusing story is told of Mabuse whilst in the service of this nobleman, which certainly, if true, corroborates the careless, jovial character usually ascribed to him. The Emperor Charles V. was ex- pected to visit the marquis, and in order to do honour to his imperial visitor, Van Vet-ren ordered all the officei*s of his household to be clothed in white damask for the occasion. When the tailor came with the damask to measure the painter, the latter begged to be intrusted witli tlie stuff to make up in his own fashion. Having thus gained possession of the costly material, he at once proceeded to sell it, spending the price he received at the nearest tavern. When the day arrived, however, Mabuse appeared with the rest in a dazzling white robe, the splendour of which amazed all beholdei's, and finally drew the notice of the empenn* himself, who requested the wearer to approach nearer, in order that he might examine its peculiar texture. Only then was it found out to be made of pajjcr, painted by Mabuse to imitate damask. This ingenious trick caused the emperor more amusement, we are told, than any of the other efforts made to entertain him.
^ This picture is reckoned the earliest of his authentic works.
804 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [BOOK VII.
Mabuse died at Antwerp, in 1532, and not in the prison of Middleburg, as is stated by his early biographers ; [he left, moreover, ample provision for his wife and children. One of his finest pictures, The Adoration of the King, is at Castle Howard].
[Jean Bellegambe, of Douai, was closely allied to G-os- saert in art. His altar-piece, The Adoration of the Trinity, now in Notre Dame of Douai, was painted in 1520, for the Monastery of Anchin. It is rich in colouring, of sumptuous design, but flabby in execution, a characteristic work of this transition period. His son and grandson were painters. Lancelot Blondeel's works are distinguished for their richly gilt architectural backgrounds. Mason, architect, and engineer, he frequently signed a trowel beside his name. He designed the chimney-mantel of the Franc de Bruges, and in 1550, together with Jan Scorel, he restored Jan van Eyck's Agnus Dei. Born at Poperinghe in 1496, he lived much at Bruges, and died in 1561.^ Jan Mostert, bom in 1474 at Haarlem, was, however, a thoroughly Flemish painter, and spent some eighteen years in the ser- vice of Margaret of Austria, painting all the principal per- sonages of her court. His delicately beautiful landscape backgrounds are praised,^ but none of the works ascribed to him are authenticated. He died in 1555 or 1556. Pieter PoRBUS, the elder, who, coming from Grouda, settled in Bruges in 1540, painted sacred subjects in the old Flemish manner, though with some traces of renaissance in the accessories. His Adoration of the Magi in Notre Dame, at Bruges, is very beautiful, and of delicate execution and colouring, less powerful than his portraits. He died 1584.]
Bernard Yan Orley, or Bernard Yan Brussel (about 1490-1542), was one of a family of artists, likewise a leader in the unfortunate revolution which overthrew the Yan Eyck succession, and set up a foreign rule in the Nether- lands. Mabuse seems at times to have felt some compunc- tion for his desertion of the national school, and he always remained faithful to it in strength of colour and careful
[^ Wauters, " La Peinture Flamande."]
I' Hy man's '•' Le Livre des reintres de Van Mander," and Havard, " La peintiu'e Hollandaise."]
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 305
execution ; but Yan Orley carefully threw over all the old Flemish traditions, and, although he still painted religious subjects, painted them with lukewarm faith and feeble interest. His colouring, also, is sadly degenerate from that of Van Eyck, Vander Weyden, and Quentin Massys. It is cold and yet gaudy, with grating discords in it that are all the more painful after the deep harmonies of his predeces- sors. The superficial brilliancy of some of his paintings, it is supposed, was gained by painting on a gold ground, but even by this means he never arrived at the beauty of colour that was inherent in the older Flemish masters. He studied form, it is true, far more than the Bruges masters, and his drawing is generally skilful, but he had no innate feeling for the beauty of form, and only gained it by work- ing under Raphael, whose manner he imitated as success- fully, perhaps, as many of the Italian mannerists.
He and Michael Coxcien superintended the manufacture in the Netherlands of the tapestries from the Raphael car- toons, and it must be owned that with such works as these constantly before them, it would have needed powerfully original minds to resist the influence of the great master. "^ We can scarcely wonder, indeed, at feeble painters who never felt the promptings of independent genius, prostrat- ing themselves utterly before the spirit of Raphael. Such men must have some one to bow before and imitate. It is only given to a great master now and then to create and originate; the rest can only follow in the path he has marked out.
Some followers, however, as we have seen in Italian art, imbibe the spirit of the creating master, and although keeping within his path, walk farther and see wider views than he ; whilst others step servilely in his footsteps, imitating his manner, but not guided by his spirit.
The " Italianisers of Antwerp " were of the latter class. They understood nothing of the soul of Italian art ; they had no feeling for beauty, no true comprehension of form, and their attempts to express these qualities in their works
P Miintz says of his tapestries in the Louvre, " Les belles chasses de Guyx," — "They are historic documents, the toix>graphy is of prodigious exactitude, reproducing tvpes, costumes, portraits, and backgrounds of the forest where Charles V. hunted."]
Z
306 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK YII.
were pitiably unsuccessful, and wliat is worse, were made at the sacrifice of their own national qualities of colour and execution.
Diirer met Van Orley at Brussels, at the court of Mar- garet the Eegent of the Netherlands, and records that *' Maister Bernhart " invited him to such a " costly meal as could not be paid for with ten florins ! "
Michael Coxcien, or Van Coxcten (1499-1592), was the pupil of Van Orley, and imitated his master's imita- tions. He has been styled " the Flemish Raphael " by his admirers, but we might more appropriately use the title in Bcoff. He is, in fact, Raphael many times diluted, and with a slight addition of Flemish vulgarity in the weak liquid.
Perhaps the best, certainly the most pleasing work he ever accomplished was a copy of the Mystic Lamb of St. Bavon, which he executed for his patron, Philip II. of Spain. It took him two years to paint, and was very faith- fully rendered.
Michael Coxcien was the son of a painter of the same name, but of whose works nothing is known, and was bom at Malines. His son, Raphael Coxcien, was admitted into the Antwerp G-uild in 1585.
Jan Schoreel ^ (bom at Schoorl, in Holland, 1495, died 1562) [was apprenticed, in 1509, to William Comeliszoon at Haarlem. Whilst working for this master, he spent his leisure in zealous study of nature in the woods without the town. At the close of three years, he wandered as journey- man to Amsterdam, where he worked under the genial painter Jacob Corneliszoon, of Oost-Zaandam, thence to Utrecht, where Mabuse taught him, and probably in- duced him to undertake the journey to Italy. Schoreel travelled by way of Cologne, Spiers, Strasburg, and Basle, working in each city as painter, architect, or engineer. He stayed at Nuremberg to greet Albert Diirer, and arrived in Venice when Titian was in the height of his glory. He was here induced to join a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he entered the brotherhood of Knights of the Holy Sepulchre. The portraits he painted of tliis fraternity are to be seen at
[^ Also called Scorel or Schoorl.]
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 307
Haarlem and Utrecht, and, with others, show him a worthy master of Antonio Moro. Jle was at Rhodes in 1520, made the tour of Italy, and arriving in Rome, was induced tc settle there by Adrian VI., who] made him overseer of the art treasures of the Vatican ; but on the death of Adrian he returned to his own country, and was made prebend of the church of St. Mary in Utrecht, in which town he re- sided until his death.
[A more original painter than Van Orley, or Coxcien, his colouring is more vigorous ; some of his portraits have been attributed to Holbein. His finest work is the recently dis- covered altar-piece of Obervellach, in Styria, painted in 1520.^ He should be more j^roperly included in the early Dutch school.]
He is said to have been a most accomplished man, to have spoken five different languages, and to have been a poet and musician as well as a painter.
The painting (No. 720) of the National Gallery, the Re- pose in Egypt, with St. Joseph offering a plate of fruit to the Saviour, is ascribed to him.
His earUer works, which are more German in style, often pass by the name of Diirer.
Lambert Lombard (1505-1566), was another artist who was ruined by an early visit to Italy. He went thither in 1540 in the suite of Cardinal Pole, and made the acquaint- ance of Andrea del Sarto.
Lambert Lombard, more than any other, perhaps, spread this Italian taste far and wide in the Netherlands. He had a large school in Liege.^
Frans van Vriendt, called Frans Floris (1517-18- 1570), was the most notable of Lambert Lombard's scholars, and propagated the teachings of his master to an alarming extent. He had, it is said no less than one hundred and twenty scholars in his school at Antwerp, but we do not find one great artist proceeding from this extensive school.
' [ Fide Justi's article in the Jahrbuch der Konigliche Kunstsamm- lungen. 1881.]
^ A life of Lambert Lombard was wTitten by Dominicus Lampsonius, one of his scholars. It does not, however, give us much information. [Works of his are said to exist in private collections at Libge. No others aro authentic. His style may be judged of by his drawings, which are signed and dated. Vuie Wauters' *• La peinture Flamande."]
303 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII,
Frans Floris acquired great riches bj Lis facile painting, and was fond of displaying them. He built himself, we are told, a magnificent house in Antwerp, painting the facade with an allegory of the fine arts. Poetry, Labour, Experience, Industry, and Skill being represented by sym- bolical figures.
The fall of the Angels, in the Antwerp Gallery, is gene- rally reckoned his master- work.
Amongst later masters of this school the three Breughels, known respectively as Peasant Breughel ^ (1530-69), Heli, Breughel (1564-1638), and Velvet Breughel (1568- 1625), from the class of subjects they painted, may be distin- guished. There was a certain amount of original talent in each of these three painters, and their paintings are often full of clever invention. Jan, or Velvet Breughel, in par- ticular, was a painter of considerable dexterity, and his curious representations of fantastic and demoniacal subjects are amusing, at all events, which is a merit that the dreary- mythological canvases and religious genre pictures of his contemporaries do not possess. [Whilst his landscape back- grounds to some of Rubens' pictures are of excellent execu- tion and brilliant colour.]
From the solemn religious realism of the masters of Bruges, Flemish art had, indeed, fallen when it could ex- press religious events with a vulgarity equal to that of Teniers and the painters of his school, but without any of his redeeming power and execution.
The portrait painters of this time were, as we often find it to be the case when art is degenerate, far better masters than the subject painters. Indeed, the latter, when they painted portraits, often produced excellent works. It was their taste that was depraved, not their skill of hand that had departed, and taste was less needed in portraits than in mythologies and biblical histories.
[The portrait painters were for many years the bidwark of the national art against foreign influences.
Distinguished jn this branch of art were Frans Porbtjs the Elder (1540-84), a pupil of his father, Pieter Porbus,
\} Peasant Breughel was a good colourist, and his pictures of national gatherings, snow scenes, &c., are well executed and replete with vigdur and fancy, though coarse in expression,]
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 309
and of Frans Moris, a fine colourist. His son, Frans the Younger (1570-1622), -was employed chiefly at the court of France, and was scarcely his father's equal. Martin Vos or De Vos (1513-1603), was considered the best of Floris' puj^ils. Nicholas Neuchatel (at Antwerp, 1539, at Mons, 1540, and at Nuremberg before 1561) painted the fine por- trait of a Mathematician and his Son, No. 124 in the Munich Gallery. Adrien Thomas Key, of Breda (1544- 90?), painted the triptych in the Antwerp Museum (Nos. 228-9-30-1), with the magnificent portraits of the Schmidt family on the wings. Frans Francken the Elder (1544- 1616), and GrORTZius G-eldorp, of Louvain. (1533?), were noted.]
Sir Antonij Moro (1518-1588), is the best known of these portrait painters, especially in England, to which country he was sent by the Emperor Charles Y. to take the portrait of Queen Mary, his son Philip's betrothed wife. Perhaps it was this portrait that first gave Philip such a distaste for his unhappy English wife. Mary, however, with her love of everything belonging to her unkind hus- band, retained Moro as her court painter, and he appears to have remained in England until her death, when he re- turned with Philip to Spain. He finally settled in Brussels imder the protection of the Duke of Alva, [as did likewise a pupil of Lambert Lombard, William Key, of Breda (1520-68), much esteemed for his portraits. That of the Duke of Alva, in Brussels Museum, is assigned to" him. "Whilst painting it, he overheard the order for the execution of Counts Egmont and Hoorn. The shock was so great that the painter went home and died the next day, so it is said.] JoAS Yan Cleve, of Antwerp [(flourished 1530-50), called The Mad,] is another and an earlier Flemish portait painter who settled for a time in England. Holbein gets the credit or discredit of many of Cleve's portraits. [Those of himself and his wife at Windsor Castle are amongst his best works.]
Landscape painting was another branch of the art in which several of the painters of Antwerp excelled. Joachim DE Patinir (who matriculated in the Antwerp Painters' Ouild in 1515, and died in 1524) is the first master, either Italian or Flemish, who treated landscape purely for its own sake, and not merely as a background to his figures.
310 HISTOKY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
With him the figures are usually subservient to the land- scape, as with the later of the great landscape painters ; but we always have figures, and the landscape is supposed to be only the scene of the event. He was fantastic in his treatment even of sea and mountain, and delighted in jagged rocks, whose formation it would be difficult for geologists to decide. The Landscape (No. 717), of the National Collection, is a fair example of his style. The little imp stealing the poor Evangelist's ink is a charac- teristic piece of northern grotesque humour. [Patinir was probably a pupil of Gerard David.]
Herri de Bles, or Henrik Metten Bles, that is, with the forelock, was a scholar of Patinir' s, and painted similar scenes. He is called Civetta by the Italians, from his having placed an owl as a mark on his works. [He was born at Dinant, and died at Liege about 1550.
To Lucas G-assel, of Helmont, who lived at Brussels, and died there about 1560, many works formerly ascribed to Bles and Breughel (Peasant) are now restored. A strong national and individual character is shown in his rare pic- tures of men working in mines, at forges, <fec., amid the picturesque scenery of his native Pays de Liege. His fan- tastic forms are sometimes borrowed from Lucas of Ley- den ; his colouring is dark and coarse.]
Matthew (1556-80) and Paul Bril (1556-1626) begin the line of modern landscape painters. Their works, or rather those of Paul, for Matthew's are scarcely known, are dreary and uninteresting, but they set the fashion, so to speak, for landscape amongst the Italians of their time, and Paul Bril may be considered the forerunner of Claude and Poussin in landscape art.
Early School of Holland.
But whilst the direct artistic descendants of the Van Eycks were thus wasting their powers in attempted rivalry with the Italians, there were a few early Dutch masters who preserved for a longer time their national style and individual originality of mind. The school of painting at Haarlem, founded by Albert Yan Ouwater,^ has already ^ See p. 292.
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 3li
been mentioned. A tendency towards caricature, such as we have already observed in Quentin Massys, a grotesque humour, and a strange fantastic treatment even of sacred subjects, an element derived probably from Germany, dis- tinguish these early Dutch painters from their Flemish brethren and their Dutch descendants. The early school of Holland is, indeed, so totally separate in style and aim from the later Dutch schools, that for that reason it seems better to consider it here under Flemish art, to which it is at all events allied in point of date, than to refer it to Dutch art, with which it has nothing in common.
CoRNELis Engelbrechtsen (1468-1533) is the earliest master of Holland of whom we have any authentic record. His father was a wood-engraver, and Cornells, who had probably studied at Bruges, introduced the oil method into Leyden. The greater number of his works were destroyed by the iconoclasts, but a few remain that are thought to be genuine, the most important being a triptych in the town- hall at Leyden.^ [His three sons were painters, and with Lucas Jacobz. were his pupils, viz., Cornelis Cornelisz., Pieter Cornelisz. (surnamed Kiinst), a glass-painter, and Lucas (surnamed Kok).] An earlier master than Cornelis, mentioned by some writers by the name of Gerard of St. John, or Gerard van Haarlem, has been already mentioned, page 292. [Jan Mandyn, of Haarlem, died at Antwerp in 1520. He painted fantastical subjects in the style of Bosch. His pupil, Pieter Aartzen, called LangePier (1507-72-3), wasEchevin of Amsterdam, and painted chiefly kitchens. No. 153, in Brussels Museum, a handsome cook-maid with a page, nearly life-size, is an original and vigorous composition of rich and sober colour- ing, somewhat hard in outline. His son, Aart Pieterz. (1541-1603), was a still-life painter. Jacob Cornelis- zooN, of Oost-Zaandam, is an important painter of the transition period, but is chiefly known as an engraver. In manner he resembles Cornells Engelbrechtsen. He painted between the years 1506-1530. Nothing of his life is known but that he resided at Amsterdam, and was the master of Jan Schoreel. His brother, Buys Cornelisz., and his son,
p Engraved in outline in Taurel's " L'Art Chretien," 1, xii.]
312 HISTOEY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
Dirk Jacobz, (1493-1567), were painters. By the latt*- are three corporation pictures at Amsterdam. Jac*- Cornelisz'. chief work is a fine Nativity, dated 1512, nri at Naples.^ Two portraits in the National Gallery (N 657), are ascribed to him.] But the best known and mo- characteristic artist of this school is Luc Jacobz., the eel- brated Lucas Van Letden (1494-1533), whose rare ei gravings are amongst the most coveted treasures < connoisseurs. His genius must have been remarkabjv precocious in its develojDment, for, before he was twelvt- years of age he was already known as a painter and en- graver, and also, it is said, as a wood carver,^ and amongst his early works are reckoned the curious engraving of the Temj^tation of S. Anthony, and nine circular prints of the scenes of the Passion, executed with extreme care and finish. He is now far better known by his engravings than his paintings, the latter being extremely rare, and for the most part in out-of-the-way places, so that it is difficult to form an opinion about them. His largest known work in paint- ing is a Last Judgment, in the Hotel de Ville at Ley den, which Kugler speaks of as following the traditional mode of representing this subject. There is also a woodcut in Kugler's " Handbook " of a Card Party, of which the original is in the possession of the Earl of Pembroke. The Antwerp Gallery has several paintings ascribed to him, and there are two at Munich, a well-executed Madonna and Child and Mary Magdalen, and a Circumcision of Christ, a small painting on copj^er, where Joseph is allowed the honour of holding the Child, the Virgin and S. Anna beini^- only spectators.^
But it is in his prints that the peculiar characteristics of his genius are most strikingly manifested. Here his wild
P Engraved in outline in Forster's " Deukmaler der bildenden Kiinste," xi. A catalogue of Jac. Cornelisz' works has recently been compiled by I)r, Seheibler, of Bonn ]
^ The celebrated print of the Monk Sergius killed by Mahomet, is dated 1508, and must, therefore, have been executed when Lucas was only fourteen. Before this, at the age of twelve, he had painted a St. Hubert in tempera, which had been paid for by a citizen of Leyden with twelve gold pieces — one for each year of his age.
^ Kugler does not seem to be aware of this painting. It is the most characteristic work ascribed to him that I have seen.
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHEELANDS. 313
fancy lias full play, and he treats not only the fantastic legends of the Clmrch of Rome, but also the events of biblical history, in a spirit of grotesque realism that shocks minds accustomed only to the dignity and beauty of Italy, or to the pious realism of the Bruges masters. There seems, indeed, to have been a sort of squint in his mental vision, which prevented him from seeing things in their natural positions, and led him to all kinds of whimsical effects. " His works," says Schlegel,^ " are sometimes like those of a highly intellectual but sickly child, and some- times like those of a wonderful but premature old age." This may be accounted for in part by the circumstances of his life. His genius was, as we have seen, very premature in development, and it was also premature in decline. For the last six years of his life (and he died at the age of thirty-nine) he was a prey to some mysterious disease, which clouded his brilliant life with pain and melancholy. Such works as he then executed were done on a bed of sickness.^
Before this, however, his career had been splendid enough. Van Mander accuses him of an extravagant love of show and state, and, judging by the account that has been handed down of his jovial tour through the Nether- lands, it would seem not without reason. Seated in a beautifully painted barge beneath a rich canopy, he rowed, we are told, along the canals of Holland in almost oriental state to visit his brother artists. Arrived at Middleberg, he invited them all to a grand banquet, at which he ap- peared in ** a gorgeous robe of yellow silk that shone like gold." But this time he was quite obscured by Mabuse, who, not to be outdone by the Dutch artist, had come to the banquet in a robe of real cloth of gold, not a paper one on this occasion.
Bartsch enumerates no less than 174 engravings by his liand. Many of these are extremely rare. Of his famous Eulenspiegel, for instance, not above four or five original impressions are now extant, and these fetch, of course,
^ Gemahlde Beschreibungpn aus Paris und den Niederlanden. ■^ The small engraving of Pallas is said to have been his last work, and to have been ou his bed when he died.
314 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VI J.
enormous sums,^ although it is far from being the "best < .f his prints. The Dance of the Magdalen, Esther aiwl Ahasuerus, the Prodigal Son, and the Adoration of Kings, are the subjects of other celebrated engravings him.
[There remain a few more names to be mentioned whi< li belong to Dutch art as it was before casting off the yoke ( f foreign masters, and of the Eoman Catholic Church, tlit' national life found expression in its famous painters of portait and genre, and the real Dutch School began. Juu Schoreel has already been mentioned, and his pupil Sir Antonio Moro. Another of his pupils was Martin Yuu Yeen, or Heemskerk (1494-1574), a forcible but extrava- gant painter, who studied Michel Angelo in Italy, aii<l afterwards settled at Haarlem, where (as at Brussels aii<I other places) some of his works are preserved. Otli»r painters who adopted an Italianised style were Corndi.s Comelisz of Haarlem (1562-1638), Abraham Bloemacrt (1565-1647), Pieter Lastman (b. 1562), Dirk and Woutt-r Crabeth, the painters of the famous windows at Gouda, and Gerard Honthorst (1592-1662). More interesting are the names of Hubert (1526-83) and Hendrik Goltsius, the latter (1558-1616) specially celebrated as an engraver ; Jan Vredeman de Yries (b. 1527), and Hendrik van Steenwick, his pupil (1550-1604), celebrated painters of architecture ; and Hendrik Yroom (1556-1640), the first Dutch sea- painter.]
• Diirer mentions, in his Journal, that he bought a print of the Eulenspiegel for a sum equivalent to a few pence of our money.
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 315
Chapter III.
FLEMISH SCHOOL OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTUEY.
KuBENS — Vandyke — Teniers.
WE have watched the religious spirit of early Flemish art gradually dying away in the bold light of Rationalism and Renaissance, and have seen the suc- cessors of the Van Eycks fall into an ostentatious imitation of Italian art, for which they had no real taste or sym- pathy, so that their works became at length utterly devoid of good sense and honest feeling.
It was time that a new school should be founded, and that art should return once more to nature for instruction.
Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), was the master who accomplished this revolution, and again raised Flemish art to a high pinnacle of greatness. He never, it is true, at- tempted to revive the religious spirit that had animated the early Flemish masters. That was now utterly dead, or at all events had no place in Rubens' art ; not that he was in any respect an irreligious man, like many who have, nevertheless, painted deeply devout pictures ; on the con- trary, we know that in private life he was upright and charitable, performing all the moral and social duties of life with the utmost propriety, but there is not the slightest trace in his works of any spiritual emotion ; his mind was never clouded by doubt, carried away by enthusiasm, nor troubled by the mystery of life. His hfe, in truth, had no mystery in it, but was one continued course of success and worldly prosperity, and his art reflects its ease and full enjoyment.
Rubens was bom at Siegen, a town of Westphalia, on the day of S. Peter and S. Paul, June 29th, 1577. A year after his birth, his parents, who had been driven from the Netherlands by the religious disturbances of that time.
316 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
settled in Cologne, where the young Eubens was brought up until he was ten years old, when, upon the death of his father, his mother returned to Antwerp. Here, as he shoAved a marked predilection for painting, he was placed, after some preliminary instruction by Tobie Van Haecht and Adam Van Noort, with a master of note in his time, Otto yan Veen, called Otto V^nius, whose gaudy and yet cold colouring offers a singular contrast to that of his celebrated pupil. Van Veen, although his art does not rise beyond that of the Italian Macchinisti, was a man of great cultivation and learning, and his pupil probably acquired from him knowledge more valuable than his style in art, which, indeed, he never seems to have adopted.
Rubens was made free of the Antwerp GTuild" ia 1598, and in 1600 went to Italy, where the colouring of the Venetians failed not to produce a great impression upon his art. His gorgeous style and colouring are, in fact, directly founded on those of Paolo Veronese, who beyond all other Italians seems most immediately to have in- fluenced him. But unlike the other Netherland painters of his time, he profited by his Italian studies without sacrificing his own individuality ; what he took from the Italians, he quickly assimilated and made his own, his powerful originality preventing his ever being an imitator.
In Italy, he entered the service of Vincenzio G-onzaga, Duke of Mantua, who not only employed him as a painter, but likewise, it is said, entrusted him with a secret mis- sion to Philip III. of Spain.
On his return from SjDain, he appears to have passed, some time in Eome, where Michael Angelo's works doubt- less contributed to his rich stores of knowledge, and per- haps first led him to attempt that bold dramatic action which so peculiarly marks his works.^ In 1608 he re- turned to Antwerp, being summoned from Eome by the death of his mother, and from henceforth although he made frequent journeys abroad, both for pleasure and on diplomatic missions, he made that city his home.
[' He went to Genoa also. His copies from Titian, Correggio, Leo- nardo da Vinci, Mantegna, and others, show that he visited Venice and other places in Italy.]
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 317
A rich pension and the appointment of Court painter given him the year after his return by Albert and Isabella the Regents of the Netherlands, bound him, in fact, " by a chain of gold," says one of his biographers,^ to his country, although he often longed for the blue skies and soft breezes of Italy. He stipulated, however, that he should not be obliged to reside at Brussels, the seat of the Court, but built himself a magnificent house in the Italian style at Antwerp, where he soon attracted a large school, and was universally acknowledged as the greatest master of his time.
The building of his grand Italian mansion was the occa- sion, it is said, of the production of one of his most famous works. Owing to some dispute with the company of arquebusiers about a piece of their ground upon which he had encroached in his building, he agreed as a com- pensation to paint them a picture of St. Christopher, the patron saint of their company. But with his usual muni- ficence he was not content with painting the single figure of the saint, which was all that was demanded from him ; but, as illustrating the name of the saint, — Christopher or the Christ-hearing, he represented all those who had ever borne Christ in their arms, from the aged St. Simeon, who first held the Infant Saviour in the Temple, to the disciples who took down his body from the cross. ^
The famous Descent from the Cross, of Antwerp Cathe- dral, which is usually reckoned Rubens' greatest work, formed the centre subject of this grand altar-piece, and whatever may be the faults of conception and sentiment of this picture, certainly, for vigorous colour and effective chiaroscuro, it stands unequalled. Opie, alluding to the bold manner in which Rubens has drawn attention to the body of Christ, by placing a white cloth behind it, calls it an effect "that no man less daring than Rubens would
^ Philip Eubens, his nephew.
^ The Arquebusiers, it is said, failed at first to appreciate the liberal interpretation that Rubens had given to the old legend, and he was obliged to paint the veritable St. Christopher on one of the wings. Then, at last, they deigned to be pleased ; and well they might be, for they had gained in exchange for a few feet of ground " a miracle of art, of ■which it would now be difficult to compute the value either in money or land."
318 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
have attempted, and no man less consummate as a colourist •would have executed with success."
And yet, with all these artistic merits, the Antwerp ,_I)escent from the Cross produces an unpleasant impression on the mind. It appeals, in fact, to the eye, and not to the mind, and still less to the heart. Mrs. Jameson has well described it as " an earthly tragedy, and not a divine mystery." It is nothing more than the execution of a common criminal, with all its unpleasant details ; but the terribly realistic scene serves to set forth the marvellous power and skill of the master who painted it, and whilst looking on it we can do nothing but admire this. We can in no wise " forget the artist in the art," for it is the artist's daring effects that we are principally occupied with. But when we turn away from Rubens' master- work the mind refuses to dwell upon it with satisfaction, and the eye being no longer dazzled by its colouring, we turn to think of some simpler, less clever, but more deeply felt rendering of an earlier master.
Such a work, however, could not fail to increase the €ver-growing renown of the master, and, while puj)ils flocked to his studio, sovereigns and princes vied with one another to show him favour. No j)ainter, except perhaps Titian, was ever so courted by Fortune.
But it was not only to his artistic abilities that Rubens owed his high position, he was likewise a most successful diplomatist, and although we may regret that his time should have been taken up with affairs of state, the Infanta Isabella, when, at the death of her husband, she was left alone in the government of the Netherlands, found him a valuable councillor.
In 1628 he undoubtedly went to Spain on state busi- ness, and met with a most flattering recei^tion at the Court of Madrid. The great beauty of his j^erson, the amiability of his character, and the courtly grace of his manners, seem, indeed, to have fascinated all classes.
In England, likewise, where he was sent in the follow- ing year to negotiate a peace with Charles I., he was eminently successful. No better ambassador, could, per- haps, have been sent to the refined and art-loving Stuart king than a man like Rubens, who united in a singular
JOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 319
legree the most captivating social qualities with the intel- ect and tact of a statesman, and the genius of a great irtist. At all events, he managed, either by his eloquence IS a painter or a diplomatist, to persuade Charles I. into a Teaty of peace that was highly advantageous for Spain, iiid, of course, equally disadvantageous for England ; but I!liarles was so well satisfied, that before the painter- mibassador's departure from England he bestowed on him the honour of knighthood, presenting him on the occasion with his own sword, and hanging a magnificent chain round his neck, which Rubens ever afterwards wore in re- membrance of the English monarch.
Whilst in England he executed several great paintings. One of these, an allegory of JPeace and War, as it is called, now in the National Gallery, was artfully presented by the painter to Charles I. in support of the pacific views that he was forwarding. The ceiling at Whitehall, and numerous portraits of his royal and noble friends, were likewise the fruits of his stay in Englaud.
Soon after his return to Antwerp, in 1630, Eubens married a second time ; his first wife, Isabella Brandt, having died in 1626, leaving him two sons. His second choice fell upon Helene Fourment, a beautiful girl of six- teen, belonging to one of the wealthiest families in Ant- werp. He has left us several portraits of his wives, and Helene Fourment, especially, served him as a model in many of his pictures. Two celebrated portraits of her are at Blenheim. In one the painter is represented walking with her in a flower-garden, she gxiiding a child in leading strings, a picture that Dr. Waagen pronounces to be one of the most perfect family pieces in the world. Even Euskin, who characterizes Eubens as "a healthy, worthy, kind- hearted, courtly-phrased animal, without any clearly per- ceptible traces of a soul," acknowledges an exception when he paints his children.
The physical, or as Euskin calls it, healthy animal life of Eubens, as distinguished from all intellectual qualities, is in truth the chief characteristic of his style. He is a mag- nificent animal, like one of the lordly lions he was so fond of painting, but he has no sympathy with the intellectual < rnvings, or spiritual aspirations of humanity. Pale saints
320 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
and martyrs, with the " soul shining through the flesh it frays," were not to his taste ; no fear of his trying *' t<y paint soul," without "minding arms and legs." The arms and legs were the very things for his purpose. There was healthy animal life, warm colour, and effective light and shade in a big naked Flemish beauty, whereas the soul, that people talked about, was a poor vaporous evanescent thing that Avould admit of no gorgeous artistic effects, and might, perhaps, draw off the attention of the spectator from the glorious colouring and dexterous execution of the painter. Coleridge, whose casual remarks on pictures and painters are always suggestive, notices this : ** So long," he says, " as Rubens confines himself to space and outward figure — to the mere animal man with animal passions — he is, I may say, a god amongst painters. His satyrs, Silenuses, lions, tigers, and dogs are almost godlike ; but the moment he attempts anything involving or presuming the spiritual, his gods and goddesses, his nymphs and heroes become beasts, absolute unmitigated beasts."
This absence of the spiritual strikes us, especially, in his grand tragical and dramatic scenes, such, for instance, as the Taking Down from the Cross before mentioned, the Crucifixion of the Antwerp G-allery, and the Crucifixion of S. Peter, at Cologne. Not the slightest emotion seems to have been felt by the painter in painting these moving themes, and none, therefore, is produced in the mind of the beholder.
But if we set aside this strange want of comprehension of man's higher intellectual nature, no master was ever, perhaps, more perfect in his art than Eubens. " He is the best workman with his tools," says Sir Joshua Reynolds, " that ever managed a pencil," ^ and not only as a work- man, but likewise as an inventive genius of the highest order; a perfect master of composition, and a colourist who ranks next after the great Venetians, he stands pre- eminent. However much, indeed, we may dislike his works at first sight, or after a superficial study, we generally end, as Mrs. Jameson has pointed out, "by standing before them in ecstasy and wonder." Unfortunately English)
^ The whole of Sir Joshua's " Fifth Discourse " is devoted to Kubens.
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 321
students often form an opinion of his style from the speci- mens we have of it in this country, and more especially from those in the National Collection, which, with the ex- ception of the fine landscape (No. 66),^ are scarcely adequate examples of his masterly skill. The truth is, his powers have no room for display in his smaller works, and it is only in such a gallery as that of Munich, where there is a whole Saal as well as a cabinet devoted to his enormous works, that we can form any just appreciation of his genius. There, in such works as the Battle of the Amazons, the Last Judgment, the Lion-hunt, the Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus, and the marvellous smaller picture of the Fall of the Damned, we see him in the full exercise of his strength, and are overpowered with wonder and admiration. There is a sense of rapid movement in the glorious confu- sion of the last-named picture, for instance, which no other painter has ever fully expressed. We have had numerous falls of the damned, expulsions of rebel angels, &c., but none ever fell Hke those of Rubens, with rushing tumul- tuous movement, so that we seem to feel them actually tumbling headlong upon us. In the Battle of the Amazons, likewise, the powerful action carries us along^ with it into the midst of the fearful struggle.
Like all great masters, Rubens excelled as a portrait painter. His portraits of his wives have been already mentioned ; but besides these, and his portraits of himself and children, he painted many of the most distinguished men of his time.
His versatile genius is likewise apparent in his landscapes. * Peter Paul Rubens alone," says Coleridge, " handles the every-day ingredients of all common landscapes as they are handled in nature ; he throws them into a vast and magni- cent whole, consisting of heaven and earth, and all things therein," which means in more prosaic criticism, that his landscapes are remarkable for their breadth, and masterly distribution of light and shade.
Rubens has suffered, like so many other masters, by having too many pictures attributed to him. In spite of what we are told of his marvellous rapidity of execution,
^ And the celebrated and most beautiful portrait, known as the ** Chapeuu do Foil," the glory of the lately added Peel Collection.
T
322 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
we cannot suppose that more than a very small proportion of the thousands of pictures which now bear his name were really painted by him. He had a large school, and reckoned in it such pupils as Yandyck, Teniers, Jordaens, and the great animal painter, Snyders ; it is not, therefore, much to be wondered at that even in his life-time he left many of his designs to be executed by his scholars, and that many of the pictures issuing from his atelier were scarcely touched by the master. This, we may suppose, was the case with the large series of paintings in the Louvre, representing in allegorical style the history of Marie de Medici. The sketches for these pictures at Munich are far preferable to the pictures themselves, in which, pro- bably, only a few of the portraits are the actual work of Eubens.
Anthony Vandyck (1599-1641) may be called the Velas- quez of Flanders, both artists being especially noted for the dignified air and courtly elegance of their aristocratic portraits. No vulgar or common-place character can be found amongst their sitters; all are courtly gentlemen, gallant soldiers, and delicate ladies, or are transmuted into such by the painter's refined taste, which, whilst preserving to the full the individuality of the likeness, surrounded it, as it were, with the perfumed atmosphere of courts.
Vandyck entered the school of Eubens, at Antwerp, at the age of fifteen, having studied for five years previously under Van Balen, and his abilities being soon apparent, he received every assistance from his generous master,^ who always sought to further his pupils* interest, even when he was, as in Vandyck's case, in danger of rivalry.
Before his twentieth birthday he was admitted into the Antwerp Guild of Painters, thus becoming a master himself whilst still working under a master. [He paid a short visit
^ A story is told of the manner in which Eubens fii-st became aware of his pupil's skill. One day, while the former was painting his great Descent from the Cross, Vandyck, and some other students who were furtively examining the picture in the master's absence, managed to fall against it and rub an ai"m, that Kubens had just painted, out of the com- position. Vandyck undertook to paint the arm again, hoping that Eubens might not discover the mischief; and truly, -^hen he returned to work the following day, he remarked, " This arr was not the worst thing I did yesterday."
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 323
to London in 1620, and the following year went to Italy. He visited G-enoa, Eome, Florence, Venice, Turin, and Palermo, and returned to Genoa, where he stayed two years], and where many works by him may still be found. In 1625, however, he must have been again in Antwerp, for an agent of the Earl of Arundel, writing at the close of that year to his lord from Antwerp, says : — " Vandyck is here with Rubens, and his works are beginning to be as much esteemed as those of his master."
A fine altar-piece representing S. Augustine in ecstasy supported by angels, and accompanied by S. Monica and a monk, painted soon after his return from Italy, for the Church of the Augustines in Antwerp, added to his already achieved reputation, and several other subjects of the same class, such as the Crucifixion, of Mechlin Cathedral, and the Elevation of the Cross, painted for the Church of Notre Dame at Courtray, prove that had he not devoted his talent especially to portraiture he would have been equally successful as a painter of religious history. His paintings, however, entirely lack the impetuous life and fire of Rubens, and he never attained to anything approach- ing his master's brilliant display of colour.
But it is as a portrait painter that Vandyck has acquired his almost unrivalled fame. A magnificent series of por- traits of all the distinguished painters of his day, executed soon after his return from Italy, proved that this was his true vocation ; and from this time he gave himself up almost entirely to this branch of his art, even his historic and ideal characters always being more or less of an indivi- dual or portrait-like character.
In the year 1627 Vandyck came over to England, pro- bably moved to do so by the flattering reception that Rubens had recently experienced in this country, but Charles I. seems to have been unaware at this time of Van- dyck's fame as an artist, and his visit created no sensation. In much disgust he returned to Antwerp, but no sooner had he gone, than Charles I. found out what a treasure he had suffered to escape him, and in all haste sent a personal invitation to him to return. Accordingly, in 1632, he a»:^ain came ove^ and this time had no cause to complain of his receptioii. Charles I., delighted to have such a
324 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
painter in his service, gave him at once a salary of .£200 a year, besides raising him to the dignity of knighthood.
Sir Anthony Vandyck was, in fact, courted and flattered to a dangerous extent by the king and his proud aristocracy, who were indulging in their dignified ease at this time, unmindful of the troubles that were so soon to overtake them.
Vandyck' s portraits of Charles and his nobles reveal to us much concerning those troubled times. We understand in looking at them, how impossible it must have seemed to those grand self-satisfied gentlemen to abate anything of their aristocratic privilege. Cromwell and his Ironsides managed, however, to enforce the lesson.
One of Vandyck's most beautiful female portraits is that of Lady Yenetia, wife of Sir Kenelm Digby, now in Windsor Castle. " It will be next to impossible," writes Hazlitt, " to perform an unbecoming action with that por- trait hanging in the room." It is truly a lovely represen- tation of refined womanhood, and the mysterious history and death of the original,^ heighten the interest that all must feel in regarding the charming hkeness.
In the National Collection both the subject paintings by him are merely copies from Eubens, and the fine bold head usually called that of Grevartius, but more likely a portrait of Cornelius Vander Greest,'^ is considered by Wornum and several other critics to be really by Eubens. It has cer- tainly none of Vandyck's characteristics.
Vandyck died in London, in his forty-third year, and in spite of his extravagant style of living, left a large amount of property behind him.
[Amongst the contemporaries of Eubens who are in- fluenced by him, although neither his pupils nor imitators, Crayer and Jordaens are the most important, whilst Theo- dore EoMBOUTS, Abraham Janssens, and Gterard Seg- HERS, are worthy of mention. The three last named, inspired
^ The Lady Venetia is said to have been poisoned by her husband, who passionately loved her, by means of a potion that he had himself prepared and administered to her for the purpose of heightening her beauty. Calumny was also busy with the fair fame of this noted beauty, and in allusion to this, the emblems of defeated slander lie around her in Vandyck's celebrated picture.
2 See " Catalogue of the National Gallery."
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 325
by tlie dramatic sombreness of Caravaggio, painted largely and robustly, and with the same false, exaggerated chiaros- curo, before they fell under the influence of Rubens. ^Yliereas] G-aspard de Grayer (1582-1669), the friend of Rubens, but not one of his followers, belongs in style more to the preceding school of Flemish art, that, namely, inter- mediate between the early religious schools of Flanders and the florid school, as it has been called, of Rubens, and is somewhat cold in colouring and conventional in style.
Yet it is said that Rubens was his warm admirer, and exclaimed once enthusiastically, on seeing one of his pic- tures, " Grayer ! Grayer ! no one will ever surpass you," so different is the judgment of one age to that of another. Grayer was one of the Flemish painters who found exten- sive patronage in Spain, where he resided for some time. His works are now mostly in the Museums at Ghent [and Brussels, and in' the churches of Belgium. A very beauti- ful painting, warm in colour, and with a tenderness of sentiment that reminds one of Murillo, is in the Town Hall of Louvain].
Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678) resembled Rubens in his coarsest style. His pictures are generally vulgar in con- ception and glaring in colour, for he aimed at the splendour of Rubens' colouring without always attaining its brilliant harmonies. Jordaens was, however, a clever and powerful painter. Some of his portraits are very fine. He suffers by having many of his good pictures attributed to Rubens.
Frans Snyders (1579-1657), as an animal painter, is almost equal to Rubens, to whom he was long an assistant. His wild beasts are truly marvellous. They are usually depicted by him when their ferocious instincts have been called forth by the most angry passions ; hunts, and fights with lions, tigers, and such-like creatures being his favou- rite subjects. He likewise painted flowers and vegetables with extreme skill, and was often the painter of these accessories as well as of the animals in Rubens' pictures.
[Jan Fyt (1609-1661) was a productive painter C|f animals, hunting, fighting, or dead. If scarcely distin- guished by such vigorous action, his work often surpasses that of Snyders' in effects of light and beauty and truth of plumage and fur painting. The Eagle's Repast at Ant-
326 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
werp is liis best work. He was also a good water-colour painter.^]
Of the followers of Vandyck the best known, in England, at all events, is the celebrated painter of the beauties of the Court of Charles II., Peter van der Faes, better known as Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680). His portraits are grace- ful and pretty, but they are far more artificial than those of Vandyck, and have not his excellence of colour. The general meretricious tone of the Court of Charles II. is, in fact, reflected in them.
George Jamesone (1586-1644), called the "Scottish Vandyck," and William Dobson (1610-1646), two of the earliest of our native artists, may also be reckoned as fol- lowers of Vandyck.
[Cornelius de Vos (1585-1651), as a portrait painter, was unsurpassed by any but Vandyck or Rubens. Witness the Family Portraits in the Brussels Museum. Gonzales CoQUES (1614-1684), of Antwerp, is called, and with jus- tice, the miniature Vandyck. His works are sufficiently rare, and to be found mostly in England. In the National Gallery are good examples (No. 821) — A Family Group in a Garden, and the five half-length figures representing the Five Senses (Nos. 1114 to 1118). He seldom painted the backgrounds or accessories of his pictures himself.]
Entirely different from Rubens and Vandyck, both in style and in the class of subjects he chose for representa- tion, is the third great master of the Flemish School of painting in the seventeenth century, David Teniers the Younger (1610-1694).
Although, undoubtedly, greatly influenced by Eubens, even if he were not one of his scholars, he had none of that master's dashing magnificence. His strong preference for small genre subjects, instead of mythological and historical scenes, separates him still more from a painter like Eubens, who felt his activities cramped unless he had a large arena allowed him for their display. Teniers, in truth, belongs by his style to the Dutch genre school of the seventeenth century, rather than to the Flemish school of that time, as represented by Eubens and his cliief followers. Like
[' Biirfjer, " Musees d'Hollande."]
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 327
Adrian Brauwer, Frans Hals, Adrian Van Ostade, and several other Dutch masters of the same stamp, he de- lighted in representations of peasant and tavern life, and exercised his marvellous skill in the delineation of drink- ing bouts, merry-makings, village fairs, peasant weddings, guard rooms, markets, rustic feasts, dances, and other similar subjects.
Alchemy, also, which was a favourite pursuit in his time, attracted his observation, and his representations of the victims to the search for the philosopher's stone are amongst his cleverest productions. He was likewise fond of wizards, witches, and incantation scenes, to which he gave a humourous rather than a weird effect. His comic imps and demons are conceived in a totally different spirit from that which produced the grotesque realism of early religious art, or the fantastic conceptions of Grerman art. They have nothing supernatural about them, but are simply the offspring of the painter's humorous imagination, having no reality to his mind. In his well-known Tempta- tion of S. Anthony, for instance, in the Louvre, a subject of grim earnest with earlier masters, the whole affair is treated as a kind of joke. Such devils as these could never inspire horror or fear ; one frightful little imp is positively smoking a pipe.
In the picture of the same subject in the Berlin Gallery the tempting fiend takes the shape of a ripe Flemish beauty, and here also the various impish creatures, fight- , ing and screaming in the air, have an unmistakably comic character.^
Little is known of the personal history of Teniers, but it would seem that although, perhaps, not quite such a fine gentleman as Eubens or Vandyck, he held a high position in society, and that his acquaintance was courted by men of rank and distinction.
He learnt painting under his father, David Teniers the Elder (1582-1649), an artist of repute, and was admitted into the Antwerp Guild as early as 1632-1633.
His chief patron was the Aj-chduke Leopold William, . Eegent of the Netherlands, by whom he was appointed
* The same may be remarked in a picture in the Peel Collection, an Incantation Scene, recently added to the National Gallery.
328 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
court painter and groom of the chambers. He had like- wise the superintendence of the Palace Picture Galleries.
He seems to have realized, like most of the painters of his time, a large fortune by his art, and his country seat, between Antwerp and Mechlin, was a favourite pesort of his friends, amongst whom he ranked many of the Spanish and Flemish nobility; no stranger of distinction, it is said, ever came to Antwerp or Mechlin without paying the dis- tinguished artist a visit.
His fame was equally great abroad, and commissions poured in upon him from all quarters, the Queen Christina of Sweden, Philip lY. of Spain, and other crowned heads seeking specimens of his skill.
His industry and wonderful facility in painting, added to his long life, enabled him to accomplish a vast amount of work. "The pursuit of his art," says Smith, ^ "was rendered by long practice an agreeable amusement, which he could follow with the same freedom and success in the midst of company as when alone. Thus, whilst he con- duced to the entertainment of his visitors, he added at the same time to his own wealth." ^
The execution of many of his paintings is, it is true, very slight, but others are most carefully elaborated, and for freedom of touch, vigorous colouring, effective chiaroscuro, and perfect skill of hand, they are all well-nigh unrivalled. His finest works are those of his middle period, ranging from 1640 to 1660, and are usually to be distinguished by a luminous golden or a cool silvery tone. In his last years his hand lost much of its power, and his colouring became brown and heavy. He continued painting, however, until called away from his easel at the age of eighty-four.
His religious subjects, or rather the subjects to which he has given a religious title, are the most unpleasing of all his works, the most sacred characters being conceived under the same vulgar forms as his boors and drunken peasants. Such subjects as Christ crowned with Thorns,
' " Catalogue Eaisonne."
^ He is reported to have said that it would take a gallery two leagues in length to contain all his works. Smith enumerates 900, and other collections make up the number to 1,100. It is absui-d, however, to sup- pose all these to be genuine.
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 329
Christ Buffeted, and Peter denying Christ, are degraded, for instance, into vulgar and almost repulsive scenes of low life. He was, in fact, totally wanting in that elevation of feeling that marks all the great Italian masters. In landscape he is often excellent.
Teniers had many pupils and imitators, several of whom, it is said, paid him the compliment of signing his name on their works ; but none of them have any original talent, and they need not, therefore, detain us here.
After Teniers the Flemish school sank into utter in- significance, such Flemish painters as still possessed any merit becoming absorbed in the allied Dutch school, which, in the middle of the seventeenth century, assumed a para- mount importance.
[At the end of the eighteenth century the French classi- cal revival produced but a pale and insignificant reflection in the Netherlands, which were then distracted by the Napoleonic wars ; but a revival of art followed upon peace being re-established. The direction of this revival was largely determined by the teachings of Guillaume Herreyns (1743-1827), who inculcated a return to the study of the great works of the older Flemish schools in place of the dry classicisms of the academies.
Stirred by the enthusiasm of the Belgian struggle for independence, Flemish, or rather Belgic, painters turned to their own political history for inspiration, and to the school of Rubens for models. The boldly melodramatic works of GusTAVE Wappers (1803-1874), Edouard de BiEPVE (1808-1882), and Louis Gallait (1810-1887), were painted with a care, skill, and, above all, with a depth of colour unknown to the classic schools, and were hailed as a new revelation by half Europe, when Wappers' '* The burgomaster Vander Werff offering his life to the citizens of Leyden," was exhibited in 1830 at Brussels. Tlie colouring of these masters is rather gaudy than rich, their groujHng artificial, and their effects are forced (e.g.. The Abdication of Charles V., by GaUait, Brussels Museum). They, however, opened the way for the practice of historic ' re, and for the supremacy of colour over form. A more
-ting reputation was gained by (Jean-Auquste) Henri 1,i:ys (1816-1869), who, in his studies of the life of the
330 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
mediaeval Netherlands, closely copied the methods and styles of Quentyn Massys and of Peasant Breughel. In attaining their excellence of colour and manipulation, he did not avoid faults due to their deficient knowledge, such as stiffness of movement and false perspective; but his original and strongly realistic conceptions are expressed with much feeling, truth, and dignity, and slight archaisms scarcely detract from their effect (Luther Singing in the Streets of Eisenach ; The Promenade without the Walls, &c.). Small genre pictures of Leys' early period, bear strong evidence of his profitable studies of Eembrandt and De Hooghe. Leys' best pupil is Laurens Alma- Tadema, a Prison by birth, and a naturalized Englishman. The genre scenes of J. B. Madou (1796-1877) deserve mention (The Spoil- Sport, Itinerant Musicians, Brussels Museum). The animal painters, Eugene Yeebgeckhoven (1798-1881), Joseph Stevens (b. 1820), the architectural painters, J. B. Van Moer (1819-1885) and Francois Stroobant (b. 1819), the landscapists, Theodore Four- Mois (1814-1871) and Fr. Lamoriniere (b. 1828), the historical painters, Ch. Verlat (b. 1824) and Emile Watjters (b. 1846) (The Madness of H. Van der Goes, Brussels), are eminently national artists attaining a high standard of merit. Alfred Stevens (b. 1828) is like the majority of younger Belgian painters, indebted to the modern French school for inspiration and practice.]
Chapter IV. THE DUTCH SCHOOL.
Rembrandt — Gerard Dou — Paul Potter— Curr—
Vandervelde.
AT the head of the Dutch School of painting in the seventeenth century stands the great name of Eem- brandt van Eyn. It is strange that while the painters of the seventeenth century in Italy had drifted, as we have
OOK VII."] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 331
een, into vapid ideality, or repulsive naturalism, two such ^eat original masters as Rubens and Rembrandt should ave arisen in the Netherlands. Rembrandt, especially, is ntirely individual in his style ; Rubens, no doubt, borrowed omething from the Venetians, particularly from Paolo Veronese ; but Italian teaching, indeed any kind of teaeh- ng, was completely set at nought by Rembrandt. He ormed himself, and had no other models than the common orms of nature around him. Yet how different are his vorks to those of the Italian Naturalisti. Dealing with he same powers of light and darkness as Caravaggio, he las expressed them in a totally different language. Com- )are a picture by Rembrandt with one by the Italian hiaroscurist, and you will find in the one the subtle 5oetry of light and shade, in the other the mere broad triking effects.
Rembrandt in fact, though so unlike the ideal painters f Italy, was an idealist, too, in his own way, for in his nind the commonest objects of everyday hfe were trans- 'ormed into poetical images by the mystic light in which be placed them. Sir Joshua Reynolds once, when asked iow he could endure to paint the ugly cocked hats and bonnets of his time, replied, " They have all lights and shadows," and thus it was with Rembrandt. Mrs. Jameson tias called him " The King of Shadows."
" Earth-born And sky-engcndeied — son of mysteries."
He may also be compared to some powerful wizard. Compelling nature to yield to him the secrets of her dark caverns, and mysterious effects, and noting them down with brush or etching needle in the book of magic we call his works.
Rembrandt Hermanszoon van Ryn (son of Herman of the Rhine), was bom at Leyden in 1607. His father was in easy circumstances, and at his death left a consider- able property to Rembrandt and his six brothers and sisters. Rembrandt was educated at the Latin School at Leyden, but as he early showed a far greater taste for art than for learning, his father refrained from sending him to the University as he had intended, and placed him under a
332 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
master named Isaakszoon van Swanenberg to study painting. After three years with him he was sent to Amsterdam to study with Pieter Lastman, a painter "^ some reputation in his day. Jacob Pinas is likewise > to have been his teacher, but his course of study with thc.^c masters could not have been long, for in [1628 he was in Leyden again, and teaching G-erard Dou. His earhest works are dated 1627, and in] 1630, when he was only twenty-two, we find that he had set up for himself at Amsterdam, and had gained much notice by the originality of his style. Four years afterwards, namely in 1635, he married Saskia Uilenberg, a young lady belonging to a noble Friesland family, and possessed of a good fortune, which at her death, in 1642, she left to Eembrandt in trust for their only son Titus.
Why, in the face of these facts, it should have been always asserted that Eembrandt married a low peasant girl of Eansdorp, it is difficult to understand, unless the facts were invented to suit the preconceived theory of Eem- brandt being a vulgar sot, whom no lady would have married. But we not only find that the rich and beautiful Saskia chose him for a husband, but that some of the most learned and polished men in Amsterdam sought his society, and valued his friendship. The Burgomaster, Jan Six, and the celebrated professor, Nikolaus Tulp, depicted in the Anatomy Lesson, were his intimate friends, and the staid Dutch poet, Decker, wrote a sonnet in his praise. Eem- brandt has likewise been stigmatised as a miser, and numerous absurd anecdotes are related in proof of his supposed avaricious habits. These appear to rest upon the same amount of evidence as the other stories concern- ing him, all the facts that have been gained tending to prove that he lived in good style in Amsterdam, and sjDent his money freely, especially in the purchase of art-treasures, of which he had a large collection. In 1656, however, he became a bankrupt, and all his valuable pictures, drawings, and other works of art, as well as his household effects, were sold under a judicial execution.^
^ The interesting catalogue of this sale has been discovered and printed. It shows that Kembrandt did not despise the works of classical and Ital a i art, although he never tried to imitate them.
OOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHEELAND8. 333
After this trouble, which was, probably, caused more by- he financial difficulties of the times than by any fault of lis own, Kembrandt seems to have led a very secluded life n Amsterdam, devoted entirely to his art. The time and lace of his death were for a long time unknown to his )iographers, but Dr. Scheltema has at last satisfactorily )roved, from the registry of his burial, that he died on the ^th of October, 1669, at Amsterdam, and was buried in the Westerkerk of that city. Beneath this registry is a state- nent to the effect that " Catherina Van Wyck, the widow, las declared that she has no means of proving that her liildren had anything to inherit from their father," so that t is clear that Eembrandt must have married again after he death of Saskia, but when is not known. ^
Thus much, or rather thus little, has been gained by ililigent research concerning the outer life of the great painter-engraver, but unfortunately entries of births and deaths, and such-like facts, valuable enough in their way, give us no insight into the inner life and real heart of the man whose doings they record. How pleasant it would be to have some personal record of the great Dutch artist's mode of life in Amsterdam — some fragment of a diary, or letter to Saskia, giving us a glimpse of his thoughts and his feelings — but not one scrap of writing of his has been preserved; nor amongst all his pupils did one think it worth while to set down his master's words, or record any traits of his character.
But let us not complain. Have we not hip works ? And are not these the true index to the mind of the artist? Happily there is no lack of them; we find pictures by Eembrandt in almost every gallery, and their individuality of style is so marked that even the careless lounger soon gets to know them, and is able to afiirm " there is a Rem- brandt " without reference to the catalogue. Powerful contrasts of light and shade, intense gloom lit up by a single concentrated beam of light, making " darkness visible," these are the chief effects that Kembrandt sought after, and reproduced. He never looked at nature in her
* " Redevoering over het Leven en de Verdiensten Van Kembrandt Van Ryn," translated into French in 1859 by W. Burger, and into Eng- lish by me in 1867.
334 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
soft twilight moods, but loved to set lier noon-day and Im r night in sudden fierce opposition. It is only by degi' and sometimes after long contemplation, that objects da ._ on our view out of his great masses of warm shadow, for at first, as in nature, our eyes are too dazzled with the glcrv of the light to see clearly.
This is especially the case with that marvellous pict 111*3 at Amsterdam, known by the name of " the Night-watch," the most celebrated, perhaps, of all his works. What this picture is meant to represent no one has been able to define. The scene is a daylight one, although, for some unac- countable reason, called the Night-watch, and apparently depicts a company of arquebussiers going forth to shoot at a mark. A young girl in strange festal attire is in the midst of them with a cock, supposed to be meant as a prize for the victor, attached to her belt. Such is the literal prosaic interpretation of this painting ; but whoever has eyes to see it, will perceive that this extraordinary pro- duction is lifted far above the prosaic by the golden radiance that falls upon it. We know not, indeed, the meaning of the picture, but we feel in looking at it that we are in the presence not of the vulgar portray er of Dutch marksmen, but of the " King of Shadows," and Prince of Light.^ The Night-watch was executed in 1642, in the full maturity of the artist's powers ; but ten years before this he had already achieved a high position amongst artists by his powerful Anatomy Lesson, a picture now at the Hague, in which all the peculiar characteristics of his style are strikingly dis- played.
The paintings in the National Gallery are sufficient to give the English student a very good notion of the extent and the limits of Eembrandt's j^owers. He had not the slightest feeling for form ; indeed, as Fuseli remarks, he •often falls into " portentous deformity," his design is care- less, his subjects vulgar, his accessories trivial, and his draperies the very reverse of antique. And even his faculty of vision was as concentrated as the light in his pictures. It fell only on certain objects, and enveloped all else in
* A small copy of the Night-watch is in the National Gallery. The Teduced copy, however, does not in any way reproduce the striking •effect of the original.
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 335
gloom. Yet withiu the focus of his powers no man has ever produced such astounding results, and when we find that his paintings amount to six hundred, and his etchings to four hundred,^ we are lost in amazement, no less at the originality than at the rapidity of his work.
Many of his works, both painted and etched, are por- traits, and if we accept Ruskin's dictum that " the highest thing art can do is to set before you the true image of a noble human being," then, surely, Eembrandt has done the very highest of which art is capable. Every one knows his old men's and old women's heads, in which not only every wrinkle and every shade is faithfully depicted, but every care, ovcry sorrow, and every joy of the sitter's life is expressed ; his i)ortraits, in fact, like Titian's and all truly great por- traits, are, strictly speaking, biographies, and we learn more of those impassable, shrewd old Dutchmen from them than from many elaborate histories.
His landscapes express the poetry of northern scenery, for the north has a poetry of its own, however much the worshippers of Claude's sunny skies may despise it. But study Rembrandt's well-known etching of the Three Trees for half an hour in silence, and the poetry of the flat dull Netherland landscape will da^vn even on minds educated to behold no beauty out of Italy. His etched landscapes, in fact his etchings generally, reveal the peculiarity of his genius still more strikingly than his paintings. They were not only conceived, but executed in a manner of his own, the secret of which no one has since been able to discover.
His prints are now the prized treasures of collectors, and fabulous sums are given for early impressions.^
Dutch art may almost be said to begin and end within the lifetime of Rembrandt, at all events, before the end of the century we find it dying out amongst painters of cab- bages and poultiy, pots and pans. There is no succession of painters in Holland like we have seen in Italy, and Flanders, and Germany, but they all crowd close together in one short northern summer, and then disappear. Rem-
' Wornum. '
'-' There is a splendid collection of them in the British Musenm,
336 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII,
brandt, however, must be regarded as the founder of the Dutch school, though several of its masters were born before him, and seem to have been but little under his influence.
[The greatest of these was Frans Hals (1584-1666), < of the most masterly painters of all time. To him wc shall return, but Rembrandt had other precursors as a portrait painter whose works were of a high class. The most important of these were Michael van Mierevelt (1568-1641), Paulus Moreelse (1571-1638), Jan van Ravesteyn (1580-1665), and Thomas de Keyzer (1597- 1679), remarkable for their vigorous interpretation and firm touch, fine colour and realistic characterization. Van Ravesteyn was the first to paint those large groups of counsellors, or governors of hospitals, confraternities, &c., called " regenten-stuk " or " doelen-stuk," of which so many are to be seen in Dutch galleries, and in painting which Rembrandt, and Franz Hals, and Van der Heist displayed such excellence in different ways.
Of Rembrandt's numerous pupils the most important as portrait and historical painters were Ferdinand Bol (1611-1681), and] Govert Flinck (1615-1660).
[The early portraits of Bol are masterly works worthy of his great instructor. There are several in the Louvre, but his greatest work of this class is the Meeting of Regents, in the Leprozenhuis at Amsterdam. After about 1660 he deserted Rembrandt and portrait for Rubens and allegory, and both his taste and painting became deteriorated.
GovERT Flinck was second only to Bol in his re- ceptiveness and power of reproducing in his master's spirit. His success was such that his works of the first ten years were often mistaken for those of Rembrandt. One of his finest pictures is The Blessing of Isaac (1638), at Amsterdam. His later works are more Flemish in style and inferior, but he always preserved vigour and technical skill.
Another pupil of Rembrandt, celebrated for portrait and historical pictures, was Carel Fabritius, bom, probably, at Haarlem, in 1624, after studying under Rembrandt at Amsterdam, settled in 1649 at Delft, where he was killed in 1654 by the explosion of a powder magazine. Dying so
pooK VII.J PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 337
oimg he left but few works ; but those are so excellent that hej have remained until lately hidden under the name of lis teacher. A portrait, with signature, is in the Museum )f Rotterdam (No. 86), and a picture of a Goldfinch in he Lacroix collection, Paris, signed C. Fabritius, 1654 ; liese and The Beheading of St. John the Baptist, at Amsterdam, are almost the only known works of his.]
Perhaps the most sedulous imitator of his master's nanner was Gerbeandt van den Eeckbout (1621-1674), who borrowed whole compositions from him. His pictures ire often mistaken for Rembrandts, e.g., the fine Christ Blessing Little Children, in the National Gallery, No. 757, fvhich was bought for a Eembrandt, and long passed under lis name in the catalogue.]
Jan Lievens, bom in the same year as Rembrandt, and aid to have been a fellow pupil with him under Pieter Lastmann, has also many of the peculiarities of Rem- brandt's mode of treatment.^
[But a finer and more original painter than either was] Nicolas Maas (1632-1693), [who, though unmistakably the pupil of Rembrandt, developed a style of much individua- lity in colour, handling, and sentiment.] His rare genre pictures have not the triviality of the other genre painters of this date, but evince true sentiment, and his kindly, homely, domestic subjects are pleasant little tales of old Dutch life. [Of this the three pictures in the National Gallery (Nos. 153, 159, 207) afford excellent examples. His larger works. Young Girl at her Window, at Amster- dam, and An Old Woman Spinning, are Rembrandtesque in their powerful, ample touch and clever characterization. He visited Antwerp whilst still young, and the long string of flabbily painted, commonplace portraits ascribed to him and painted subsequently to that date, present a marked contrast to his first works.]
[The life of Jan Victoor, Victors, or Fictoors, is yet to be written. He was born about 1620 and died after the year 1662. His earUest work is Haman before Esther, 1632, now in the Brunswick Museum. His honest, solid
[' There is a portrait in the National Gallery, No. 1095, ascribed to Lievens.]
338 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
painting partakes of Rembrandt's manner and power. His genre subjects, The Dentist, 1654, and The Pork But<rher, 1648, both in the Van der Hoop collection, Amsterdam, are of much merit. Two other pupils of Rembrandt, Gerard Don and Philip de Koninck, belong to the genre and land- scape groups of Dutch painters, but before we come to these attention must be drawn to the two greatest rivals of Rembrandt as a portrait painter. One of these, Frans Hals (1584-1666), Rembrandt's senior bv more than twenty years, was not indeed a rival of his while alive, nor does the art of the one artist appear to have in the least affected the other. He lived his life at Haarlem (though he was born at Malines), where he painted the famous Beresteyn portraits (now in the Louvre), and where may now be seen his greatest work, grand portrait compositions of the Archers of S. George and S. Adrien, and the Regents of the hospitals for old men and women ; works which, of their class, are unequalled in the world. For vigour of drawing, strong presentation of character, boldness and success of colour, and extraordinary freedom of execution, it is only such portrait painters as Rubens, Vandyck, Rem- brandt, and Velasquez that can be compared to him. He is represented, but not very well, by a " Portrait of a Woman," No. 1021, in the National Gallery. If an auda- cious vivacity is the characteristic of Frans Hals, calmness and care are the notes of the art of Bartholomeus van der Helst (1630-1670). In technical knowledge and dexterity ne is scarcely surpassed by any artist ; his command over nis materials was complete. Without any over-elaboration, or the slightest trace of difficulty, he could represent all objects with an amazing truthfulness both of general aspect and detail. It is perhaps the great accuracy and ease with which he wielded his great gifts that give them an air of cold perfection, which does not attract all in the same measure as the more fervid imagination and more vivacious handling of Frans Hals, but to others his Banquet of the Civic Guard on the occasion of the Peace of Munster (at Amsterdam) appears the most masterly painting of its kind in the world. In balance of composition, perfection of exe- cution, and perfect characterization of each of its twenty- five life-size figures, it has indeed few rivals. There is o..
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 339
portrait of a lady by him in the National Gallery, No. 140.]
[Van der Heist left no pupils of note, and Hals few. The latter' s son, Frans Hals the Younger, imitated his father. A clever sketch of Two singing Boys, in the manner of the elder Hals, is in the Arenberg Gallery at Brussels, and the Portrait of a Man (No. 183), in the Stildel, Frank- fort, is by Frans Hals the younger.]
[Dirk Hals, brother of the elder Frans, who died at Haarlem in 1656, painted genre in the same style as Pala- niedes. There is a good example of Dirk in the National Gallery (No. 1074).]
[Of the Dutch painters who specially devoted themselves to the painting of scenes of every day life or genre, many were more or less influenced by Rembrandt. Maas has al- ready been mentioned, and there are two other artists who merit some separate treatment because of their splendid colour, their unusually broad and brilliant effects of light, and a certain large simplicity of manner. They were also distinct from the place of their residence, viz. Delft, and the fact that they are both thought to have been affected l)y the example of Carel Fabritius, the pupil of Eembrandt. These were Peter de Hoogh (or Hooch), born at Rotter- dam (1632-1681), and Jan van der Meer (or Vermeer), who, to distinguish him from other painters of the same name belonging to Haarlem, is generally called Vermeer of Delft. The former is specially celebrated for his broad and luminous effects of sunlight in interiors and courtyards, reflected from the surfaces of bricks and marble polished floors and furniture, painted doors and shutters, and pene- trating through semi-transparent blinds and curtains, and also for his brilliant and harmonious colour. The latter's works have much similarity to those of De Hoogh, and have been confused with them till a few years ago, but his scale of colour is different, he is less partial to red, prefer- ing contrasts of blue and gold in his costumes, and he has a peculiar broken touch, and a vibrating quality in his light which is quite his own. England was the first country to recognize De Hoogh' s particular merits and is particu- larly rich in his works. There are fine examples in the Queen's Collection, and there are three of first-rate quality
340 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
in the National Gallery, Nos. 794, 834 and 835. By Ver- meer of Delft, only about thirty works are known ; the most celebrated are The Reader, in the Van der Hoop Museum, The Milkwoman, and Street in Delft, in the Six Gallery at Amsterdam ; the marvellously luminous View of Delft, at the Hague Museum, the Girl with a Drinking Glass, at Brunswick, and the Girl at an Oj^en Window (long ascribed to De Hoogh) at Dresden.]
Next come a set of painters who might with some cor- rectness be called The Little Masters of Holland, not only from the usually small size of their works, but likewise from the smallness of the ideas set forth in them.
Gerard Dow, or more correctly Dou (1610-1675-80), is the chief of this school. He is, in truth, the very genius of littleness. Nothing is too minute for his patience and finish. " If none knew like Eembrandt," writes Leslie, ** how to give importance to a trifle, Gerard Dow, on the other hand, turned the most important things into trifles," or rather, he never painted anything but trifles. The elabo- ration and perfection of his detail is something astounding.
We can form some idea of the way in which he worked from an instance related by Sandrart, who says, that once when he and Pieter de Laar went to see one of Gerard Don's pictures, and were praising the admirable painting of a broomstick, the artist informed them that " he had three days' more work to do upon it ! "
Such was the work of these little masters. It consisted principally in painting broomsticks, but in painting them with such marvellous skill and truthfulness, that we are obliged to own that broomsticks were never so painted before.
Gerard Dou worked for three years, we are told, in Rembrandt's school, and no doubt acquired his accurate knowledge of chiaroscuro there, but he cannot, strictly speaking, be classed as a follower of Rembrandt, for he struck out the " little " line for himself, and was faithfully followed in it by several pupils and imitators.
He painted portraits with great skill, only it is said that he so wearied his sitters by the time he required,^ that he got but few to sit to him. He took his own portrait, how-
* He once kept a distinguished Dutch lady posed for five days whilst he was painting one of her hands.
JJOOK VIT.] PAINTING IN THE NETHEELANDS. 341
ever, many times. One excellent portrait of himself "wlien he was quite a young man is in the Bridgewater Gallery ; another, with a fiddle, admirably finished, and well known, is in the Dresden Gallery ; another is in the Louvre ; and another in our National Collection.
Perhaps the most celebrated of all his works is the painting known as La Femme Hydropique, in the Louvre. A lady of middle age, and, apparently, the prey to a dread- ful disease, leans back on a chair by a window, her daughter kneeling beside her in hopeless grief. A physician stands by examining the contents of a bottle, on which, possibly, his verdict of life or death depends. Every accessory is, of course, painted with the minutest accuracy. This is the only picture that I remember having seen by Gerard Dou in which anything like human emotion, even in a slight degree, is expressed.^
Dentistry was a favourite subject of his art. He has given us several painfully faithful records of tooth ex- traction. Hermits were likewise depicted by him, but without the slightest religious feeling.
But, for the most part, the subjects he chose have such designations as these. An old woman scraping a carrot, a yoimg woman cleaning a saucepan, a woman and a boy surrounded by apples, pears, carrots, and red cabbages, a Liirl chopping onions ; not very exalted themes for art, nor ( alculated to awaken any deep sentiment in the mind of the beholder, but better, nevertheless, than the feeble ideality, the sham sentiment, the gods and naked goddesses, and the senseless allegories of the Flemish Italianisers and later Italians.^
" The Prince of his scholars," as Gerard Dou called him, was Frans Mieris (1G35-1681). He, indeed, excelled even liis master in the minutiae of his painting, and nothing can 1 )0 more perfect in their small way than some of his little < al)inet pictures.^ This class of Dutch genre painters seem,
' The decided emotion displayed by his dentist's patients ought, per- haps, to be excepted.
[^ There are eleven pictures by this wonderful executant in the ry)uvre, two at the Hague, of which one is the celebrated Young 'i'ailoress, and several in the Museum at Amsterdam.]
[' A different opinion has been expressed by M. Havard. He writes : " If he (Mieris) succeeded in proving himself by the elegance of his
342 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
in fact, to have had every faculty of great artists except one — mind. Their language was excellent, but they ex- pressed by it only the most trivial thoughts. Good Dutch housewives bargaining for poultry in the market-place, or plucking their winged purchases in the kitchen; stolid boors drinking outside or inside a tavern ; buxom damsels in rich satin dresses talking to foolish cavaliers, or having music lessons, or sitting for their portraits, or partaking of elegant refreshments offered by little footboys on silver salvers ; children blowing soap-bubbles ; such were the favourite themes of these men, nor did they care, even in these, to look below the mere surface of the life they re- presented. Even a boy blowing soap-bubbles, or a house- wife purchasing a fowl, we may find fraught with interest if the painter has entered into the joyous heart of the boy, or the frugal soul of the housewife ; but most of the Dutch genre painters (there were several exceptions) cared nothing for the underlying sentiment of their subject ; all they desired was to represent the thing they saw, they felt no- thing, so they could not tell us what they felt.
The cheerful character of their works is another of their distinguishing features. We never find anything like gloom in a Dutch genre painter. Life to him was simply a time to eat, drink, and be merry, to maiTy and be given in marriage, to lay up com in barns, and, in fact, to make the most of present enjoyment, it being quite uncertain what comes next.
Frans Van Mieris has this happy carelessness to the full. His pictures are full of good humour and self-satis- faction, and we have in them, at all events, a most skilful delineation of furniture and ornamental accessories. "The quality of his stuffs," says a critic appreciative of this kind of work, " is distinctly defined, and no representation can surpass in truth the beauty of his silks, satins and velvets.'* [His son Willem and grandson Frans the Younger, painted the same subjects, but their minutiae is much drier. Both Frans Van Mieris and his son Willem are represented in the National Gallery, Nos. 840 and 841.]
poses, and the arrangement of his figures, the distinguished disciple of Gerai'd Dow, his hght and shade and execution were always far inferior to his master's." — Havard, " The Dutch School of Fainting."]
BOOK VII,] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 343
But by far the greatest painter of silks, satins, and velvets, was Gerard Terburg ^ (1608-1681). Terburg is pre-eminently the painter of white satin! His noblest aspiration reached no farther than the glossy folds of a lady's rich dress, but these he reproduced with a compre- hension of their soft texture, and an appreciation of the degrees of light and shade that fell upon them, that (one is almost relieved to find) have never been equalled in art.
Careful execution and delicate finish, it will be said, were the very qualities so highly praised in the early Flemish painters, and this is true. No one ever finished more minutely than Van Eyck, not even one of the little masters of Holland. But the early masters finished their work because they delighted in it, and loved to make it as perfect in every little particular as possible. They thought their thought first, and then set it forth with the utmost skill of hand they possessed, but the Dutchmen seem to have had no thought to express. All they cared for was to display their skill. They worked with their hands, in fact, and not with their minds, and so after admiring satin dresses, rich goblets, brocaded curtains, and splendid fur- niture for a time, one grows unutterably weary of these " conversation pieces," as they are called. Gerard Terburg is about the most vacuous artist of them all. Take the description as given by Smith,^ of any one of his paintings, luid we shall find that it always resolves itself into a description of the dress of the performing puppets of the piece. No. 8, for instance, styled in the catalogue, the Glass of Lemonade, represents '* a company of two ladies and a gentleman in a handsome apartment, the elder lady is standing with her hand on the shoulder of the other, AN ho is seated with a glass of lemonade in her hand, which a cavalier sitting opposite to her is stirring with a silver knife" (this is the thrilling incident that gives its name to the picture, but now we come to the important part), " the latter lady is dressed in a yellow velvet negligee bor- dered with ermine, a white satin petticoat trimmed with gold, and wears a black hood tied under her chin ; a stool ( overed with red velvet, on which is a dog, stands on the
' OrTerBorch.
* Smith, " Catalogue Raisonne of the Flemish and Dutch Painters."
34)4 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
left, and on the opposite side are a monkey and a taLIo with a bottle and basin on it."
The celebrated picture at Amsterdam, known as " Con- seil Paternelle," and of which there is an admirable repe- tition in the Bridge water Gallery is of the same class. It means nothing more than the supremely skilful painting of white satin, not a trace of anything approaching human emotion being visible in it.'"
Gabriel Metsu (1640, living in 1669), the friend of Jan Steen, is a painter of exactly the same taste. "His subjects generally," says a commentator,^ "are of the genteel and decorous order," but he was not so uniformly "genteel" as Terburg, and often painted the market and kitchen scenes of more homely life : occasionally, indeed, we have a slight touch of humour in his works.^
Gaspar Netscher, Pieter van Slingelandt, Gode- FRiED ScHALKEN, and scvcral other inferior painters whose names it is needless to enumerate, all belong to the same class, and were mostly followers of Gerard Dou or Gerard Terburg, these being the two leading masters of the little school of Dutch genre painters. [Other lesser genre painters of the Dutch school were the Molenaers, the Palamedes, Dirk Stoop, Pieter Codde, Cornelius Bega, Cornelis DusART, Quirting Brekelenkam, Sorgh, and Adrien DE Pape. The National Gallery j)ossesses examples of the last two] .*
Jan Steen (1626-1679) is the one original genius
[^ The National Gallery contains one of Terburg's most celebrated works, The Peace of Munster, (896), and a first-rate example of his elegSLXit ffe7ire pieces. The Guitar Lesson (864). Terburg is distinguished as a painter of " society." He travelled much, and when in Spain learnt something of the grand style of Velasquez. He was a fine portrait painter and colorist, a most accomplished painter, and stands in the front rank of the " little masters " of Holland.]
^ Stanley, " Synopsis of the Flemish and Dutch Schools."
[3 There are three fine examples of Gabriel Metsu in the National Gallery (838, 839, and 970.) Metsu ranks with Terburg among the gi*eat " little " masters of Holland. The Music Lesson (8;39), is excep- tionally fine in colour and workmanship.]
[^ All these painters, as well as Mieris, were inferior to Metsu, Dow, Terburg, Maas, De Hoogh, and Vermeer, as well as many of the painters who follow. There are thi-ee examples of Netscher and four of Scballcen in the National Gallery.]
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 345
amongst the Dutcli genre painters. He is a thoroughly sympathetic artist, and enters into the broad fun of the scenes he depicts with keen appreciation and enjoyment. In the obvious moral lessons he sometimes enforces (in such pictures, for instance, as the Effects of Intemperance), he somewhat resembles Hogarth ; but he has none of the stern purpose of the English moralist ; on the contrary, he is essentially a laughing philosopher, and remains on friendly terms with the devil even whilst painting his cloven feet.
The character of Jan Steen, as drawn by his earlier biographers, is that of a jolly, careless Bacchus, a sort of Falstaff amongst artists, who led a rollicking drunken life amidst a chosen band of boon companions, many of them younger artists, whom he had seduced from respectability by his evil example. Such was the old-fashioned notion of Jan Steen' s character, but much of this has been changed by his modern biographers. One of them,^ indeed, endea- vours to show that he led a sober and industrious life, and was, in fact, an exemplary domestic character. Certainly, when we consider the amount of work he accomplished,^ we cannot suppose that he was the drunken old reprobate that his early biographers have depicted. Still, it is diffi- cult to believe that he was a pattern of sobriety ; his jolly- looking portraits so often painted by himself in his pictures seem to deny the imputation.
[The son of a brewer of Leyden, Jan Steen studied under Knuffer at Utrecht. He then spent some time under Van Goyen at the Hague. He married his master's daughter in 1649, and set up a brewery at Delft, in which he failed, and in 1661 went to live at Haarlem. His wife, Margaret van Goyen, died in 1673, and he soon after married a widow. In Haarlem he associated with the Ostades.]
In one of Jan Steen's most celebrated pictures he has set forth the pleasures of oyster-eating. The painting is called, it is true, a Representation of Human Life, but it is really nothing more than a large oyster party. About twenty persons of different ages, varying from infancy to
' M. T. Van Westrheene, " Jan Steon." La Haye. 1856. ' He has left us upwards of three hundred pictures.
346 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII,
old age, are engaged simply in opening and eating oysters. The subject is raised above vulgarity by its vs^hiinsical con- trasts, its humorous expression, its eifective chiaroscuro, and its wonderful execution. It is now in the Gallery at the Hague. The Effects of Intemperance, before mentioned, is hkewise a remarkable work. In it the artist has positively introduced portraits of himself and his wife, as pointing the moral of the scene. Both are depicted in drunken slumber after the enjoyments of a feast. The confusion that reigns round them is supreme. One of the children, who are playing about, is picking the pocket of her uncon- scious mother, another is smashing wine-glasses, a dog upon the table is devouring the remains of a pasty, a monkey has possessed himself of some parchment deeds, whilst a servant in the background is stealing some money bags, and a cat knocks down the china.^
Adrian Brauwer (1606-1638) is a painter of great merit, though his works are usually coarse in expression, and betray innate vulgarity of mind. The stories told of the early poverty of this artist, and his ill-treatment by Frans Hals, rest upon very doubtful evidence. [Bom at Audenaerde, he studied under Hals at Haarlem, and in 1631 established himself at Antwerp in the house of his friend and pupil, Josse Craesbeek (then a baker), under t^e patronage of Eubens and the Prince of Arenberg. He is said to have sojourned previously in Paris.] He mostly painted peasant scenes [many of which have been ascribed to Teniers, the Molenaers, or the Ostades, though his best works are broader in treatment, cooler in tone, and exhibit a refined delicacy of colour and exquisite trans- parency of shadow, scarcely attained by any other master.]
Adrian van Ostade, born in 1610 at Haarlem, died there in 1685. The son of a weaver, he learned painting under Frans Hals. He painted scenes from peasant life, but chose the serious side of that life, and represented his peasants in all the stern reality of suffering, poverty, and want. His children are always the most melancholy speci- mens of aged childhood, with a premature expression of
[* A highly finished " conversation piece," a lady taking a lesson on the hai'psiohord, is the only specimen of Jan Steen's skill in the National Gallery (No. 856).]
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 347
anxiety, such as we often see, alas ! in the forced childish growth of a London alley.
Charles Blanc characterizes Ostade as " un Eembrandt familier et un Teniers serieux," and it is true that he does unite, to a certain extent, several of the quahties of these masters ; in the management of light and shade, especially, he gained much from Rembrandt.^
Isaac van Ostade (1621-1649) was a younger brother and scholar of Adrian. His peasant scenes are more cheer- ful, but not nearly so excellent as those of his brother.^
Several inferior painters of the same class of subjects, and a few more dreary mechanical artists, who chose mili- tary scenes for their art, close the line of Dutch genre painters.
The Landscape Painters of Holland have met with unbounded praise, or unbounded abuse, according to the particular views that their critics happened to hold. They seem to have been, on the whole, patient honest men, who painted faithfully the nature they saw around them, not attempting to give it a poetic charm or ideal character that they did not comprehend. Far wiser in this than those poor feeble Flemings who vainly tried to imagine classic ruins and Italian skies, or than several Dutch masters of this time, who, despising the flat fields of their own
^ [M. Havard writes of this admirable artist, " Ostade, like his friend Braiiwer, made a speciality of popular and peasant scenes. Taverns, village inns, hostelries, and rustic scenes, constantly supplied subjects for his brush ; but he did not, like Brauwer, represent drinking-bouts, fights, and adventures in low life. His ' Vagabonds' are honest people devoting themselves to gaiety, singing and drinking, and professing an especial liking for the games of skittles and bowls ; for the most part, however, they are worthy fathers of families, detesting brawls, drinking only to a moderate extent, rather affectionate than quaiTelsome, rarely beating their wives, and never whipping their children ; and if they are always laughing, it is ' because to laugh is the privilege of man.' As a matter of fact Ostade's figures are not always laugiiing, nor always serious. He painted men as he found them, with a singular sympathy for their joys as well as their sorrows, for the young as well as the old. His few pictures from sacred history are full of true reverence, though the figures are those of Dutchmen, and the scenery that of Holland." There is one example of A. van Ostade in the National Gallery, 846, The Alchymist.]
[■■* This artist is well represented in the National Gallery by four pictures, including a fine Portrait of a Boy, 1137.]
348 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
country, sought for inspiration not from Italian nature, but from Italian art, and became mere imitators of third- rate Italian artists.
Jan van Goyen (1596-1666), and Jan Wynants (1600, living in 1679), are important, not so much from their own merits — though they are not artists to be overlooked — as from their having been the first painters of genuine Dutch landscape, a line in which they were followed by several greater men/ These may be divided into painters of landscape with cattle, and painters of landscape without cattle. [Van Goyen's numerous views of rivers and canals are distinguished for their breadth and simplicity. He painted very lightly in sober browns and greys, varying from pale red to pale green, and showed a delicate feeling for light and colour. Amongst his jDupils were Simon de Ylieger and Nicholas Coelebier, of Haarlem. Of the latter nothing else is knoAvn except that he cojjied Van Goyen' s manner, but with a somewhat heavier touch. Simon de Vlieger (1612-1660) followed also Willem van de Velde. His later works are more varied in colour than Van Goyen' s. Of Jan Wynants, of Haarlem, little is known. His clear, bright landscapes are truthful in draw- ing, delicate in aerial perspective, are minuter in detail, and more romantic in feeling than those of Van Goyen. The charming little figures introduced were mostly by Adrian van de Velde, Lingelbach, Barent Gael, Held Stockade, and others. In the National Gallery are five examples of Wynants. There also are two fine works by Philip de KoNiNCK (1619-1689), of Amsterdam, who was one of Kembrandt's best pupils. His landscapes are generally panoramic in their character. The larger of those in the National Gallery (No. 836) shows a vast expanse of flat country, with a small town in the middle^ ground. The wide view stretches back, plane upon plane, under a beauti- ful sky of rolling clouds, the whole great space full of air and life. One of his most celebrated works is the Mouth
P With these founders of modern faithful landscape painting should be associated Pieter de Moltn (1600-1654), whose works are rare, (there are examples in the Brunswick Gallery, in the Louvre, and at Berlin), and Solomon van Eutsdael (1600-1670), by whom there is a fine picture of " The Halt at an Inn," in the Museum at Amsterdam.]
EOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHEELANDS. 349
of a Dutch River in the Arenberg G-allery (Brussels), which in its rendering of the vast expanse of sky, is esjDC- cially reminiscent of Eembrandt's broadly-drawn topo- graphical pieces.]
Paul Potter (1625-1654) is pre-eminently the painter of the herd. He has been called the Raphael of animal painting, but this title is singularly inappropriate, for he did not in any way idealize bovine beauty. His genius was very early developed. At the age of fourteen, we are told,^ his paintings already ranked with those of famed and ex- I)erienced masters, and they have gone on increasing in market value ever since.^
Paul Potter's most celebrated work is the Young Bull of the Hague, painted when he was only twenty-two. It cer- tainly is a wonderful painting as regards size and fidelity to nature, but it has only the merits that a huge photo- graph might possess. Far pleasanter are some of his smaller pictures,^ for instance, one in the same gallery, re- presenting a cow admiring her reflection in a clear, broad pool of water. In the Grosvenor Gallery, in London, also, there is a charming specimen of his smaller productions. Merely a few cows and sheep grazing in the meadows of a dairy farm, but painted with a full comprehension of the peaceful features of the scene, and with beautiful effects of golden light falling on the flat meadows and reposing cattle.
Paul Potter, it is said, took the greatest pains to make himself acquainted with the character of the animals he loved to paint, and never went out without observing and recording some significant trait or action of ox, cow, or sheep. He seems, in fact, to have entered into the heart of his kine, if such could be, so thorough is his understanding of their natures.
Paul Potter'engraved a few plates. Bartsch enumerates eighteen, which he says, " font les dclices de tous les con- noisseurs."
^ Descamps, " Vie des Peintres."
'■' A painting of Four Oxen in a Meadow, orijrinally sold for £25, was boufjht by the Emperor of liussia, in 1815, for £2,800.
^ [There are two fine ones in the National Gallery, Nos. 649 and 1009.]
350 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
Albert Cuyp (1605, about 1691), of Dordrecht, is not merely a cattle painter, like Paul Potter, although he loved to introduce cattle into his landscapes. With the latter, the landscape (always carefully and faithfully painted) simply forms the background to his cattle ; whereas, with Cuyp, the cattle are but one of the varied features of the scene. He has been called the Dutch Claude, and truly the great difference between the landscapes of these two painters lies in the different latitudes in which they painted. They each loved the misty air of the hot noon- day and the golden glow of the afternoon sun ; but Cuyp's sun rose and set over the low fields and ditches of Holland, whilst Claude's gilded the mountains or sunk into the blue lakes of Italy. The country round Dortrecht, the river Maas, with its broad expanse of water, its boats, its ship- ping, and the cattle that grazed on its banks, offered him quite sufficient subjects for his art, for did not the golden sun shine on the river and its belongings, and sometimes even, when the river was frozen, on its clear sheet of ice ? True, it was a Dutch sun ; but was not its light sufficient to gladden a patriotic painter's heart, and to enable him to reproduce its effects on his canvas ? We find the answer in Cuyp's pictures. No painter has ever expressed the peculiar warm, misty air of a summer's afternoon with greater truth.
The English were the first to see the merits of Cuyp's works, and about nine-tenths of them are in this country.^
The Dulwich G-allery contains no less than eighteen Cuyps: nowhere, perhaps, can he be studied to greater advantage [and there are eight in the National Gallery]. Some of his finest paintings are, however, in private hands in this country.
[Aaart van der Neer (1619-1683) was another of the most celebrated of Dutch landscape painters, particularly
^ They were formerly but little esteemed by the Dutch, and conse- quently, sold for absurdly small sums, until English dealers and con- noisseurs raised their value. Kugler says that he was told by a Dutch connoisseur that in past times, when a picture found no bidder at a sale, the auctioneer would throw in a little Cuyp to tempt a purchaser ; and Smith affirms " that down to the year 1750, there is no instance of a painting by his hand selling for more than thirty florins, or something less than three pounds sterling."
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THB NETHEELANDS. 351
famous for his moonlight scenes. There are four of his works in the National Gallery, in one of which the figures were painted by Cuyp.]
Philip Woitw^erman (1619-1668) is a painter who has had an immense reputation in his time, but his day seems now to have past.^ Ruskin derides him most unmerci- fully, and several other critics have followed his example. His pictures are, perhaps, the most curious compounds of incongruous ingredients that have ever been painted. He arranges the features of a landscape according to a pattern of his own, and then sets in it cavaliers, horses, dogs, cattle, hunting parties, military skirmishes, blacksmith's forges, village inns, or classic temples as it suits him, very often, indeed, he treats us to two or three of these episodes in the same landscape or ** nonsense picture," as this sort of works has been appropriately called.
We should remember, however, in criticizing Wouwer- man, that probably only about one eighth part of the pic- tures assigned to him are really by his hand. No artist, except perhaps Holbein, has suffered more in this respect than Wouwerman.^
As a rule every Dutch painting that has a white horse in it is set down to him, he having been ajjparently as fond of white horses as Terburg of white satin ; but Pieter and Jan Wouwerman, his brothers, painted similar subjects, and many of the white horses may be theirs. Jan van HuGTENBURG, also, is another painter whose works Wor- num considers have been taken by dealers to swell their lists of Wouwermans.^
Jacob Ruysdael, or Van Euisdael * (about 1625-1682), is a genuine painter of landscape — of landsca^^e pure and simple, without accessories of cattle or horses. His land-
' [Not quite yet. His peculiar skill in the rpndering of certain atmo- spl.eric effects, the charm of his colour, and beauty of his drawing, still make him a favourite painter with artists and connoisseurs, and fine examples of his art are always likely to command high prices.]
^ Wornum, whose authority in such matters as this is unquestionable, says that, instead of the eight or nine hundred pictures given to >Vouverman by experts, ninety is a number nearer the truth.
^ [There are eight pictures by Wouverman, and one by Ilugtenburg in the National Gallery.]
* [Nephew of Salomon van Ruysdael.]
352 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
scapes are somewhat melanclioly in character, deep pools overshadowed by trees, water-mills, waterfalls, and ever- clouded skies, but their melancholy is tinged with poetry, and seldom becomes oppressive. He was fond of dark masses of foliage, and thus the prevailing colour of his works is dark green. [The romantic character of his scenes, so different from his own surroundings, is accounted for by the fact that many of his pictures were painted from Van Everdingen's sketches of Norwegian scenery. There are twelve of his pictures in the National Grallery]. Ruys- dael's etchings are excellent.
MiNDERHOUT HoBBEMA (1638-1709) is supposcd to have been a pupil of Ruysdael, or possibly of Salomon Euysdael, Jacob's brother, who was likewise an artist. He painted very much in the same style as Ruysdael, and chose the same subjects — green trees, water, and clouds, witli beauti- ful effects of light falling upon them, but his works give evidence of a more cheerful mind than Ruysdael' s. He often painted nature, it is true, in her melancholy mood, but he did not infuse any subjective gloom into his scenes, as Ruysdael and several of our English landscape painters have done. Generally, however, he chose happy sunny scenes. Hobbema's works are rare, and enormous sums have been given for them.^
Antoni Waterloo (bom at Lille about 1630, living in 1661) is an artist who is known by his admirable etchings more than by his paintings, [which are charac- terized as forming a link between the realistic style of Hobbema and Ruysdael, and the Italianizers of Dutch landscape] . The one example of his painting that I re- member, greatly resembles Hobbema in style. It is in the Munich G-allery.
Abraham Verboom, Conrad Decker, A. Rontbouts, Albert Van Everdingen, a painter of Norwegian scenes, Jan Looten,^ Jan Van Hagen, and several more, were all
[^ The National Gallery possesses several fine works by this painter, including the famous Avenue, Middelharnis. No artist had a greater influence on Constable, Crowe, and other landscape painters of the English school,]
2 [This artist worked much in England. There is a picture by him in the National Gallery, No. 901.]
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 353
followers of Ruysdael and Hobbema, or at all events painted the same scenes in the same manner, but with inferior merit.
Next come the Sea Painters of Holland, the Be Euyters and Yan Tromps of the palette.
"WiLLEM Vandevelde THE YouNGER (1633, died in Greenwich, 1707), stands first amongst these heroes, al- though his father, Willem Vandevelde the Elder, was a much esteemed painter in his day, especially in England, where he had a pension granted him by Charles II., of <£100 a year, "for taking and making draughts of sea fights." The same pension was afterwards given to his son, who in a true cosmopolitan spirit painted first (when he was in Holland), the victories of the Dutch over the English, and afterwards (when he came to England), the victories of the English over the Dutch. He has given us the sea in most of its moods ; storm and calm, wind and rain, dashing waves and gentle ripples, but although he expressed what he saw faithfully enough, and although his vision was by no means limited, yet his works are strangely uninteresting.^
LuDOLF Backhtttsen (1631-1708). Charles Blanc cha- racterizes the difference between Vandevelde's seas and Backhuy sen's by saying that " Backhuysen makes us fear the sea whilst Vandevelde makes us love it." Some minds, therefore, it is evident, must be affected by Backhuysen' s leaden skies and opaque seas, for here we have an excellent critic praising them for the very qualities in which to others they seem lacking, showing how the same work may pro- duce a totally different effect on different minds. Back- huysen was a painter of ships, even more than of seas ; he had, indeed, a practical knowledge of all nautical matters, and is said to have made constructive drawings of ships for Peter the Great. The two pictures by him in the National Gallery are of Dutch shipping."
' [There are no less than fourteen examples of this fine painter in the National Gallery. He is called by M. Havard, "not only the greatest marine painter of the Dutch School, but also one of the greatest in the whole world.'']
^ [There are now • six examples of Backhuysen in the National Gallery, including a view, Off the Mouth of the Thames.] A A
354 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
Jan Van der Capelle,^ and Jan Dubbels, whose works are frequently made to pass for Backhuysen's,^ the German Johann Lingelbach,' who principally painted harbours and quays, with their rich artistic agglome- rations, and several others, whose names may be found in dictionaries, belong to the marine painters of this time.
Nicolas Berchem,^ Karel dtj jARDiN,^,and Jan Both,' are all three painters of high reputation ; but, although undoubted Dutchmen by birth and natural tastes, they can scarcely be reckoned as belonging to the Dutch School. It was not merely that they painted Italian landscapes instead of Dutch ones ; this they could have done, and yet have remained true to their own nationahty. We do not call John Phillip a Spanish painter because he painted Spanish scenes, nor Turner an Italian because of his bril- liant skies, but the Italianisers of Flanders and Holland only painted Italian nature as they saw it in Italian pic- tures, not as they saw it for themselves. It was the art of Italy, and not the nature that they imitated, and so they produced a bastard style of painting which neither the Netherlands nor Italy can own. This style is the more to be deplored, as these masters were really excellent painters, who might have produced charming works had they but retained their nationality.
Several masters of inferior merit followed to the south these three leading ones. Their landscapes usually are sprinkled over with classic temples and pastoral figures, and are utterly vacuous, having lost the true Dutch merits of effective colouring and careful execution.
Adrian Yander Werff (1659-1722) is about the worst instance of Dutch Italianisation. He was not a landscape painter, but dealt with mythological and biblical subjects, and especially delighted in the nude, of which, however, he does not seem to have had any real knowledge, his flesh
^ [A fine painter of shipping and calm water, and luminous skies with trailing clouds. Five pictures by him are in the National Gallery.]
2 Smith, '-'Catalogue Raisonn^."
' [All these painters, as well as Adriann van .de Velde, who be- longs to the same class, can be studied at the National Gallery.]
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 355
being thorouglilj bloodless and smooth, resembling ivorj more than anything else. At the Pinakothek, at Munich, there is a whole cabinet devoted to this painter's works, besides others scattered through the gallery. Many of these, it is true, have great elegance and beauty. His female figures, in particular, are often pretty, and exhibit animation and inteUigence. He had also considerable power of invention, and thought is by no means wanting in his paintings. Several of his genre pictures, with biblical names, such, for instance, as Sarah bringing Hagar to Abraham, have decidedly attractive features, and it is not at all surprising to find that " they were so highly admired by princes and men of fortune, that he found it impossible to execute all the commissions given to him."
While one class of Dutch painters was thus seeking to ennoble and beautify the honest bourgeois art of Holland by the introduction of a foreign element, another class was dragging the native style down to utter worthlessness by employing it on the meanest and most trivial subjects. The Dutch painters of fruit, flowers, still life, and crockery, form a large group by themselves, amongst which are several meritorious masters.
WiLLEM Kalf's kitchen pieces are unequalled in their way ; Jan Weenix bestows on his dead game an execution worthy, at least, to have been expended on living birds ; and Van Htjysum offers us fruit that makes our mouths water. ^ But the low qualities of illusion and laborious
^ [Melchior de Hondecoeter, th^painter of living birds and other animals (1636-1695), Jan tan Os (1744-1808), the most distinguished flower-painter of his time, and Jacobus Walsoappelle (living 1675), are, as well as Van Huysum and Weenix, represented in the National Gallery, which by the purchase of the Peel Collection and the bequest of Mr. Wynn Ellis, has become (since this book was first published) re- markably rich in fine specimens of the Dutch School. Besides the painters already mentioned, the following are represented in Trafalgar o<luare: Dirk van Delen, an architectural painter, apupilofFransHals; Jan Hackaert, landscape-painter ; Jan van dbr Hetde, a painter of architecture and landscape (1637-1712); Sir Godfrey Kneller, the portrait-painter (1646-1723) ; Otho Marcellis, still life painter (1613- 1 673) ; Egbert van der Poel, painter of landscape and architecture (died about 1690) ; Cobnklis van Poelenburoh, chiefly painted figures fur landscape painters (1586-1667); Pibteb Potter (born 1595), father of
356 H18TOJBY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VII.
finish are all tliat are to be found in these painters, and ■with the lower artists of the group even good execution is wanting.
True art was, in fact, killed by these still-life painters of Holland in the same way as it was killed in Greece by the same class of artists.
In each case the loss of political freedom preceded the fall and death of art.
[The modem school of Dutch painters owes much to the naturalistic section of the modem French school, but it is quite national in its subjects, delighting chiefly in recording the " simple annals of the poor " of Holland, of the pea- sants, the fishermen, and the inmates of its numerous charitable institutions, and seldom, even in landscape or sea-pieces, straying beyond its level fields and sandy shores. Its tone, both of colour and sentiment, is somewhat sad. "While it aims, like the old masters of Holland, at truth of light and air, its tints are more sombre and its touch more vague; and while it concerns itself mainly, as they did, with the current of daily life, its view of humanity is nearly always tinged with pathetic thought, and has nothing of the humour of Teniers and Jan Steen.
The chief master of this modem school is Josef Israels (b. 1824), an admirable craftsman and colourist whose works, although unequal in force and variety to those of the Frenchman Millet, are truthfully touched with the pathos of labour and poverty. Among his best followers are Aetz, Blommers, and Neuhuys. Johannes Bosboom excels in effects of light in interiors of cottage or cathedral ; JoH. Barth. Yongkind and Hendrich Willem Mesdag in sea-pieces ; Anton Mauve (1838) and Willem Maris in landscapes and cattle. Jacobus Maris, the most dis- tinguished of three brothers, paints the streets and quays of Holland in a singularly broad and effective manner, and the youngest, Matthew, has a peculiar romantic imagina- tion of his own.
Paul Potter, landscape painter ; Uoklandt Savert (1576-1639), land- scape and animal painter at the court of the Emperor Rudolph II. at Prague; Willem van der Vliet (1584-1642), portrait painter ; Jan WiLS, landscape painter, master of Berchem, and Emanuel de Wittb, painter of interiors (1607-1692).]
BOOK VII.] PAINTING IN THE NETHERLANDS. 357
Differing from most of the modem school of Holland in the gaiety of his colour and the cheerfulness of his temper is C. BisscHOF, who paints scenes from the lives of the handsome, well-to-do, picturesque Frisian peasantry with singular breadth and skill.]
book: vni.
\\fi^ PAINTING IN FRANCE.
Earlt Painteks — David — Gericault — Hobacb Verket — Paul Delaroche.
FRENCH writers claim an early origia for the practice of painting in France. They say that from the time of Charlemagne it was the custom to cover churches and monasteries with paintings,^ but unfortunately none of these mural paintings remain, nor have we anything but a vague traditionary account of them. In the art of illuminat- ing, however, it is certain that the French masters greatly excelled, and in this branch of art, as well as in glass- painting, the French School occupies an important position as early as the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.'
One of the earliest of the French " peintres et enlrnni- neurs " whom we find mentioned by name is Jean Fouqttet (1415-1485), Court painter to Louis XI., by whom several manuscripts, that are still preserved, are iUuminated with great taste and skill.^
' Emeric David, " Histoire de la Peinture au Mojen Age.* ^ A Psalter, said to have been executed for S. Louis, is still preserred in the Library of Paris, containing numerous beautifully coloured miniatures, representing scenes from the Old Testament, on a gold ground, and set in a rich Gothic framework. [Mural paintings in France of the twelfth century exist at Liget, Poitiers, and Poitou, and examples of glass painting in the same century at Le Mans, Angers, St. Denis, Chartres, and Venddme. Of mural paintings of the thirteenth and four- teenth centuries there are a few vestiges, as at the Cathedral of Toumus and elsewhere. For further information respecting early French paint* ing (wall, panel, miniatures, &c.), the reader is referred to Woltmana and Woermann's " History of Painting."] ^ Especially may be mentioned a French translation of Josephus, con-
BOOK VIII.] PAINTING IN FRANCE. 359
Tradition ascribes to the unfortunate King Ren^ op Anjou (1408-1480) several paintings in the Flemish style preserved in the Cathedral at Aix, and at Villeneuve, near Avignon, and also a picture representing the Preaching of Mary Magdalen, now in the Cluny Museum, at Paris ; but there seems to be no ground beyond mere sentiment for accrediting the royal painter with these works, which were more probably executed by some unknown Flemish master.^
The influence of the Van Eycks is distinctly perceptible in the art of the three Clouets, the younger of whom, Francois Clotjet, usually called Janet (about 1510-1572), was greatly distinguished as a miniature portrait painter, and has left us likenesses of many of the royal family of France of his time. Several of his portraits, according to Womum, are ascribed to Holbein."
But by far the most important and most independent of the early painters of France, is the architect, sculptor, painter, and writer on human proportion and perspective, Jehan Cousin (born at Soucy, near Sens, 1501, and died 1589). Cousin's best-known work is a hard and detailed Last Judgment, in the Louvre, that has been engraved in twelve plates by P. de Jode. The Louvre painting is in oil colours, but the original composition occupied a large glass window in the Church of S. Eomain, at Sens, which was destroyed in 1792.
Cousin seems to have been originally a painter of glass,
taining, as we are told in a notice at the end of the manuscript, " Douze
Jrstories. Les troy premieres de I'enlumineur du Due Jean de Berry, e( es neuf de la main du bon paintre et enlumineur du Roy Loys XI. Jehan Fouquet natif de Tours." This MS. is likewise to be found in the Library of Paris. [Some of his finest miniatures are in the Brentano Collection at Frankfort, where is also one of the two known panels painted by him. The other is in the Museum at Antwerp.]
* [The Burning Bush altar-piece at Aix is now known to hare been painted by Nicolas Froment, of Avignon, in 1475-1476. A tryptych of the Raising of Lazarus in the Uffizi at Florence bears his name, and the date 1461. Both are in Flemish style.]
' For recent information concerning the Clouets, see "La Renaissance des Arts a la Cour de France," by the Comte de Laborde, [Schnasse's " Geschichte der bildende Kunsle," and Lady Dilke's " Renaissance in France." There are two portraits ascribed to Fran9oi8 Clouet in the National Gallery.]
360 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOE VIII.
at all events, some of his greatest works were executed iu this perishable material. Sculpture also occupied a great part of his time, and he achieved some noble plastic works,^ so that it is not much to be wondered at that we have few veritable paintings by his hand. Such as exist, however (they are mostly miniatures), show him to have been an artist of great ability ; ^ indeed, says one of his critics,' "there are traces everywhere in Cousin's work that he was a man both thoughtful and of a culture far deeper than was common to the peintre ymagier of his day."
Of what is called the Fontainebleatj School, estab- lished under Italian influence, by II Primaticcio, Nicolo DEL Abbate, and II Eosso (Maitre Eoux), all three Italian painters who worked for Erancis I., Httle need be said, except that it successfully absorbed any native talent that might have existed in the latter half of the sixteenth century, and gave it a degenerate Italian expression. For it was not the art of the great masters of Italy, that the Fontainebleau artists* set up for worship and imitation, but the violent art of Giulio Eomano, Perino del Vaga, and other unrestrained mannerists. " C'etait jeter I'ecole Pran9aise," says Yiardot, " des son berceau, dans la de- cadence anticipee ou semblait se mourir I'art italien." ^
[The beginning of the seventeenth century in France, though marked by the prevalence of Italian influence in art, yet produced a few artists who escaped almost entirely
^ His monument to Admiral Chabot is especially remarkable, and a little ivory statuette of S. Sebastian, in the Cluny Collection, is gi-eatly esteemed by critics.
^ M. Firmin-Didot, in the " Gazette des Beaux Arts " for November, 1871, claims for Cousin eight miniatures in a " Livre d'Heures" of which he has recently become possessed. M. Firmin-Didot is preparing a work on Jehan Cousin, which will probably elucidate many points of dispute in his history. [Since published, "Etude sur Jean Cousin," Paris, 1872. See also his " Recueil des oeuvres choisies de J. Cousin,'* Paris, 1873. Lady Dilke's "Renaissance in France," and " L'Art," Oct. and Nov., 1882.]
3 E. F. S. Pattison, " The Portfolio," No. 13.
[* The most celebrated French artists who worked at Fontainebleau were Toussaint Dubreuil (died 1604) and Martin Freminet (1567- 1619). Ambroise Dubois (1543-1614) was another of the school, but he was by birth a Fleming.]
* " Merveilles de la Peinture." L'Ecole Fran^aise.
BOOK VIII.] PAINTING IN FRANCE. 361
from the traditions of the school of Fontainebleau. Fore- most amongst these were the brothers Le Nain, whose fame has till recently been neglected even by their coun- trymen. Of the three brothers Le Nain, the earliest genre painters of France, Antoine (1568-1648), Louis, called the Eoman (1593-1648), and Mathieu (1607-1677), the eldest was the most distinguished. Mathieu painted por- traits as well as still-life and genre, like his brothers. Their subjects had more affinity with the Flemish School than with the fashionable Italian Schools of their day; their sombreness of colour and expression is allied to the Spanish manner. Equally apart stands one who, although not great as a painter, was endowed with great original talent as a depicter of the life of his day. This artist was Jacques Callot (1593-1635), known chiefly by his spirited etchings of vagabonds and soldiers, of festivals and battles, humorous, fantastic, satirical, and tragic by turn. His Miseres de la Gruerre, one of his best-known series of en- gravings, depicts with great power, freedom, and ghastly humour the adventurous military life of the time of Louis XIII., and the terrible ravages of his dear province of Lorraine. These artists, the Le Nains and Callot, were distinctively French and individual in their work, and although more humble in their aims, and of less learning and accomplishment as painters, deserve to be considered apart from the great school of Italianized and semi-classi- cal art which reached its zenith in the reign of Louis Quatorze.]
Simon Vouet (1590-1649) [the first of these] is some- times spoken of as the restorer of French art, but the most that he did was to substitute the imitation of the eclectics for that of the mannerists. [He studied under Caravaggio and Guido, and was employed by Louis XIII. and Richelieu. His masterpiece is the Presentation in the Temple, now in the Louvre. He was the Master of Le Sueur, Le Brun, and Laurent de la ffire.]
[Vouet's principal rival was Jacques Blanchard (1600- 1638), the first French artist to attempt the Venetian style of colour, from which he earned the title of the French Titian.
Valentin (1600-1634), on the other hand, followed
362 HISTORT OF PAINTING. [bOOK VIIT.
Caravaggio. He is sometimes erroneously called Moise Valentin, but Valentin was his Christian name, and his surname is unknown. He was forcible and realistic in his painting, and took many of his subjects from real life. In the Vatican is his Martyrdom of SS. Processus and Martianus, and in the Louvre are a Susannah, two Con- certs, and the Fortune Teller, besides some other genre and Scripture subjects.
But a greater artist than any of these was Nicolas PoussiN (1694-1665), born at Andelys in Normandy. He is often named as the greatest painter of the French School, and in certain qualities, such as learned drawing and composition, stately and classic style, and intellectual vigour, he is scarcely surpassed. He obtained some in- struction at Andelys from Quentin Varin, and at Paris from Ferdinand d'EUe and I'AUemand, artists whose names chiefly survive in connection with their pupil, but it was not till his arrival in Rome that his genius was developed. After two efforts, ineffectual through his poverty, he reached Rome in 1624, with the assistance of the Poet Marino, who died shortly afterwards and left him in great poverty. In spite of all difficulties, he pursued a long course of study, attracted at first chiefly by the works of Giulio Romano and Titian, and afterwards by Bolognese masters, especially Domenichino, but it was his devotion to the antique which finally gave the cachet to his paintings. An eclectic of the eclectics, his individuality showed itself by its rejection of luxury in colour, and of sentiment in expression, preferring dignity of form and the embodiment of thought. Learned, noble, correct, his pictures appeal to the reason rather than the senses, and fairly justify Fuseli's saying that he painted bas-reliefs.
One of Poussin's earliest patrons in Italy was the Car- dinal Barberini, for whom he painted the Death of Q-er- manicus, the Taking of Jerusalem by Titus, and perhaps a fijie Bacchanalian scene (full of spirit and frolic), now No. 42 in the National Gallery, and another was the Cavaliere del Posso, for whom he painted a series of Seven Sacraments, now at Belvoir. These and a similar series in the Bridgewater Gallery are considered among his best works. He attained fame at Rome, and there married
BOOK VIII.] PAINTING IN PEANCE. 363
Anna Maria Dughet, the sister of Gaspar Dughet (better known as Gaspar Poussin), the landscape painter.
In 1640 he, on the invitation of Louis XIII., went with his brother-in-law to Paris, was appointed first painter to the king (although Vouet held the same appointment), and executed several large works for the king and Cardinal Eichelieu, but the position of court painter was uncon- genial to his simple tastes, his employment in decorative work (designs for tapestrj, furniture, &c.), was distasteful to him, and Vouet intrigued against him. So, in 1642, he obtained permission to visit Rome, and as both the king and Richelieu died soon after, he considered himself ab- solved from his promise to return. At Rome he remained working industriously, and surrounded with friends and admirers, till 1665, when (on the 19th of November) he died and was buried in San Lorenzo, in Lucina.
Though Poussin' s art was based on the art of Italy an- cient and modem, and though he lived most of his life in Italy, he was yet a Frenchman, and his works have had influence mainly upon the French School, from his day even to the present. The peculiar classic note which he touched was not Italian but French, and vibrates strongly still in French art, though not so strongly since the days of David, to whom the saying that he painted bas-reliefs, would apply perhaps even more truly than to Poussin. The quality of his colour, cold and not afraid of violent contrast, the absence of sentiment, the insensibility to scenes of revolting horror, as instanced by such pictures as the Plague among the Philistines (No. 105 in the National Gallery *), and ifie Martyrdom of S. Erasmus, in the Vatican, the correctness of his drawing, the dominance of theory and thought over impulse and passion, are still characteristics of a large sec- tion of modem French art. Yet, though his work was esteemed in his lifetime in France as well as Italy, he stood aloof from the crowd of French artists whose individuality was absorbed in the service of the court. He cared not for the patronage of Louis XIII., and did not help to swell the triumph of Louis XIV. Perhaps for this reason his art is more profoimdly French than it would have
^ A replica of a picture in the LouTre, painted 1630, once in the po*- B<'8sion of Cardinal Kichelieu.
364 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VIII.
been if he had yielded more to the prevailing current of his time.
Though principally celebrated as a painter of figure com- positions (including every class of subject from allegory to genre), Poussin deserves special mention as a painter, if not the founder of what is called " classical landscape.'* His landscapes belong principally to the latter part of his career, and are distinguished by their fine scenic qualities — the arrangement of forms of tree, cloud, temple and river, to present an imposing and beautiful prospect fitted for the arena of some great significant or poetical action. It was the dramatic landscape of Titian advanced to a genre of its own, always in harmony with the figures which were its supposed motive but dominating them. This style of landscape was to be developed by Gaspar Dughet and Sal- vator Eosa, and more than all b^ Claude, and to have a potent influence even upon Turner and Corot, and many artists now alive.
The Louvre (as is right) contains the finest collection of the works of Poussin. These pictures (about forty in number) show all the various phases of his genius, and include what is generally considered his masterpiece, Les Vergers d'Arcadie, which represents three shepherds with long staves and a beautiful girl in classic dress, assembled be- fore a tomb in the open country and shaded by trees. One bends and traces with his finger the inscription et in Arcadia ego. The elegance of the forms and of the com- position, the charm of gesture and attitude, so reticent, and yet so eloquent of the thought bom of the incident, dis- tinguish the picture among a thousand, as the perfect embodiment of a beautiful idea.
We are fortunate in possessing some capital works of this master. Besides the fine Bacchanalian Festival already mentioned, the National G-allery possesses a Bacchanalian Dance (No. 62) yet finer, and several other pictures, includ- ing one of his landscapes "with figures" (No. 40), and there are a large number of fine Poussins scattered in private collections in England in addition to those already mentioned.
In many respects the career of Claude G-ell^e, gene- rally called Claude Lorrain (1600-1682), was like that of
BOOK Vni.] PAINTING IN FRANCE. 365
Poussin. He, too, spent most of his life in Rome, devoted solely to his art, the art of landscape painting, which he developed to a beauty unknown before. His landscape was not unlike that of Poussin, the classical, well-ordered landscape built up of beautiful parts into a beautiful whole, and suffused with a poetical sentiment, pastoral, idyllic, historic, mythological, in turn ; but he owed his great fame then and now not only to his elegant sentiment and talent for composition, but to his ardent study of nature and power as a colourist. No one before him had painted sun- light and air as he painted them, no one since has excelled him in painting those atmospheric effects in which he par- ticularly delighted, calm sunny effects of morning, noon, and eve with light clouds floating in a fair blue sky. It was the scenery of Italy as reflected in his imagination which he painted, decorated with bridge and castle, or the seaport with rippling waves laughing in the sun and framed with stately buildings. He did not conquer the whole do- main of landscape painting, there is much of convention in his forms, of traditional artifice in his composition, and his ideal was scenic, other modes he left for others to invent, many truths, subtle and beautiful, he left unrecorded — his genius was not so universal nor his observation so wide as those of Turner — but what he did he did beautifully, and there is perhaps no landscape painter who so completely fulfilled his aims as Claude. His art was so perfect in its kind that it remained the model for all schools (except the Dutch) until the commencement of the present century, and excited more than any other the rivalry of Turner. His works are to be found in all the museums of Europe, six- teen of them are in the Louvre, and eleven in the National Gallery, which comprise the famous " Bouillon " Claudes, painted for the Duke de Bouillon in 1648, representing the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba, and the equally famous Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca (Nos. 12 and 14).
Second only to Claude as a painter of classical landscape of this time was Gaspar Dughet (1613-1675), who took the name of his brother-in-law Poussin, by whose art he was much inspired. His works are more conventional and heavier in colour than those of Claude, nor did he reach the same skill in the rendering of sunlight and atmosphere,
866 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK VIII,
but he had his individuality, preferring compositions of grandeur and terror, and effects of wind and storm. There are several fine specimens of his art in the National Gallery.
A greater contrast in aim and feeling to these voluntary exiles from their native country could scarcely be found than EusTACHE le Sueur (1617-1655), who spent in Paris the whole of his short life, and devoted himself to Christian art. He was called the *' French Raphael," and his pic- tures, especially S. Paul preaching at Ephesus, in the Louvre, recall well-known designs by the great Italian. He was a pupil of Vouet, but his pictures are unlike those of any other French artist of his time ; fervour and purity of religious feeling permeate his work and place it by itself in the French School. It was not very powerful, but it was eminently graceful, sweet, and sincere.]
His principal achievement is the well-known series of twenty-eight scenes from the Life of S. Bruno, in the Louvre.
[Sebastien Bourdon (1616-1671), was one of the founders of the French Academy of Painting and Sculp- ture in 1648. He was painter to the Queen of Sweden. His greatest work was the series in the house of M. de Bretonvilliers, The History of Phaeton. A number of his works are to be seen at the Louvre.]
Charles Le Brun (1619-1690), has the glory of being the representative painter of the court of Louis XIV.
" Au si^cle de Louis, I'heureux sort te fit naitre, II lui faillait un peintre, il te faillait un maitre." *
" His pictures," writes Sir Edmund Head, " give us the genuine spirit of his master. Their qualities bear the same relation to true and simple grandeur in art as Louis XIV., when he made war in his coach-and-six, bore as a general to Julius Caesar. All is ostentation and struggle for effect, joined with considerable technical excellence and little genuine feeling. Their scale is gigantic, and the impres- sion produced by them is like that of a scene at the opera."
The Louvre overflows with his works, the principal being the large series of the Victories of Alexander, intended, no
^ Quinault.
BOOK VIII.] PAINTING IN FEANCE. 367
doubt, to bear flattering allusion to those of the Grand Monarque.
Jean Joitvenet (1644-1717) was the worthy pupil and successor of Le Brun. Nothing can be more artificial than his scenic displays. Even his rehgious pictures might have been painted for the decorations of a theatre, so exaggerated is their dramatic character.
PiERBE Mignard, Claude Lef^vee, and Hyacinthe EiGAUD,* the latter of whom gained, one would imagine out of raillery, the title of the " French Vandyck," were the portrait painters of the age, and have left us likenesses of Louis XIV., and the ladies and gentleman of his court, under every aspect, except that of truth,
[Philippe de Champaigne, a Fleming by birth (1602- 1674), was the portrait painter of the Port-Eoyalists. His sober manner and austere character give him a place apart from his contemporaries, A good example of his work is the portrait of Cardinal Richelieu in three positions, in the National Gallery (No. 798)].
Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), brings us down to the still falser age of Louis Quinze.^ Watteau would probably have been a truthful and excellent genre painter at any other period, but he was infected with the silly affectations of his time, and yielded to the fashions set hj petita-maitres and petit-maitr esses. His pictures are graceful representa- tions of the artificial society of a dissolute court, which amused itself by playing at pastoral simplicity and Arca- dian innocence. " His shepherdesses, nay, his very sheep," says Horace Walpole, " are coquettes." They are in truth but playing the part of rusticity, and are decked out for it, as we see such characters at the theatre in becoming hats, ribands, muslins, and graces. The coquetry of these Arca- dian n3rmphs is, however, so charming, there is such an easy, careless grace about them that we cannot help being fascinated by their artful wiles. In truth, if we accept the subjects as being worthy of representation at all, no painter ever represented them more charmingly than Watteau,
[' There is a good specimen of I\ip;aud'8 style in the fine portrait of Cardinal Fleury in the National Gallery (No. 903).]
[' He lived five years after the death of Louis XIV., dyinj^ then at the age of thirty-seven.]
368 HISTORY OF PAINTINO. [bOOK VIII.
whose style we must be careful not to confound with that of his imitators, Lancret/ Pater, Yan Loo, Natoire, and others, painters of fetes galantes, fetes champetres, and foolish, wanton so-called " pastorals."
The lowest depths of degradation were perhaps reached by Francois Boucher, "Le peintre des Graces" (1704- 1770), whom Head characterizes as pre-eminently the painter of what Carlyle has called " Dubarrydom." "I know not what to say of this man," writes Diderot.^ ** The debasement of taste, colour, composition, expression, and
drawing, has followed step by step on that of morals
I am bold enough to say that this artist, in truth, knows not what grace is ; that he has never known what truth is ; that all ideas of delicacy, purity, innocence, or simplicity, have become entirely strange to him. I am bold enough to say that he has never, for one moment, seen nature, at least, not that nature which is such as to interest my feel- ings or yours, or the feeling of any decent child, or woman of sensibility." ^
Art and morals alike were, in truth, at their lowest ebb at the end of the reign of Louis XV., a time " when the social system having all fallen into rottenness, rain-holes, and noisome decay, the shivering natives resolved to cheer their dull abode by the questionable step of setting it on fire." '
[Of the pupils of Boucher the most accomplished was Jean Honore Fragonard (1732-1806), of whose graceful and vivacious art there is not much to say from the higher intellectual and moral point of view, but modern criticism has adopted the kindlier, if not wiser standard of circum- stance, and does not see fit to condemn artists of acknow- ledged accomplishment and originality, because they reflect too faithfully the imperfections of the society into which they were bom. Those who wish to know what can be
\} Wo have no specimen of Watteau's art in the National Gallery, but Lancret's four little pictures, " The Ages of Man," are fairly good examples of the school (Nos. 101-104).]
2 Translated and quoted by Head in his " Handbook of the French School."
[^ There is one small example of Boucher in the National Gallery (No. 1090).]
* Thomas Carlyle, " Essaj on Diderot.''
BOOK VIII.] PAINTING IN FEANCli. 369
said in praise of the artists of the Louis' are referred to such works as Genevay's " Le Style Louis XIV.," Andre Michel's " Fran9ois Boucher," Goncourt's "L'Art auXVlfl" Siecle," PaulMantz's "Fran9ois Boucher," Dohme's "Kunst und Kiinstler," and Wedmore's " Masterpieces of Genre Painting."]
[But all French painters were not led away by the affected fashions of the court. Jean Baptiste Chardin (1699- 1779), would appear to protest against them as strongly as he could by his simplicity, humility, and truth, painting only such things as he saw with a masterly fidelity akin to the greater little masters of the Dutch School. Not for him the fete champetre, with its gallants and fine ladies, its clipt alleys and artificial flowers, but the cottage interior, with its maiden sweeping the floor, its wooden pails and brass pans, or, if, as he often preferred, " still life " was his subject, real flowers and fruit, modelled with a solidity, and painted with a breadth which command our admiration to-day. Perfect truth and sincerity rather than the most captivating artifice, regard for humanity rather than fashion, for the honest hard-working poor rather than the rich and luxurious idler, such are the characteristics of this true painter.
Something like a similar protest, though not perhaps so whole-hearted, was made by the art of Jean Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805). He did not paint the court or the cabin, but he painted a class still more rarely chosen by French painters — the bourgeoisie. He has been called by Diderot " the first who thought of introducing morality into art," a saying true, perhaps, of French art, but not of English, for Greuze was many years the junior of Hogarth. Of his "moralities" (known well enough by engravings), some based on Diderot's dramas, the Louvre contains euch scenes as L'accordee de village (a group assembled to sign a marriage contract) , Le malediction paternelle (a father cursing an erring son), and Le fils puni (a sequel to the malediction, in which the son returns to see his father dead upon his bed). More celebrated is La cruche cassee, but in this and other pictures of similar double entendre, the conception is too artificial, the little sinners are too childish and pretty and pitiful to point a severe moral. It is in his
B B
370 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VIII,]
pictures of pretty children and yonng girls that he is most! attractive. These have a charm of their own, sometimes quite pure and unaffected, and his light, a delicate colour, if not quite natural, is sweet and pleasant. Some of these are in the National G-allery.]
Claude- Joseph Yernet, also (1714-1 789), the painter of seapieces and ideal landscapes, although employed by Louis XV., cannot be reckoned as one of that monarch's painters. His landscapes, it is true, without aspiring to be poetiral, are too often false to nature ; but they have not the artifi- ciality of the other works of French art at this time. So far as his knowledge went, he painted his marines in a con- scientious spirit. A whole salle is devoted to his works in the Louvre, mostly views of the seaports and harbours of the coast of France.
It is Joseph-Marie Yien (1716-1809) who is usually regarded as having given the first impulse towards the revolution that now took place in French art, but as Yien himself said, if he " half opened the door it was his pupil David who threw it open wide," and accomplished the revolution that he had only desired. Yien, in truth, was but a feeble history-painter, and his works are meritorious only in consideration of the time at which they were painted, but Jacques Louis David (1748-1825), whether we regard him as the product of his age or as one of its directing forces, was uudoubtedly a man of powerful individuality, and one who exercised a vast influence, not only over the art of his countrymen, but over the whole art of his time, i
The son of a tradesman of Paris, David received his first 1 instruction in art in the base school of Boucher, who was ] related to his mother, but was soon, by Boucher's advice, transferred to that of Yien, who, as we have seen, was proud of his pupil. Yien, however, had probably little share in the formation of David's style, the severe classicism of which appears to have been gained at Rome, whither he accompanied Yien on the latter' s appointment as director there (1774) and where the discoveries at Herculaneum and' Pompeii had re-awakened an enthusiasm for ancient art. Winckelmann's influence, also, no doubt, contributed to form David, as it had Eaphael Mengs, and several other classicists of that time. Indeed, it is not surprising that.
BOOK VIII.] PAINTING IN FRANCE. 371
seeing the universal degradation into which art in all countries had fallen in the middle of the eighteenth century, reformers should have arisen who tried to revive it by a return to the simple, pure, and noble style of the Greeks. But not so could a true and lasting reformation be accom- plished.
" A new life," says F. von Schlegel, " can spring only from the depths of a new love, and it is vain to imagine that lofty art, like a draught of medicine, may be obtained by the mingling of various ingredients."
No "new love" animated the soul of the republican painter ; only a blind worship of heathen antiquity. A worship made manifest, not only in his art, but in his stirring political life. Indeed, when the gods of Greece and Rome were once more set up in a Christian capital, and the severe republican heroes of an early civilization became the idols of the hour ; when men dressed in pseudo- classic costume and talked in pseudo-classic language, it is not surprising to find the representative painter of the age animated by the same classic spirit.
One of his earhest pictures, the Oath of the Horatii, painted at Rome, in 1784, for Louis XVI., already showed his classic style and republican tendencies. This painting, which is now in the Louvre, evoked universal admiration in its day. Its grand and heroic character, in truth, formed a powerful contrast to the indecent affectations that French art had produced during the previous reign.
Ne semble-t-il pas," says Charles Blanc, " que des mig- nardises • de Dorat Ton passe tout a coup a la cadence majestueuse de Comeille."
His second great republican picture represents L. Junius Brutus, to whom the lictors are bringing back the bodies of the two sons whom he had condemned to death. Brutus himself is seated in the shade of the great statue of Rome,
}king solace, as it were, in his paternal grief, in the thought of the duty that he owed to his country.
The Sabine Women is another of David's most famous compositions. It was painted after the five months follow- ing the ninth thermidor that the painter passed in prison
[' A word derived from Mignard the painter.]
372 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VIII.
as the friend of Robespierre and Saint-Just, and alluded, it is said, to the heroic efforts that his wife made to save him from the fate that had overtaken his associates.
Napoleon I., quick in recognizing talent, was too wise to overlook that of David, and under the Empire he held as important a position as under the Republic.
His exaggerated dramatic classicism became, however, still more pronounced, and degenerated more and more into mannerism. It nevertheless continued to rule the taste of his country until the affectation of antique severity became as unpleasant as that of pastoral simplicity. Napoleon, in truth, placed art, like every thing else, under military discipline. " L'art fut enregimente, caserne, mis au pas militaire. Toutes ses oeuvres, depuis le tableau d'histoire jusqu'au meuble d'ebenisterie, comme toutes celles de la litterature ; depuis le poeme epique jusqu'au couplet de romance re9urent un mot d'ordre, une consigne, j'allais dire un uniforme, qui s'appelle style de I'empire." ^
David's portraits are usually excellent, the faults of his style being less observable in them than in his more dramatic compositions. There is a portrait in the Louvre of himself when young, as well as several other effective likenesses ; in particular that of Pope Pius VII., a life-like copy from nature.^
In the technical part of his art David is very deficient,' and his pictures have suff!ered much from time. His colour is usually cold, monotonous, and brickdusty, defects that became exaggerated in his followers.
In truth the style of David and his school, founded upon the study of the pagan antique, confounds, as a style thus founded is almost sure to do, the distinctive excellences of painting and sculpture. The figures, even in David's paintings, and still more in those of many of his pupils, are cold, hard, and soulless — marble statues, rather than human beings in whom the warm life-blood still flows.
Such a style as this could never take any lasting hold, however great its influence in its time. It wanted a
^ Louis Viarditt, " Les Merveilles de la Peinture." Ecole Fran9ai8e. [' Perhaps his most beautiful and most celebrated portrait is that of Mdme. Recamier, recently placed in the Salon Carre in the Louvre.] ' [He was an admirable draughtsman.]
BOOK VIII.] PAINTING IN FRANCE. 373
national basis, and although its severe simplicity was a noble re-action against the falseness and triviality of the previous age, it is not surprising to find a re-action, in its turn, setting in against it.
Even amongst David's scholars this re-action began. A few of them, it is true, continued and exaggerated his peculiarities, but he must certainly have been an excellent teacher, since most of his followers developed their own natural tendencies with great freedom.
The painters over whom his influence was most powerful, but in whose works we find a certain strain after effect, that is not so visible in the calmer productions of the master, are —
Jean-G-ermain Drouais (1763-1788), the painter of Marius a Minturnes, piercing with his lightning glance the Cimbrian slave, who comes to kill him in prison, a celebrated work in the Louvre.^
Anne-Louis Gtirodet de Eoucy Trioson (1767-1824), best known by his convulsive and melo-dramatic picture, A Scene from the Deluge, which in 1810 carried off the prize from David. The defects of the school are more painfully apparent, perhaps, in this picture than in any other belonging to it. It is a representative work of its land. The Burial of Atala, the other great picture of Girodet's in the Louvre, though cold and lifeless, is far more pleasing.
Pierre-Narcisse Guerin (1774-1833) adhered strictly to the theatrical antique, and fell into an affectation of style, called by the Germans styliairen, that is peculiarly disagreeable.^
GuiLLAUME GuiLLON - LethiJjre (1760-1832), whose enormous paintings, the Death of Virginia, and Brutus witnessing the Execution of his Sons, take up so much space in the Louvre ; and Francois Gerard, the painter of the Entry of Henry IV. into Paris, an historical picture that is free from the theatrical affectation that marks most of the historical subjects of his contemporaries, end the
[• It should be remembered that Drouais died at the age of twenty- five, after completing this and one or two other works of great promise and force.]
[' Gu^rin was the master of G^ricault, Delacroix and Ary Scheffer.J
374 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VIII.
direct artistic line of David, although, as before said, his influence was so powerful that it extended over the schools of other countries besides his own.
The next group, it can scarcely be called a school, of French painters that claims our attention, was formed of masters, many of whom were David's immediate pupils. In spite of the total change of style that was effected after the downfall of the empire, no new master arose of suffi- cient power and originality to impress his individual mark as David had done upon the art of his age. No new ideal was set up, but each master contrived to introduce some new and striking element into the classic school in which he had received his education, until we find its character completely changed.
Antoine-Jean GtROS (Baron) (1771-1835) was one of the first to abandon classical and mythological scenes, and to choose for his subjects events of contemporaneous his- tory. He painted in strong coarse characters, with forcible colours, so that both in expression and colour his works contrast with those of the more rigid adherents to David's style.'
Pierre-Paul Prtid'hon (1758-1823) once more returned for inspiration to the Christian religion, which had been so long dethroned in France. His most celebrated work, however, is not chosen immediately from a sacred source, but represents Divine Justice and Yerngeance pursuing Crime. The allegoiy is powerfully conceived.
There is still a lingering feeling for the antique manifest in this work, but in others, more especially in his Catholic subjects, such as the Assumption of the Virgin, in the Louvre, we find that sort of poetical graceful sentiment that has gained for this master the title of the French Correggio.^
[^ He was the first of the Romanticists, leading the way from the classic convention to self-expression and realism. He was the first in France to paint battle-scenes with soldiers in their proper uniforms. His scenes from the campaigns of Napoleon are full of life and vigour. His '* Francis I. and Charles V. visiting the Church of St. Denis " was a notable attempt to realize a scene from modern (but past) history in the costumes of the period. ]
[^ This likeness to Correggio, especially in his mysterious chiaroscuro and softness of contour, is found equally in his mythological and alle-
BOOK VIII.] PAINTING IN FRANCE. 375
The master, however, who departed most widely from the teaching of David, and who may, in fact, be said to have almost overthrown his school, was Jean-Louis Geeicault (1791-1824). " Gericault," says Viardot, " se revelait a I'epoque oil la liberte litteraire renaissait avec la liberte politique, ou la societe tout entiere marchait au progres par I'independance. L'exemple de Gericault venant avec la force de I'a-propos suffit pour entrainer Tart Fran- 9aiB dans ce mouvement general de I'esprit humain."
ITo where, indeed, has art reflected more faithfully the character of the age, even in each fluctuation of political opinion, than in France.
Under Louis XIV. and Louis XV. it assumed a vain- glorious tawdry pomp; we have noted its falsity and. affectations, its airs and graces, and finally its drivelling indecent idiocy. Under the Republic it became severely and heroically virtuous. Correct in form, but cold in feeling, drawing its inspiration from a past age rather than from the living present, seeking to put new wine, in fact, into old bottles, and to clothe the modem Revolu- tionism in the toga of Roman Republicanism. Under the Empire, it assumed for a time a military aspect, and glory became its theme ; but after the restoration, when France may be said to have been under no dominant influence, but to have vaguely followed her own sweet will, we find her painters doing much the same. No particular school was formed, but each painter, as in England, followed the bent of his own genius.^
Gericault, who at first pursued art merely as an amateur, and whose early subjects were mostly sketches of horses, had imdoubtedly a strong original talent. Unfortunately,
gorical paintings, which are characterized by an exquisite grace and tenderness almost unique iu the Jbrench School.]
^ Alfred de Musset, in 1836, wrote as follows: "Le Salon au premier coup-d'cBil offre un aspect si vari6 et se compose d'^l^mens si divers, qu'il est diflScile en commencant de rien dire sur son ensemble. De quoi est-on d'abord frapp6? rien d'homogbne, point de pensee commune, point d'^coles, point de families ; aucun lien entre les artistes, ni dans le choix de leurs sujets ni dans la forme. Chaque peintre se presente isol6 et non-seulement chaque peintre mais parfois mSme chaque tableau du mdme peintre. Les toiles expo^ees en public n'ont le plus souvent ni m^res ni sceurs." — Bevuc ies deux Mondes,
376 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK VIII.
he died at the outset of his career, before his powers were fully developed, but in his one great picture, the Eaft of the Medusa (1819), we have a striking proof of his highly dramatic invention. The scene is depicted in all its terrible reality. It is not the rapturous hope of de- liverance that animates this crew of dead and dying men, although the moment chosen for representation is that in which a sail appears on the horizon; to too many deli- verance comes too late, and the rest with few exceptions seem deadened by despair. It is, in truth, a fearful pic- ture, and one turns from it with a sort of sickening dis- gust. There is no denying the power of the painter, but one cannot help wishing it had been displayed on a less painful subject.^
Leopold Robert (1794-1835), a Swiss by birth, sought inspiration in Italy, where, however, he studied not the great masters of painting, but the character, habits, and customs of the people of the country, which he reproduced in a sort of poetical or picturesque garb in his works. The most celebrated of these is " Les Moissonneurs " of the Eoman Campagna, in the Louvre.
Amongst the followers of David, the one, perhaps, who most truly inherited his spirit without, however, copying his manner, was Jean-Atjguste-Domenique Ingres (1780- 1867). Ingres adhered strictly to the classic mode of ex- pression, but unlike the painters of David's school, he refused to sacrifice the singleness of his ideal to an exag- gerated theatrical display. His works are distinguished by a simplicity and purity of form, and a lofty serious tone of thought that raise them far above the classicisms of the more immediate followers of David.*
[' This " epoch-making " picture, with its treatment of a tragic event in a bold, realistic manner, gave the death-blow to the School of David. It was the subject of the most violent attacks ; but it triumphed, and founded the Romantic School.]
[2 Ingres was the antithesis of Delacroix, calm instead of passionate, a draughtsman more than a colourist, seeking above all things for purity of form, perfection of execution, and classic style. These aims he preserved throughout his long life, althoughi he was much affected by the works of Raphael, and was always an ardent student of nature. His famous figure of " La Source," finished in his old age, is a remarkable union of natural grace and academical design. Among his most famous
BOOK VIII.] PAINTING IN FRANCE. 3^7
Art Scheffer (1795-1858), Dutch by birth, but French by education, is pre-eminently the painter of modem de- votional sentiment. He has been called, like Raphael, " the poet-painter of Christianity," but his Christianity, as well as his art, seems to want the muscle necessary for vigorous life. His works are well-known from engravings; his numerous sacred and poetical heroines, all wrapped, as it were, in a mystic veil of poetry, under which we are at first inclined to believe there lies a depth of earnest thought, but which at last we find is only thrown over them to shroud the most commonplace ideas.
Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863) may be reckoned as the successful follower of G-ericault.^ He delighted, hke him, in scenes of passion and terror, such as the Massacre of Scio, the Murder of the Bishop of Liege, from Quentin Durward, and the Shipwreck, from Don Juan. He was, like most of the masters of the French school at this time, a brilliant colourist, and it is to be regretted that much of his time was taken up in great decorative works,^ wherein his peculiar qualities were somewhat restrained from their free exercise.
Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (1803-1860) is chiefly known by his admirable oriental scenes, which he illustrated with wonderful effects of light and shade.'
pictures are CEdipus and the Sphinx, the Apotheosis of Homer, Strato- nice, S. Symphorion, and La Source. Some of his portraits are extremely fine.]
^ [He is often called the first Romanticist, and he was certainly the most powerful leader of the revolt against the old semi-classical half- sculpturesque school. (See note on last page.) He was above all things a painter, and a dramatic painter, in whose hand colour became an engine for the expression of emotion. His ardent imagination preferred action and character to repose and beauty, and was most congenially employed in painting scenes suggested to it by poets like Dante and Byron. He was one of the first of modern artists whose imagination was fed by a visit to what is somewhat loosely called " The East." He accompanied M. de Mornay, the Ambassador, to Morocco, and some of his finest pictures are *' Oriental " in subject. Delacroix is esteemed by many as the most independent and creative talent of the modern school.]
" Such as those in the Chambre des D<5put63, the Apollo Gallery of the Louvre, and the Church of S. Sulpice.
[' Decamps deserves special noticeas.perhaps, the first of the modem school of French landscape who thoroughly abandoned convention, and learned to see nature with his own eyes, and paint what he saw. lie
*67S HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK VIII.
In Horace Vernet (1789-1863), the grandson of Claude- Joseph, and the son of Carle Vernet, the talent of the Vernet family seems to have culminated.
His artistic abilities were early remarkable, he having been able, it is said, to support himself by means of his art, from the time he was fifteen years of age. He exhi- bited also, at the Louvre, before he was one-and-twenty. In 1814, he was decorated by Napoleon I. with the Cross of the Legion of Honour, on account of his gallant be- haviour at the Barriere de Clichy, a noble defence of which he has left us a record in one of his most famous painted works. His knowledge of military matters was indeed thoroughly practical, he having served as a soldier in his time, and having evidently made good use of that time in observing the various manoeuvres of war, which he after- wards reproduced with marvellous truth on his canvas. " He commonly," says Womum, " painted alia priTna, as the Italians express it, that is without retouching, and often even without any previous preparation on the canvas ; yet there is a perfect unity in the general effect of his works." He was in truth, one of the most facile and prolific of modem painters, and his popularity in France is almost abounded. Everywhere we meet with his huge battle scenes, painted with the utmost dexterity and cleverness, and with a rapidity that is really amazing.
Paul Delaroche (1797-1856) stands side by side with Horace Vernet in the story of the immediate past. The fame of these painters is still too recent for us to judge whether or not it will prove lasting, but Delaroche has certainly few rivals in popularity at the present day.^ He is, in truth, a great master, although his high dramatic power occasionally leads him to overstep the bounds of legitimate drama, and to verge upon the melodramatic. His conceptions of scenes from French and English history are unequalled in their force and character, although, by the devotees of what the English painters of his time
was also the first to paint Oi'iental scenes in a genre spirit, entering thoroughly into the character of the people. His pictures of Turkish life are admirable, especially for their children. He was also an original and fine colourist.] ■ [^ This is no longer true. — 1888.]
BOOK VIII.] PAINTING IN FRANCE. 379
termed, ** High Art," they are condemned as not treating the subject in a lofty and ideal spirit, but rather as endea- vouring to realise it.
His only monumental work is the celebrated fresco of the " Hemicycle," in the Ecole des Beaux Arts, in which he has represented the arts of all countries and times. This is perhaps one of the best efforts in fresco of the French school, but it will not bear comparison with his oil-paint- ins?s, which in their forcible and brilliant colour, striking effects of light and shade, and great technical skill, carry off the palm from all his compeers.
Such pictures, indeed, as the Death of the Duke de Guise, the Execution of Lady Jane G-rey, Cromwell regard- ing the dead body of Charles I., Napoleon at Fontainebleau, the Condemnation of Marie Antoinette, Strafford, the Death of Queen Elizabeth, Eicheheu and Cinq-Mars, etc., are sufficient to support even such a reputation as that of Paul Delaroche.
[The fame of Delaroche has certainly not increased since the year (1873) in which the foregoing words were first published, and in speaking of those who have died since, and of one or two more who died before that date, but were omitted in the first edition of this work, it will be well not to be too confident that their reputations will always remain at their present level. Nevertheless it is hard to think that the names of Theodore Rousseau, Jean- Fran9ois Millet, and Camille Corot, will hereafter be less honoured than they are now.
It is difficult among the crowd of celebrated French artists to determine in a " concise " history what names to omit, but space may at least be afforded to mention those of Jean-Baptiste Regnault (1754-1829), the painter of the Education of Achilles and the Three Graces, in the Louvre ; and Xavier Sigalon (1788-1837), the painter of the terrible Locusta trying on a Slave the Poison destined for Britannicus. Both these painters may be considered as forerunners of Delacroix and the Roman tic school . To go still farther back the bold flower-pieces of Jean-Baptiste Mon- NOYEB (1634-1699), and the spirited animals of Francois Desportes (1661-1743), and Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686- 1755), deserve a word, nor should the name of Nicolas de
380 HISTORY OP PAINTING. [bOOK VIII.
Laroilli^re (1656-1746) be omitted from the roll of the greater portrait painters of France, nor that of Maurice QuENTiN DE Latour (1704-1788), the great master of crayon. Charming in their way also are the portraits of Madame Louise Elizabeth Vigee le Brun (1755-1842), as all visitors to the Louvre will know.
On the work of all these artists the verdict has long been passed, though when we recall the many cases in which such verdicts on much earlier artists have been revised in our day, we may well doubt whether our opinions, even with regard to these, will be ratified by our sons. Never- theless these artists belong to an old order of things, and not to the great artistic movement of the nineteenth century, which is still, as it were, in mid course. This movement is, in a word, the liberation of the artist. Not church, nor state, nor tradition, nor convention, nor Academy, now hampers, or needs hamper the full expression of the artist's individuality. He stands face to face with nature and humanity, and may paint them as he wills. No nation has done greater service in this emancipation than the French — an emancipation which is only a sequel to the great emancipation in the domains of philosophy, society and literature, for which that nation has struck the most vehement blows. Here our concern is only with painting, but we can scarcely comprehend the spirit and progress of French painting in the nineteenth century unless we re- cognize it as the natural result of the French revolution. The same forces operated in England, but in art gently, as by natural development ; in France they operated in art as in politics — by revolution. Hogarth came and went with- out agitating greatly the world — i.e., the world of art — scarcely considered seriously as a painter. Sir Joshua and Gainsborough inaugurated a new school of portrait and landscape. Cozens and Girtin, Turner and Constable, rose like stars unheard and almost unseen, but Gericault and Delacroix exploded like bombs in the artistic air of Paris. It was a war of ideas, a storming of the Academy. And the victory was with the rebels, though unacknowledged perhaps even to-day, and though they did not get what they sought, and did not thoroughly appreciate what they were fighting for, nor in what their victory consisted. The
BOOK VIII.] PAINTING IN FRANCE. 381
Academy still remains, the " classic convocation " is not killed nor likely to be ; the leaders of the movement, Dela- croix and the rest of them, are not models of imitation. What they did was simply to make the painter a free man, as conventional or unconventional, as classic or romantic, as ideal or realistic, as Christian or Pagan, as moral or as im- moral, as affected or sincere, as he pleased. The rush was to truth, or at least to sincerity. It began with the stripping off of classic costumes from modern warriors, as in the pictures of Gros, in the faithful representation of imagina- tive ideas, as in Delacroix, and ended in revealing the pictorial interest and beauty of ordinary nature and humanity. These — nature and humanity — were the key- notes of the movement, and if landscape was the last branch of pictorial art to which the revolution extended, in no other has it been more searching and complete.
As French critics themselves have often and generously admitted, the modern school of French landscape was greatly aided in its development by the example of English artists. The influence of Bonington (resident in France) was considerable, but that of Constable was still greater. Some movement away from the traditions of Poussin and Claude in the direction of a more faithful and familiar treatment of landscape — a more personal expression of the sympathy between the individual and the natural world on which he lived had already been started, especially by Paul Huet (1804-1869), but it was not fairly launched till the appearance at the Salon of 1824 of the Haywain (now in the National Gallery) and some other pictures by Constable. They produced as great a revolution as the Shipwreck of Gericault, and had an immediate effect on the art of Delacroix and Decamps, but it was not till the appearance of Th]^odore Eousseau (1812-1867) that the modem French school of landscape can be said to have been founded. He first showed the originality of his genius by a View in Auvergne at the Salon of 1831, and he went on steadily increasing in power till his masterpiece of 1867, a View of the Alps taken from La Faucile. His aim was simple — to express with all his might the beauty and power of Nature without the aid of any external sentiment to give interest to his pictures. Nature and Rousseau were the
382 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOX VTII.
only factors in his art. Gifted with remarkable sympathy with the various aspects and effects of nature, and with unusual skill and resource in expressing them, he painted forest and open country, mountain and plain, with equal success, and he could be simply lyric or grandly dramatic with the same facility. He was a fine draughtsman, drawing trees with special skill, a striking and often splendid colourist, and in the variety and force of his effects of light and air he has few rivals. In so various a mind it is not easy to discover the prevalent inclination, but it was, perhaps, the infinite strength and grandeur of nature which impressed him most. His giant oaks are realized with an extraordinary sense of their bulk, the vast complexity of their structure, the weight of their boughs, and the lightness of their foliage ; they are round, too, and hollow, giving a true impression of the space they occupy ; his clouds also are grand, and in his stormy sun- sets seem bursting with lurid light.
A greater contrast to the temper of his art could scarcely be found than in the works of Camille Corot (1796-1873), and yet both sought to give faithfully their most valuable impressions of nature, and both regarded light as the essence of landscape art. But as they had no longer to be bound by convention or fashion, each followed his own indivi- duality, and Corot' s led him to prefer the poetic suggestive- ness of nature rather than the realization of her forms, the pearly haze of morning air to the strength of the noon- day sun, and perfect harmony of tone to strength or bright- ness of colour. Eousseau tried to express the moods of nature, Corot employed nature to express his own. He was the pupil of Bertin, an historical landscape-painter, and of Michallon, who began his artistic career in the same line, and to the last the old school of landscape had a hold upon his imagination, guiding his composition, and peopling his landscapes with nymphs. But for all that he was a modern, discarding conventional forms and tricks of handling, and expressing his own ideas in their natural language. But his nature was poetical, and he translated nature into a dream-world of his own — a grey world of pale skies and misty foliage, full of grace, ten- der feeling, fine taste and style, taking, as it were, only
BOOK VIII.] PAINTING IN FRANCE. 383
what was good of classic, romantic, and realistic art, and blending them altogether to express his own charming in- dividuality.
The names of Rousseau and Millet are associated with that of Barbizon, a little village on the skirts of the Forest of Fontainebleau, where the two artists long resided. They were the leaders of the new Fontainebleau School, which differs as much from that of Primaticcio and Rosso as the palace from the forest. Jean-Francois Millet (1815-1875), the son of a peasant, was bom at G-ruchy, a little hamlet on the shores of La Hogue. He was a pupil of Delaroche, and began by painting pictures of the nude, sensuous in feeling, and rich in colour, but in 1849 he left Paris for Barbizon, and settled to his real work in life as what has been well termed "the epic painter of rusticity." ' Thus his training was something like that of Corot's, and he, too, combined in a remarkable degree classic dignity of style with modern veracity of feeling. Never has humanity been treated in art so strictly in relation to its natural surroundings. The soil and the tiller of the soil, this was his theme, and he painted the sower and the gleaner, the shepherdess and the woodman, just as any day they might be seen at their work, in the very clothes they wore, and in the very fields in which they laboured. They and nature are one in his pictures, the expression of one great idea, the result of one great force. He raised them to epic grandeur, not by forcing them into heroic attitudes, or inspiring them with an artificial sentiment, but by seizing the moment when the ordinary action of the trained labourer becomes really grand, by seeking his sentiment within and not without his subject, and faithfully recording the patience and solemnity which labour engraves upon the peasant's face. His life is a story of neglected genius, but he had but to die to be famous. His pictures, the Angelus and the Sower, are, perhaps, now the most cele- brated of all in modem art, and even his etchings have risen to extraordinary value.
With these artists is associated the name of their friend, Narcisse-Viroilio Diaz de la Pena (1808-1876), Spanish
[* W. E. Henley, in the Memorial Catalogue of the French and Dutch Loan Collection, Edinburgh International Exhibition, 1886.]
384 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOZ VIII.
by parentage, French by birth, whose works are charac- terized by their je welly colour and romantic fantasy. Not so true to nature as Rousseau, nor so great and profound an artist, the work of Diaz has a charm, almost a glamour, of its own.
Other notable leaders in the modem French school of landscape who have died in recent years are Constant Teoyon (1816-1865) and Charles Francois Daubignt (1817-1878), and with these should be mentioned the name of Jules Dupre (born 1811 and still living).
In other branches of art the French school has sustained severe losses by the deaths of Eugene Fromentin (1820- 1876), the refined and poetical painter of Arab life, and one of the finest of modern critics, of Henri Eegnault (1843- 1871), the daring and accomplished painter of the Execu- tion in the Alhambra, and the portrait of General Prim ; of Gustave Courbet (1819-1877), celebrated for the bold- ness with which he pushed realism to an extreme, especially in his famous Funeral at Ornans, but in spite of all his eccentricity of opinion and want of taste, a painter of un- usual power ; of Edouard Fr^ire (1819-1886), the painter of child-life and the poor ; of Gustave Dor^ (1832-1882), the illustrator of a thousand books, the painter of Christ leaving the Praetorium, and many another popular and striking picture, the most prolific pictorial genius, perhaps, that ever lived, and lastly, of Edouard Manet (1833-1883), the founder of the impressionist school ; of Jules Bastien- Lepage (1848-1884), painter of history, genre, and portrait, a leader of the modern reahsts, whose early death cut oflc a career of singular promise.]
BOOK IX. PAINTING IN ENGLAND.
Hogarth — Ketnolds — Wilkie — Turner.
ENGLISH Painting is a thing of recent growth. Its history belongs to the present day, and is therefore necessarily incomplete. We knew not in truth whether English art has as yet reached its blooming time, or, whether, as many signs lead us to hope, a still higher de- velopment awaits it in the future. Certain it is that some of the greatest painters that England has produced are now living and working amongst us, and although in the storm of contemporary criticism it is difficult to foretel the calm verdict of posterity, we may yet venture to believe that in future histories of art the English School of Paint- ing will not hold the unimportant position that has hitherto been assigned to it.^
The long-delayed birth of [pictorial] art in this coimtry is a circumstance that has been often commented upon but never satisfactorily explained. It is curious, no doubt, that art should have flourished at an early date not only in Italy, where congenial conditions may be supposed, but in the unpropitious Netherlands, with a climate and com-
[' This belief has already been fully justified. The great German ^'History of Painting,'* commenced by Woltman and Woermatm, and continued since Dr. Woltmann's death by Dr. Woermann alone, does honour to the English School. So also does the collection of studies of artists of all schools, called " Kunst and Kunstler," edited by Dr. Di>leme. In France more than one work has been specially devoted to the English School. The best known of these is M. Chesneau's " La Peinture Anglaise," of which a translation into English has been pub- lished by Messrs. Cassell and Co.]
c c
386 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOH IX.
mercial interests akin to our own, and yet should have entirely lacked an original development in England until as late as the middle of the eighteenth century. Yet so it was. All the various schools of Italy, Spain, Flanders, G-ermany, and Holland, had bloomed and decayed, and the French School had attained a considerable development before a national school of English painting was so much as founded. So long, indeed, was the artistic impulse in making itself felt in this country that Messrs. Redgrave have given to their comprehensive history of English painting the limited title of " A Century of Painters of the English School ; " ^ all the best of our English artists, with the exception of those still living, who do not come within the scope of their work being included within this period, which extends from the time of Hogarth to the middle of the present century.
But although our national English art can only be said to begin with Hogarth, there were a few English portrait- painters before his time who claim a passing notice.
Henry YIII., in imitation no doubt of his rivals Charles V. and Francis I„ was very desirous of being con- sidered a patron of the fine arts. He invited several great Italian painters, including Eaphael, over to England, and a few lesser Italian masters, probably pupils of Eaphael, really consented to exile themselves for a time from the land of taste and culture, and to accept the munificent patronage of the barbarian Goth, as they doubtless con- sidered our sturdy Tudor king. The German Holbein, however, was by far the greatest master ^whom Henry's munificence attracted to this country. He, as we have seen, found in England a second home, and his influence was deep and lasting on his successors. Many inferior English painters imitated their great German teacher, but although
^ " A Century of Painters of the English School, with Critical Notices of their Works, and an Account of the Progress of Art in England," by Richard and Samuel Eedgrave. 2 vols. London, 1866. This is the only history of English art that we as yet possess ; Horace Walpole's amusing " Anecdotes of Painting in England" being for the most part confined to foreign artists, Holbein, the Vandervelds, and others, who enjoyed English patronage. It affords to students a trust- worthy, and at the same time, most interesting guide to an acquaintance with the style and works of our English masters.
BOOK IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 387
numerous spurious Holbeins have been handed down to us, the names of none of these painters have been pre- served, and it is not until we come to Elizabeth's reign that we meet with our first noteworthy English portrait- painter, Nicholas Hilliard (1547-1619), of whom Dr. Donne wrote —
" An hand or eye By Hilliard dx-awn is worth a historye By a worst painter made."
Many of Hilliard* s miniatures (he was strictly a miniature- painter) are still in existence,^ and are highly prized by connoisseurs, more, possibly, on account of their rarity and curiosity than from their intrinsic merit as works of art.
Isaac Oliver (1555-1617), another miniaturist of Elizabeth's and James I.'s reigns, probably a pupil of Milliard's, likewise achieved a considerable reputation, and his son, Peter Oliver (1594-1654), and a painter named John Hoskins (died 1664), carried on the same branch of art with ability and great success in the following reigns.^
Charles I. had evidently a true love and taste for art, but although he honoured and employed Eubens and Tan- dy ck and made a splendid collection of the works of Italian masters, his patronage failed to produce one good English painter, unless we reckon as such William Dobson (1610- 1646), before mentioned as having gained the title of the English Vandyck, a master of feeble origiuality, but of some facility in portraiture ; and George Jamesone (1586- 1644), his Scotch contemporary, many of whose portraits reveal considerable power and skill.
^ Several were' exhibited in the first National Portrait Gallery, in 18G6.
^ [There has been, indeed, an unbroken succession of fine miniature painters, English by birth, from the days of Queen Elizabeth to our own, — an English "School," indeed, in this particular branch of art, more continuous than, perhaps, that of any other nation. For accounts of all the principal English miniaturists the reader is referred to Propert's " History of Miniature Art." Macmillan, 1887. One name in addition to those in the text must, however, be mentioned here — that of Samuel Cooper (1609-1672), the Vandyck in little, who painted Cromwell and the srreat men of the Commonwealth and the Restoration. 1
388 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IX.
Egbert Walker (died 1660), Cromwell's painter, who was not allowed to idealize his master's pimply visage, but was directed to " paint the warts and bumps," comes next, and after him two or three imitators and copyists, whose names need not be particularized.
In the time of Charles II. the Vanderveldes, Sir Peter Lely, and Sir Godfrey Kneller were the favoured masters, and the few miserable painters whom England then pro- duced assiduously copied the manner of these much be- lauded foreigners ; ^ of the two latter, that is to say, for even an imitation of the honest painting of Willem Van- dervelde was beyond the reach of that dissolute and effete age.
Allegory now became the fashion, and the Italian Verrio being invited over to England, walls, ceilings and stair- cases were soon covered by him, and in imitation of him, with the most unmeaning classical and so-called historical subjects, wherein real historical characters, in wonderful costume, were represented with the attributes of gods, sur- rounded by impersonated virtues ; and gods and goddesses, shepherds and shepherdesses, swains and nymphs disported themselves in foolish wantonness over acres of canvas.
" No reign," says Horace Walpole, " since the arts have been in any estimation, produced fewer works that will deserve the attention of posterity " than that of George I.
One master of this time, however, Jonathan Richard- son (1665-1745) deserves mention not so much on account of his painted works, although these were somewhat above the average mediocrity of his contemporaries, but because of his common- sensible art-criticisms which may still be read with profit, although their shrewd practicality con- trasts remarkably with the ethico-aesthetical criticism aimed at in the present day.^
^ [An exception to the ** miserable" painters, was Joseph Michakl Wright (d. 1700) a pupil of Jamesone. His fine portrait of Thomas Hobbes, the philosopher, when an old man, is in the National Portrait Oallery, And another was John Rilet [1646-1691), Court painter to William and Mary ; he also painted Charles II. and James II. There Are portraits by him in the National Portrait Gallery of Bishop Burnet, James II., Lord William Russell, and Waller.]
* His works are, " The Theory of Painting," " An Essay on the Art of Criticism so far as it relates to Painting,'' and " An Argument in be-
BOOK IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 389
Charles Jebvas, now chiefly known by Pope's eulogistic epistle, Thomas Hudson, a fashionable painter of heads,^ Francis Hayman, the recorder of the old splendour of Vauxhall, Francis Cotes, Allan Eamsat [the author of " The Gentle Shepherd "], and Sir James Thornhill, the father-in-law of Hogarth, end this line of mediocrities,^ and bring us down to the date when, for the first time, a great and original genius arose amongst English painters.
William Hogarth (1697-1764) was the son of a Westmoreland schoolmaster who had settled in London as a corrector of the press, and lived, we are told, " chiefly by his pen." Not being desirous that his son should live by the same precarious instrument, he early apprenticed him to a silver-plate engraver, one Ellis Gamble, who kej^t a shop in Cranbome Alley .^ Here the boy, who when at school had adorned his exercises with artistic ornament rather than with the graces of composition, first learnt the use of the graver, and soon grew ambitious to apply it to nobler purposes than the engraving of initials and heraldic devices on spoons and tankards. Accordingly, in 1718, when his apprentice years were over, we find him engraving copper plates for booksellers, plates which often sold for
half of the Science of a Connoisseur," published together, in one small quaint volume, by his son, in 1773. [In the National Portrait Gallery are portraits by Kichardson of Anne Oldfield, Pope, Prior, Steele, Lord Chancellor Talbot, and Vertue.]
^ He could not, it is said, even paint the draperies necessary to clothe his vacuities. [See note to page 393.]
[^ With the exceptions of Jervas and Thornhill, the painters named in this paragraph were junior to Hogarth, and Francis Cotes (1725-1770) was a fine portrait painter, whose reputation has lately been raised above the mediocrities. In the National Portrait Gallery there are portraits of Queen Caroline, Pope, and Martha Blount ; the Duchess of Queensbury, and Dean Swift, by Jervas (1675-1735); of Handel, Edward Willes, and Matthew Prior (the last, after Richardson), by Hudson (1701-1779); of the Earl of Chesterfield, Queen Charlotte, George III., Lord Mansfield, and Dr. Mead, by Kamsay (1709-1784) ; and of Sir Robert Walpole and himself by Havman (1718-1776). Sir James Thornhill was the decorator of St. PauFs Cathedral and Green- wich Hospital, and his compositions, if not works of genius, were at least grandiose and effective, and fulfilled their purpose of decoration better than those of any English artist since his time.]
[^ It was in accordance with his own wishes that Hogarth was apprenticed to Gamble.]
390 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IX.
little more tlian the mere worth of the copper.^ At the same time he studied drawing from the life in an academy in St. Martin's Lane, but it was not till after his runaway marriage with the daughter of Sir James Thornhill, Ser- jeant Painter to the King, that took place in 1729, that he appeared before the public as a painter.
In 1734 the prints of his first great series of paintings, the Harlot's Progress, were issued, and were quickly fol- lowed by the Rake's Progress, in 1735, and the still more celebrated Marriage a la Mode, in 1745. These works had a great success, but the engravings of them, executed by Hogarth himself, were, it would seem, more appreciated than the paintings, which sold for ridiculously small sums.^
This is not so surprising, for although his painting is of high excellence, the colouring true and forcible, and the execution careful, yet it is by his dramatic power of com- position, a power that makes itself felt as strongly in the colourless engraving as in the painted work, that he mostly ai^peals to the heart of mankind. His pictures, in truth, are not so much painted as they are written with the brush, in strong plain characters, conveying often terrible meanings. " Other pictures," says Charles Lamb, " we look at ; his prints, we read." His moral lessons are obvious, but they are forcible, his humour is deep and his satire keen and unsparing. He holds no truce with the devil, but shows up him and his children in a more fearful form than was ever depicted by the grotesque mediseval imagination.
His social dramas often rise to the height of the most terrible tragedies, even their laughter is akin to tears, and
[^ We have no information as to what price was paid for his early engravings, many of which were shop-bills, book-plates, and such small work. These, and the book illustrations, as for Mottraye's Travels and Hudibras, were, in all probability, commissions at a low scale of payment, but the notion that he executed plates on speculation, and sold ihem for the weight of the copper, or little more, rests on a doubtful statement by Nichols.]
[^ The sums were, Harlot's Progress, £88 45. ; Rake's Progress, £184 16s. ; Marriage a la Mode, £126. The price of the prints was very moderate. Harlot's Pi-ogress, £1 Is. ; Rake's Progress, £2 2s. j and Marriage a la Mode £1 lis. 6d. the set.
BOOK IX.J PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 391
whilst our lips are moved to a smile, we feel pitj or indig- nation in our hearts.
His characters are mostly drawn from the foolish or depraved classes of society, his mission being to lash folly and to brand vice, and such fearful pictures has he left us of the dissolute manners of his age, that we can scarcely believe that the stately, highborn gentlemen, and graceful, refined ladies that we meet with on Sir Joshua Reynolds* canvases, lived at the same time with the sinful and mise- rable wretches whose downward careers are so forcibly portrayed by his great contemporary.
It is impossible here to enter upon any description of Hogarth's numerous works. Fortunately they are so well- known that a description of them is but little needed. Even on the Continent, where English art has not as yet made much advance, we find his prints widely disseminated, and in Germany, especially, his genius has called forth much discriminative criticism and admiration. English students have an excellent opportunity of studying his art in its highest manifestation in the great Marriage a la Mode series which forms part of the National CoUection. Here, in this great pictorial drama, the author is seen at once as a painter — a master of the art of laying colour — a satirist, a moralist, and a great teacher of mankind.
Few can turn away unmoved from the contemplation of this tragic history, for although its many shafts of sarcasm, flying about in all directions, distract our attention for a time, we cannot help being in the end deeply affected by the terrible truths it conveys, truths set before us, it is true, in strong, even coarse language, but by this very reason, perhaps, piercing our indifference in a manner that no elegant allegory of virtue and vice, or wisdom and folly, could ever have done. It is the same in his other great tragedies of human life. Their incongruities, their adinix- ture of the terrible and the ridiculous may at first study excite our perceptions of the ludicrous; but as Charles Lamb truly remarks, ** when we have sacrificed the first emotion to levity, a very different frame of mind succeeds."
He himself tells us that he deliberately chose the path in art that lay " between the sublime and the grotesque," and in this wide region he has achieved an unparalleled
392 HISTORY OP PATNTINO. [bOOK IX.
success. Occasionally, indeed, lie steps beyond it, and in the terrible earnestness of passion attains almost to the height of the sublime ; but more often, on the other hand, he falls into caricature, from his having, as it would seem, an especial attraction towards the grotesque and whimsical forms of the human face.
As a portrait painter (he supported himself for some years at the beginning of his career by painting portraits), he was observant, faithful, and unflattering, painting his sitters simply as they sat before him, without idealization. His portrait of his own honest self, in nightcap, and with his dog, that of Captain Coram, in the Foundling Hospital, and that of his bright-faced, daring httle wife,^ recently exhibited among the " Old Masters," at the Royal Academy, are excellent examples of his skill.
Occasionally he tried his powers in the high historical style, then in vogue, but although his efforts in this line of art are by no means such unmitigated failures as they have often been represented to be, it is certain that the powerful bent of his genius was towards such scenes as the March to rinchley, Southwark Fair, Beer Street, the terrible Grin Lane, the Election Series, the Idle and Industrious Apprentices, the Enraged Musician, the Distressed Poet, and the three great series before mentioned.
Towards the close of his career, Hogarth appeared as a writer on art. His " Analysis of Beauty " was written, probably, to combat the false taste of his age in matters of art, a taste that he never lost an opportunity of ridiculing,'^ and which his own honest original work did more than anything else to counteract.
But although Hogarth was thus the first English painter
[^ Portraits by Hogarth of bis wife, were exhibited at the Boyal Academy in 1872, 1873, and 1876. The last, which now belongs to Mr. H. B. Mildmay, was at the Grosvenor Gallery Winter Exhibition this year (1888), together with twenty-four other pictures by Hogarth, including the fine group of David Garrick and his wife, and many other portraits. Several interesting pictures by Hogarth have recently been added to the National Gallery,]
^ Asj for instance, in the first picture of the Marriage a la Mode series, wherein the walls of the apartment in which the bargaining of birth against money takes place, are covered with grandiose works by "the black masters," as Hogarth called them, and the ceiling is ludicrously decorated with a painting of the Passage of the Eed Sea.
BOOK IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 393
to break through the conventions of tradition and imita- tion, and to establish a genuine and national style of art in England, he had no followers, strictly speaking ; no scholars, that is, who taught and carried on his own peculiar mode of expression.
He is the founder of English painting only in the sense of having been the first great original English master, and not as having been the typical master of a particular school, as we have seen with the various masters of schools in Italy. In truth, when we consider it, there is, as foreigners assert,^ no such thing as an English school of painting, or has not been until quite recently ; ^ for each English painter has apparently had too much individuality of mind to be able to take up the art of his predecessor or teacher, and to carry it to a still further point of perfection. Thus it happens that individual effort and genius have accompHshed much in our country, but that there has been no progressive development such as we see in the school ^ of Venice, for example, from Bellini to Titian, or in Florence from Giotto to Michael Angelo.
Whether this individual independence of English pain- ters is a thing to be lamented is difficult to decide. On the one hand it certainly strengthens original talent, but on the other it gives wider scope to unguided and mis- guided impulses which the erratic artists themselves too
• " Les Anglais," says Viardot, " ont port6 jnsque dans I'art, leur loi de Vhabeas corpus, cette liberie de la personne dont ils se montrent juste- ment si fiers et si jaloux."
[^ " The first exhibition of English painters in France took place in the Avenue Montaigne in 1855. For the French, it was a revelation of a style and a school, of the existence of which they had hitherto had no idea." — The English School of Painting, translated from the French of Ernest Chesneau. Cassell and Co., 1885.]
[^ The word ** School " is used in various senses. We talk of the School of a particular painter like Titian, the School of a country like Holland, the Schtiol, of a place like Florence, the School of an idea, like the Eclectic School, and the School of a genre, like the landscape School. All of these are, I think, represented in the history of English Art. There is the English School generally, the School of Norwich, the School of "High Art" as it was called, or more recently the Pre- Kaphaelite and the realistic Schools, and certainly the landscape School. These have not been without progressive development, or united en- deavour. May we not also speak of the School of Turner, or David Cox, or Rossetti ?]
394 HiSTOEY or painting. [book IX.
often mistake for inspirations — inspirations that would, probably, have been beneficially curbed by a little wise training. At all events, whether for good or evil, we find no united endeavour, like that which marks a school,' amongst English painters until the middle of the present century, when the little band of reformers known as the Pre-Eaphaelites first formed themselves into a brotherhood, or, as it is now appropriately styled, the Pre-Raphaelite School, wherein we have for the first time certain binding principles distinguishing English art.
Hogarth, however, if he did not found a school,^ at least re-opened the obstructed path to nature for his contempo- raries and successors, and down this cleared path, long hidden by a growth of sham sentiment and honest inca- pacity, he was followed more or less intelhgently by all the great English masters of the eighteenth century, who, however, instead of treading directly in his footsteps, turned from side to side garnering new truths, and observ- ing fresh beauties which each recorded in his own peculiar language.^
Sir Joshua Eeynolds (1723-1792), the second great English painter who rose on the horizon of the eighteenth century, resembled Hogarth only in going to nature for instruction, and casting aside the affectations of Lely and Kneller.
He was born at Plympton, in Devonshire, and was des- tined by his father for the medical profession. But from a child, " out of pure idleness," said his father, he was " given to the making of sketches ; " and the reading of Eichardson's " Theory of Painting," seems to have decided him to become a painter. Accordingly after some oppo- sition, he was [in 1741] apprenticed to Thomas Hudson, one of the most incapable of the incapable imitators of Kneller, and esteemed himself "very fortunate in being under such a master." *
^ See note 3 on p. 392.
[^ A list of Hogarth's principal paintings is to be found in Mr. Austin Dobson's *' Hogarth " in "The Great Artists " series (Sampson Low), ■which, despite its conciseness, is by far the most accurate and complete account of this master's life and achievement which has yet been published.]
p Hudson's incapacity has been taken too much for granted, because
BOOK IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 395
It was more fortunate, perhaps, that he did not learn much from such a master, nor remain with him long, for after two years' experience in Hudson's studio, we find him setting up for himself as a portrait painter in Devonport.
In 1749, by the kindness of Commodore Keppel, he was enabled to go to Italy, where he spent altogether three years, visiting Eome, Florence, Venice, Padua, and Bologna, studying the works and modus operandi of the great Italians, but never striving, so it would seem, to imitate or repro- duce their peculiar excellences. Already, in fact, the strength of originality lay within him, and he returned to England in 1752, to inaugurate a new era in portrait j)ainting.
His success was soon assured. Portrait painting, as before said, had always been the prevailing branch of art in England, not, perhaps, as Hogarth affirms, because " vanity and selfishness are the ruling passions " here, more than elsewhere, but because a less amount of skill was necessary to paint a tolerably faithful likeness (not a real living portrait, that is a totally different thing), than was required for the composition of even a small genre painting. English painters before Hogarth possessed none of the skill of hand of the Dutchmen. They were not attracted towards scenes of homely life, they had no feeling for out-door nature, their religion excluded the endless repetition of Virgins, Babes, and Saints, in which the Italians found exercise for their pencils, and nothing, therefore, was left to them but to reproduce as best they could the faces of the sitters who came to them "to be taken." This desirable object is achieved for all in the present day by photography, but in Sir Joshua's time, it was only, we must remember, the rich and the noble who could afford to have their features handed down to poste- rity by the painter's art.
he employed other artists to paint his draperies, but this has been done Ijy all, or nearly all, successful portrait paintere. The same drapery ])iiinter, Peter Toms, K.A., employed by Hudson, was also employed by Reynolds and by Cotes, and Hudson, if he had no great genius, tould paint soundly, and the fact of his having been the master of Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Joseph Wright, of Derby, should count for some- thing in his favour.]
396 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOZ IX.
Never before had that art been exercised with such delicate perception and subtle understanding, as it was by Sir Joshua. No wonder that fair women and stately- highborn men flocked to his studio, for whilst they saw their very thoughts, as it were, revealed on his canvas, and their individuality fully marked, they were yet lifted by the magic of his art far above the region of the common- place, into a realm of tender poetry and grace. For the art of Reynolds is not the mere mechanical skill of repro- ducing the exact counterfeit of the face of the sitter, as it appeared at the moment : his is not the trivial detail of a Denner, that " counted the hairs and mapped the wrinkles '* in a man's countenance. Perceiving how " much subtler is a human mind than the outside tissues which make a sort of blazonry or clock-face for it," ' he
*' Poring on a face Divinely through all hindrance finds the man Behind it, and so paints him that his face, The shape and colour of a mind and life, Lives for his children ever at its best." *
" There is a look of distinction," says one of his recent critics,^ " about everything he does. His portraits have all the * hel air,' like Henry Esmond. To wander througli a gallery of them is to wander through a court where the manners are sweet because of goodness, and graceful with- out effort, because the grace is inborn." Yes, the grace and the goodness too were truly inborn, for they were in the mind of the painter himself, and as he painted all his portraits in the light of his " mind's eye," and not in the glaring noon-day of matter of fact, it is not surprisiiiu' that we find in them a certain subjective ideality, whi^ heightens their charm, while it is never allowed to int( . fere with the actual truth of the portraiture. This he never sacrifices. " Considered as a painter of individuality, in the human form and mind," says Kuskin, ** I think him even as it is, the prince of portrait painters." *
The same great authority classes him also, as one of the " seven great colourists of the world," and truly whilst
^ George Eliot, " Middlemarch." ^ Tennyson.
" Austin Dobson. ^ " The Two Paths," Lect. 2.
BOOK IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 397
estimating his mental and moral qualities, we must by no means overlook his great technical skill. He was a painter to the heart's core, and loved his colours as other men love theii- children, only unfortunately he was always experimenting with them, seeking new pigments, Venetian methods, and such like, and thus it happens that many of his best works hare now utterly faded, or have become the mere shadows of their former selves.
His industry must have been surprising. England literally teems with his works ; besides the private houses in which they abound, they are met with in almost every gallery and exhibition. There are several notable ones at South Kensington easily accessible to the student, and many, including his famous Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse, have been recently exhibited at the Royal Academy. He is pre-eminently our national portrait painter.
Honours were not wanting in the equable life of the amiable Sir Joshua. In 1768 the Royal Academy was founded, and he was unanimously elected its first Presi- dent. He was knighted on this occasion, and on the death of Allan Ramsay, became Court painter. His *' Discourses on Painting," delivered at the Royal Academy, contain much judicious criticism and valuable advice to the art student ; indeed they still rank as one of the most important English works on the theory of art. Their literary merit also is considerable.
One of the most kindly and courteous of men, Sir Joshua was beloved by all who knew him, and he reckoned amongst his friends such men as Johnson, Goldsmith, Burke, Garrick, and many other members of the celebrated " Literary Club," of which he himself was a member. All these men have a certain tenderness of tone in speaking of their favourite Sir Joshua. Dr. Johnson writes to him : *' If I should lose you, I should lose almost the only man whom I call a friend," and Goldsmith, as we know, found it impossible, even in his " Retaliation," to retaliate with one single sarcasm on his gentle painter friend/
^ " Here Reynolds is laid, and to tell you my mind. He has not left a better or wiser behind. His pencil was striking, resistless, and grand ; His manners were gentle, complying, and bland.
398 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOZ IX.
The third great name that marts the rise of the English school of painting in the eighteenth century is that of Thomas G-ainsboeouqh (1727-1788). [Born at Sudbury, in Suffolk, he spent some four years in London under Hayman, and at the St. Martin's Lane Academy. He married at the age of nineteen and returned to Ipswich. About 1758 he settled at Bath, where his portraits gained him a name. He was one of the foundation members of the Eoyal Academy.] Although bearing some affinity with Sir Joshua Reynolds, with whom he is often compared, Grainsborough's works have a distinct character of their own, so that there is no mistaking them for those of his great rival. His portraits are colder in colour than those of Reynolds, who at times almost rivalled the Venetians in his warm magnificence, but they are never inharmonious and are set in a pure atmosphere of silvery light, that en- velopes them, as it were, in a soft haze of dreamy delight.
It was for his portraits that Gainsborough was most esteemed by his contemporaries, his landscapes scarcely gaining the least notice in his own day. Connoisseurs had not then learnt, indeed, to appreciate the truthful render- ing of rural English scenery and scenes of country life ; but it is one of Grainsborough's strongest claims on the gratitude of posterity, that he was the first English artist who found inspiration in the beauty of his o-wq native land, and who depicted its simple features with loving truth.
Like the genuine Dutch landscape painters, he found beauty enough to fill his heart in the fields and woods of home, without seeking it in Roman Campagnas, blue lakes, and classical ruins, or, as so many Italianisers have done, in Claude's or Salvator Rosa's pictures.
Several of his finest landscapes are in the National Gallery, where also may be seen his lovely and expressive portrait of Mrs. Siddons, which, although inferior in power
Still, born to improve us in every part —
His pencil our faces, his manners our heart.
To coxcombs averse, yet most civilly steering,
When they juflged without skill he was still hard of hearing.
When they talked of their Kaffaelles, Correggios, and stuff,
He shifted his trumpet, and only took snuif."
Goldsmith, Retaliation.
BOOK IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 8D&
to Eevnolds's glorious Tragic Muse, yet exercises over us a peculiar, indefinable charm.
His small rustic subjects, also, are truly delightful ; full of the breath of country air and country simplicity, uncontaminated by railway smoke and ignorant of steam ploughs.
Many of these smaller works are distinguished for a wonderful delicacy of execution, and in spite of his " habit of hatching," as Reynolds calls it, a habit gained, no doubt, from his early education under an engraver, which makes his work often appear slight and sketchy, it could never have been carelessly done, for however easy and rapid the execution, it never fails in its effect.
George Eomney^ (1734-1802) achieved in his lifetime a fame that was almost equal to that of his great rivals, Reynolds and G-ainsborough, but, unfortunately, posterity has not, as in their cases, seen fit to confirm the flattering judgment of his contemporaries. " Reynolds and Romney,'* writes Lord Thurlow, " divide the town. I am of the Romney faction." None are of the Romney faction now, and even the real cleverness of his paintings is apt to be overlooked. He was a man of a weak, susceptible, egotistic nature, whose faults were fostered by the universal flattery that he received, especially from his friend, poet, and bio- grapher, Hayley, who was also the friend and eulogist of Cowper. His fitful genius would not submit to the dry detail of work. He was always seeking to soar to heaven by the aid of fancy alone, but his works somehow, in spite of their pretensions, " drop groundwards," whilst the amiable, painstaking Reynolds, who never thought about his genius, reached the heaven which Romney attempted to scale.
Romney is especially famous for his graceful female heads.
Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) succeeded Sir Joshua and Romney as the supremely fashionable portrait painter of his age. Wonderful stories are told of his precocious cleverness. He was no doubt a remarkable child, but un- happily he and his friends mistook his early facility in taking portraits for innate genius, and considering that
' [The portraits of Komney have risen very greatly in public estima- tion since this was written. See concluding note].
400 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IX.
sucli extraordinary talents needed no cultivation, at an age when most young artists are only beginning their course of study he was launched as a full-blown portrait painter in Bath, where he charged a guinea and a guinea and a half for his crayon heads.
Coming up to London in 1787, he was admitted a student of the Royal Academy, where his remarkable beauty and his facile skill created such a sensation that the students judged that "nothing less than a young Raphael had sud- denly dropt among them."
Nor did his after success belie his flattering reception by the London world. Never was painter more courted, more flattered, more " the rage," than the inkeeper's clever son. Kings, emperors, and popes loaded him with honours and commissions, and fair ladies esteemed themselves happy if only they were allowed to simper on his canvas. But in spite of his unbounded reputation the truth remains that this dextereus Sir Thomas was by no means a heaven- inspired genius, but only a clever painter of Court and fashion, in which line he stands perhaps unrivalled.
EicHARD Wilson^ (1714-1782) comes next in date to Hogarth amongst our English painters, but I have deferred speaking of him until after the great triumvirate, Hogarth, Reynolds, and G-ainsborough, because his line of art is essen- tially different from theirs. Not even with G-ainsborough, who likewise made landscape his study, had Wilson the least afiinity, for Wilson's landscapes were not painted in the misty fields of England, but were composed under the influence of Poussin, Salvator Rosa, and Claude. He looked at nature, it is true, for himself, and no doubt imagined that he was faithfully reproducing what he saw before him ; but he looked at her, so to speak, not with his own untutored eyes, but through the spectacles with which his study of the above-named masters had provided him, and so it hai:)pened that he could only perceive in nature the truths and the colours that he had before learnt to see in their paintings.
But although Wilson has not contributed one truth from his own unaided observation to the general treasury, we owe him some gratitude for having sacrificed himself, for a
\} See concluding note, p. 416.]
BOOK IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 401
sacrifice it truly was, to that long-neglected branch of his art — landscape-painting. He began life as a portrait- painter, and achieved some success, but when first in Italy he was moved by the praises of Zuccarelli and Vemet to devote himself to landscape, in which he had already shown much proficiency.
But landscape painting was but little esteemed at that time in England. The general taste for art was still very low, and only portrait painting was in any sense properly appreciated and rewarded. At all events Wilson's land- scapes, although admitted to be the best that his country had produced, failed to please the popular taste. They would not sell, and the painter was left to struggle un- heeded with poverty, which would indeed have amounted to absolute want had he not obtained the small post of librarian to the Royal Academy, by means of which he just managed to maintain himself. Towards the close of his life he succeeded to a small property in Wales, to which he retired from London, where, as he expressed it, he had found no one " mad enough to employ a landscape-painter."
Such was the experince of Richard Wilson, the fore- runner of Turner, and the first English artist who ventured to walk in what has since become a national and well- trodden path.
A few foreign artists settled in England, several of whom were amongst the first members of the Royal Academy, founded as before mentioned in 1768, still shared with Englishmen the favour and patronage of the public. Of these the most important were Giovanni Cipriani, an insipid Italian mannerist, such as only the eighteenth century could have produced, and Johann Zopfany, a German of considerable ability in his own limited path, as is evident by his best-known work, the Life School of the Royal Academy, with portraits of the Academicians, recently exhibited in the Old Masters at the Royal Academy ; ^ and
P He went to India in 1783, and has left some admirable pictures of Anglo-Indian life, such as Embassy of Hyder-Beck to Calcutta, and the Ti^er Hunt, well-known by en«;raving. He was also an excellent painter of stage-scenes, with portraits of Garrick and other celebrated actors of the day. Another clever painter of theatrical portraits was George Clint, the engraver 11770-1854).]
D P
402 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [eOOK IX.
the mucli-extolled Angelica Kauffman, the " fair Angelica " as she was called, who, by reason of her womanhood, her learning, her amiabihty, and the interest that was excited by her unfortunate marriage, attracted a far larger repu- tation than was really her due as an artist.^ Francesco ZuccARELLi and Philip de Loutherbourg, two artificial painters of so-called landscape, were more successful in hitting the popular taste than poor dreary English Wilson. Zuccarelli's foolish pastorals were especially in demand.
If great aims and the choice of great themes made great painters, then the next group of English artists that claims our attention might truly be called great, but, un- fortunately, most of these artists in trying to fly with the mechanical wings of an Icarus, dropt like that unlucky hero of old, into the sea, whereas they might probably, had they chosen to have made use of the Hmbs with which nature had provided them, have walked safely and profit- ably on common ground. But they were all deluded by an abstraction that they called " High Art." They had no ** wondrous patteme " of divine beauty before their eyes like the ideal painters of Italy ; the " images " they beheld were of this earth, and exceedingly common-place, but none the less they strove to express their poor little conceptions in the lofty language of the great masters, a language which they designated as high art, not perceiving that the imitative grandeur of the language only served to make more apparent the poorness of the original idea.
Benjamin West (1738-1820), the successor of Sir Joshua Eeynolds in the presidency of the Eoyal Academy, was an American by birth, and a Quaker by religion. Wonderful stories are told of his early precocity; "In- deed," says a biograj^her, "had he been a greater than Michael Angelo, more mysterious occurrences, more mys- tical warnings, could not have accumulated around him." In truth, it would seem, that here, if anywhere, the genius
^ The engravings from her works amount, Wornum tells us, to several hundreds, showing her vast popularity in her own day, whilst the obscurity into which these engravings have fallen, testify to the small amount of value set upon her work at the present day. [Again has come a change of taste, and these engravings are as much sought after now as they were neglected when this book was published.]
BOOK IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 403
must have been inborn, that had its origin amidst a society of Quakers in Pennsylvania, in the middle of the eighteenth century. But in spite of the original adaptation of the cat's tail for pur23oses of art, this young Benjamin had no real originality of mind.
After a three years' study in Italy, where he became imbued with the traditions of Academic art, but remained curiously insensible to the real excellences, especially that of colour, of the old masters, he came to England in 1763, and partly, perhaps, by virtue of royal patronage (he was George the Third's favourite painter), soon became rich and famous. We cannot now understand the enthusiasm that his tame works once excited, but even Leslie tells us that when he first came to London he thought West as great a painter as Eaphael.
His most famous picture, however, is one in which he deserted for once the path of high art, and dared to repre- sent the Death of Wolfe as a scene of contemporary history, with the figures dressed in the costume of the day. Such an innovation (for hitherto such subjects had always been set forth in classical guise or disguise), called forth much criticism, and Barry even went as far as to show his contempt for this modem mode of treatment, by painting a classical death of Wolfe with no costume at all.
Unfortunately he did not follow the example he had set, but continued to paint such subjects as the Departure of Regulus from Rome, The Banishment of Cleombrotus, Orestes and Pylades, Death on the Pale Horse, and high religious themes, of his feeble rendering of which we have a specimen in his large picture of Christ Healing the Sick, in the National .Gallery.
An artist of still higher aims than West was James Barry (1741-1806), the son of a coasting trader and inn- keeper of Cork. Study in Italy, for which his countryman Burke supplied the funds, inspired him with the ambition to revive the glory of classic art, and mistaking his powers he imagined himself fully qualified for the task. On coming to London in 1771, he exhibited an Adam and Eve, painted whilst in Italy, and soon after a Venus rising from the Sea, thus by his subjects at once entering into compe- tition with the greatest masters. But although elected a
404 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IX.
member of the Royal Academy, the world iii general failed to recognize his self-asserted genius, and he was left almost to starve in his devotion to High Art. This neglect made him bitter in spirit, and irritable in temper. He led an unhappy, quarrelsome and lonely life, but a noble one in so far that he never for the sake of gain deserted the high path he had chosen. He was supported in it, doubtless, by the hope of future fame, but even that poor solace has been denied to him, his works proving to us even more (dearly than to his contemporaries, that his efforts after grandeur went beyond his strength. His greatest work, indeed it might almost be said his only work, consists of a series of paintings in the meeting room of the Society of Arts in the Adelphi, setting forth in six classical subjects, the History of the Civilization of Man. Here the artist's lofty aims, classical taste, and alas ! weak powers, are fully made manifest.
Henry Fuseli (1741-1825), the kindly-hearted, but sharp-tongued professor of painting in the Eoyal Academy, had perhaps more originality than either of the artists above-named, but his genius was of a most erratic and un- disciplined kind, and his efforts at the sublime too often resulted in the ridiculous. He delighted in the terrible and the weird in art, but his weird effects remind one too much of the sulphur and lime lights of the theatre to be truly appalling. Nevertheless, he had a decidedly poetic imagina- tion, and had he been content with less ambitious themes than the Bridging of Chaos,^ and similar subjects, he might have left us many pleasant fanciful pictures.
James Singleton Copley (1737-1815), James North- coTE (1746-1831), John Opie (1761-1807), John Hamil- TON Mortimer (1741-1779), G-eorge Henry Harlow,
^ The Bridging of Chaos was one of the subjects of the Milton Gallery, a series of forty-eight pictures from the works of Milton, all by his own hand, which Fuseli exhibited to an unappreciative public in 1800. The Boydell Gallerj^, promoted by Alderman Bo^'dell in 1786, was an exhibition of a similar kind, only Shakespeare was here the in- spiring poet. Some of Fiiseli's best woi'ks were executed for this cele- brated gallery, to which West, Barry, Opie, Northcote, Romney, Stot- hard, and many oth-^rs likewise contributed. The engravings from this series are well known, but the works themselves are scattered, nor is their loss much to be regretted.
BOOK IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND 405
(1787-1819), and William Hilton (1786-1837), all devoted themselves more or less (several made money by portraiture as well), to what they considered historical painting, some- times, as in Copley's Death of the Earl of Chatham, and The Death of Major Pierson, representing events from con- temporary English history, and sometimes choosing scenes from the Bible, the poets, and the history of past times.
David Scott of Edinburgh (1806-1849), also appren- ticed to engraving, was largely influenced by Blake's works, and was successful rather as a designer than a painter. Of his large and ambitious paintings, ** Vasco di Grama," his latest work, now at Leith, may be considered as the " matured expression of his art."
Benjamin Robert Hatdon was about the last of the self-constituted martyrs to High Art. He determined that he would be a Raphael, Titian and Michael Angelo in one, " or die in the trial," and he did die in the trial, alas ! by his own hand. The history of his " clamorous frenzied life, with its sound and fury, its strength and weakness, its feverish energy, and unsound ambition," has been recorded up to its last hour by himself. It is one of the saddest in the annals of painting.^
In contradistinction to Haydon and the other devotees to High Art, stands the simple-minded Scotchman, David WiLKiE (1785-1841), who at the outset of his career, determined " to work hard, because he was not a genius."
Wilkie stands next after Hogarth, as the greatest painter of familiar life of the English School ; he differs, however, widely from the great moral satirist, not only in the class of subjects that he chose for representation, but likewise, in the emotions that his art calls forth. His aim is not so much to give a severe warning to the profligate, to hold up vice to reprobation and folly to scorn, as it is to claim our compassion for the unfortunate, our sympathy in the joys and sorrows of humble life, and to awaken our interest in
" Things we have passed Perhaps a hundred times, nor cared to see."
"Wilkie," says Ruskin, "becomes popular like Scott,
• Autobiography of Robert Haydon.
406 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IX.
because he tonclies passions which all feel and expresses truths that all can recognize." His pictures, indeed, ap- peal to the meanest understandings, and have no need of explanations like those of the painters above mentioned, many of which puzzle the unlearned visitor to exhibitions exceedingly.
Coming up to London when he was scarcely twenty years of age, the " raw, tall, pale, queer Scotchman," as Haydon called him, achieved a success that he himself described as " jest wonderful," by the exhibition, in 1806, of his Village Politicians. This inimitable work was speedily followed by the Blind Fiddler, the Eent-Day, the Village Festival, Distraining for Rent, the Penny Wedding, Reading the Will, and others that have made the name of David Wilkie a household word in many homes.
Late in his career, after a journey to Italy and Spain (a journey undertaken in search of health), Wiikie completely changed his style of painting, and instead of the careful Dutch-like execution and elaborate finish of his earlier time, exhibited works remarkable for their effective, but slight execution. His class of subjects was also changed, and instead of the simple scenes of humble life in which he formerly took delight, we find him choosing the more am- bitious path of historical painting. In this, critics mostly agree that he was unsuccessful, but the pictures that he painted in this latter style are not many.
In 1840 he undertook a journey to the East, with the view, it would seem, of painting the scenes of Scripture history with a greater truth than artists had hitherto thought it necessary to give, but he died at sea on liis homeward voyage, before realising his aim.^
William Mulready (1786-1863), comes next after Wilkie ^ in his natural expression of the scenes of familiar life, but he deals with the emotions of childhood rather than with the more complex passions of later life. His works have not the dramatic force of Wilkie' s, but they are especially distinguished by their excellent drawing (a
^ His burial at sea forms the subject of a fine picture by Turner.
[^ Some other ffenre painters seem to deserve some mention here, such as Edward Bird (1762-1819). Andrew Geddes (1789-1844) and T. S. Good (1789-1872).]
BOOK IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 407
quality in which Wilkie by no means excelled) and harmo- nious coloiu". Leslie, Newton, Egg, and many other well-known artists, belong to a large class of genre painters, that chooses its subjects rather from the upper than the lower grades of social life, and especially delights to illus- trate life as it is seen reflected in the pages of the novel or the poem. Even when dealing with history these painters still treat their subject in a genre-like manner, and care little for the classical dignity which the before mentioned class of history painters strove to infuse into their works. Like the Dutch Terburg these artists delight in rich cos- tume and splendid accessories ; but, although not approach- ing the Dutchman in execution, their works are seldom so inane and trivial as his, and often possess a strong human interest, as is apparent, for instance, in Egg's Life and Death of the Duke of Buckingham, in his Past and Pre- sent, and in many of Leslie's pleasant illustrations from Shakespeare, Cervantes and Moliere.
William Etty (1787-1849) sought to rival the Vene- tians in the expression of sensuous beauty. " Finding," he says, " G-od's most glorious work to be woman, that all human beauty had been concentrated in her, I resolved to dedicate myself to painting, not the draper's or milliner's work, but God's most glorious work, more finely than had ever been done." Whether his powers were equal to this task is a question upon which critics disagree.
Before coming to the greatest name in the annals of English painting, it will be well to note the rise and growth of a new and peculiarly national mode of painting. " In her excellent water-colour painting," says a foreign critic,^ " England has reached unsurpassable perfection," and yet the earliest artists who excelled in the modern use of water-colour do not date back further than the middle of the past century. Water-colour painting had, of course, been practised long before this time, both abroad and in England ; indeed, as we have seen, some mode of water- colour painting was known and used by missal painters, and miniaturists, before oil painting was even invented ; but the peculiar beauty and enlargement given to the art
* Dr. Liibke.
408 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IX.
in England, grew not so much out of the methods of the early illuminators, as out of the humbler work of the topo- grapher, which was often tinted with transparent washes, to indicate local colour.
Our first water-colour artists were in truth simple topo- graphers, and it was not until John Cozens (1752-1799) and Thomas G-irtin (1775-1802) elevated the art bv their more picturesque and poetical treatment of landscape, that its capabilities were fully seen.
Grirtin was the worthy forerunner of Turner in landscape art, and his works well mark the progress of water-colour from its simple and useful application by the topographer to its noble development in the works of Turner.
Joseph Malloed William Turner (1775-1851) was the son of a hairdresser and barber, of Maiden Lane, Covent G-arden, and his first works were exhibited, it is said, in company with the barbers' blocks that decorated his father's shop- window. His love of nature, in spite of his birth and growth in the very heart of London, must have been early developed, for as soon as he was old enough to be trusted out alone he appears to have wandered forth into the country, or along the banks of his favourite Thames, noting with observant mind and open sketch-book the varied aspects of the scenes he passed. At the age of fourteen he was admitted as a student of the Eoyal Academy, but his chief employment for some time was in washing in backgrounds for architects, and making topographical drawings for engravers. For the latter pur- pose he travelled, we are told, over all England, "mostly on foot, twenty to twenty-five miles a day, with his bag- gage tied up in a handkerchief, and swinging on the end of his stick."
His greatest friend at this time was Thomas Girtin, from whom, probably, he acquired his knowledge of water- ''' colours, and that predilection for their use that he ever afterwards retained.^ Almost all his early sketches are in water-colour, and even in his later oil-paintings we find him constantly endeavouring to produce the same delicate effects in oil as those he had obtained in the more trans-
[^ It is impossible to say from whom Turner learnt to use water* colours, but he could do so probably long before he met Girtin.]
BOOK IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 409
parent medium. By Girtin, Turner was introduced to Dr. Munro, of the Adelphi, who employed both the young artists to sketch for him at the price, it is recorded, of half-a-crown and their supper for an evening's work.
In 1799 Turner was elected an associate of the Academy, and in 1802 a full academician, facts that go far to prove that even if " Great England of the iron heart" remained, as Ruskin asserts, for a long time unmindful of the greatest of her painters, his genius was at least recognized by his brother artists.
In his early style Turner no doubt adopted much from Wilson and Claude, indeed, he often seems to have painted in direct rivalry with these masters,^ but his originality was too intense for any but conscious imitation, and, although he availed himself of the results of the labours of preceding artists, he nevertheless, from his earliest youth, received his sole inspiration from nature. " None before Turner," writes Turner's great expounder, "had lifted the veil from the face of nature ; the majesty of the hills and forests had received no interpretation, and the clouds passed unre- corded from the face of the heaven they adorned, and the earth to which they ministered."
And yet his art did not lie in the literal transcription of nature. His was not the skill to count the blades of grass, and reproduce, without variation, the exact aspect of the scene before him. No! Every scene that he has represented is bathed, so to speak, in the mystic poetry of his own imagination. He painted his portrait of the earth not merely as it appeared to him at any one given moment, but with a true comprehension of all its past history, of the earthquakes that had shaken it, the storm-winds that had swept over it, and the loveliness that still clung to it. He has revealed to us this loveliness in all its varying aspects — in its joy and in its sadness, in its brightness and its gloom, in its pensive mood and in its fierce madness, ih its love and in its hate, but the portrait, although true in the highest sense, is never directly copied from nature,'
^ As, for instance, in the two famous pictures that he directed should be hung between the two Claudes in the National Gallery.
' " Although he made hundreds of studies from nature," says Red- grave, '* he never seems to have painted a picture out of doors."
410 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IX.
for he painted, like Raphael and all great idealists, from an image or ideal in his own mind. But this ideal was founded on the closest observation and study of the real. Before 1800, that is to say, before he was five-and-twenty, the subjects of his exhibited works alone ranged over twenty-six counties of England and Wales,^ showing how much he must have travelled and the constant communion that he held with nature.
The Fifth Plague of Egypt, a work in subject and treatment strongly reminiscent of Wilson, was exhibited by Turner in 1800.^ This was quickly followed by Calais Pier, the Garden of Hesperides, and the grand picture of Jason,^ which may be taken as the finest example of his first style, or, as Ruskin calls it, his student time.*
In 1815 this early style culminated in the well-known pictures. Crossing the Brook, and Dido Building Carthage, and from this time until 1835 he worked in what is called his second style, pouring forth such visions of earth's beauty as the Bay of Baiae, the Ulysses and Polyphemus, Palestrina, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, and the Golden Bough.
To his third style or period, extending from 1835 to 1845, and distinguished, according to Euskin, by *' swift- ness of handling, tenderness and pensiveness of mind, exquisite harmony of colour, and perpetual reference to nature only, issuing in the rejection of precedents and idealism," belong the magnificent Phryne, Ancient and Modern Italy, and above all, the glorious Fighting Teme- raire, but still it must be admitted that several of the more mystic works of this period are sufiiciently impalpable to give rise to the criticism that regards them simply as the evidences of a noble mind o'erthrown.^
^ Eedgrave, " Century of English Painters."
^ His first exhibited oil-painting was the small picture of Moonlight, a studj at Millbank, now in the National Collection, which was sent to the Academy in 1797. Before this all his woi'ks seem to have been in water-colour.
^ Exhibited at the British Institution in 1808.
* See Buskin's remarks on the " Jason " of the Liber Studiorum, a " reminiscence" of this picture. " Modern Painters," vol. ii. p. 164.
* " Je ne veiix pas chercher," says Viardot, " d'autre preuve de I'etat d'insanite ou 11 a termini sa vie." Aytoun also remarks, " Far be it
BOOK IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 411
In his life and his art alike Turner remains a mystery.. His greatness and his littleness, his strength and his weakness, constantly perplex us by their contradictions. Even his very speech was enigmatical, and his lectures and instructions to students at the Academy were so obscure as to be unintelligible to most. " Rare advice it was," says Redgrave, " if you could unriddle it, but so myste- riously given or expressed that it was hard to com- prehend."
His life was singularly uneventful, being passed wholly in pursuit of his art. Solitary and self concentred, he dwelt like Rembrandt apart from men, in the world of his own creations. Death found him at last, an old man of seventy-six, under an assumed name, in a small lodging overlooking the river he had loved and studied from childhood.
He was buried, by his own desire, in the crypt of St. Paul's, by the side of Sir Joshua Reynolds, but the noblest monument raised to his memory, is the five volumes of Modem Painters, the author of which tells us that he has "given fifteen years of his life to ascertain that this Turner, of whom you have known so little, will one day take his place beside Shakespeare and Yerulam, in the annals of the light of England."
With the name of Turner, this slight outline of the history of English painting may fitly end, for space will not permit of more than the mention of the simple un- affected art of John Constable (1776-1837), the rustic life depicted by William Collins (1788-1847), the verdure of Thomas Creswick (1811-1869), and the magnificent and truthful sea painting of William Clarkson Stan- field (1793-1867), "the leader of English realists." All these painters have achieved a noble success in the long-
from me to decry eccentricity ; but really, when a gentleman has spread the scrapings of his palette upon a milled board, and deliberately sat down upon it, it is rather a cool thing to send it, without any further preparation, to a gallery of art, under the title of ' Neapolitan Girls siartled — Bathing by Moonlight.' " Such is a specimen of the criticism ti) which Turner is frequently subjected by less enthusiastic critics than Jolin Kuskin. He did not paint to be understood by everybody ; indeed, judging from an anecdote related of him, he was offended if told that any one UDderstood his meaning.
412 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IX.
deserted patli of landscape, and by their faithful study, and truthful representation of nature have done much to destroy that false taste in art so long prevalent in England, which preferred pseudo-classic "compositions" to the honest expression of the truths of nature.
The English school is now generally acknowledged to stand pre-eminent in landscape amongst all the various schools of painting of the present day, nor need it fear any decline, whilst it can still produce such landscapes as many of those which have adorned the walls of the Royal Academy during the last few years.^
In animal painting also, under the veteran. Sir Edwin Landseer,'^ one of the few of our English painters who have attained European celebrity, the English school takes the lead.
Domestic genre, as it may be called, is, however, the prevailing style of English painting at the present day, and it cannot much be wondered at, that foreign critics laugh and sneer at the enormous number of English artists, who draw their inspiration solely from the wells of home life, and represent sentimental lovers, pretty children and happy mothers in unending sameness. A more ideal style has, nevertheless, lately been manifest in some of our greatest painters, and whilst we still have such men as ilolman Hunt, Frederick Leighton,^ John Everett Millais,* Dante G-abriel Eossetti,* Frederick Watts, Philip Calderon, F. A. Walker,^ and James Sant, working in their full strength amongst us, there is no need to fear that English painting is falling into decadence; on the contrary, we may justly hope from the fresh energy that it has recently put forth, that a nobler and fuller development awaits it in the future.
\} This is still more true now (1888) than when it was written.] [2 Died 1873.] [ ^ Now Sir Frederick Leighton, Bart.]
[* Now Sir John Everett Millais, Bart.] [» Died 1882.]
f Died 1875.]
BOOK IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 413
CONCLUDING NOTE.
I HAVE thought it better to leave this short summary of the history of the English School with little altera- tion or addition. It reflects faithfully the author's views as to the painting of her own country, and also represents the relative importance which the English School bore in public estimation to those of other countries, at the time this concise history was first published. It is only fifteen years ago ; but since then the School as a whole has greatly increased in importance, its history has been more care- fully studied, the merits of its different artists more exactly examined, and in many cases old verdicts have been reversed. How this has all been brought about would take too long to tell ; but perhaps the main source of our changes of opinion has been the more frequent opportunity of studying the works of English painters which has been afforded by large collections of pictures lent by private owners.
The Winter Exhibitions at the Royal Academy and the Orosvenor Gallery, and the local exhibitions at Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and other places, sometimes de- voted to the work of a single artist, have borne fruitful results. So it has happened that some painters have at- tracted attention who are not mentioned in this book, al- though not aUve when it was published ; and others have assumed a far greater importance in the history of British art. A few words about these artists, and a few more about others who have died since 1873, are necessary to -complete this sketch of the History of Painting in England. It will be most convenient to take them according to ■class. First, then, of the portrait painters, Sir Hknry Raeburn (1756-1823) owed his comparative neglect since
414 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IX.
his death to the fact that his works had been little seen in England, for he lived in Edinburgh, where he held much the same position as Eeynolds in England, and his portraits are rare on this side of the Tweed. In his day, however, he received due honour from English artists. Reynolds befriended him. He was a constant exhibitor for many years at the Eoyal Academy, and was elected an Associate in 1813, and a full member of the Academy in 1814. He was knighted by Greorge IV. on his visit to Edinburgh in 1822, and afterwards appointed His Majesty's Limner for Scotland. In 1812 he was elected President of the Society of Artists in Edinburgh. The characteristics of his art are the strength with which he represented the individuality of his sitter, and his broad, masterly handling. He is one of the few British artists represented in the Louvre, and a fine full-length portrait by him has recently been added to the National Gallery.
It was not till the large collection of his works at Derby in 1883 that the full scope of the art of Joseph Wright, of Derby (1734-1797), could be studied by the present generation. He, too, as Raebum, has suffered from the confinement of his works to the region of their production — in and about his native town of Derby. He was, how- ever, better known in London than Eaebum was, on account of the number of fine mezzotint engravings by Valentine G-reen, W. Pether, J. Raphael Smith, and others v/hich, popular in their day, still linger on the walls of many a house throughout the country. His large portrait groups seen by strong artificial light are the most powerful and individual of his works. Perhaps the finest of all — A Philosopher Giving a Lecture on the Air Pump — is in the National Gallery ; but of similar merit are The Orrery and The Gladiator, while the pathetic picture of The Dead Soldier, engraved in line by J. Heath, was perhaps the most popular of all. The Exhibition at Nottingham showed that he deserved a higher place among the portrait painters of England than had hitherto been allowed to him, that his groups of children were charmingly natural, his repre- sentations of men and women characteristic and thought- ful, and that in what may be called poetical portraiture few works of his time were more graceful than his Edwin (from
BOOK IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 415
Beattie's " Minstrel ") and Maria (from Sterne). In his day he was also celebrated as a landscape painter, espe- cially for scenes with fireworks and conflagrations; but, though an able and an original landscape painter, his reputation in this line has not been sustained at its original level. There are two or three portraits by Joseph Wright in the National Portrait G-allery, including a singularly fine one of himself.
Of other portrait painters of what may now be called the Old School the names of John Jackson (1778-1831), John Hoppner (1759-1810), Oeorge Henry Harlow (1787-1819), and Sir William Beechey (1753-1839), are perhaps the most celebrated. The reputation of Hoppner, the rival of Sir Thomas Lawrence, has much increased within the last few years ; and among the many beautiful miniature painters of the last and present century, the exquisite works of Richard Cosway (1740-1821) are specially prized.
Portrait painting as an art has latterly so much advanced in general estimation, and has been practised with such re- markable power by artists like Watts, Millais, Ouless, Holl, Herkomer, and other living painters, that the por- traitists of the previous generation appear to us to com- pare unfavourably with both their predecessors and suc- cessors ; but the names of H. W. Pickersgill (1782-1875), of A. E. Chalon (1781-1860), and of Sir William BoxALL (1800-1879) at least deserve to be recorded here.
In the English School, since the days of G-ainsborough, there has always existed a class of rustic genre in which English country and English country life has been de- picted— sometiriies prettily and sentimentally, as by Wheatley ; sometimes unaffectedly, as by George Mor- LAND (1763-1804). Notwithstanding the many artists who since his time have followed in his footsteps, he may still be considered as the master of this genre; and his reputation, though somewhat obscured by the quantity of loose and mannered work which he produced in the last years of his life, when he became the victim of low dissipa- tion, has risen to, if not above, the level which it reached in his life. This restoration of his character as a painter has been due to the loan exhibitions which have disinterred
416 HISTOKY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IX.
from private houses many paintings done by him when in the full possession of his wonderful powers. His works are now sought after for their fine colour and masterly execution, which in some respects have not been excelled or even equalled by Teniers and other masters of the Dutch School, on which his art was founded. In the unsophisti- cated portraiture of animals of the farmyard, horses, pigs, sheep, dogs, rabbits, &c., he stands in the first rank ; and his farm labourers, his cottagers, and their wives, daughters, and children, if not refined, are depicted with a truth that is unimpeachable. But in his early work refinement also is seen, not only in execution, but in feeling ; and, with the exception of Hogarth, perhaps no one has conceived and told a story in a series of pictures better than Morland has done in his "progress" of Lsetitia, well known by the engravings of T. Richmond. The pictui'es were exhibited at the Eoyal Academy in the winter of 1881. The influence of Morland is plainly to be seen in the pictures of his brother-in-law, James Ward (1769-1859), the most robust and natural of our animal paiaters, and also a landscape painter of great force and originality. Both these painters were finer colourists than Landseer, and their art was more simple, their animals more unsophisti- cated ; but in elegance and humour in beauty of composi- tion, and poetry of sentiment, and in certain dexterities of handling, they fall far below him. This unique artist stands in a class by himself as the great illustrator of the sympathy between the brute creation and humanity — now as a humorist painting some canine comedy, now as a poet showing the affinity between the natures and fates of animals and men ; but his works are too well known to need mention, and his genius too great to do justice to it here.
It is the pure landscape painters of England in whose favour time tells most clearly. It is now generally recog- nized that in this branch of art, at least, the English School may claim to lead the way in modem art, and to have founded a school purely native, and original in feeling and in colour. Moreover, the great share in which the long-despised water-colour artists have had in the develop- ment of this school is beginning to be estimated at its true
1300K IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 417
value. The school began with Gainsborough and Wilson, and owes much to both. Gainsborough's art was founded on the Dutch School ; Wilson's on that of Claude. Gains- borough developed a style of his own, and was the first to paint lEnglish scenery and English rusticity from a purely English and familiar point of view ; the love of his country and of his county, the affection for home and its surround- ings, were exhibited in his art for the first time, and this with a fine sense of those natural beauties which affected him most, and with a gentle sentiment which was pecu- liarly his own. These virtues, unappreciated in his day, act forcibly in his favour now. On the other hand, what success Wilson had in his day (and that was little), was probably due in great measure to the style that he brought with him from Italy, and his regard for those conventions which were then considered essential to raise landscape to the level of fine art. As time went on these conventions were discredited, and he was looked upon as little better than a second-rate imitator of Claude. Now, however, the tables are turned again ; and looking upon Wilson's pic- tures with eyes that have seen Claude and Cuyp and Gains- borough and Turner, Constable and Rousseau, we see that Wilson was a great and individual artist. We admire not only his skill in composition, and his wonderful painting of atmosphere, but we see that he studied nature for him- self, not only in Italy, but in England, and that in his finest pictures — like A View Between Dolgelly and Bar- mouth (No. 94 in the Grosvenor Gallery Winter Exhibition of 1888) — there is a combination of fine style, fine colour, poetical feeling, and true personal observation of nature which is rare, not only in English art, but in the art of the world.
Wilson has always been appreciated by English artists, and despite his " foreign " style and his adherence to " classical convention " has exercised an influence on all the great painters of the purely modem and English School of landscape ; on the water-colourists, as well as the oil painters, on Paul Sandby and Cozens, on Turner and Constable, on George Barret, junior, and Henry Dawson. No greater testimony to the real inherent sound and great principles of his art could be adduced than this. All
£ £
418 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IX.
fashions of a period, and all mannerisms of an artist, thoiigh they may obscure a fame for a time are practically powerless against the ultimate reputation of a great artist. But all this does not make Wilson a " modem ; " he be- longed in heart to the old scenic school. The first full note of the modem familiar school was struck by Constable, and failed almost to raise an echo, at least for a time. But almost simultaneously in London and Norwich, there arose men who devoted themselves to paint England as they saw it, and with the sentiment it naturally inspired in their minds, dispensing more or less with preconceived ideals of landscape and traditional formulcB for the re- presentation of natural objects and effects. It was in effect a revolution, but in action a growth of new ideas, seeding naturally anywhere and everywhere, and gradually supplanting the old. Of this revolution the two greatest spirits were undoubtedly Turner and Constable. The subject of Turner's genius is too great to enter upon in this concluding note, especially as some space has already been devoted to it in the original work. Of John Constable (1776-1837) something has been said in con- nection with the French School (see page 380) ; but a few more words seem necessary to give him his due impor- tance in the English School — an importance which had not been so generally recognised when this book was first published.
What he wanted to express was nothing extraordinary, it was what everybody else felt more or less who loved " the country," but no other painter had ever expressed it, and he had to invent an entirely new pictorial vocabulary to do it. As I have written elsewhere,^ if his genius was nan-ow it was eminently sincere and original. He was the first to paint the greenness and moisture of his native country, the first to paint the noon sunshine with its white light pouring down through the leaves, and spark- ling in the foliage and the grass, the first to paint truly the sunshot clouds of a showery sky, and to represent faith- fully the colours of an English summer landscape. He was the founder of a new school of faithful landscape, and
^ Dictionary of National Biography.
BOOK IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 419
though he was neglected by his countrymen during his life, his effect upon landscape painting in England has been more extensive than that even of the far more extra- ordinary and comprehensive genius of Turner. He was a man of one idea, perhaps, but that idea was a great and simple one. He desired to be natural, and he was success- ful, as no one else has been, in throwing off all tradition and starting afresh. In setting this example he has been of incalculable service to modem art, especially as he did not make the mistake of neglecting or despising the work of his precursors or his contemporaries, for no man studied more carefully, or admired more heartily throughout his life the works of such different men as Claude and Ruysdael, Turner and Girtin.
At the same time as Grainsborough was painting in Suffolk and at Hampstead, John Crome (1768-1821) was founding another school of landscape at Norwich, a small and short-lived school — ^based mainly upon Dutch art in method, but thoroughly English in feeling. If he had not the complete originality of Constable, and did not greatly extend the scope of landscape, Crome used his own eyes, and expressed his own love of his local scenery. Thus his art was manly and unaffected, purely personal and national, and penetrated with feeling for the beauty which he saw in the nature around him. A fine colourist and painter of light and air, and with the exception of figures, an excellent draughtsman of all natural objects, especially of trees, he deserves a place beside G-ainsborough and Constable in the history of purely English landscape.
Of his pupils the most notable were James Stark (1794-1859) and G-eorge Vincent. Of Vincent little is known except that he exhibited at Norwich and London between 1811 and 1830, when he disappeared. Both were accomplished painters, but the latter was the more original. His picture of Greenwich Hospital may be said to be famous, and as Messrs. Redgrave say, ** he had powers which show he might have rivalled the great landscape painters of the day."
But next to Crome, John Sell Cotman (1782-1842) is the greatest name in the Norwich School, though his time was 80 occupied in etching architectural plates and in
420 HISTORY OF PAINTING [bOOK IX
teaching, tliat lie executed few works in oil, and never attained to a great position as a painter. Now, however, his pictures and drawings are much esteemed for their broad treatment and fine colour. Though reckoned a,mongst the Norwich School, his style has more affinity to those of G-irtin and Turner than to that of Crome, and though he painted some fine pictures in oil, he is more generally known as a painter in water-colour.
The water-colour painters who are but mentioned in this history are now regarded not only as the founders of a perfectly national and original kind of painting, but as artists who have had a very large share in the formation of the English school of painting, especially in landscape. Turner himself, great as an oil-painter, is considered by many as a still greater master of water-colour, and in the winters of 1886 and 1887 rooms were specially set apart at the Winter Exhibitions of the Eoyal Academy for the water-colour drawings of himself alone. The school of landscape in water-colour began in the eighteenth century, and the first artist of much importance, with the exception of miniature painters, who used this medium was Paul Sandby (1725-1809), who employed it with great skill for all kinds of architectural, topographical, and landscape drawing. An amateur artist named William Taverner (1703-1772), had preceded him, and was perhaps the first English artist who employed water-colour for pure land- scape, but Paul Sandby has a good title to be called the father of water-colour painting. He used both transparent and opaque (or body) colours. The use of water-colours down to the end of the last century was mainly confined to architectural and topographical drawings, numbers of which were required for the engravings of illustrated works, such as Byrne's "Antiquities of Grreat Britain," Whitaker's "History of Eichmondshire," "Beauties of England and Wales," and periodicals hke Walker's "Itine- rant." These drawings were either in simple monochrome, or in monochrome tinted with slight washes of colour like coloured engravings. Some of these drawings were of much beauty, and in the hands of John Egbert Cozens (1752- 1799), one of the most poetical of landscape artists, the tinted drawing was shown to be capable of rendering
BOOK IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 421
subtle atmospheric effects. Though Cozens did much to raise the work of the " draughtsman " (as the early water- colour artist was called) from "tinting" to "painting," and from topography to fine art, it was reserved for Thomas G-irtin (1775-1802) to complete the revolution, and to show that water-colours could be the rival, and in some respects the superior of oil in rendering every aspect of natural scenery. From the ranks of the water-colourists sprang some of the noblest and most poetical of our landscape painters, and though almost to the present day they have occupied a place apart and inferior in public estimation, and none of them has by virtue of his painting in water-colour been admitted into the ranks of the Royal Academy, they are now receiving the honour which is their due. They formed a school of themselves, the only Eng- lish school which is thoroughly national and original in method, in feeling, and in colour. It is impossible to trace the history of this school here, or to do more than mention the names of its most important members, but there is the less reason to regret this, as much has recently been written about them, and is being written now, and their reputation is, as it were, still fresh. To the names of Paul Saudby, John Robert Cozens, Thomas G-irtin, J. W. M. Turner, and J. S. Cotman, should be added Thomas Hearnb (1744-1817), Henry Edridge (1769-1821), GrEORGE Barret the younger (1774-1842), John Varley (1778-1842), Samuel Prout (1783-1852), David Cox (1783-1859), Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding (1787-1855), Peter De Wint (1784-1849), William Henry Hunt (1790-1864), G-eorge Cattermole (1800- 1868), James Holland (1800-1870), J. F. Lewis (1805- 1876), Samuel Palmer (1805-1881). There are many other names like those of Rooker, Alexander, Christall, Hills, Havell, Daniell, Richardson, Robson, Harding, down to such late men as Duncan and Dodgson, who would deserve more notice in a history of the water-colour school, but in relation to English art generally, the names printed in capitals are the most important. Heame perfected the tinted drawing, Edridge, a fine miniaturist, was a beautiful draughtsman of trees and architecture, being perhaps the first to use that broken picturesque
422 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [eOOK IX.
touch, which was carried so far by Samuel Prout. Barret, though he clung to the " classic convention " in composi- tion, is one of the finest and "purest " colourists and in the representation of the liquid transparent quality of sunshine, unequalled even by Turner. Varley, the master (practi- cally speaking) of many, was the master perhaps of all in knowledge of his craft. But in sympathy with the spirit of English nature and perfect mastery of their means for interpreting it according to their personal feeling, these artists fall short of Cox, De Wint and Copley Fielding. They all belong to the faithful school of landscape, record- ing what they saw as reflected by their minds — what we now call " j)oetical realists " — separated from the idealists on the one hand, and the copyists on the other — poets whose feeling is suggested by and inherent in their sub- jects— realists who realize only so much of nature as expresses their sentiment. Of these Cox was the most profound and human in his sympathy, the most illumi- nated in his colour, the noblest in his generalization. He is the greatest interpreter of Wales, De Wint of Lincoln- shire, with its flats and cornfields, Fielding of Sussex downs and coast. The rest were all of them colourists of exceptional gifts, the fruit and flowers of Hunt, the romantic scenes of chivalry and monastic life by Catter- mole, the Venice of Holland, the eastern scenes of Lewis, the poetical landscapes of Palmer, are all for true artistic qualities among the greatest achievements of the English school. Some of these, the finest of our water-colour painters, such as Cox, De Wint, Lewis and Holland, were also among the finest of our painters in oil.
A special word should also be given to two other men of exceptional gifts, both short-lived, who worked with equal skill in water and oil. The elder of these was Eichaed Parkes Bonington (1801-1828), painter of coast scenes and historic genre, painter also of Venice, a colourist of exceptional quality, who resided principally in France, and exerted an influence on the French school scarcely less than that of Constable; the other was William John MuLLER (1812-1845), who made a series of masterly sketches in G-reece, Egypt, and Lycia, and besides his oil- pictures of eastern subjects, produced a few of scenes in Eng-
BOOK IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 423
land, such as The Baggage Wagon and Eel- butts at Goring, which are among the masterpieces of the English School.
Nor must the list of the greater English landscape and sea painters close without enrolling the names of Sir Augustus Wall Callcott (1779-1844), Patrick Nasmyth (17871831), John Linnell (1792-1882), E. W. Cooke (1811-1880), Henry Dawson (1811-1878), and J. E. Oakes (1822-1887).
The strength of the English School is now seen to lie in portrait, genre, and landscape. The fame of the old " High Art " school, the illustrators of Boydell's " Shakespere," and others, like Hilton and Haydon, has declined, for their imagination was seldom equal to its theme; their ideal, based upon the great Italian artists, was a false one, and with almost the sole exception of Etty, their powers as colourists and painters of the nude were not of a high order. But although the number of English artists who have excelled in historical and poetical painting is few, the magnificent mural paintings in the Houses of Parliament by Daniel Maclise (1811-1870), The Meeting of Wel- lington and Blucher, and the Death of Nelson, would alone entitle that painter to a honorable name in the history not only of his school but of all modern art. The coldness and hardness of his colour and his want of success in the representation of textures are of comparatively little con- sequence in such works, which show his remarkable quali- ties of design and draughtsmanship to the greatest advan- tage. Maclise was a versatile artist, and a man of intel- lect and imagination ; his portraits (humorously character- istic but not caricatures) of the early contributors to " Eraser " are masterpieces of their kind ; fancy and pathos mark his illustrations to Moore and Dickens, and many of his pictures are remarkable for dramatic power. Perhaps the best were from Shakespeare, of which two are in the National Gallery, The Play Scene in Hamlet, and Malvolio and the Countess.
Of other historical painters of the century, the most im- portant are Sir Charles Locke Eastlake (1793-1865J, the painter of Christ Weeping over Jerusalem, and man y other tender and graceful pictures ; William Dyce (180 6- 1864), the painter of the frescoes illustrating the liege nd
424 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IX.
of King Arthur in the Houses of Parliament, and manj beautiful religious pictures ; E. M. Waed (1816-1879), the •well-known painter of The South Sea Bubble, and The Last Sleep of Argyle ; and Paul Falconer Poole (1810- 1872), the painter of the Vision of Ezekiel, in the National Gallery, and many other works poetical both in figures and landscape.
If the ranks of our historical painters are thin, those of painters of high spiritual imagination are still thinner, but more than a hundred and thirty years ago the sacred fire of creative imagination of the purest kind fell upon the cradle of William Blake (1757-1827), He was an engraver by profession, and as a painter only would scarce need men- tion here ; but his power as a designer was so unique, and his sense of decorative and symbolical colour so strong, and moreover his genius has had so much influence upon some painters of the present day that he must not be passed by.
Grifted with one of the most intense spiritual imagina- tions of any artist of any time or country, Blake was a visionary, living in his own world of brain-born images, which were as palpable to him as those of the world of sense. He would draw portraits of men and women, per- sonages of history, of poetry, as though they were sitting to him in the room. His wife, or William the Conqueror, or the ghost of a flea seemed almost equally palpable to him. Much of his work we can admire and love : in poetry, his " Songs of Innocence," and his " Songs of Experience ; " in design, his marvellous illustrations to the Book of Job, and Blair's G-rave. His drawing of the figure was incor- rect, but departure from the normal type probably helped much in the expression of his supernatural conceptions, and when his poems are most obscure the designs which accompany them are always highly impressive, and often of great beauty and force both in design and colour. Mr. Swinburne has written a wonderfully sympathetic essay on these " Prophetic Books," and those who cannot follow the eloquent interpretation of one poet by another can at least admire the pictures which adorn it. The plate of the Leviathan is a marvellous effort of the imagination in colour as well as in form, and in his light and shade he is equally unique and powerful. His angels are more great and
BOOK IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 425
glorious beings than were ever imagined before, and thej live in an air of palpitating light which no other artist has been able to suggest; nor is the "darkness visible" of Hell less wonderfully suggested in others of his plates and pictures. His plan of engraving text decoration and illustration of his poems together, on the same copper plate (a plan, strangely enough not uncommon in Japan, only there wood takes the place of copper,) is unique in the history of European art. In adopting it he showed a strange and true decorative gift. The impressions from these plates were coloured by him and his wife, in water-colours. These books, for which he could find few purchasers in his life, are now extremely rare and valuable, and most of them have been reproduced. He also made many drawings in water-colour, some in transparent colour, some in tempera, and some in a peculiar manner of his own which he called fresco. One of the latter was his design for the Canter- bury Pilgrims which Lamb preferred to Stothard's. Some examples of his drawings are in the British Museum, South Kensington Museum, and the National G-aUery.
We have had no other artist like Blake in his power of rendering in line and colour the most abstract ideas, and most essential emotions, but there was much affinity be- tween his genius and that of Dante G-abriel Eossetti (1828-1882), whose mystic imagination has exercised so powerful a spell over many of the painters and poets of the present generation. He was the strongest spirit of the band of young artists known as the P. E.. B. or Pre- Raphaelite Brethren, who some forty years ago startled the world of English aH by their revolution against the com- monplaces and affectations of current art, and founded a short but brilhant school, the history of which has yet to be written and cannot be attempted here. Most of its members and adherents are still living. The noble prin- ciples upon which they attempted to regenerate art found an eloquent champion in Mr. Ruskin ; the reasons of their comparative failure have been indicated by M. Chesneau in his " English School of Painting." The greatest painter among them (Sir John Millais) has long left their *' strait" path. Mr. Holman Hunt is the only artist of power who has continued to carry out to the present day in all their
426 HISTOEY OF PAINTING. [eOOK IX.
integrity the ideas of the Brotherhood. To him still the function of the artist is that of a priest revealing God's handiwork in his universe, the religious reahst drawing everything in nature down to the smallest detail, and colouring it with the purest and brightest colours, and making his representations of the most poetical or most sacred persons faithful images of living persons. Eossetti's personality was too strong, and his imagination too mystic to be confined within the limits of any bonds but those of his own genius. Like Blake, he was essentially a poet, living in a world of his own fancy which expressed itself (often simultaneously) both in words and pictured image. The mystery of human fate was the theme of both, but whereas Blake's imagination was " deadened," as he said, by "natural objects," these were necessary to the quicken- ing of Eossetti's. His original gift of dramatic design was extraordinary, and his early drawings in pen and ink, and water-colour, despite their manifest defects in execution, are singular for the vividness and freshness with which they embody the conception of the artist. The latter are also remarkable for the decorative beauty of their colour, brilliant, pure, transparent, mosaic-hke, comparable only to stained glass ; indeed, the brilliant patterning of gor- geous hues (and consequent neglect of truth of light and shade and atmosphere) was an ideal of colour which marks no less his later and larger oil pictures. Poetry and legend, especially Italian, were the chief sources of his inspiration, but the few religious subjects which he treated in his earlier years were conceived with such purity and refinement, and with so fresh and simple an imagination, that they are preferred by many to the more splendid and sensuous productions of his later years. Among the former are The G-irlhood of the Virgin, and The Annunciation, the latter of which is in the National Gallery. Of the poets Dante was his chief inspirer, and Dante's Dream, belonging to the Corporation of Liverpool, was his largest, and is by some considered as his finest work. The Bride, an illus- tration of the Song of Solomon, shows his skill at its zenith, and Monna Yanna, The Blue Bower, and Proserpine, are also among his most powerful presentations of strange female beauty, and the finest examples of his work as a
BOOK IX.] PAINTING IN ENGLAND. 427
coloTirist. A whole literature has already grown up around the name of this unique artist, and many additions to it are promised. Here it would be impossible, as well as premature, to attempt to say the final word, but one thing at least is certain, and that is that he stands alone in the history of modem painting, though his influence upon it is perceptible, especially in the work of Mr. Burne Jones.
Of a less strange, and perhaps more wholesome genius, were two painters whom the present generation, at least, have enrolled amongst the greater names in the Enghsh School — Geoege Hemming Mason (1818-1872) and Feedekice: Walker (1840-1875) — both painters of rustic life as seen by the eyes of a poet, both of them fine colourists, and seeking, without violation to truth, to select beauty of line and gesture, and to make their pictures breathe some natural sentiment, noble, pathetic, or sweet. The works of these artists are now so popular, and many of them, such as Mason's Evening Hymn and Harvest Moon, and Walker's Plough and Harbour of Refuge, are so widely known from the famous etchings of Mr. Macbeth, that it is not necessary to say more about them now. Another artist who, like Walker, began as a book illustrator, and who had a rarely refined imagination, was G-. J. Pinwell (1843-1875). His few large water-colour drawings, like The Ehxir of Life, and two scenes from the Pied Piper of Hamelin, show that he was also a true colourist with a real dramatic gift. He also has been immortalized by Mr. Macbeth.
Although this concluding note has run to imexpected and misproportioned length, there are still some worthy artists that have escaped mention. The " book illustrators," as a class, were excluded from the first edition of this work, probably with intention, as not coming within the histoiy of " Painting ; " but some of them, like Robert Smirke (1752-1845), the admirable illustrator of " Don Quixote," was a painter too, so also was Thomas Stothard (1755- 1834), one of the most fertile and graceful of designers, and, as may be seen in the National Gallery, a colourist of no mean order ; and the names of Leech, Ceuikshank, and Richard Doyle should not pass without any record. Lastly, let me not forget David Roberts (1796-1864), an
428 HISTORY OF PAINTING. [bOOK IX.
exceptional stilf ul and picturesque painter of architecture, well known for his celebrated sketches in the Holy Land, and John Phillip (1817-1867), " Spanish Phillip" as he was called from the remarkable beauty and fine character of his pictures of Spanish life. Unlike Wilkie, his change of subject from Scotland to Spain invigorated and deve- loped his genius, made his design grander, his treatment broader, his colour more full and splendid. He was one of the finest painters of the English School, and his master- piece, La Grloria, is one of the greatest pictures of the nine- teenth century.
CM.
CHROlSrOLOGICAL LISTS OF PAINTERS.
Note. — The names of painters not mentioned in the text and doubtful dates are printed in italics. Dates in the second column give years in which the painters are known to have been at work or alive.
I. GREEK AND ROMAN PAINTERS.
|
Schuol. |
Date. |
|
|
Cleanthes |
|
|
|
Cleophantes |
— |
|
|
Telejihanes |
— |
|
|
Eumaros |
— |
|
|
Cimon of Cleonse |
\ |
|
|
Polyenotos of Thasos A^atharcos of Samos Micon of Athens |
||
|
Dionysos of Colophon |
||
|
Panajnos of Athens |
||
|
Apollodoros of Athens |
5th centilry |
|
|
Zeuxis of Heracleia |
B.C. |
|
|
Parrhasios of Ephesos |
||
|
Greek |
Timanthes of Cythnos Eupompos Pamphilos Mclanthios |
|
|
Pausias |
/ |
|
|
Euphranor of Corinth |
\ |
|
|
Nicomachos of Thebes |
||
|
Aristeides of Thebes |
||
|
Nicias of Athens |
||
|
Apelles of Cos |
4th century |
|
|
A n tiph ilos of A lexandria |
B.C. |
|
|
Protogenes of Rhodes |
||
|
Peiraiikos |
||
|
Theon of Samos |
||
|
Action of Alexandria Fabius f*ictor |
J |
|
|
fl. cir. 300 B.C. |
||
|
Gr^.co- ROMAN |
Pacuvius 1 |
fl. cir. 200 B.C. |
|
1 Timoniachus of Byzantium 1 Laia, or Lala, of Cyzicus |
» |
|
|
fl.cir. 180-150 B.C. |
||
|
1 Ludius I |
fl. cir. 20 B.C. |
430
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OP PAINTERS.
n. ITALIAN PAINTEES.
|
School. |
Birth. |
Death. |
|||
|
Arezzo |
Margharitone of Arezzo |
1216 |
1293 |
||
|
Umbria |
Oderisio of Guhhio (miniaturist) |
1264-1299 |
|
||
|
Rome |
Cosmati (a family of mosaicists) |
||||
|
13th cent. |
|
^ |
|||
|
Pisa |
Giunta of Pisa |
13th cent. |
|
|
|
|
Siena |
Guido of Siena |
1281 |
|
|
|
|
Florence |
Tafi, Andrea |
1320 |
|
|
|
|
j> |
Cimabue, Giovanni Gualtieri |
1240 |
1302 |
||
|
)i |
Gaddi, Gaddo |
1333 |
|
|
|
|
Lucca |
Orlandi, Deodati |
1288-1310 |
|
|
|
|
Siena |
Duccio di Buoninsegna |
1260 |
mo |
||
|
Florence |
Giotto di Bondone |
1266 |
1337 |
||
|
Rome |
Cavallini, Pietro |
1308 |
|
||
|
Padua |
Guariento |
1316-1365 |
|
|
|
|
Umbria |
Palmerucci, Guido |
1280 |
1345 |
||
|
Siena |
Segna di Buonaventura |
14th cent. |
— |
||
|
)) |
Niccola di Segna |
1342 |
— |
— |
|
|
} |
Ugolino |
14th cent. |
|
|
|
|
> |
Martini, Simone (Memmi) |
1284 |
1344 |
||
|
i |
Memnii, Lippo |
— |
1356 |
||
|
5 |
LORENZETTl |
— |
1348 |
||
|
Bologna |
Vitale |
1320-1345 |
— |
— |
|
|
Florence |
Daddo, Bernardo di |
1320-1347 |
— |
|
|
|
jj |
Gaddi, Taddeo |
1300 |
1366 |
||
|
)) |
Gaddi, Agnolo Stefano (u Scimia della Natura |
14th cent. |
|
|
|
|
>> |
■ |
ISOl |
1350 |
||
|
jj |
Buftalmacco |
14th cent. |
— |
|
|
|
Florence |
Orcagna, Andrea di Cione |
130S |
1368 |
||
|
) J |
Traini, Francesco |
1341 |
|
||
|
Pisa |
Campanna, Puceio |
14th cent. |
|
|
|
|
Florence |
Calandrino |
14th cent. |
|
|
|
|
)> |
Landini, Jacopo, of Casentino Giovanm da Milano |
1310 |
1390 |
||
|
if |
14th cent. |
|
|
||
|
Umbria |
Nuzi, Allegretto |
1346-1385 |
|
■ |
|
|
Siena |
Buonacorso, Niccolo di |
14th cent. |
|
|
|
|
Venice |
Semitecolo, Niccolo |
1351-1400 |
|
|
|
|
Padua |
Francesco Gentile da Fahriano |
14th cent. |
|
_ |
|
|
)j |
Antonio da Fahriano |
14th cent. |
|
|
|
|
Siena |
Bartolo di Maestro Fredi |
1353-1410 |
__ |
|
|
|
Venice |
Lorenzo Veniziano |
1357-1379 |
|
|
|
|
Florence |
Giottino |
1324 |
1396 |
||
|
Verona |
Turoni of Verona |
1360 |
|
|
|
|
Orvieto |
Puceio, Pietro di |
1364 |
— |
— |
|
|
Fl |
orence |
Justus of Padua |
1330 |
1400 |
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OF PAINTERS.
431
|
School. |
• |
Birth. |
Death. |
|
|
Siena |
Thome, Ltica di |
1367 |
|
|
|
Arezzo |
Aretino, Spinello di Luca Spinelli d' |
1333 |
1410 |
|
|
Pisa |
Volterra, Francesco da |
1370-1372 |
— |
— |
|
)> |
Simone de' Crocefissi |
1370 |
|
— . |
|
Arezzo |
Bicci, Lorenzo di |
1370-1409 |
— |
— |
|
;> |
Gerini, Nicolo di Pietro |
14th cent. |
|
|
|
Pisa |
AvANZi, Giacomo degli |
14th cent. |
|
^ |
|
)> |
Vanni, Turino |
14th cent. |
|
|
|
Verona |
Altichiero da Zevio |
1375 1380 |
|
|
|
Bologna |
Dalmasii, Lippo |
1376-1410 |
— |
— |
|
Florence |
Veniziano, Antonio |
1386 |
— |
— |
|
jj |
Andrea da Firenze |
1377 |
|
|
|
,, |
Starnino, Gherardo |
1354 |
|
|
|
Padua |
Gentile da Fabriano |
1360 |
1450 |
|
|
Siena |
Bartolo, Taddeo di |
1362 |
1422 |
|
|
j> |
Cecchi, Gregorio |
1400 |
||
|
Venice |
Fiore, Jacobello del |
1400-1439 |
|
|
|
»> |
Negroponte |
15th cent. |
|
|
|
Umbria |
San Severino, Lorenzo da (the elder) 1400 |
|
|
|
|
Siena |
Martino di Bartolommeo |
|
1434 |
|
|
Florence |
Pesello, Giuliano d'Arrigo |
1367 |
||
|
>> |
Lorenzo, Don (II Monaco) |
1370 |
W5 |
|
|
Umbrla. |
Ottaviano di Martino Nelli |
1410-1434 |
|
|
|
») |
Lorenzo, Bicci di |
1420 |
|
|
|
Verona |
Pisanello (Vittore Pisano) |
1380 |
14S5 |
|
|
Naples |
Solario, Antonio da (lo Zingaro] |
1382 |
1455 |
|
|
Florence |
Masolino da Panicale |
1383 |
1U7 |
|
|
j> |
Angelico, Fra (Giovanni da Fiesole) |
1387 |
1455 |
|
|
Arezzo |
Parri Spinelli |
1387 |
1452 |
|
|
Florence |
Castagno, Andrea del |
1390 |
14^7 |
|
|
Siena |
Stefano di Giovanni |
1450 |
||
|
Padua |
Squarcione, Francesco |
1394 |
1474 |
|
|
felENA |
Domenico di Bartolo |
|
1449 |
|
|
»» |
Gianibono, Michele |
1430-1470 |
|
|
|
Florence |
Uccello (Paolo Doni) |
1396-7 |
1475 |
|
|
Venice |
Bellini, Jacopo |
UOO |
1464 |
|
|
Florence |
Massaccio (Tommaso di Ser Giovanni) |
1401 |
1428 |
|
|
Venice |
Donato |
1438-1466 |
||
|
Florence |
Veniziano, Domenico |
1438 |
|
^i |
|
Venice |
Vivarini, Giovanni |
1440-1447 |
|
|
|
>> |
Vivarini, Antonio |
1440-1470 |
|
|
|
Ferrara |
Galasai, Galasso |
|
1473 |
|
|
Siena |
Pietro, Sano di |
1406 |
1481 |
|
|
>» |
Pietro, Lorenzo di (Vecchietta) |
1410 |
1480 |
|
|
Umbria |
Gatta, Bartolommeo della |
UlO |
1491 |
|
|
Florence |
LiPPi, Fra Lippo |
14ixi |
146» |
|
|
Cremona |
Oriolo, Giovanni |
1449-1461 |
||
|
Umbria |
Buonfigli, Benedetto |
1450-1496 |
_^ |
__ |
|
Venice |
Vivarini, Bartolommeo |
1450-1499 |
— |
— |
432
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OF PAINTERS.
|
School. |
Birth, |
Death. |
||
|
Milan |
FOPPA, Vincenzo |
' |
_ |
1492 |
|
Cremona |
Bembo, Bonifazio |
1455-1478 |
|
|
|
Florence |
GozzoLi, Benozzo |
1420 |
1498 |
|
|
Ferrara |
TuRA, Cosimo |
WO |
1498 |
|
|
}> |
Pesellino (Francesco di Stefano) |
1422 |
1457 |
|
|
j> |
Baldovinetti, Alesso |
1427 |
1499 |
|
|
5> |
Bono |
1461 |
|
|
|
Umbria |
PiERO Bella Francesca |
1423 |
1492 |
|
|
>> |
Carnevali, Fra |
15th cent. |
|
|
|
Fuligno, Niccolo da |
1458-1499 |
|
|
|
|
Venice |
Bellini, Gentile |
1426 |
1507 |
|
|
jj |
Bellini, Giovanni |
1428 |
1516 |
|
|
Cremona |
Tacconi, Francesco |
1464-1490 |
|
|
|
Venice |
Vivarini, Alvisi, or Luigi |
1464-1503 |
|
|
|
55 |
Crivelli, Carlo |
1468-1495 |
|
|
|
Florence |
Pollaiuolo, Antonio |
1429 |
1498 |
|
|
Padua |
Mantegna, Andrea |
1431 |
1506 |
|
|
)) |
Zoppo, Marco Schiavone, Gregorio |
1471-1498 |
— |
|
|
)5 |
15th cent. |
— |
|
|
|
Florence |
Verrochio, Andrea |
14.32 |
1488 |
|
|
Ferrara |
Cossa, Francesco |
14.30 |
IJfSS |
|
|
55 |
Grandi, Ercole (di Roberti) |
1435 |
1513 |
|
|
55 |
Grandi, Ercole (di Giulio) |
— |
1531 |
|
|
Siena |
Matteo di Giovanni |
lJi35 |
1495 |
|
|
Umbria |
Santi, Giovanni |
1435 |
1494 |
|
|
Florence |
Diamante, Fra |
1470 |
|
|
|
jj |
Fiorenzo di Lorenzo |
1470-1479 |
|
|
|
Siena |
Benvenuto di Giovanni |
1436 |
1517 |
|
|
Umbria |
Melozzo da Forli |
1438 |
1494 |
|
|
Florence |
Rosselli, Cosimo y Mainardi, Sebastiano f |
1439 |
1507 |
|
|
55 |
1513 |
|||
|
Siena |
Giorgio, Francesco di |
1439 |
1506 |
|
|
Florence |
Signorelli, Luca |
1441 |
1523 |
|
|
55 |
Pollaiuolo, Piero |
1441 |
U95 |
|
|
Venice |
Messina, Antonello da |
1U4 |
1493 |
|
|
Ferrara |
Bianchi, Francesco |
Wto |
1510 |
|
|
55 |
Estense, Balcassare |
1483 |
|
|
|
Umbria |
San Severino, Lorenzo di (the younger) |
|||
|
1480-1496 |
— |
— |
||
|
5) |
Perugino, Pietro Vannucci |
1446 |
1524 |
|
|
Florence |
Botticelli, Saadro Filipepi |
1446 |
1510 |
|
|
55 |
Ghirlandaio, Domenico |
1449 |
1494 |
|
|
Verona |
Morone, Domenico (Pellacane) |
1442 |
— |
|
|
Milan |
Buttinone, Bernardino Jacobi |
1484 |
— |
— |
|
^^ |
Zenale, Bernardo |
|
1526 |
|
|
Ferrara |
Alvisi, Andrea (L'Ingegno) |
1484 |
|
|
|
ViCENZA |
Montagna, Bartolommeo |
1484-1517 |
|
|
|
Venice |
Carpaccio, Vittore |
im |
1520 |
|
|
Bologna |
Francia (Francesco Raibolini) |
1450 |
1517 |
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OF PAINTERS.
433
Birth. Death.
U86 1486 1486
Liberale da Verona
Bevilacqua, Amhrogio
Massone, Giovanni
Torbido, Francesco (II More)
Vinci, Leonardo da
Pinturicchio (Bernardino di Betto)
Cima (da Conegliano) 1489-1517
Papa, Simone
Bonsignori, Francesco
Basaiti, Marco 1490-1520
BoRGOGNONE, Ambroffio 1490-1520
Palmezzano, Marco, of Forli
Pietro di Domenico
Santa Croce, Francisco Rizo da
Marziale, Marco
Manni, Giannicola di Paolo
Mansueti, Giovanni
Sebastiani, Lazzaro
Credi, Lorenzo di
Catena, Vincenzo di Biado
Civerchio, Vincenzo (of Crema)
Ferramola, Fioravante
Solario, Andrea
Costa, Lorenzo
LiPPi, Filippino
Fungai, Bernardino
Boccacciuo, Boccaccio
Piero di Cosimo
Conti, Bernardino de*
Pennacchi, Pier Maria
Caselli, Cristofero
Pellegrino da San Daniele
Giolfino, Niccolo
Araldi
Bissolo, Pier Francesco
Alba, Macrino d'
Michele da Verona
Raft'aelino del Garbo
Beltrattio, Gio. Ant.
Spagna, Giovanni di Pietro
Granacci, Francesco
Viti, Timoteo
Salaino, Andrea
Oggione, Marco d'
Mantegna, Francesco
Caroto, Francesco
Veniziano, Bartolommeo
Zaganclli, Francesca
F F
1492-1530 1492-1507 1493 1494-1500 15tli cent.
1495-1531 1495-1540 loth cent.
1496 1498 1499
1500-1528
1500
1500-1508
1503-1530
1519
1470-151:
1505-1530 1505-1518
1451
1452 1454
1455 1455
1456 1457
1459
14j60 1460 1460 1460
1462
1464
1465 1465 1465
1466 1467
1469
1470 1470
1536
1546 1519 1513
1519
1494 1501
1544 1537
1530 1535 1504 1516 1525 1521
1528
1547 1518 1528
1524 1516
1543 1523
1549
1546
434
CHEONOLOGICAL LISTS OF PAINTEE&.
|
School. |
Birth. |
Death. |
|
|
Bologna |
Bartucci, Gianhattista 1506 |
|
_ |
|
Florence |
Bugiardini, Giuliano |
1471 |
1554 |
|
Verona |
Morone, Francesco |
1473 |
1529 |
|
)> |
Libri, Girolamo dai |
1474 |
1556 |
|
Siena |
Pacchiarotti, Giacomo |
1474 |
1540 |
|
Florence |
Albertinelli, Mariotto |
1474 |
1515 |
|
Venice |
Belli, Marco 1511 |
||
|
Milan |
Sesto, Cesare da |
U75- |
|
|
1480 |
1524 |
||
|
)> |
Luini, Bernardino |
U75 |
153S |
|
Florence |
Fra Bartolommeo (Baccio della Porta) |
1475 |
1517 |
|
)) |
MiCHAELANGELO BUONAROTTI |
1475 |
1564 |
|
Padua |
Mantegna, Carlo del 15th cent. |
||
|
Siena |
SODOMA, Gio. Ant. Bazzi, il |
1477 |
1549 |
|
~ >» |
Pacchia, Girolamo della |
1477 |
1521 |
|
Venice |
GiORGiONE, Giorgio Barbarelli |
1511 |
|
|
)) |
TiziANO, Vecellio |
1477 |
1576 |
|
Ferrara |
Giovenone, Girolamo 1514 |
|
|
|
Brescia |
Mocetto, Girolamo 1514 |
|
|
|
Ferrara |
Dosso Dossi, Gio. Nic. di Lntero |
1479 |
1542 |
|
Verona |
Melone, Altobello 1515-1520 |
|
|
|
Ferrara |
Palma, Jacopo (il Vecchio) |
1480 |
1528 |
|
J J |
Cariani, Giovanni Busi |
1480 |
1541 |
|
Bergamo |
Lotto, Lorenzo |
1480 |
1558 |
|
)) |
Previtali, Andrea |
1480 |
1528 |
|
Milan SienA |
Garofalo, Benvenuto Tisio |
1481 |
1559 |
|
Gaudenzio Ferrari |
1481 |
1545 |
|
|
Peruzzi, Baldassare |
1481 |
1537 |
|
|
Ferrara |
Mazzolino, Ludovico |
1481 |
1530 |
|
Florence |
Bigi, Francesco (Francia Bigio) |
1482 |
1525 |
|
Umbria |
Raffaelle Santi |
1483 |
1520 |
|
Florence |
Ghirlandaio, Ridolfo |
1483 |
1561 |
|
Venice |
PoRDENONE, Gio. Ant. da |
1483 |
1539 |
|
>) |
Santa Croce, Giralamo da 1520-1549 |
|
|
|
Venice |
|||
|
& Rome |
LUCIANI, SeBASTIANO (DEL PlOMBO) |
1485 |
1547 |
|
Siena |
Beccafumi, Domenico |
I486 |
1551 |
|
Florence |
Sarto, Andrea d' Angelo, del |
1486 |
1531 |
|
Verona |
Morando, Paolo (Cavazzuola) |
1486 |
1522 |
|
ViCENZA |
Buonconsiglio, Gio. (il Marescalco) |
— |
1530 |
|
Brescia |
Romanino, Girolamo |
1485 |
1566 |
|
Milan |
Piazza, Albertino (Toccagni) |
|
1529 |
|
»» |
Piazza, Martino (of Lodi) |
— |
— |
|
KOME |
Penni, Gio. Francesco {11 Fattore) |
1488 |
1528 |
|
Venice |
Licinio, Bernardino (da Pordenone) |
||
|
1524-1541 |
— |
— |
|
|
Cremona |
Bembo, Gianfrancesco 1524 |
— |
— |
|
Rome |
Imola, Innocenza Francucci da |
1490 |
1549 |
|
ViSKONA |
Bonifazio da Verona (the elder) |
1491 |
1540 |
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OP PAINTERS.
435
|
School. |
Birth. |
Death. |
|
|
Verona |
Bonifazio da Verona |
_ |
1543 |
|
Florence |
Puligo, Domenico Melzi, Francesco |
1492 |
1527 |
|
Milan |
1493 |
1568 |
|
|
Florence |
Pontormo, Jacopo Carucci da |
1494 |
1557 |
|
jj |
Jacopo, Gio. Batt. di, 11 Rosso Baccniaca, Francesco d'Ubcrtino |
1494 |
1541 |
|
1494 |
1557 |
||
|
Parma |
Correggio, Ant. Allegri da |
1494 |
1534 |
|
Rome |
Polidoro Caldara da Caravaggio Bramantino (Bartolommeo de Suardi) 1529 |
1495 |
1543 |
|
Milan |
— |
— |
|
|
Florence |
Magna, Cesare 1530 |
— |
— |
|
Rome |
Treviso, Girolamo Pennacchi da |
1497 |
1544 |
|
Brescia |
MOREI'TO, Alessandro Buonvicino, il |
1498 |
1556 |
|
Rome |
Romano, Giulio Pippi de' Giannuzzi |
1498 |
1546 |
|
Florence |
Clovio, Giulio {miniaturist) |
1498 |
1578 |
|
Ferrara |
Ortolano, Gio. Batt. Benvenuti |
1500 |
1525 |
|
Milan |
Piazza, Calista, da Lodi |
1500 |
1561 |
|
Venice |
Bordone, Paris |
1500 |
1570 |
|
Cremona |
Campi, Giulio |
1500 |
1572 |
|
Rome |
Vaga, Perino del |
1500 |
1547 |
|
Ferrara |
Carpi, Girolamo LuRovico da Parma 16th cent. |
1501 |
1556 |
|
Parma |
|
||
|
Mazzuola, {three brothers) 1 6th cent. |
— |
|
|
|
Rome |
Mantovano, Rinaldo 1532-1534. |
— |
|
|
Florence |
Bronzino, Angelo di Cosimo di Mariano |
1502 |
1572 |
|
Venice |
Stephan (Hans of Calcar) 1537 |
— |
|
|
Brescia |
Savoldo, Girolamo 1540-1548 |
— |
— |
|
Umhria |
Alfani, Domenico di Paris |
|
1553 |
|
Ravenna |
Longhi, Luca |
1507 |
1580 |
|
Milan |
Lanini, Bernardino |
1508 |
1578 |
|
Florence |
Volterra, Daniele Ricciarelli da |
1509 |
1556 |
|
>> |
Rossi, Francesco de' (dei Salviati) |
1510 |
1563 |
|
Brescia |
Moroni, Gio. Batt. |
1510 |
1578 |
|
Venice |
Bassano, Jacopo da Ponte |
1510 |
1592 |
|
Bologna |
Fontana, Prospero |
1512 |
1597 |
|
Florence |
Vasari, Giorgio |
1512 |
1574 |
|
I) |
Venusti, Marcello |
1515 |
15S0 |
|
Florence |
Condivi, Ascanio 1550 |
_ |
|
|
Venice |
Tintoretto, Jacopo Robusti, 11 |
1518 |
1594 |
|
Bologna |
Procaccini, Ercole (the elder) |
1520 |
1591 |
|
Venice |
Schiavone, Andrea (Medulla or Medolla) |
1522 |
1582 |
|
Genoa |
Cambiaso, Luca |
1527 |
1585 |
|
Bologna |
Tibaldi, Pellegrino |
1527 |
1596 |
|
Venice |
Cagliari, Paolo (Veronese) |
1528 |
1588 |
|
j^ |
Baroccio, Federigo |
1528 |
1612 |
|
Zuccaro, Taddeo |
1529 |
1566 |
|
|
Florence |
Titi, Santi di |
1530 |
1603 |
|
Venice |
Zelotti, Battista Farinati |
15S2 |
1592 |
|
)t |
Farinati, Paolo |
1606 |
|
|
Parma |
Parmigiano, Francesco Maria Mazzola |
— |
1592 |
436
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OP PAINTERS.
|
School. |
Birth, |
Death. |
|
|
Venice |
Cagliari, Bendetto |
_ |
1598 |
|
i) |
Cagliari Carlo |
— |
1596 |
|
a |
CagliaH Gabriele |
— |
1631 |
|
»> |
Vasilacchi, Antonio [VAliense) |
— |
1629 |
|
»> |
Allori, Allessandro {Bronzino) |
1535 |
1607 |
|
Cremona |
Anguisciola, Sofonisba Lomazzo, Gio. Faolo |
1535 |
1625 |
|
Milan |
1538 |
1590 |
|
|
5> |
Figino, Ainhrogio (living 1595) Alfani, Orazio |
— |
— |
|
Umbria |
— |
1583 |
|
|
Bologna |
Passerotti, Bart. |
1540 |
1595 |
|
>> |
Tibaldi, Domenico |
1540 |
|
|
Florence |
Zuccaro, Federigo Pocetti, Bernardino Barhatelli |
1542 |
1609 |
|
jj |
1542 |
1612 |
|
|
Venice |
Palma, Jacopo (11 Giovine) |
1544 |
1628 |
|
J) |
Bonifazio Veniziano 1579 |
|
|
|
Ferrara |
Scarsello, Ippolito [ScarselUno) Fontana, Lavinia |
1551 |
1660 |
|
Bologna |
1552 |
1602 |
|
|
J5 |
Carracci, Lodovico |
1555 |
1619 |
|
Genoa |
Sorri, Pietro |
1556 |
1622 |
|
Bologna |
Carracci, Agostino |
1557 |
1602 |
|
Milan |
Crespi, Gio. Batt. |
1557 |
1633 |
|
Corenzio, Belisario |
1558 |
16— |
|
|
Florence |
Carcli, Lodovico {il Cigolo) |
1559 |
1613 |
|
Bologna |
Carracci, Annibale |
1560 |
1609 |
|
Venice |
Tintoretta, Marietta Robusti |
1560 |
1590 |
|
jj |
Faccini, Pietro |
1562 |
1602 |
|
Florence |
Gentileschi, Orazio Lomi de |
1563 |
1646 |
|
jj |
Vanni, Francesco |
1563 |
1609 |
|
Venice |
Rottenhammer, Johannes |
1564 |
1623 |
|
Rome |
Tassi, Agostino |
1566 |
1642 |
|
5) |
Arpino, Guiseppe Cesare, il Cavaliere D' Merisi, Michelangelo (il Caravaggio) |
1567 |
1640 |
|
LOMBARDY |
1569 |
1609 |
|
|
Bologna |
MassaH, Lticio |
1569 |
1633 |
|
Ferrara |
Bononi, Carlo |
1569 |
1632 |
|
Bologna |
Curti, Gio. (U Dentone) |
1570 |
1631 |
|
>j |
Brizio, Francesco |
1574 |
1623 |
|
» |
Reni, Guido (GuiDO) |
1575 |
1642 |
|
Donducci, Andrea |
1575 |
1655 |
|
|
Florence |
Liqozzi, Jacopo |
— |
1632 |
|
Rome |
Viola, Gio. Batt. |
1576 |
1622 |
|
Naples |
Spada, Lionello |
1576 |
1622 |
|
Siena |
Salimheni, Ventura {Cavaliere BevUacgua) |
1613 |
|
|
,, |
Manetti, Rutilio |
|
1637 |
|
Bologna |
Aloisi, Baldassare |
1577 |
1638 |
|
)) |
Tiarini, Allesandro |
1577 |
1668 |
|
j> |
Cavedone, Giacomo |
1577 |
1660 |
|
Sicily |
Menniti, Mario |
1577 |
1640 |
|
Florence |
Allori, Cristofano |
1577 |
1621 |
|
Bologna |
Albani, Francesco |
1578 |
1660 |
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OP PAINTERS.
437
|
School. |
Birth. |
Death. |
|
|
Florence |
Masca^ni, Donato |
1578 |
1636 |
|
^j |
Roselli, Matteo |
1578 |
1680 |
|
Bologna |
Garbieri, Lorenzo |
1580 |
1654 |
|
Naples |
Manfredi, Bartolommeo |
1680 |
1617 |
|
KOME |
Schedone, Bartolommeo |
1580 |
1615 |
|
Bologna |
Sementi, Gio. Giac. |
1580 |
|
|
Lanfranco, Giovanni |
1580 |
1647 |
|
|
a |
Zampieri, Domenico (DOMENICHINO) |
1581 |
1641 |
|
»» |
Badalocchio, Sisto {Sisto Rosa) |
1581 |
1647 |
|
Genoa |
Strozzi, Bernardo |
1581 |
1644 |
|
Verona |
Turchi, Alessaiidro (I'Orbetto) |
1582 |
1648 |
|
Bologna |
Carracci, Antonio |
1583 |
1618 |
|
Naples |
Stanzioni, Massimo |
1585 |
1656 |
|
Saraceni, Carlo |
1585 |
1625 |
|
|
Caroselli, Angelo Bonzi, Pietro Paulo 17tli cent. |
1585 |
1653 |
|
|
Bologna |
|
|
|
|
Gessi, Francesco |
1588 |
1647 |
|
|
Naples |
RiBERA, Guiseppe (LO SPAGNOLETTO) |
1588 |
1656 |
|
Rome |
Feti, Domenico |
1589 |
1624 |
|
Barbieri, Francesco (IL GUERCINO) |
1590 |
1666 |
|
|
Florence |
Gentileschi, Artemisia |
1590 |
1642 |
|
Vicenza |
Ridolfi, Carlo |
1594 |
1658 |
|
Bologna |
Carracci, Francesco |
1595 |
1622 |
|
Milan |
Procaccini, Ercole |
1596 |
1676 |
|
Venice |
Varotari, Alessando (il Padovanino) |
1596 |
1650 |
|
Rome |
Berretini, Pietro (da Cortona) |
1596 |
1669 |
|
Naples |
Vaccaro, Andrea |
1598 |
1670 |
|
Carracciolo, Gio. Batt. |
|
1641 |
|
|
Rome |
Sacchi, Andrea |
1598 |
1661 |
|
Naples |
Falcone, Aniello |
1600 |
1665 |
|
Bologna |
Colonna, Angelo Michele |
1600 |
1685 |
|
)) |
Canlassi, Guido {Cagnaccio) |
1601 |
1681 |
|
Naples |
Cerouozzi, Michelangelo (della Battaglie) Barbieri, Pietro Ant. |
1602 |
1660 |
|
Bologna |
1603 |
1649 |
|
|
Sicily |
Novelli, Pietro {il Morrealese) |
1603 |
1677 |
|
Rome |
Salvi, Gio. Batt. (IL Sassqferrato) |
1605 |
1685 |
|
^j |
Grimaldi, Gio. Francesco |
1606 |
1680 |
|
Florence |
Ricchi, Pietro |
1606 |
1675 |
|
Bologna |
Metelli, Agostino |
1609 |
1660 |
|
}> |
Siraniy Gio. Ant. |
1610 |
1670 |
|
)» |
Cantarini, Simone |
1612 |
1668 |
|
Bologna |
Mola, Pietro Francesco |
1612 |
1668 |
|
Naples |
Garcjiulo, Domenico (Micco Spadaro) |
1612 |
1679 |
|
Bologna |
Preti, Fra Mattia (il Cavaliere Calabrese) |
1613 |
1699 |
|
Naples |
Rosa, Salvator |
1615 |
1673 |
|
Bologna |
Mola, Gio. Batt |
1616 |
1662 |
|
Genoa |
Castiglione, Gio. Benvenuto |
1616 |
1670 |
|
Florence |
DoLCi, Carlo |
1616 |
1686 |
|
}> |
Rom^nelli, Gio. Francesco |
1617 |
1672 |
438
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OF PAINTEBS.
|
School. |
Birth. |
Death. |
|
|
Genoa |
Piola Pelegro |
1617 |
1640 |
|
Bologna |
Torre, Flaminio |
|
1661 |
|
Naples |
Masturzio, Marzio 1630-60 |
|
|
|
)) |
Canuti, Maria |
1620 |
1648 |
|
)> |
Ghisolfi, Gio. |
1623 |
1680 |
|
Home |
Maratta, Carlo |
1625 |
1713 |
|
Bologna |
Cignani, Count Carlo |
1628 |
1719 |
|
Naples |
Giordano, Luca (Fa Presto) |
1632 |
1705 |
|
Florence |
Ferri, Ciro |
1634 |
1687 |
|
Bologna |
Sirani, Elisahetta |
1638 |
1665 |
|
Naples |
Solimena, Francesco (I'Abbate Ciccio) |
1657 |
1747 |
|
Bologna |
Bibiena, Ferdinando |
1657 |
1762 |
|
Venice |
Ricci, Sebastiano |
1660 |
1734 |
|
Bologna |
Crespi, Guiseppe Maria (lo Spagnuola) Pannini, Paolo |
1665 |
1747 |
|
Rome |
1691 |
1764 |
|
|
Venice |
Tiepolo, Gio. Batt. |
1696 |
1770 |
|
Canale, Antonio (Canaletto) |
1697 |
1768 |
|
|
Longhi, Pietro |
1702 |
1762 |
|
|
ZucharelU, Francesm |
1702 |
1793 |
|
|
Guardi, Francesco |
1712 |
1793 |
|
|
Bellotto, Bernardo |
1720 |
1780 |
III. SPANISH PAIKTEES.'
|
Petrus de Hispania |
1253 |
|
|
|
|
Esteban, Roderigo |
1291 |
|
|
|
|
T0T,EP0 |
Alfon, Juan |
1418 |
|
|
|
Barcelona |
Dalmau, Ludovico |
1445 |
__ |
|
|
Salamanca |
Gallegos, Fernando |
15th cent. |
|
«_ |
|
Seville |
Castro, Juan Sanchez de |
1454-1485 |
|
|
|
Cordova |
Pedro of Cordova |
1475 |
|
__ |
|
>j |
Barca, Garcia del |
1476 |
|
__ |
|
Seville |
Borgona, Juan de |
1495-1533 |
— |
|
|
J J |
Fernandez, Alejo |
1505-1525 |
|
|
|
Portugal |
Fernandez, Vasco |
1506 |
|
__ |
|
Seville |
Merzal, Pedro |
15th cent. |
|
|
|
jj |
Nunez, Juan |
1507 |
|
|
|
Toledo |
Rincon, Antonio del |
1446 |
1500 |
|
|
Castile |
Berruguete, Pedro |
1600 |
||
|
>> |
Berruguete, Alonso |
im |
1561 |
|
|
Seville |
Guadelupe, Pedro Fern, de |
1527 |
||
|
»> |
Vargas, Luis de |
1502 |
1568 |
|
|
>» |
Campafla, Pedro (Pieter de Villoldo, Juan de |
Kempeneer) |
1503 |
154S |
|
)) |
|
1551 |
||
|
Akragon |
Yanez, Hernando |
— |
1660 |
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OF PAINTERS.
439
School.
Valencia
Granada
Portugal
Toledo
Castile
Granada
Madrid
Toledo
Seville
Toledo
>) Seville Valencia Castile Portugal Toledo Seville Madrid Toledo Seville
Madrid Seville Madrid Toledo Valencia
Seville Madrid
Valencia
Valencia
Granada
Seville
Madrid
Granada
Madrid »»
Seville
Granada Seville
|
Birth. |
Death. |
||
|
JUANES, Vicente Juan |
1507 |
1579 |
|
|
Machuca, Pedro |
1548 |
— |
— |
|
Olanda, Francisco de |
1549 |
— |
— |
|
Morales, Luis de (El Divine) |
1510 |
1586 |
|
|
COELLO, Alonso Sanchez |
1515 |
1590 |
|
|
Becerra, Caspar |
1520 |
1570 |
|
|
Navarete, Juan Fernandez (El Mudo) |
1526 |
1579 |
|
|
Velasco, Luis de |
15— |
1606 |
|
|
Cespedes, Pablo de |
1538 |
1608 |
|
|
Theotocopuli, Domenico (El Griego] Orrente, Pedro |
1548 |
1625 |
|
|
1616 |
— |
1644 |
|
|
Vasquez, Alonso 1680-1610 |
— |
■ — |
|
|
RiBALTA, Francesco de |
1551 |
1628 |
|
|
Cruz, Pantoja de la |
1551 |
1609 |
|
|
Pereyra, Vasco |
1588 |
— |
— |
|
Prado, Bias del |
1690 |
— |
— |
|
Roelas, Juan de las |
1558 |
1625 |
|
|
Cuevas, Pedro de las |
1568 |
1635 |
|
|
Mayno, Fray Juan Bautista Pacheco, Francesco |
1569 |
1649 |
|
|
1571 |
1654 |
||
|
Herrera, Francesco (El Viejo) |
1576 |
1656 |
|
|
Caxes, Eugenio |
1577 |
1642 |
|
|
Castillo, Juan del |
1584 |
1640 |
|
|
Carducho, Vicente |
1585 |
1638 |
|
|
Tristan, Luis |
1586 |
1640 |
|
|
RiBERA, Guisenpe de (SpagnolettO) |
1588 |
1656 |
|
|
Ribalta, Juan de |
1597 |
1628 |
|
|
ZuRBARAN, Francesco |
1598 |
1662 |
|
|
CoUantes, Francesco |
1599 |
1656 |
|
|
Pereda, Antonio |
1599 |
1669 |
|
|
Velasquez, Don Diego Mazo, Juan Bautista Martinez del |
1599 |
1660 |
|
|
|
1667 |
||
|
March, Estehan |
|
1660 |
|
|
Espinosa^, Jacinto Geronimo de |
1600 |
1680 |
|
|
Cano, Alonso |
1601 |
1667 |
|
|
Castillo, Antonio del |
1603 |
1667 |
|
|
Pareja, Juan de |
1606 |
1670 |
|
|
Rizi, Francesco |
1608 |
1685 |
|
|
Moya, Pedro de |
1610 |
1666 |
|
|
Bocanegra, Pedro Anastasto |
|
1688 |
|
|
Toledo, Juan de {El Capitan) Carreflo de Miranda, Juan |
1611 |
1665 |
|
|
1614 |
1685 |
||
|
Arellano, Juan de |
1614 |
1676 |
|
|
MuRiLLO, Bartolom6 Esteban |
1618 |
1682 |
|
|
Iriarte, Ignacig |
1620 |
1685 |
|
|
Herrera, Francesco (El Mozo) |
1622 |
1685 |
|
|
Romero, Juan de Sevilla |
1627 |
1695 |
|
|
Gomez, Sebastian 17th cent. I |
|||
|
Vega, Diego Gonzalez de la |
1 |
— |
— |
440
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OF PAINTERS.
|
School. 1 |
Birth. |
Death. |
|
|
Seville |
Valdes-Leal, Juan de |
16.S0 |
1691 |
|
Madrid |
Escalante, Juan Ant. |
1630 |
1670 |
|
Seville |
Osm-io, Meneses |
1630 |
1705 |
|
Madrid |
Cerezo, Matteo de |
1635 |
1675 |
|
Coello, Claudio |
1635 |
1693 |
|
|
Seville |
Villavicencis, Don Pedro Nunez de |
1635 |
1700 |
|
}f |
Palomnio y Velasquez, Don Antonio Marquez, Estehan |
1653 |
|
|
1655 |
1720 |
||
|
Tobar, Alonso Miguel |
1678 |
1758 |
|
|
Llorente, Don Bernardo Gei^man de |
1685 |
1757 |
|
|
Madrid |
Goya y Lucientes, Don Francesco |
1746 |
1828 |
|
>> |
FoRTUNY, Mariano |
1838 |
1874 |
IV. GEEMAN PAINTEES.
|
Bohemia |
Theodorich of Prague |
1348-1378 |
|
)> |
Wurmser, Nicolas |
1348-1378 ' |
|
j» |
Kunz |
1348-1378 ' |
|
Cologne |
Herle, Meister Wilhelm -^ |
wn 1358 , |
|
Swabia |
Tieffenthal, Hans |
1418-1433 |
|
Cologne |
Moser, Lucas |
1431 |
|
>» |
Lochner, Stephan (Meister Stephan) |
|
|
1442-1448 |
||
|
Austria |
D. Pfenning [als ich cann) |
1449 |
|
Swabia * |
Herlin," Frederick |
1449-1499 |
|
»> |
Justus (de Allamagna) |
1451 |
|
Augsburg |
Kaltenhof, Peter |
1457 |
|
Swabia |
Fyoll, Conrad |
1461-1476 |
|
)» |
Iscnmann, Caspar |
1462 |
|
it |
Hirtz, Hans |
|
|
Westphalia |
Master of Liesbom |
1465 |
|
Cologne |
Master of the Lyversberg Passion |
|
|
1463-1480 |
||
|
Austria |
Packer, Michael (of Prauneck) |
|
|
1467-1481 |
||
|
Swabia |
Schiichlein, Hans |
1469 |
|
Nuremberg |
Furtmeyer, Perchthold {miniatiirist) |
|
|
1470-1501 |
||
|
Bavaria |
Mdchleskircher, Gahrid |
1472-1479 |
|
Nuremberg |
Pleydenwurff, Wilhelm |
|
|
j> |
Traut, Hans |
1477 |
|
Swabia |
Zeitblom, Bartolomdus |
1484-1517 |
|
Switzerland |
Fries, Hans |
1488-1518 |
|
iy |
Herbst, Hans |
1492-1500 |
|
Swabia |
Schafl&ier, Martin |
1499-1535 |
|
Franconla |
Wohlgemuth, Michael |
1434
|
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OP PAINTEE8. |
441 |
||
|
School. |
Birth. |
Death. |
|
|
SWABIA |
Schongauer, Martin |
1450 |
1488 |
|
Nuremberg |
Springinklee, Hans 1500 Griinewald, Matthias |
— |
|
|
SWABIA |
1460 |
1530 |
|
|
Cristoferas, Meister 1500-1580 |
|||
|
,, |
Master of the Death of the Virgin |
— |
1519 |
|
Calcar |
Jan Joost of Calcar 1505-1508 |
|
1519 |
|
Nuremberg |
Sues, Hans (of Kulmbach) 1511-1518 |
— |
|
|
Austria |
Striael, Bci-nhard 1520 Holbein, Hans (the elder) |
1460-1 |
— |
|
Augsburg |
1464 |
1524 |
|
|
)) |
Holbein, Sigmund |
1540 |
|
|
Swabia |
Grien, Hans Balding (of Gmund) |
1476 |
1545 |
|
Nuremberg |
DURER, AlBRECHT |
1471 |
1528^ |
|
Saxony |
Cranach, Lucas (the elder) |
1472 |
1553 |
|
AUGSBERG |
BuRGKMAiR, Hans (the elder) |
1473 |
1531 |
|
Nuremberg |
Ostendorfer, Michael 1519-1559 |
|
|
|
Westphalia |
Dicnwegge, Heinrich and Viktor 1521 |
|
|
|
Nuremberg |
Altdorfer, Albrecht |
1480 |
1538 |
|
Switzerland |
Manuel, Nicolas (Deutsch) |
1484 |
1531 |
|
Augsburg |
Amberger, Christoph |
1490 |
1563 |
|
Nuremberg |
Diirer, Hans 1530 |
1490 |
|
|
)> |
Schaufelin, Hans Leonhard |
1490 |
1539 |
|
)) |
Deig Sebastian |
||
|
)) |
Feselen, Melchior |
|
1538 |
|
ff |
Eisner, Jacob |
|
1546 |
|
Switzerland |
Breu, Georg |
|
1536 |
|
Cologne |
Briiyn, Bartolomaus |
1493 |
1556 |
|
Westphalia |
Ring, Ludger Zmn {the elder) Holbein, Hans (the younger) |
1496 |
1531 |
|
Augsburg |
1497 |
1543 |
|
|
Switzerland |
Asper, Hans |
1499 |
1571 |
|
Schleswig |
Raphon, Johann, of Eimheck 1507 Holbein, Ambrose 1519 |
|
1528 |
|
Augsburg |
|
||
|
Austria |
Dax, Raul 1526-1540 |
|
|
|
Worms |
Wousam, Anton 1528 |
|
|
|
Saxony |
Krodel, Wolfgang 1528 |
|
|
|
if |
Krell, Hans 1533-1573 |
|
|
|
Nuremberg |
Beham, Hans Sebald |
1500 |
1550 |
|
)> |
Pencz, Georg |
1500 |
1555 |
|
f» |
Aldegrever, Heinrich |
1502 |
1565 |
|
i» |
Beham, Bartel |
1502 |
1540 |
|
11 |
Bink, Jacob |
1504 |
1569 |
|
Austria |
Seiseyiegger, Jacob |
1505 |
1567 |
|
Nuremberg |
Glockenton, Georg {the elder^ minia- |
||
|
turist) |
|
1515 |
|
|
>> |
Glockenton, Nicolaus |
|
1534 |
|
Bavaria |
Mielich, Hans |
1515 |
1572 |
|
Saxony |
Cranach, Lucas (the younger) |
1515 |
1586 |
|
)) |
Cranach, Johannes |
|
1536 |
|
Saxony |
Roddelstedt, Peter 1540-1550 |
|
|
|
Switzerland |
Stimmevt Tobias |
1539 |
1582 |
442
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OF PAINTERS.
School.
Nuremberg Switzerland Bavaria Westphalia
Bavaria
Cologne Bavaria Italian- German Switzerland Bavaria Frankfort Nuremberg Frankfort Nuremberg Italian- German Hamburg Italian- German
Italian- German Zurich Stuttgart Classico- Germanic
Dresden Stuttgart Dusseldorf Munich
Dortrecht
Munich
Dusseldorf
Munich
Nuremberg
Dusseldorf Classico- ) Germanic \
Munich
Dusseldorf
Amman, Jost
Bock, Hans 1560
Bocksperger, Hans 1560
Bing^ Ludger Zum {the younger)
1562-1591 Schiuartz, Christoph Hoffmann, Hans 1584
Aachen, Hans von Heinz, Joseph 1591-1609
Goltzius, Heinrich
Maurer, Christoph Rottenhammer, Johann Uffenbach, Philipp Lautensack, Hans Sehald Elzheimer, Adam Sandrart, Joachim von
Loth, Carl, of Munich
Denner, Balthasar
Dietrich, Christian
Tischbein, Johann Heinrich
Mengs, Anton Raphael
Gessner, Salomon Hackert, Joh. Philipp
Carstens, Asmus Jacob
Koch, Josef Anton
Friedrich, Kaspar D.
Schick, Gottlieb
Kolhe, Karl Wilhelm
Cornelius, Peter von
Nake, G. Heinrich (of Dresden)
Schotel, J. Christian
Overbeck, Friedrich
Schadow, WiUielm
Hess, Peter
Klein, Josef Adam,
Veit, Philipp
Schnorr, Julius (of Carolsfeld)
Begas, Carl
Genelli, Bonaventura
Preller, Ludwig Rottmann, Karl Fiihrich, Joseph Schirmer, Wilhelm
Birth. Deatl
1539
1550 1552
1558
1558 1564 1565
1578 1606
1632
1685
1712
1722
1728
1734 1737
1754
1768 1776 1776 1781 1783 1786 1787 1789 1789 1792 1792 1793 1794 1794
1798
1804 1798 1800 1802
|
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OF PAINTERS. |
443 |
|||
|
School. |
Birth. |
Death. |
||
|
DUSSELDORF |
Biirkel, Heinrich |
1802 |
1869 |
|
|
Richter, Adrian Ludwig |
1803 |
— |
||
|
Munich |
Schwindt, Moritz von |
1804 |
1871 |
|
|
DiJ.SSELDORF |
Schrodter, Adolf Moi-genstem, Christian |
1805 |
1875 |
|
|
)i |
1805 |
1862 |
||
|
Munich |
Kaulbach, Wilhelm von |
1805 |
1874 |
|
|
DUSSELDORF |
Schimier, Johann W. |
1807 |
1863 |
|
|
„ |
Miiller, M. K. F. |
1807 |
1865 |
|
|
Meyerheim, Friedrich Edvurd |
1808 |
1879 |
||
|
o |
Lessing, Karl Friedrich |
1808 |
1880 |
|
|
Vienna |
Frdhlich, Ernst |
1810 |
1882 |
|
|
Munich |
Sfeinle, Eduard |
1810 |
— |
|
|
IJUSSELDORF |
Bendemann, Eduard |
1811 |
— |
|
|
Munich |
Scldeich, Eduard |
1812 |
1874 |
|
|
DuSSELDORF |
Hiibner, Karl |
1814 |
1879 |
|
|
„ |
Tidemand, Adolf |
1814 |
1876 |
|
|
„ |
Bethel, Alfred |
1816 |
1859 |
|
|
Dantzig |
Hildebrandt, Eduard - "" |
1818 |
1868 |
|
|
DuSSELDORF |
Camphausen, Wilhelm |
1818 |
1885 |
|
|
Berlin |
Bichter, Giistav Karl Licdwig |
1823 |
1884 |
|
|
Munich |
Piloty, Karl |
1826 |
1886 |
|
|
)) |
Knaus, Ludwig |
1829 |
1882 |
|
|
„ |
Feuerbach, Anselm |
1829 |
1880 |
|
|
*t |
Makart, Hans |
1840 1884 |
||
|
V. FLEMISH PAINTiiJES. |
||||
|
Bruges |
Hennequin, or Jehan de Bruges 1370-1377 Hasselt, Jehan de 1373-1386 |
_ |
|
|
|
COURTRAI |
— |
|
||
|
YPRfe |
Broederlain, Melchior 1383-1409 |
— |
— |
|
|
Ghent |
Van Eyck, Hubert |
1366 |
1426 |
|
|
Bruges |
Van Eyck, Jan |
1381- 1390 |
1440 |
|
|
TOURNAI |
Campin, Robert 14th cent. |
— |
— |
|
|
jj |
Weyden, Roger van deb |
1399 |
1464 |
|
|
Ghent |
Martim, Nabor 1440-1449 |
|
|
|
|
Bruges |
Cristus, Petrus 1444-1472 |
|
— |
|
|
LOUVAIN |
Bouts, Dierick |
1399- 1400 |
1475 |
|
|
ff |
Stuerbout, Hubert 1447-1449 |
|
— |
|
|
TOURNAI |
MarmioD, Simon |
14£5 |
1489 |
|
|
Bruges |
Memling, Hans |
|
1494 |
|
|
Ghent |
Jodocus, or Justus of Ghent 1468-1474 |
|
— |
|
|
>> |
Goes, Hugo van der |
|
1482 |
|
|
i> |
M< |
3ire, Gerard van der 15th cent |
— |
— |
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OP PAINTERS.
|
School. |
Birth. |
Death |
||
|
Bruges |
David, Gerard (Gheerardt) |
1460 |
1525 |
|
|
LOUVAIN |
Bouts, Dierick (the younger) |
— |
149( |
|
|
jj |
Bouts, Albert |
— |
154? |
|
|
Bruges |
Prevost, Jan |
— |
152? |
|
|
Antwerp |
Massys, Quentin |
1466 |
153( |
|
|
J) |
Gossaert, Jan (Mabuse) |
1470 |
153S |
|
|
Ghent |
Horehout, or Horembout, Gerard |
1480 |
154( |
|
|
DiNANT |
Bles, Hendrik Metten (Herri de Bles) |
— |
155( |
|
|
Bruges |
Patinir, Joachim |
— |
1524 |
|
|
Antwerp |
Sanders, Jan (of Hemessen) 1519-1555 |
— |
— |
|
|
DOUAI |
Bellegambe, Jean 1520 |
— |
— |
|
|
Brussels |
Orley, Bernard van (van Brussel) |
1490 |
1545 |
|
|
Antwerp |
Veen, Marten van (of Heemskerck) |
1494 |
1574 |
|
|
Brussels |
Blondeel, Lancelot |
1496 |
1561 |
|
|
Antwerp |
Komerswalen, Marinus Claeszoon van |
1497 |
156t |
|
|
Brussels |
Coxcien, Michael van |
1499 |
1595 |
|
|
Liege |
Gassel, Lucas |
— |
156L |
|
|
Bruges |
Claessins, Pieter {the elder) |
1500 |
1576 |
|
|
Brussels |
Vermeyen, Jan Comelizoon {of Haxtrlem) |
1500 |
loot |
|
|
Antwerp |
Koch, or Coecke, Pieter {of Alost) |
1502 |
1551 |
|
|
Liege |
Lombard, Lambert |
1505 |
1566 |
|
|
Antwerp |
Aartzen, Pieter (Lange Pier of Haarlem) |
1507 |
1575 1572 157t |
|
|
)) |
Massys, Jan |
1509 |
||
|
) |
Massys, Cornelis |
1511 |
158C |
|
|
) |
Vriendt, Fra,ns van (Frans Floris) |
1517-8 |
157C |
|
|
Vos, Martin |
1513 |
1605 |
||
|
> |
Neuchatel, Nicolas (Lucidel) 1539-1584 |
— |
— |
|
|
) |
Beukelaar, Joachim 1559-1575 |
— |
— |
|
|
Cleve, Joost, or Josse van 1530-1550 |
— |
— |
||
|
Noort, Lambert van |
1520 |
157C |
||
|
, |
Key, WiUem (of Breda) |
1520 |
1568 |
|
|
Bruges |
Straet, Jan van der |
1523 |
160c |
|
|
>» |
Claessins, Pieter {the younger) Breughel, Pieter (Peasant Breughel) |
— |
1615 |
|
|
Antwerp |
— |
156S |
||
|
j^ |
Grimmer, Jacob |
1526 |
159C |
|
|
Malines |
Coxcien, Raphael 1585 |
— |
— |
|
|
Ghent |
Heere, Lucas de |
1534 |
1584 |
|
|
Antwerp |
Congnet, Gillis |
1538 |
159£ |
|
|
Vlerick, Pieter {of Courtrai) |
1539 |
1581 |
||
|
)) |
Franchoys, Paul |
1540 |
1596 |
|
|
)) |
Porbus, Frans (the elder) |
1540 |
1584 |
|
|
>* |
Valckenborgh, Luk van |
1540 |
162£ |
|
|
Pieter zoon, Aart |
1541 |
160c |
||
|
Francken, Frans |
1544 |
16ie |
||
|
Coninxloo, Gillis van |
1544 |
160J, |
||
|
5J |
Key, Adrian Thomas (of Breda) |
1544 |
159C |
|
|
Brussels |
Winghen, Joost van Hoefnagel, Jons {miniaturist) |
1544 |
1601 |
|
|
Ant^ |
verp |
1545 |
im |
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OF PAINTERS.
445
|
School. |
Birth |
Death. |
|
|
Antwerp |
Spranger, Bartholomdiis |
1546 |
1627 |
|
J |
Calvaert, Denis |
1548 |
1619 |
|
)) |
Witte, Pieter de {Candida) |
1548 |
1628 |
|
Mander, Karel van |
1548 |
1606 |
|
|
Snellinck, Jan |
1549 |
1638 |
|
|
Bril, Matthew |
1556 |
1580 |
|
|
Bril, Paul |
1556 |
1626 |
|
|
Veen, Otto van (Vaenius) |
1558 |
1629 |
|
|
»» |
Geldorpy Gortziiis {of Louvain) |
1558 |
1616 1618 1632 |
|
)) |
Balen, Henri van |
1560 |
|
|
a |
Geeraerts, Marcus {Gerrard) |
1561 |
1635 |
|
}} |
Haecht, Tobie van (Verhaegt) |
1561 |
1631 |
|
Noort, Adam van |
1562 |
1641 |
|
|
i> |
Breughel, Pieter the younger (Hell) |
1564 |
1638 |
|
Bloemart, Abraham |
1565 |
1647 |
|
|
Janssens, Abraham |
1567 |
1632 |
|
|
,, |
Breughel, Jan (Velvet) |
1568 |
1625 |
|
,, |
Porbus, Frans (the younger) |
1570 |
1622 |
|
Brussels |
Alslool, Denis van 16th cent. |
— |
— |
|
Antwerp |
Neefs, Pieter the elder) |
1570 |
1651 |
|
Backereel, Gillis |
1572 |
|
|
|
VrancXy Sebastian |
1573 |
1638 |
|
|
Pepyn, Marten |
1575 |
1643 |
|
|
Savery, Roelandt |
1576 |
1639 |
|
|
Rubens, Peter Paul |
1577 |
1640 |
|
|
Vinckehoons, David |
1578 |
1629 |
|
|
Snyders, Franz |
1579 |
1657 |
|
|
Francken, Frans (the younger) |
1581 |
1642 |
|
|
Teniers, David (the elder) |
1582 |
1649 |
|
|
Grayer, Gaspard de |
1582 |
1669 |
|
|
Vos, Cornelius dk |
1585 |
1651 |
|
|
Grimmer, Abel 1614 |
|||
|
Seghers, Daniel ^ |
1590 |
1661 |
|
|
Sallaert, Antonij |
1590 |
||
|
Soiittnan, Pieter |
1591 |
1697 |
|
|
Crabeth, Dirk and Wouter (of Gouda) |
1592 |
1660 |
|
|
Honthorst Gerard (Gherardo de la Notte) |
1592 |
1662 |
|
|
JoRDAENS, Jacob |
1593 |
1678 |
|
|
Snayers, Pieter |
1593 |
1663 |
|
|
Fniitiers, Philip 1631 |
— 1666 |
||
|
Schut, Contelis |
1597 1 1656 |
||
|
Pombauts, Theodore |
1597 1637 |
||
|
Van Dyck, Antonij, Sir |
1599 1 1641 |
||
|
Mol, Pieter van |
1599 1650 |
||
|
Miel, Jan |
1599 1664 |
||
|
Conincky David de |
. 1599 1687 |
||
|
Utrecht^ Adam van |
1599 |
1652 |
446
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OF PAINTERS.
|
School. |
Birth. 1604 |
Death. |
||
|
Antwerp |
fferp, Gerard van |
1677 |
||
|
jj |
Vos, Paul de |
1604 |
1678 |
|
|
Brussels |
Heil, Daniel de |
1604 |
1662 |
|
|
Antwerp |
Molyn, Pieter |
— |
1661 |
|
|
jj |
Es, Jacques van |
1606 |
1656 |
|
|
f |
Diepenbeek, Abraham van |
1607 |
1675 |
|
|
y |
Quellin, Erasmus |
1607 |
1678 |
|
|
t |
Thulden, Theodore van |
1607 |
1676 |
|
|
] |
t |
Craesbeek, Josse van |
1608 |
16U |
|
Brouwer, Adrian |
1606 |
1638 |
||
|
f |
Fyt, Jan |
1609 |
1661 |
|
|
] |
t |
Lint, Pieter van |
1609 |
1690 |
|
f |
Teniers, David (the younger) |
1610 |
1694 |
|
|
y |
Asselyn, Jan |
1610 |
1690 |
|
|
y |
Byn, Jan van Bloot, Pieter de |
1610 |
1678 |
|
|
y |
|
1667 |
||
|
y |
Wolfvoet, Victor |
1612 |
1652 |
|
|
Byckaert, Daniel |
1612 |
1661 |
||
|
Brussels |
Arthois, Jacques d' Boschaert, Thomas Willehorts |
1613 |
1665 |
|
|
Antwerp |
1613 |
1656 |
||
|
ft |
Flemalle, Bertholet |
1614 |
1675 |
|
|
y |
CoQUEs, Gonzales |
1614 |
1684 |
|
|
y |
Faes, Pieter van der (Sir Peter Lely) |
1618 |
1680 |
|
|
t |
Wallerant, VaiUant |
1623 |
1677 |
|
|
y |
Duchdtel, Frans |
1625 |
1656 |
|
|
y |
Siberechts, Daniel |
1627 |
16- |
|
|
Champaigne, Philippe de Meulen, Antonij Frans van der |
1631 |
1681 |
||
|
Brussels |
1634 |
1690 |
||
|
Bruges |
Oost, Jacques van (the younger) Lairesse, Gerard de |
1639 |
1713 |
|
|
LifiGE |
1640 |
1711 |
||
|
Antwerp |
Millet, J. F. {Francisque) |
1642 |
1680 |
|
|
HicysTuans, Cornelis Helmont, Mathieu van |
1648 |
1727 |
||
|
1653 |
1719 |
|||
|
t |
Huysmans, J. B. |
1654 |
9 |
|
|
Bysbraeck, Pieter Bloemen, J. Frans van [Orizonte) |
1655 |
1729 |
||
|
1658 |
1748 |
|||
|
Janssens, Victor ffonorS |
1664 |
1739 |
||
|
La Fabrique, Nicolas Breydel, Chevalier Charles |
1669 |
1733 |
||
|
1677 |
1744 |
|||
|
Herreyns, Guillaume |
1743 |
1827 |
||
|
Brussels |
Marne, Jean Louis de |
1744 |
1829 |
|
|
Antwerp |
Begemorter, Bierre van |
1755 |
1830 |
|
|
St |
Francois, |
1759 |
1851 |
|
|
»y |
Hilffel, Victor |
1769 |
1844 |
|
|
ft |
Bree, Matthieu van |
1773 |
1839 |
|
|
tt |
Baelincx |
1781 |
1839 |
|
|
«> |
Navez, Franqois |
1787 |
1869 |
|
|
ft |
Brakeleer, Ferdinand de |
1792 |
1883 |
|
|
»» |
Madou, J. B. F. de |
1796 |
1877 |
|
chronological lists of painters. |
447 |
|||
|
School. |
Birth. |
Death. |
||
|
Vntwerp |
Verboeckhoven, Eugene |
1798 |
1881 |
|
|
)) |
Caisne, Henri de |
1799 |
1852 |
|
|
)l |
Wappers, Gustave |
1803 |
1874 |
|
|
VMne, Felise La Wiertz, Antoine Louis |
1806 |
1862 |
||
|
Brussels |
1806 |
1865 |
||
|
Biefve, Edouard de |
1808 |
1882 |
||
|
)) |
GaUait, Louis |
1810 |
1887 |
|
|
^.NTWERP |
Keyset, Nicaise de |
1813 |
1887 |
|
|
Founnois, Theodor |
1814 |
1871 |
||
|
Leys, Henri |
1815 |
1869 |
||
|
Moer, J. B. van |
1819 |
1885 |
||
|
>> |
Lies, Joseph |
1821 |
1865 |
|
|
VI. DUTCH PAINTEES. |
||||
|
Taarlem |
Oudewater, An)ert van 1467-1480 |
__ |
|
|
|
BOIS-LE-DUC |
Aeken, Jerome van (Bos or Bosch) |
— |
1518 |
|
|
Haarlem |
Mandyn, Jan |
— |
1520 |
|
|
Leyden |
Engelbrechtsen, Cornelis |
1468 |
1533 |
|
|
Amsterdam |
Comeliszoon, Jakob (of Oostzaandam) |
|||
|
1506-1530 |
— |
— |
||
|
Haarlem |
Mostaert, Jan |
1474 |
1555-6 |
|
|
)) |
Comeliszoon, Willem 1509 |
— |
_ |
|
|
Pinas, Jan 1521 |
— |
— |
||
|
Leyden |
Comeliszoon, Pieter (Kunst) |
1493 |
1544 |
|
|
Jakobzoon, Dirk |
1493 |
1567 |
||
|
Lucas van Leyden |
1494 |
1533 |
||
|
1) |
Comeliszoon, Lukas (Kok) |
1495 |
— |
|
|
Amsterdam |
ScHOREEL, Jan |
1495 |
1562 |
|
|
Haarlem |
Steffcns, Jan {of Calcar) |
1510 |
1546 |
|
|
GOUDA |
Porbus, Pieter (the elder) |
1510 |
1584 |
|
|
Utrecht |
MoR, Antony (Sir Antonio Moro) Vries, Jan Vredeman de |
1518 |
1588. |
|
|
Amsterdam |
1527 |
1604 |
||
|
GoUDA |
Vischer, Cornelis 1572 |
— |
— |
|
|
Amsterdam |
Ketel, Cornelis |
1548 |
I6O4. |
|
|
Steenwyck, Hendrik van |
1550 |
1604 |
||
|
^ |
Vroom, Hendrik |
1556 |
1640 |
|
|
Haarlem |
Comeliszoon, Comelis |
1562 |
1638 |
|
|
Leyden |
Lastman, Pieter |
1562 |
1649 |
|
|
Utrecht |
Bloeniaert, Abraham |
1565 |
1647 |
|
|
Leyden |
Schwanenl)erg, Isaak van |
|||
|
16th and 17th cent. |
— |
— |
||
|
Delft |
MiEREVELT, Nic. Janz. van |
1562 |
1641 |
|
|
Utrecht |
Heeni, David de |
1570 |
1632 |
448
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OF PAINTEES.
|
School. |
Birth. |
Death. |
|
|
Utrecht |
Moreelse, Paul |
1571 |
1638 |
|
Dordrecht |
Cuyp, Jacob Gerritz Velde, Esams Vander 1610-1618 |
1575 |
|
|
Haarlem |
— |
|
|
|
Grebber, Frans Pierterz. de 1610 |
— |
1649 |
|
|
)) |
Hoeckgeest, Joachim 1610-1626 |
— |
— |
|
f f |
Ravesteyn, Jan van |
1580 |
1665 |
|
)) |
Hals, Frans |
1584 |
1666 |
|
if |
Vliet, W. van der |
1584 |
1642 |
|
Amsterdam |
Pinas, Jacob 1620 |
— |
— |
|
Haarlem |
Hals, Dirk |
— |
1656 |
|
)} |
Poelenberg, Cornells van |
1586 |
1667 |
|
;) |
Bray, Salomon |
1587 |
1664 |
|
J) |
Bi^ay, Jan |
— |
1664 |
|
Delft |
Venne, Adrian Vander |
1589 |
1660 |
|
Uytenbroeck, Moses van Mytens, Daniel |
1590 |
|
|
|
}) |
1590 |
1656 |
|
|
Ceiden, Cornelis J. van |
1590 |
1665 |
|
|
J) |
Kierings, Alexander |
1590 |
1646 |
|
Haarlem |
Verboom, Abraham 1630-1663 |
— |
— |
|
Delft |
Heda, Willem Claeszoon |
1594 |
1678 |
|
Potter, Pieter |
1595 |
|
|
|
Janssens, Cornelis |
?1595 |
1665 |
|
|
Haarlem |
Grebber, Pieter de 1630-1649 |
|
— |
|
Leyden |
GOYEN, Jan van |
1596 |
1666 |
|
Amsterdam |
Keyzer, Thomas de |
1597 |
1679 |
|
Haarlem |
Saenredan, Pieter |
1597 |
1666 |
|
Verspronck, Johannes Rombouts, Theodore |
1597 |
1662 |
|
|
Antwerp |
1597 |
1637 |
|
|
Haarlem |
Verspronck, Cornelis Engelszoon |
1598 |
— |
|
)9 |
Avercamp, Hendrik van Velde, WiUem van der (the elder) 1630 |
1600 |
1663 |
|
Amsterdam |
— |
1693 |
|
|
Utrecht |
Heem, Jan Davidzoon de |
1600 |
1674 |
|
Haarlem |
Ruysdael, Salomon |
1600 |
1670 |
|
^ |
Wynants, Jan |
1600 |
1679 |
|
)> |
Molyn, Pieter (the elder) |
1600 |
1654 |
|
)) |
Palamedes, Anthonii |
1600 |
1673 |
|
Wils, Jan 1635 |
— |
— |
|
|
Delft |
Aelst, Evert van |
1602 |
1648 |
|
Utrecht |
Heem, Jan de |
1603 |
1650 |
|
Amsterdam |
Vlieger, Simon de |
1604- 1612 |
1660 |
|
Haarlem |
Angel, Philip 1639 |
1665 |
|
|
Amsterdam |
Vliet, Hendrik |
1605 |
— |
|
Dordrecht |
Cuyp, Aalbert |
1605 |
1691 |
|
Haarlem |
Witte, Emmanuel de |
1607 |
1692 |
|
Everdingen, Cesar van |
1606 |
1679 |
|
|
Brauwer, Adrian |
1606 |
1638 |
|
|
Leyden |
Rembrandt van Ryn |
1607 |
1669 |
|
Amsterdam |
Lievenz. Jan |
1607 |
— |
CHEONOLOaiCAL LISTS OF PAINTEES.
449
|
School. |
Birth. |
Death. |
|
|
Delft |
Palamedesz. Palamedes |
1607 |
1673 |
|
)) |
Deelen, Dirk van |
1607 |
1638 |
|
Haarlem |
Hals, Frans (Franzoon) (the younger) |
||
|
1643 |
— |
— |
|
|
)* |
Ter Borch, Gerard (Terburg) |
1608 |
1681 |
|
tt |
Koning, Salomon de |
1609 |
1674 |
|
if |
Codde, Pieter |
1610 |
1658 |
|
a |
Ostade, Adrtax |
1610 |
1685 |
|
Leyden |
Dou, Gerard |
1610 |
1675 |
|
Haarlem |
Asselyn, Jan |
1610 |
1660 |
|
)) |
Stoop, Dirk |
1610 |
1680 |
|
Utrecht |
Both, Jan |
1610 |
|
|
Haarlem |
Colebier, Nicolas 17th cent. |
|
|
|
)) |
Heemskerk, Egbert |
1610 |
1680 |
|
>> |
Wyck, Thomas |
1610 |
1671 |
|
)> |
Molenaer, Bartolomeus 1640 |
|
— |
|
)t |
Gael, Barend |
|
— |
|
Bol, Ferdinand |
1611 |
1681 |
|
|
Marcellis, Otho |
1613 |
1673 |
|
|
it |
Bray, Jacob |
— |
1697 |
|
it |
Van Loo, Jacob van |
1614 |
1665 |
|
if |
Helt-Stockade, Nicolas |
1614 |
1669 |
|
^) |
Flinck, Govaert |
1615 |
1660 |
|
Amsterdam |
Dubbels, Hendrik 1650 |
|
|
|
Haarlem |
Wet, Jan de |
1617 |
|
|
)) |
RomhoutSi GUlis 1662 |
|
|
|
Amsterdam |
Neer, Aart van der |
1619 |
1683 |
|
jj |
Ovens, Jurian |
1619 |
1678 |
|
Haarlem |
Koninck, PhiHp de |
1619 |
1689 |
|
if |
WOUWERMANS, PHILIP |
1619 |
1668 |
|
Delft |
Delft, Jacob |
1619 |
1661 |
|
Victoor or Victors, Jan |
1620 |
1662 |
|
|
Haarlem |
Bega, Cornells |
16S0 |
1664 |
|
Delft |
Aelst, Willem van |
1620 |
1679 |
|
Haarlem |
Brekelenkamp, Quiryn Berchem, Nicnolas |
1620 |
1668 |
|
)) |
1620 |
1683 |
|
|
a |
Ostade, Isaac |
1621 |
1649 |
|
Antwerp |
Sorgh, Hendrik Martenz. Rokes |
1621 |
1682 |
|
jj |
Pape, Adrian de 1648 Eckhout, Gerbrandt van der |
|
|
|
Leyden |
1621 |
1674 |
|
|
Amsterdam |
Everdingen, Aalbert or Allard van Looten, Jan |
1621 |
1745 |
|
Antnverp |
— |
1681 |
|
|
Haarlem |
Tempel, Abraham Lammert Jacobz. van |
||
|
1622 |
1672 |
||
|
Delft |
Fabritius, Carel |
1624 |
1654 |
|
Antwerp |
Merian, Matthew (the younger) |
1625 |
1687 |
|
Haarlem |
Potter, Paul |
1625 |
1654 |
|
a |
Dujardin, Karel |
1625 |
1678 |
|
Ruysdael, Jacob |
itfi-J |
1682 |
150
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OF PAINTERS.
|
School. |
Birth. |
Death. |
||
|
Haarlem |
Lingelbach, Jan (of Frankfort) |
1625 |
|
|
|
fy |
Wouverman, Pieter |
1626 |
1683 |
|
|
if |
Decker, Cornells |
|
1678 |
|
|
yt |
Steen, Jan |
1626 |
1679 |
|
|
yy |
Rontbouts, A. 17th cent. |
|
|
|
|
Dordrecht |
Hooffstraeten, Samuel van Berckheyden, Job |
1627 |
1678 |
|
|
Haarlem |
1628 |
1693 |
||
|
J) |
Wouwerman, Jan |
1629 |
1666 |
|
|
Amsterdam |
Kalf, WiUem |
1630 |
1693 |
|
|
Haarlem |
Helst, Bartolomeus van der |
1630 |
1670 |
|
|
Utrecht |
Heem, Cornells de |
1630 |
1693 |
|
|
Rotterdam |
Oosterwyck, Maria van 17th cent. |
|
— |
|
|
Leiden |
Waterloo, Anthonij |
1630 |
1661 |
|
|
Amsterdam |
Hackaert, Jan 17th cent. |
|
— |
|
|
J, |
Backhuysen, Ludolf |
1631 |
1708 |
|
|
Utrecht |
Mlgnon, Abraham (of Frankfort) |
1669 |
— |
— |
|
Dordrecht |
Maas, Nicholas |
1632 |
1693 |
|
|
Haarlem |
Molenaar, Jan Mlense |
|
1685 |
|
|
>» |
Walscapelle, Jacobus Brakenburg, Richard |
1675 |
— |
— |
|
)) |
1687 |
— |
— |
|
|
Delft |
Meer, Jan van der (Vermeer) |
1690 |
1632 |
— |
|
}> |
Peel, Egbert v. d. |
|
1690 |
|
|
»> |
Hooch, Pieter de (De Hoogh) |
1632 |
1681 |
|
|
Amsterdam |
Velde, Willem v. d. (the younger) |
1633 |
1707 |
|
|
>) |
Moucheron, Frederick |
1633 |
1688 |
|
|
Haarlem |
MiERis, Frans (the elder) |
1635 |
1681 |
|
|
Hague |
Haagen, Jan van der |
1635 |
— |
|
|
Haarlem |
Velde, Adrian van der |
1636 |
|
|
|
Utrecht |
HONDEKOETER, MeLCHIOE |
1636 |
1695 |
|
|
Amsterdam |
Heyden, Jan v. d. |
1637 |
1712 |
|
|
it |
Hobbema, Minderhout |
1638 |
1709 |
|
|
Haarlem |
Berckheyden, Gerrlt |
1638 |
1698 |
|
|
)) |
Anraadf, Pieter van |
1674 |
— |
— |
|
>> |
Netscher, Gaspard |
1639 |
— |
|
|
AMS'I'ERDAM |
Metsu, Gabriel |
1640 |
1669 |
|
|
>> ' Liege |
Lairesse, Gerard de |
1640 |
— |
|
|
Haarlem |
Slingelandt, Pieter van Schalken, Godefroid |
1640 |
1691 |
|
|
)) |
1643 |
1706 |
||
|
Amsterdam |
Neer, Eglon van der |
1643 |
1703 |
|
|
Utrecht |
Weenix, Jan |
1644 |
1709 |
|
|
Haarlem |
Capelle, Jan v. d. |
1686 |
1644 |
|
|
Amsterdam |
Gelder, Aart |
1645 |
|
|
|
j> |
KneUer, Godfrold (Sir Godfrey) |
1646 |
1723 |
|
|
}f |
Hugtenburg, Jan van Verkolje, Nicholas |
1646 |
1733 |
|
|
Haarlem |
1650 |
1693 |
||
|
,, |
Molenaer, Jan Jakobzoon |
1654 |
— |
|
|
Rotterdam |
Werff, Adrian van der |
1659 |
1722 |
|
|
Haarlem |
Dusart, Cornells |
|
||
|
f» |
Mieris, Willem van |
1662 |
1747 |
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OF PAINTERS.
451
|
School. 1 |
Birth. |
Death. |
|
|
Amsterdam Ruysch, Rachel |
1664 |
_^ |
|
|
Utrecht Walkenburg, Dirk HuVsuM, Jan van |
1675 |
1721 |
|
|
1682 |
1750 |
||
|
Haarlem Miens, Frans van (the younger) |
1689 |
1763 |
|
|
Amsterdam Witt, Jacob de |
1695 |
1754 |
|
|
jj |
Troost, Comelis |
'1697 |
1750 |
|
,, |
Os, Jan van |
1744 |
1808 |
|
Modern |
Koekkoek, Barend |
1803 |
1862 |
|
** |
Mauve, Anton |
1838 |
1888 |
Vn. FEENCH PAINTEES.
|
Ingohertus {miniaturist) Colart le Voleur [miniaturist) |
877 |
— |
— |
|
15th cent. |
— |
— |
|
|
B^nd, Kin^of Anjou Boulogne, Hue de {miniaturist) |
1408 |
1480 |
|
|
1449 |
— |
— |
|
|
Fouquet, Jean |
1415 |
1485 |
|
|
Coustain, Pierre de {miniaturist) |
1471 |
— |
— |
|
Froment, Nicolas (of Avignon) |
1461-1476 |
— |
— |
|
Clouet, Jehan (Cloet of Brussels) |
1420 |
— |
|
|
Clouet, Jehan or Jehanet (the younger) |
1485 |
1545 |
|
|
Cousin, Jean |
1501 |
1589 |
|
|
Clouet, Fran(?ois (Janet) |
1510 |
1572 |
|
|
Gourmont, Jean de |
1557 |
— |
— |
|
Dubois, Ambrose |
1543 |
1614 |
|
|
Frtminet, Martin |
1567 |
1619 |
|
|
Le Nain, Antoine |
1568 |
1648 |
|
|
Dumoustier |
1575 |
1646 |
|
|
Vouet, Simon |
1590 |
1649 |
|
|
Pcrrier, Frangois |
1590 |
1656 |
|
|
Callot, Jacques |
1593 |
1635 |
|
|
Le Nain, Louis (Le Romain) |
1593 |
1648 |
|
|
PoussiN, Nicolas |
1594 |
1665 |
|
|
Stella, Jacques |
1596 |
1667 |
|
|
Blanchard, Jacques |
1600 |
1638 |
|
|
Gel£e, Claude (Lorraine)] |
1600 |
1682 |
|
|
Valentin, |
1600 |
1634 |
|
|
Chani|iaigne, Philippe de |
1602 |
1674 |
|
|
Corncdle, Paris |
1603 |
1664 |
|
|
Mignard, Pierre ^Vitofo* |
1605 |
166S |
|
|
Hire, Laurent de la |
1606 |
1656 |
|
|
Le Nain, Matthieu |
1607 |
1677 |
|
|
Boullongne, Louis de |
1609 |
1674 |
|
|
Frcsnoy, Charles du |
1611 |
1665 |
i52
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OP PAINTERS.
|
Birth. 1613 |
Death. |
|
|
Dughet, Gaspar (Poussin) |
1675 |
|
|
Testelin, Louis |
1615 |
1695 |
|
Bourdon, Sebastien |
1616 |
1671 |
|
Le Sueur, Eustache |
1617 |
1655 |
|
Le Brun, Charles |
1619 |
1690 |
|
Patel, Pierre |
1620 |
1676 |
|
Courtois, Jacques |
1621 |
1676 |
|
Le Noir, Nicolas |
1624 |
1679 |
|
Coypel, Noel Lefevre, Claude |
1628 |
1707 |
|
1633 |
1675 |
|
|
Monnoyer, Jean Bap. |
1634 |
1699 |
|
Fosse, Charles de la |
1636 |
1716 |
|
Jouvenet, Jean |
1644 |
1717 |
|
Corncille, Michel |
1646 |
1708 |
|
Colombel, Nicolas |
1646 |
1717 |
|
Parrocel, Joseph |
1648 |
1704 |
|
Boullongne, Bon |
1649 |
1717 |
|
Santerre, J. B. |
1650 |
1717 |
|
Boullongne, Louis de {the younger) Largilli^re, Nicolas de |
1654 |
1733 |
|
1656 |
1746 |
|
|
Rigaud, Hyacintlie |
1659 |
1743 |
|
Coypel, Antoine |
1661 |
1722 |
|
Desportes, Francois |
1661 |
1743 |
|
Gillot, Claude |
1673 |
1722 |
|
Baoux, Jean |
1677 |
1734 |
|
Troy, Jean de |
1679 |
1752 |
|
Pesne, Antoitie |
1683 |
1757 |
|
Watteau, Antoine |
1684 |
1721 |
|
Van Loo, Jean Bap. |
1684 |
1745 |
|
Naloire, J. M. |
1685 |
1766 |
|
Oudry, J. B. |
1686 |
1755 |
|
Moine, Franqois le |
1688 |
1737 |
|
Parrocel, Charles |
1688 |
1752 |
|
Lancret, Nicolas |
1690 |
1743 |
|
Pater, J. B. |
1695 |
1736 |
|
Tocque, Louis Suhleijras, Pierre |
1696 |
1772 |
|
1699 |
1749 |
|
|
Chardin, Jean Bap. |
1699 |
1779 |
|
Jeaurat, Jean |
1699 |
1789 |
|
Boucher, FRANgois |
1704 |
1770 |
|
Latour, Maurice Quentin |
1704 |
1788 |
|
Van Loo, Carle |
1705 |
1765 |
|
Vernet, Claude Joseph |
1714 |
1789 |
|
Vien, Joseph Marie |
1716 |
1809 |
|
Porte, Poland de la |
1724 |
1793 |
|
Greuze, Jean Baptiste |
1725 |
1805 |
|
Casanova, Francois |
1732 |
1806 |
|
Fragonard, Jean Honor^ |
1732 |
1806 |
|
David, Jacques Louis |
1748 |
1825 |
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OP PAINTEES.
453
|
Birth. |
Death. |
|
|
Regnault, J. B. |
1754 |
1829 |
|
Le Brun, Madame Louise Elizabeth Vig^e |
1755 |
1842 |
|
Prad'hon, Pierre Paul |
1758 |
1823 |
|
Lethi^re, Guillaume Guillon- |
1760 |
1832 |
|
Drouais, Jean Louis |
1763 |
1788 |
|
Girodet de Roucy Trioson, Anne-Louia |
1767 |
1824 |
|
Isal>ey, Jean Bap. |
1767 |
1855 |
|
Gerard, Francois |
1770 |
1837 |
|
Gros, Antoine Jean, Baron |
1771 |
1835 |
|
Guerin, P. Narcisse, Baron |
1774 |
1833 |
|
Granet, Franqois Mariiis |
1775 |
1849 |
|
Ingres, Jean Aug. Dominiqub |
1780 |
1867 |
|
Watelet |
1780 |
1866 |
|
Poujol, Abel de |
1787 |
1861 |
|
Si«,^alon, Xavier |
1788 |
1837 |
|
Vernet, Horace |
1789 |
1863 |
|
G^RiCAULT, Jean Louis |
1791 |
1824 |
|
Charlety Nicolas Toussaint |
1792 |
1845 |
|
Robert, Leopold |
1794 |
1835 |
|
Coaniet, Lion Schefter, Ary |
1794 |
1880 |
|
1795 |
1858 |
|
|
CoROT, Camille |
1796 |
1873 |
|
Delaroche, Paul |
1797 |
1856 |
|
Delacroix, Ferd. Victor Eug£nb - |
1798 |
1863 |
|
Roqueplan, Camille |
1803 |
1855 |
|
Decamps, Alex. Gabriel Huet, Paul |
1803 |
1860 |
|
1804 |
1869 |
|
|
Isabey, Eugene L. G. |
1807 |
1886 |
|
Diaz de la PeSa, Narcisse Virgilio |
1808 |
1876 |
|
Flandrin, Hippolyte |
1809 |
1864 |
|
Marilhat, Prosper |
1811 |
1847 |
|
Rousseau, Pierre Etienne Theodore |
1812 |
1867 |
|
Millet, Jean FRANgpis |
1815 |
1875 |
|
Troyon, Constant |
1816 |
1865 |
|
Daubigny, Ch. Fr. |
1817 |
1878 |
|
Courbet, Gustave |
1819 |
1877 |
|
Frtjre, Edouard |
1819 |
188e |
|
Fromentin, Eugene |
1820 |
1876 |
|
Dor^, Gustave |
1832 |
1882 |
|
Manet, Edouard |
1833 |
1883 |
|
Baatien-Lepage, Jules |
1848 |
1884 |
454
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OP PAINTERS.
Vni. ENGLISH PAINTEKS.
|
Birth. |
Death. |
|
|
-Billiard, Nicholas |
1547 |
1619 |
|
—Oliver, Isaac |
1555 |
1617 |
|
Jamesone, George |
1586 |
1644 |
|
Oliver, Peter |
1594 |
1654 |
|
Hoskius, John |
|
1664 |
|
Fuller^ Isaac |
1606 |
1672 |
|
Cooper, Samuel |
1609 |
1672 |
|
Dobson, William |
1610 |
1646 |
|
Stone, Henry |
1616 |
1653 |
|
/tiely, Sir Peter (Van der Faes) |
1617 |
1680 |
|
Walker, Robert |
— |
1660 |
|
Streater, Robert |
1624 |
1680 |
|
Wright, Joseph Michael |
1625 |
1700 |
|
Anderton, Henry |
1630 |
1665 |
|
Hecile, Mary |
1632 |
1697 |
|
Flatnian, Thomas |
1633 |
1688 |
|
Ril^, John LKneller, Sir Godfrey |
1646 |
1691 |
|
1648 |
1723 |
|
|
Greenhill, John |
1649 |
1676 |
|
Cross, Lewis |
|
1724 |
|
^iilichardson, Jonathan |
1665 |
1745 |
|
Mohamy, Peter |
1670 |
1749 |
|
Jervas, Charles |
1675 |
1735 |
|
^Thornhill, Sir James "yAikman, William |
1676 |
1734 |
|
1682 |
1731 |
|
|
Hogarth, William |
1697 |
1764 |
|
Hudson, Thomas ^^ Wooton, James |
1701 |
1779 |
|
17— |
1765 |
|
|
Zuccarelli, Francesco |
1701 |
1788 |
|
Taverner, William |
1703 |
1772 |
|
Moser, George Michael Smith, William {of Chichester) |
1704 |
1783 |
|
1707 |
1764 |
|
|
Hayman, Francis |
1708 |
1776 |
|
Ramsay, Allan Scott, Samuel |
1709 |
1784 |
|
1710 |
1772 |
|
|
Smith, Georqe {of Chichester) Wilson, Ricnard |
1714 1714 |
1776 1782 |
|
SmUh, John {of Chichester) |
1717 |
1764 |
|
Hone, Nathaniel |
1718 |
1784 |
|
Reynolds, Sir Joshua |
1723 |
1792 |
|
Stubhs, George |
1724 |
1806 |
|
Sandby, Paul |
1725 |
1809 |
CHRONOLOaiCAI. LISTS OP PAINTERS.
455
Cotes, Francis
Toms, Peter
Gainsborough, Thomas
Barret, George, Sen.
Zoffany, Johann
Romney, George
Dance, Natliayiiel
Wright, Joseph (of Derby)
Martin^ David
Copley, J. Singleton
West, Benjamin
Cosway, Richard
Kauffman, Angelica
Pocock, Nicholas
Barry, James
Fuseli, Henry
Mortimer, John Hamilton
Humphrey, Ozias
Rooker, Michael Angelo
Allan, David
Moser, Mary
Hearne, Thomas
Northcote, James
Smith, John ( Waitoick)
Wheatley, Francis
Kcinagle, Philip
Cozens, John Robert
Smirke, Robert
Webber, John Beechey, Sir WilL Beaumont, Sir Geo, Bewick, Thomas Stothard, Thomas Bone, Henry Stuart, Giloert Raebum, Sir Henry Bourgeois, Sir Francit Blake, William Oilray, James Jtowlandson, Thomas Jbbetson^ Julius Caesar Serres, John Thomas Hoppner, John Booinson^ Hugh Opie, John Bird, Edward Morland, George Woodforde, Samuel Westall, Richard
Birth. Death.
1725
1727 1128 1733 1734 1734 1734 1736 1737 1738 1740 1740 1741 1741 1741 1741 1742 1743 1744 1744 1744 1746 1749 1747 1749 1752 1752 1752 1753 1753 1753 1755 1765 1755 1756 1756 1757 1757 1756 1759 1759 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1763 I 1765
1770
1776
1788
1784
1810
1802
1811
1797
1798
1815
1820
1821
1807
1821
1806
1825
1779
1810
1801
1796
1810
1817
1831
1831
1801
1833
1799
1845
1793
1839
1827
1828
1834
1834
1828
1823
1823
1827
1815
1827
1817
1825
1810
1790
1807
1819
1804
1817
1836
456
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OF PAINTEBS.
|
Birth . |
Death. |
|
|
Alexander, William |
1767 |
1816 |
|
Cristall, Joshua |
1767 |
1847 |
|
Crome, John (Old Crome) |
1768 |
1821 |
|
Hills, Kobert |
1769 |
1844 |
|
Daniell, William |
1769 |
1837 |
|
Howard^ H. |
1769 |
1847 |
|
Ward, James |
1769 |
1859 |
|
Barker, Thomas {of Bath) |
1769 |
1847 |
|
Edridge, Henry |
1769 |
1821 |
|
Oweut William |
1769 |
1825 |
|
Shee, Sir Martin Archer |
1769 |
1850 |
|
Lawrence, Sir Thomas |
1769 |
1830 |
|
Phillips, Thomas |
1770 |
1845 |
|
Clint, George |
1770 |
1854 |
|
Williams, H. W. |
1773 |
1829 |
|
Thomson, Henry |
1773 |
1843 |
|
Barret, George (the younger) |
1774 |
1842 |
|
Thirtle, John |
1774 |
1839 |
|
Turner, Jos. Mallord Wm. |
1775 |
1851 |
|
Hargreaves, William |
1775 |
1829 |
|
GiRTIN, 'J'HOMAS |
1775 |
1802 |
|
Barker Benjamin |
1776 |
1838 |
|
Constable, John |
1776 |
1837 |
|
Chalon, J. J |
1777 |
1854 |
|
Jackson, John |
1778 |
1831 |
|
Varley, John |
1778 |
1842 |
|
Callcott, Sir Augustus Wall |
1779 |
1844 |
|
Wilson, Andrew |
1780 |
1848 |
|
Chalon, A. E. |
1781 |
1860 |
|
Havell, William |
1782 |
1857 |
|
Cotman, John Sell |
1782 |
1842 |
|
Pickersgill, H. W |
1782 |
1875 |
|
Simpson, John |
1782 |
1847 |
|
Allan, Sir William |
1782 |
1850 |
|
Wild, G. |
1782 |
1835 |
|
Uwi')is, Thomas |
1782 |
1857 |
|
Prout, Samuel |
1783 |
1852 |
|
Cox, David |
1783 |
1859 |
|
Kiehardson, Th. Miles |
1784 |
1848 |
|
De Wint, Peter |
1784 |
1849 |
|
Wilkie, David |
1785 |
1841 |
|
Hilton, William |
1786 |
1837 |
|
Fraser, Alexander |
1786 |
1865 |
|
MuLREADY, William |
1786 |
1863 |
|
Haydon, B. R. |
1786 |
1846 |
|
Jones, George Nasmyth, Patrick ^ . .^ |
1786 |
1869 |
|
1787 |
1831 |
|
|
Harlow, G. H. ^i^- Etty, WiUiam 'PC* |
1787 |
1819 |
|
1787 |
1849 |
|
CHEONOLOGICAL LISTS OP PAINTERS. |
457 |
|
|
Birth. |
Death. |
|
|
Fielding, Antony Vandyck Copley |
1787 |
1855 |
|
Collins, WUliam |
1788 |
1847 |
|
Good, T. S. |
1789 |
1872 |
|
Geddes, Andrew |
1789 |
1844 |
|
Martin, John |
1789 |
1854 |
|
Turner, William {of Oxford) |
1789 |
1862 |
|
Robson, Geo. Fennel |
1790 |
1833 |
|
Gordon, Sir J. Watson |
1790 |
1865 |
|
Hunt, William H. |
1790 |
1864 |
|
Linton, William |
1791 |
1876 |
|
Cruikshank, George |
1792 |
1878 |
|
Linnell, John |
1792 |
1882 |
|
Briggs, H. P. Eastlake, Sir Chas. Locke |
1792 |
1844 |
|
1793 |
1865 |
|
|
Danhy, Francis |
1793 |
1861 |
|
Stanb'ield, Wit.tjam Clarkson |
1793 |
1867 |
|
Stark, James |
1794 |
1859 |
|
Ladbroke, Robert |
1842 |
|
|
Leslie, Chas. Rob. |
1794 |
1859 |
|
Newton, Gilbert Stuart |
1794 |
1845 |
|
Ross, Sir William |
1794 |
1860 |
|
Herring, J. F. |
1795 |
1865 |
|
Roberts, David |
1796 |
1854 |
|
Vincent, George |
1796 |
18S1 |
|
Harding, J. D. |
1798 |
1863 |
|
Cat term ole, George |
1800 |
1868 |
|
Holland, James |
1800 |
1870 |
|
Boxall, Sir Wm. |
1800 |
1879 |
|
Webster, Thomas |
1800 |
1886 |
|
Bonington, Rich. Parkes |
1801 |
1828 |
|
Lance, Geo. |
1802 |
1864 |
|
Landseer, Sir Edwin |
1802 |
1873 |
|
Chambers, George |
1803 |
1840 |
|
Grant, Sir Francis |
1803 |
1878 |
|
Lewis, J. F. |
1805 |
1876 |
|
Palmer, Samuel |
1805 |
1881 |
|
Scott David |
1806 |
1849 |
|
Dyce, William |
1806 |
1864 |
|
Duncan, Wm. |
1807 |
1845 |
|
Poole, P. F. |
1810 |
1872 |
|
Creswick, Thomas |
1811 |
1869 |
|
Macllse, Daniel |
1811 |
1870 |
|
Dawson, Henry |
1811 |
1878 |
|
Cooke, E. W. |
1811 |
1880 |
|
Dod<'son, G. H. Muller, Wm. John |
1811 |
1880 |
|
1812 |
1845 |
|
|
Elmore, Alfred |
1815 |
1881 |
|
Egg, A L. |
1816 |
186S |
|
Ward, Ed. Matt. |
1816 |
1879 |
468
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTS OP PAINTERS.
|
Birth. |
Death. |
|
|
Phillip, John |
1817 |
1867 |
|
Leech, John |
1817 |
1864 |
|
Mason, Geo. Hemming |
1818 |
1872 |
|
Bough, Samuel |
1822 |
1878 |
|
Oakes, John R. |
1822 |
1887 |
|
Doyle, Richard |
1824 |
1885 |
|
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel |
1828 |
1882 |
|
Walker, Frederick A. |
1840 |
1875 |
|
Pinwell, George L |
1843 |
1875 |
|
Lawsoriy Cecil |
1851 |
1882 |
INDEX,
Aachen, Hans von, 442.
Aart Pieterzoon, 311.
Aartzen, Pieter 311.
Abbati, Nicolo (Abbati, Nicolo
dell'), 183, 360. Abdication of Charles F., Gallait,
329. Abraham receiving the Angels, Mu-
rillo, 227. Abruzzi, 196. Academies, the, 68, Academy, the, 92, 261.
Antwerp, 146, 281.
Bologna, 182, 188, 189, 190.
Bruges, 280, 289, 292, 293,
296.
Diisseldorf, 265.
degli Incamminati, 190.
Florence, 48, 64, 68, 77, 80,
127, 146. French, of Painting and
Sculpture, 366, 380, 381.
Martin's Lane, S., 390, 398.
Milan, 96.
The Iteyal, 89, 93, 392, 397,
398, 400, 401, 404, 408, 409,
412, 414.
Seville, 227.
The Winter Exhibitions, 141,
224, 226, 413, 416, 420. Venice, 143, 148, 153, 171,
175. Achenbach, 267. AchmetlL, 175. Adam and Eve, Diirer, 250.
H. Van Eyck, 273, 278.
Barry, 403.
Adoration of the Kings, Fabriano, 146; Del Sarto, 140; Mabuse, 304 ; Peruzzi, 99 ; Pordenone, 160 ; Van Ley den, 314 ; Viva- rini, 143.
Adoration of the Magi, Aeken, 296 ; Botticelli, 64 j Dossi, 138 ; Mem- ling, 290 ; P. Porbus, 304 ; Van- der Weyden, 288 ; Veronese, 175; Vinci, 87.
Adoration of the Trinity, Belle- gambe, 304 ; Diirer, 250.
Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, Van Eycks, 272.
Adorations, Botticelli or Morelli, 64 ; Velasquez, 222.
Adrian L, 24.
Adrian VI., 307.
Aeken, Jerome van (Bosch), 296, 311.
.Esthetics, 152.
Action, 429.
Agatharchos of Samos, 11,
Ages of Man, the, Lancret, 368.
Agntis Dei, J. Van Eyck, 304.
Agony in the Garden, G. Bellini, 149;Correggio,180; Spagna,80.
Agony, the, Perugino, 80.
Aguaido collection, 224.
Aguila, Count, 222.
Aikman, Will., 464.
Air Pump, Wright, 414,
Aix, 359.
Ajax and Medea, by Timomachus, 18.
Alamannus, Johannes (daMurano), 143.
460
INDEX.
Alba, Macrino d', 85.
Albani, Francesco, 186, 187, 191.
Albert, Be gent of Netherlands, 3 17.
Albertinelli, Mariotto, 100, 141.
Albertino, brothers, 170.
Alchemy, 327.
Alchymist, the, Ostade, 347.
Aldegi'ever, Heinrich, 255.
Aldobrandini Gallery, 108.
family, 121.
Aldovrandi family, 125,
Alexander, 421.
Alexander of Macedon, 15.
Alfani, Domenico di Paris, 435.
Alfani, Orazio, 436.
Alfon, Juan, 202.
Alhambra, the, 200.
Aliense, L'. See Vasilacchi.
Allamag;na, Justus da, 239.
Allan, David, 455.
Allan, Sir Will., 456.
Allegri, Antonio (Correggio), 139, 153, 156, 161, 177-80, 182, 183, 185, 188, 285.
Allegri, Lorenzo, 178.
Allemand, 362.
Allori, Allesandro, 190, 436.
Allori, CristofanOj 190.
Alma-Tadema, 330.
Aloisi, Baldassare, 436.
Alslool, Denis van, 445.
Altar-pieceSy Berruguete, 202 ; Broederlain, 269 ; Crevelli, 144 ; Boni-bild of Cologne, 236 ; Do- menichino, 186 ; P. Fernandez, 202 ; Ferrari, 97 ; Fra Angelico, 57 ; Grien, 256 ; Griinewald, 255; Herrera el Mozo, 212; Holbein, the elder, 257 ; the Im- hqf, 234 , Lanini, 182 ; Liesbom, 239; Lorenzo, F. di, 77; Lo- renzo, M., 58; Lucas Moser 237 ; of Mantegna, 71; Moretto, 169 ; Palma Vecchio, 160; Pel- legrino, 154 ; Perugino, 79 ; Ro- manino, 170 ; Solario, 98 ; Titian, 164 ; from Valencia, in S. K. M., 202 ; H. Van der Goes, 285 ; of St. Bavon, Van Eyck, 278-9 ; Van Orley, 307 ; Vivarini, 143 ; Wohlgemuth, 247.
Altdorfer, A., 255, 256. Altichiero da Zevio, 45, 84. Alunno, Niccolo, of Foligno. See
Fuligno. Alva, Duke of, 309. Amasis, 5.
Amberger, Christoph., 260. Ambrosiana, 97. American traders in art, Spanish-,
223. Amerighi. Michelangelo (Cara-
vaggio). See Merisi. Amman, Jost., 442. Amsterdam, 306, 311, 312, 332,
333, 336, 337, 338, 348. Amsterdam, Leprozenhuis, 336. " Analysis of Beauty," 392. Anatomy Lesson, the, Rembrandt,
332, 334. Anatomy, first artist to study by
dissection, 69. Anchin, monastery of, 304. Ancie7it and Mod^em Italy, Turner,
410. Andelys, 362. Anderton, Henry 454. Andrea da Firenze, 42. Anecdotes of painting, 386. Angelico, Fra [II Beato]. See
Fiesole. Angelo, Andrea d* (del Sarto), 135,
138-42, 204, 307. Angelo, Michael. &e Buonarotti. Angelus, Millet, 383. Angell, Helena, Cordelia, Chr.
L.,8. Angers, 358, 359. Anguisci, 359, Sofonisba, 436. Aniello. See Rosa. Animal painting, 325, 412. Annuciation, the, Ambrogio, 48 ;
Crivelli, 144; H. Hunt, 426;
Justus de Allamagna, 239 ; Ma-
nin, 80. Anraadt, P. van, 450. Ansidei Madonna, 107. Antiphilos of Alexandria, 429. " Antiquities of Great Britain,"
420. Antony, S., 244. Antonio Veniziano. iS^geVeniziano.
INDEX.
461
Antonelli. See Messina. Antwerp, 146, 253, 283, 296, 298,
309, 311,323,325,337,346. School of, 293, 296, 297, 307,
310,316-17,369. Antwerp, house of QuentinMassys,
299.
Frans Floris, 308.
Kuebens, 317.
Apelles of Cos, 14.
Apelles, his Venus Anadyomene.
14. Apocalypse, Diirer, 250. Apollodoros of Athens, 12, 15. Apostles, Four, Diirer, 251-52. Apotheosis of Homer, Ingres, 377. Apsley House, 217. Aquatinta, 229. Araldi, 433. Arcagnolo, Andrea Cione (Or-
cagna), 40, 42, 43, 44, 48, 68. Archd uke Leopold William, Regent
of the Netherlands, 327. Archangel Michael, Mabuse, 303. Archers of S. George, 338. Arellano, Juan de, 439. Arenberg, Prince of, 346. Aretino. See SpinellL Arezzo, 28, 48, 52. Ariosto, 152, 162, 165, 167, 168,
264. Aristeidcs of Thebes, 14. Aristotle, 10, 11, 12, 111. Armstrong, Walter, 84. Arnolfini, jean, 281. Arona, 97.
Arpino, G. C, Cavalierc d', 192. Arquebusiers of Antwerp, 317. Arragon, 223. Arras, 115. Art and morals, 79, 368.
. under the Empire, 375.
Art, writers on, 7.
in the fifteenth century, 49,
53, 62, 83
sixteenth century, 83, 86.
fall of, 137.
development of, 63.
Artz, 356.
Arundel, Esrl of, 323. I
Society, 36, 57, 67, 104, 278.
Ashburnham MSS., 64. Ashburnham, Lord, 192. Ascension of the Virgin, Cespedes,
208. Ascension of Christ, Correggio, ITSj
Perugino, 80. Asceticism, Christian, 26, 34,
264. Ascham, Roger, 163. Asclepios, Temple of, 14. Asiatic school, 13. Asper, Hans, 441, Asselyn, Jan, 446. Assisi, Church of S. Francis at,
31, 38, 41, 47, 67, 76, 80, 232. Assyria, art of, 7. Assumption, M. di Giovanni, 50. Assumption of the Virgin, Botti- celli, 64; Prud'hon, 374; Titian,
164, 226, Astronomers or Chaldean Sages j
Giorgione, 167. Atmospheric effects, 350, 365,
407. Attic school, 13. Attic state by Parrhasios, 13. Audenarde, 346. Augsburg, 166 ; a central point of
German art, 256-57. Avanzo, Jacopo d', 46. Avenue Middelharnis, Hobbema,
352. Avercamp, H. van, 448. Avignon, 47, 359. Ay toun, 410-11.
Babe in the Manger ^ Dutch, 119. Babylon, 7.
BaccJuxnal, Bellini's, 152. Bacchanalian, Poussin, 362, 364. Bacchus and Ariadne, Titian, 162,
168. Bacchus statue, M. Angelo, 126. Bacchiaca. See Ubertini. Baccio della Porta. See Fattorine. Backhuysen, Ludolf, 353, 354. Bacon, 88.
Badalocchio, Sisto, 437. Badia, 35.
Badile, Antonio, 1 73. Baerle, 284.
INDEX.
]age Wagon, Muller, 423, Baldovinetti, Alesso, 66. Balen, Henri van, 322. Banker and wife, Massys, 300. Banquet of the Civic Guards, Heist,
338. Baptism of Christ, G. David, 292 ;
verrocchio, 77. Baptistery at Florence, 39, 51. Barbarelli, Giorgio (Giorgione),
134, 153, 154, 155, 156-59, 160,
162, 167, 170, 192. Barberini, Cardinal, 362. Barbieri, Gio. Francesco, Bom.
(Guercino), 186, 189. Barbieri Pietro Ant., 437. Barbizon, 383. Barcelona, 201, 229. Barco, Garcia del, 202. Bardi Chapel, 37. Barillon, 116. Barker, Benjamin, 456. Barker, Thomas (of Bath), 456. Barocchi, the, Fortuny, 230. Barocio, Federigo, 180. Baroncelli, altar-piece, 38. Barret, jun., George, 417, 421,
422. Barriere de Clichy, Vemet, 378. Barry, James, 403-4. Barth, J., 356. Bartholdi, 264,
Bartolommeo, Fra. See Fattorine. Bartolommeo, Martino di, 431. Bartolo, Domenico di, 431. Bartolo di Maestro Fredi, 430. Bartolo, Taddeo, 48. Bartsch, 196, 242, 256, 313, 349. Bartucci, Gio. Batt., 434. Basaiti, Marco, 155. Basel, 257, 258. Basle, 306. Bassano. See Ponte. Bassano, the Spanish, 205. Bas-reliefs, 39, 233. Bastien-Lepage, J., 384. Bath, 398, 400. Battista. See Conegliano. Battle of the Amazons, Eubens,
321. of the HunSf Kaulbach, 266.
Battle-pieces, 196, 197, 213, 347,
351. Baumeister, Frau, 238. Bavaria, John of, 274. Bay of BaicB, Turner, 410. Bazzi, Gio. Ant. (11 Sodoma),
98, 99. Beale, Mary, 454. Beaumont, Sir George, 455, Beaune, hospital of, 287. "Beauties of England and Wales,"
420. Beauty, Greek worship of, 8. Becerra, Caspar, 204, 207. Beccafumi, Domenico di Jacopo di
Pace, 99. Beechey, Sir Wm., 415. Beer Street, Hogarth, 392. Bega, Cornelius, 344. Begas, Carl, 442. Beham, Bartel, 255. Beham, Hans Sebald, 255. Beheading of S. John Baptist,
Fabritius, 337. Belgian School, 266, 329. Belgian struggle for independence,
329. Belle Jardiniere, Raphael, 108. Bellegambe, Jean, 304. Belli Marco, 434. " Bellinesques," 155. Bellini, Gentile, 146, 147. Bellini, Giovanni, 49, 71, 80, 97,
132, 146, 149, 151, 153, 155,
161, 162, 173, 249, 393. Bellini, Jacopo, 71, 146. Bellini family, 71, 134, 146,
156. Bellini, Niccolosia, 71. Belotti, 90.
Bellotto, Bernardo, 438. Beltraffio, Gio. Ant., 95. Belvedere, 165, 250, 256, 293. Belvoir, 362. Bembo, Bonifazio, 432. Bembo, Pietro, 152. Bendemann, E., 443. Benevenuto da Siena, 50. Beni Hassan, grottoes of, 35. Benozzo, Filippo, 140. Benozzo Gozzoli. See Gozzoli.
INDEX.
468
Bentivoglio, Giovanni, 82. Benvenuti, Gio. Batt. (I'Ortolano),
138. Berchem, Nicolas, 354, 356. Berime, 161. Berlin, 68, 85, 96, 154, 169, 185,
265, 278, 284, 348. Bermudez, Cean, 200, 201, 207,
208, 217. Bernard van BrusseL See Orley. Berne, 287.
Berreguete, Alonso, 203. Berretini, Pietro (da Cortona), 191,
194, 197. Berruguete, Pedro, 202, 213. Berlin, 382. Bet to, Bernardino di (Pinturicchio),
80, 81, 99. Beukelaer, Joachim, 444. Bevilacqua, Ambrogio, 433. Bevir's Guide to Siena, 48. Bewick, T., 455. Beyart, 296. Biagio, Vincenzo di (Catena),
155. Bibiena, Cardinal, 122. Bibiena, Ferdinando, 438. Bible, Raphael's, 115. Biblical-genre, 205, 227. Bibliophiles, Fortuny, 230. Bicci, Lorenzo de', 431. Biefve, Edouard de, 266, 329. Bigi, Fr. di Cristofano (Francia
Bigio), 141. Bigordi, Benedetto, 69. Bigordi, David, 69, 123. Bigordi, I>>menico Carrado di,
38, 64, 66-9, 83, 101, 103, 123,
129. Bink, Jacob, 265. Bird, Edward, 406. Birmingham, 413. Birth (^ Paris, Giorgione, 158. Birth of Venus, Botticelli, 64. Birth of the Virgin, Ghirlandaio,
68 ; Pietro, 48 j del Sarto,
140. Bisschoff, Carl, 357. Bissolo, P. Francesco, 155. Blake, William, 405, 424, 426. Blanc, C, 172, 347, 353, 371.
Blair's "Grave,'' Blake, 424.
Blanchard, Jacques, 361.
Blenheim, 107, 319.
Bles, Henrik Metten, 292, 310.
Blessing of Isaac, Flinck, 336.
Blind Fiddler, Wilkie, 406.
Bloemaert, Abraham, 314.
Bloemen, J. v. d. (Orizonte), 446.
Blommers, 356.
Blondeel, Lancelot, 304.
Bloot, P. van, 446.
Blue Bower, Hoi. Hunt, 426.
Blundell, Weld, 282.
Boar Hunt, Velasquez, 222.
Bocanegra, Pedro Ant., 439.
Boccaccio, 64.
Boccaccio, Boccaccino, 170.
Bock, Hans, 442.
Bocksperger, Hans, 442.
Bodegones, 212.
Bohemia, school of, 233.
Bois-le-duc, 296.
Boisser6e Collection, 265.
Bol, Ferdinand, 336.
Bologna, 80, 82, 83, 108, 125, 143, 165, 182, 184, 185, 186, 189, 191, 204, 289, 395.
Pope Julius II. at, 128.
School of, 81, 181.
Titian at, 164.
Bologna University, 185.
Bolognese artists, 192.
Bou, Philippe le, Duke of Bur- gundy, 274.
Bondone, Giotto, 29, 32, 33- 39, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 51, 53, 57, 67, 70, 142, 200, 227, 233, 282, 393.
Bone, Henry, 455.
Boniface VIIL, 35.
Bonifazio da Veneziano, 169.
Bonifazio da Verona, 169.
Bonington, Richard Parkes, 381, 422.
Bonn, 233.
Bono, of Ferrara, 84.
Bononi, Carlo, 436.
Bonsignori, Francesco, 173.
Bonvicino, Alessandro (H Mo- retto), 169, 170.
464
INDEX.
Bonzi, P. P., 190. Book of the Dead, 6. Book of Job, Blake, 424. Book illustrators, 427. Bordone, Paris, 168, 170. Borghese, Piero. See Francesco. Borgia, Lucrezia, 163. Borgo San Sepolcro, 52.
Vecchio, fire in the, 114.
Borgognone. See Fossano. Borgona, Juan de, 202. Bosboom, Johannes, 356. Bosch. See Aeken. Boschaert, T. W., 446. Boswell, 218. Both, Jan, 354. Botticelli (Sandro Filipepi), 54,
63. Boucher, Francois, 368, 369, 370. Bough, Samuel, 458. "Bouillon," Claude's, 365. Boulogne, Hue de, 451. Boulogne, siege of, 165. Boulongne, L., 452. Boullongne, Bon, 452. Boullongne, Louis de, 451. Bourbon, Constable de, sacks
Rome, 130.
plate, 217.
Bourdon, Sebastien, 366. Bourgeois, Sir Francis, 455. Bourguignon, Le. See Courtois. Bouts, Dierick, 293-5, 297; his
sons Albert and Dierick, 295. Bouvin, Louis, Chr. L., 7. Bowood, 205. Boxall, Sir William, 415. Boydell's Shakespeare, 404, 423. Brabant, Duke of, 270. Brakeleer, Ferd., 446. Bramante, 85, 109, 114, 117,
127. Bramantino. See Suardi. Brancacci Chapel, 54, 65, 71. Brandt, Isabella, 319. Brauweiler, church of, 233. Brauwer, Adrian, 296, 327, 346,
347. Bray, Jan, 448. Bray, Salomon, 448. Breda, 309.
Bree, Mattbieu, van, 446.
Brekelenkam, Quirying, 193, 344.
Brentano Collection, 359.
Brera, 84, 95, 96-7, 98, 149, 169, 170, 173.
Brescia, 84, 169, 170.
Bretonvilliers, M. de, 366.
Breu, Georg, 441.
Breughel, Hell, 308.
Breughel, Peasant, 308, 310, 330.
Breughel, Velvet, 296, 308.
Breydel, Chevalier C, 446.
Bric4-brac School, 229.
Bride, Hoi. Hunt, 426.
Bridging of Chaos, Fuseli, 404.
Bridgwater Gallery, 108, 161, 165, 168.
Briggs, H. P., 457.
Bril, Matthew, 310.
Bril, Paul, 310.
British Institution, 410.
British Museum, Egyptian Papyri, 5 ; paintings in, 6 ; J. Bellini's sketches, 147 ; Print Room, 242; A. Diirer's drawings and MSS., 254; Holbein's drawings in, 260.
British Museum, letters of Michael Angelo, 128.
Brodie, William, Chr. L., 8.
Broederlain, Melchior, 269.
Bronzino, Allessandro. See AI- lori.
Bronzino, Angelo di Cosimo di Mariano, 135, 181.
Brosamer, Hans, 255.
Brotherhood of the Holy Sacra- ment, 294.
Browning, Robert, 61, 140.
Bruges, 241 ; its prosperity, 274, 277, 282, 290, 292, 304.
Franc de, 304.
Hospital of S. John, 290,
291.
Magistrates of, 292.
Notre Dame, 304.
School of, 145, 238, 268-97,
304,311-13.
Brun, Charles le, 361, 366, 367. Brun, Mde. L. E. V. le, 380. Brunelleschi, 53.
INDEX.
465
Brunswick, 233, 340.
Brussels, 204, 285, 286, 287, 292, 302, 309, 310, 314, 339.
Hotel dc Ville, 287.
Bnittis, liethiere, 373.
Bruyn, Bartolomaus, 240.
Buflfalmacco. See Cliristofani.
BiUl-Iiinff, the, Goya, 229.
Buonacorso, Niccolo, 46.
Buonarotti, Ludovico, 123.
Buonarotti, Michael Angelo, 43, 49, 51, 54, 6G, 73, 74,77,78,86, 87, 94, 95, 99, 101, 102, 103, 105, 109, 112, 113, 114, 115, 123-34, 142, 159, 161, 163, 1G5, 171, 177, 180, 183, 204, 205, 207, 225, 244, 248, 263, 282, 301, 314, 316, 402.
Buonarotti and Da Vinci con- trasted, 94 ; and Mich. Angelo, 126.
and Pope Julius II., 127-8 ;
frescoes in Sistine Chapel, 129- 30.
sonnets and poems, 131, 133.
pupils, of, 135-6.
Buonaventura, Segna di, 46.
Buonfigli, Benedetto, 77.
Buoninsegna, Duccio di, 46.
Buonvicino, 84.
Biirckhardt, 195.
Burger, Musdes d'HolIande, 326, 333.
Burgkmair, Hans, 256, 257.
Burgkmair, Thoraan, 256,. 257.
Burgos, 206.
Burgundy, 274, 286-7.
Burial of Atala, Girodet, 373.
Jlurial of Chrid, Caravnggio, 193.
Burke, 397. 403.
Biirkel, Heinrich, 443.
Burleigh House, 159.
Burleigh, Madonna, 282.
Burne-Joncs, E., 427.
Burning Bmk, N. Froment, 359.
But!, Lucretia, 60.
Buttinone. See Jacobi.
I^yrne's " Antiquities," 420.
Byron, 195, 377.
Byzantine art, stationary cha- racter of, 25.
Byzantine conception of Christ, 23,24.
Byzantine-Rhenish, or Byzantine- Romantic Art, 234, 240, 273.
Byzantine style, 6, 24, 25, 27, 29, 62, 75, 81, 86, 90, 103, 142, 200, 202, 232, 268.
Cadiz, 227.
Caen, 80.
Cagli, 104.
Cagliari, Benedetto, 176.
Cagliari, Carlo, 176.
Cagliari, Gabriele, 436.
Cagliari, Paolo (Paolo Veronese),
147, 163, 156, 172, 181, 303,
316, 331. Cairo, Sultan of, 87. Caisne, H. de, 447. Calabrese. See Preti. Calaiji Pier, Turner, 410. Calandrino, 40. Calcar, 239. Calderon, Philip, 412. Callcott, Sir Aug. W., 423. Calling ofS. Matthew^ Caravaggio,
193. Callot, Jacques, 296, 361. Calumny, Botticelli, 64. Calvert, Denis, 186, 187. Calvi, J. A., 83. Caraaldoles, Order of, 57.
Abbey of, 58.
Cambiaso, Luca, 435. Cambray, League of, 150. Camerarius, "^54. Campaila, Pedro, 204. Campanella, Tommaso, 133. Camphausen, W., 443. Cam pi, Giulio, I'JO. Campin, Robert, 286, 287. Camix) Santo, Frescoes of the, 41,
48, 58, 59. Campo, Santo, Berlin, projected,
265. Canale, Antonio (Canaletto), 198. Canaletto. See Canale. Caniginni, House of, 108. Canlasai, Guido, 437. Cano, Alonso, 199, 212, 213-1,
222.
HH
\i^
^
466
INDEX.
Canobbio, 97.
Cantarini, Simone, 437.
Canterbury Pilgrims, Blake, 425.
Canuti, Maria, 438.
Canvas, first painter on fixed, 289.
Canzone of Poverty, 38.
Capanna, Puccio, 40, 47.
Capelle, Jan van de, 354.
Caprices, Goya, 229.
Capuchin Friars, 224, 227.
Caracci, Antonio and Paolo, 185.
Caracciolo, Giambattista, 437.
Caraffa, Cardinal, 65.
Carava^gio. See Merisi.
Cardi, Lodovico, 436.
Card Party, L. v. Ley den, 312.
Cardsharpers, Caravaggio, 192, 193.
Carducho, 206.
Cariani, Giovanni Busi, 161.
Caricature, 261, 311.
Carlyle, Thomas, 368.
Carmona, 219.
Carnevali, Fra, 432.
Carosselli, Angelo, 194.
Caroto, Francesco, 173.
Carpaccio, Vittore, 153, 170.
Carpi, Girolamo, 435.
Carracci, Agostino, 182, 184.
Carracci, Annibale, 182 ; his son- net, 183, 184, 185.
Carracci, Antonio, 185.
Carracci, Francesco, 185.
Carracci, the, 190, 225.
Carracci, anti-, faction, 194.
Carracci, Lodovico, 181, 182, 184, 186, 187, 188, 209.
Carracci, Paolo, 185.
Carracciolo, G. B., 437.
Carrafa, Cardinal, 65.
Carrara, 127, 130.
Carreno de Miranda, Juan, 439.
Carstens, Asmus, 263, 265.
Cartoon of S. Anne, Vinci, 93.
Cartoons of Raphael, 115; their vicissitudes, 116.
Cartoons, 93, 94, 115, 127, 184, 305.
Carucci, Jacopo (Da Pontormo), 135, 142, 181.
Casa la Pelluca, 97.
Casanova, Frangois, 452.
Caselli, Cristofero, 433.
Caseutino. See Gaudini.
Castagno, Andrea, 69, 83.
Castel Caprese, 123.
Castel franco, 156.
Castelli, 88.
Castello delle Pieve, Citti, which see.
Castiglione, Count, 119, 122.
Castiglione, Gio. Ben., 437.
Castile, 202.
Castillo, Antonio del, 439.
Castillo, Juan del, 222.
Casfle Howard, 304.
Castro, Juan Sanchez de, 202.
Catacombs, painting in the, 22.
Catena. See Biagio.
Cathedral, Aix, 359 ; Antwerp, 297, 317 ; Berne, 287 ; Bur- gos, 206; Cologne, 235, 236, 237, 265 ; Cordova, 208 ; Cre- mona, 159 ; Florence, 39; Frei- bui-g, 256; Ghent, 273, 278; Granada, 214; Louvain, 298; Mechlin, 323 ; Milan, 87 ; Naumberg, 265 ; Orvieto, 73 ; Parma, 178; Pisa, 41; Prato, 40, 61; Rome, 35, 117; St. Paul's, 389, 41 1 ; Seville, 202, 204, 205, 224; Spoleto, 62; Tournus, 358 ; Treviso, 159 ; Verona, 147.
Cathedrals, painted glass in, 232 ; Glasgow, 267 ; S. Paul's, 265.
Catholic asceticism, 265.
Catholicism in art, 55, 191, 251,264.
Catholicism versus Protestantism in art, 225.
Cattermole, G., 421.
Cattle-painters, 349, 350.
Cavallini, P., 430.
Cavedone, Giacomo, 436.
Caxes, Eugenio, 439.
Cecchi, Gregorio, 431.
Cephalus and Aurora, A. Carracci, 184.
Cerezo, Matteo de, 440.
Cerquozzi, Michaelangelo, 196.
Cerretto, Coronation of the Virgin at, 58.
INDEX.
467
Certosa at Pavia, 79, 85, 98. Cervantes, illustration of, 407. Cespedes, Pablo de, 200, 208. Ceulen, Cornelis J. van, 448. Chabot, Admiral, 360. Chaldea, 7. Chalon, A, E., 41.5. Chambers, George, 457. Champaigne, Philippe de, 367. Chapeau de Poll, Rubens, 321. Characterisation in portrait, 338. Chardin, J. B.,369, Charity, del Sarto, 140. Charlemagne, 232, 234, 358. Charles the Bold, 284, 290. Charles I.. 72, 115, 121, 318, 323,
324, 387. Charles U., 116, 326, 353, 388. Charles IV. of Spain, 229. Charles IV., Emperor, 233. Charles V., Emperor, 66, 164,
166, 168, 175, 216, 253, 260,
301,303, 305, 309, 386. Charles VIII., of France, 72. Charlet, Nicolas Toussaint, 453. Chartres, 358. Chasse of S. Odile, 269.
of S. Ursicla, Memling, 290.
Chatsworth. 96, 282.
Chelsea, 258.
Chesneau, M. E., 385, 393, 425.
Chiaroscuro, 11, 12, 52, 53, 177,
208, 215, 328, 331, 339, 340,
352, 374. Chigi, Agostino, 98. Ch ilde Harold:' s Pilgrimage, Turner,
410. Chinese art, 7.
Choosing a Model, Fortuny, 230. Christ and Virgin, Massy s, 300.
at Emmaus, G. Bellini, 151.
atthe Column, Velasquez, 222.
hearing the Cross, Giorgione,
157; Kaphael, 122; Kibalta,
209.
Betrayal, Cimabue, 32.
Blessing little Children,
fk'ckbout, 3.J7.
buffeted, Teniers, 329.
Crowned with Thorns, Guido,
189 ; Teniers, 328.
Christ Disputing the Doctors, Luini, 96.
driving out the Traders,
Venusti, 135.
Early figures of, 22-25.
going to EmTnaus, Melone,
170.
healing the Blind, Buonin-
segna, 46.
healing the Sick, West, 403.
in the house of Simon, Mabuse,
302. leaving the Pratorium, Dor^,
384.
sinking beneath the Cross,
Schongauer, 242.
washing Disciples' feet, Tin- toretto, 172.
weeping over Jerusalem, East- lake, 423.
Christ College, Oxford, 185.
Christall, 421.
Christian art, 12, 21,22, 24,33, 54, 90, 101, 103, 119, 200, 366, 377.
Christian or spiritual school, 75, 153.
Christian Redemption, M. Angelo, 265.
Chi'istiana of Sweden, Queen, 328.
Christofani, Buonamico, (Buffal- macco), 40, 42.
Chronicles de Chastelain, 275.
Church of Rome, restraint on art, 240, 243.
Churches : Arena, at Padua, 36 ; Brauweiler, 233; Carmine, 39, 60, 65 ; Innocenti, Florence, 68 ; Ognisanti, Florence, 68 ; Or S. Michele, Florence, 40; Or S. Michele, Orvieto, 44 ; S. An- tony, Padua, 45 ; San Cleraente, Borne, 54; S. Maria della Ho- tonda, Rome, 122 ; S. Croce, 37- 40, 46 ; S. Domenico, Siena, 28, 98; S. Francis, Assisi, 31,38. 232 ; S. Francis, Pisa, 39 ; S. Maria degli Ann;e!i, Arezzo, 44 ; S. Mar. del Flore, 39, 40; S. Mar. Novella, Florence, 30, 44. 65, 68, 10.3, 107, 123, 285; S,
468
INDEX.
Miniato, Florence, 45 ; S. Pietro Maggiore, Perugia, 80 ; S. Se- bastian! del Servi, 69, 174; S. Spirito, Florence, 68 ; S. Trinita, Florence, 67 ; S, Crisostomo, Venice, 152 ; S. Domenico, Ascoli, 144 ; Convent, Fiesole, 56 ; Incoronata, Naples, 38 ; Notre Dame, Courtrky, 323 ; S. Agostino, San Gemignano, 59; S. Andrea dellaValle, Rome, 188 ; S. Augustine, Antwerp, 323; S. Cecilia, Bologna, 82, 83 ; SS. Giovanni e Paolo, 167 ; S. Gudule, 289 ; S. Julian, Se- ville, 202 ; Mad. di Campagna, Piacenza, 159 ; S. Maria Angeli, Lugano, 96, 97 ; S. Maria de Frari, Venice, 164, 167 ; S. Maria, Formosa, 161 ; S. Maria Nuova, Floi-ence, 285 ; S. Martin, Colmar, 241 ; S. Mary, Utrecht, 307 ; S. Peter, Cordova, 200 ; S. Eomano, Lucca, 102 ; S. Romain, Sens, 359 ; S. Dominica, Cagli, 104 ; Salvatore, Colalto, 159 ; San Severo, Perugia, 107 ; Trinita de' Monti, Rome, 135; Wien- hausen, 233.
Ciarla, 118.
Cicognara" Storia della Scultura," 51.
Cignani, Count Carlo, 438.
Cimabue, Giovanni, 28, 29, 33-4, 46, 70, 269.
Cimon of Cleonae, 10.
Cimon, son of Miltiades, 11.
Ciiiquocentisti, 49.
Cipriani, Giovanni, 401.
Circumcision of Christ, L. v. Ley- den, 312.
Signorelli, 74.
Citta, 80, 105.
Civatale, 69.
Civerchio, 95.
Civetta, 310.
Claessins, Pieter, the elder, and P. C. , the younger, 444.
Claeszoon. See Marinus.
Classical Naturalism, 54.
Classic art, 70, 124, 184, 208, 362.
Classicism, French, 329, 370, 372.
Michael-Angelo's, 126.
Classico-Christian painters, 22.
Claude. See Gelee.
Clavigo, battle of, 205.
Cleanthes, of Corinth, 10.
Clement VIL, 130, 132, 164.
Cleophantos, of Corinth, 10.
Cleve, Joas van, 309.
Climate and art, 268.
Clint, George, 401.
Clouet, Francois (Janet), 359.
Clouet, Jehannet, 359.
Clovio, Giulio, 435.
Cluny Collection, 360.
Coat of Arms, BeatlUs Head, DUrer, 252.
Codde, Pieter, 344.
Coelebier, Nicholas, 348.
Coello, Alonzo Sanchez, 204.
Coello, Claudio, 440.
Cogniet, Leon, 453.
Colart le Voleur, 451.
Coleoni, Bartol., Statue by Ver- rocchio, 77.
Coleridge, Tahle-Talk, 119,321.
CoUantes, Francisco, 208.
Collections of Pictures : Arenberg, Brussels, 339, 348 ; Bridge- water, 341-44, 362; Dudley, 105 ; Brentano, Frankfort, 358 ; Grosvenor, 349 ; Peel, 355 ; The Queen's, 339 ; Wynn-Ellis, 355.
College of Corpus Christ i, Valencia, 209.
Santiago, Salamanca, 204.
Collins, William, 411.
Colmar, 241.
Cologne, 233, 236, 237, 291, 307, 316, 320.
School of, 234, 238, 243, 269,
273.
Wilhelm of, 231, 235, 236.
Colombel, Nicolas, 452.
Colonna, Angelo Michele, 437.
Colonna, Princess Vittoria, 131.
Colour, Dutch, 339.
Flemish, 305, 320, 328.
Colour, Florentine, 82.
Coloured carvings, 213, 233, 246.
INDEX.
469
Coloured Statuary, 270, 287.
Colourists, Seven Great, 156.
Venetian, 163.
Communion of S. Jerome ^ Domeni- chino, 186.
Compagnia della morte, 196, 197.
Concert, Giorgione, 158} Valen- tin, 362.
Condivi, Ascanio, 132.
Conegliano, Cima da, 154.
Congnet, Gillis, 444.
Coninck, David de, 445.
Coninxloo, Gillis, 444.
Consecration oj S. Nicholas, Vero- nese, 176.
Conseil Paternelle, Terburg, 344.
Constable, John, 352, ."580, 381, 411, 417, 418, 419,422.
Constance, 236.
Constantine, Emperor, 23, 29
Constantinople, 148, 149.
Council of, 23.
Contemporaries of Kubens, 324. Contemporary Belgic art, 330.
English art, 330,
French art, 330.
German art, 267.
Conti, Bernardino, 84.
Conversation^ Velasquez, 222 Conver.satioii-pieces, 343. Cook, William, 116. Cooke, E. W., 423. Cooper, Samuel, 387. Copernicus, 88. Copley, J. S.,404. Copyist, definition of a, 121. Coques, Gonzales, 326. Cordova, 200, 208. Cordova, Pedro of, 201. Corenzio, Belisario, 436. Corinth, 1, 10. Cork, 403.
Coronation of the Virgin, Diirer, 251; Botticelli, 64; Era An- gelieo, 56 ; Overbeck, 265 ; P. PoUaiuolo, 69 ; liaphael, 105. Comeille, Michel, 452.
Paris, 451.
Comeliszoon, Buys, 31 1.
Cornelis, 311, 314.
Jacob, 306, 311, 312.
Comeliszoon, Lncas, 311.
Pieter, 311.
William, 306.
Cornelius, Peter von, 264, 265,
266. Corot, Camille, 364, 379, 382,
383. Correggio. See Allegri. Correggio, 178. Cortona, 198.
Pietro da. See Berrettini,
Cosimo, Piero de, 69, 138.
Cosmati, the, 27.
Cosmo de' Medici. See Medici.
Costa, Lorenzo, 82, 138.
Costumes of old Venice, 154.
Cosway, Richard, 415.
Cotes, Francis, 389, 396.
Cotman, J. S., 419-20, 421.
Courbet, Gustave, 384.
Courtois, Jacques, 452.
Court painters, 275, 317, 324, 328,
358. Courtraye, 323. Cousin, Jehan, 359, 360. Const ain. Pierre, 451. Cowper, Lord, 103, 141. Cowper, 399. Cox, David, 421, 422. Coxcien, Michael, 305, 306, 307. Coxcien, Raphael, 306. Coypel, Antoine, 452. Coypel, Noel, 452. Cozens, John, 380, 408, 417, 420,
421. Crabeth, Dirk and Wouter, 314. Cranach, Lucas, 260-2. Cranach, Lucas, the younger, 261. Cranach, Johannes, 441. Cranborne Alley, 389. Grayer, Gaspard de, 218, 324, 325. Credi, Lorenzo di, 77, 99. Cremona, 170, 190. Crespi, Giuseppe Maria, 438. Creswick, Thomas, 411. Cristall, Joshua, 421. Cristina of Sweden, 328. Cristus, Petrus, 201, 284. Crivelli, Carlo, 144. Crivelli, Lucrezia, 92. Ci-oce, Francisco da Santa, 155.
470
INDEX.
Croce, Girolamo da Santa, 155.
Crome, John, 419, 420.
Cromwell, 388.
and Raphael Cartoons, 116.
his Ironsides, 324.
Cross, Lewis, 454.
Crossing the BrooJc, Turner, 410.
Crowe and Cavalcaselle, 28, 31, 38, 43, 44, 52, 54, 58. 78, 92, 100, 137, 149, 155, 158, 161, 201, 280, 287, 289, 293, 295.
Crowning with Thorns, Titian, 168.
Crucifixion, the, Antonello, 145, 146; J. Bellini, 147; Borgog- none, 85 ; Cranach, 262 ; Fu- ligno. 76 ; Luini, 97 ; Perugino, 80 ; Raphael, 105 ; Rubens, 320 ; Van Dyck, 323; Velasquez, 221;
Crucifixion ofS. Peter, Caravaggio, 188 ; Rubens, 320.
Cruikshank, George, 427.
Crusaders, 269.
Cruz, Pantoja de la, 204.
Santos, 202.
Crystal Palace, Egyptian Court, 6.
Cuevas, Pedro de las, 439.
Cupid, M. Angelo, 125.
Curti, Gio, 190.
Curtis' Catalogue, 218, 219, 221, 227.
Cuyp, Albert, 360, 351, 417.
neglected by Dutch, 350
Daddo, Bernardo di, 40.
Dallas, E. S., 252.
Dalmasii, Lippi, 431.
Dalmau, Ludovico, 201.
Z)anae, Con-eggio, 180; Titian, 165.
• in the Golden Shower, Ma-
buse, 303.
Danby, Francis, 457.
Danby, Lord, 116.
Dance, Nathaniel, 455.
Dance of Death, Holbein, 259.
of Herodias' Daughter, 37.
of the Magdalen, L. v. Ley- den, 314.
Daniell, William, 421.
Dante, 34, 36, 38, 64, 264, 377, 426.
Dante's Dream, Hoi. Hunt, 426.
Daphne and Apollo, Giorgione, 157.
Daphnes and Chloe, Bordone, 168.
Darmstadt, 258.
Datus, 41.
Daubigny, C. F., 384.
Daughter of Herodias, Fordenone,
159. David, statue by M. Angelo, 127. David and Abigail, Hugo van der
Goes, 285. David with Goliath^s Head, Por-
denone, 159. David, Emeric, 358. David, Gerard, 292-93, 296, 310. David, Jacques Louis, 198, 229,
363, 370-73. Dawkins, Boyd, 2. Dawn, sculpture by M. Angelo,
131. Dawson, H., 417, 423. Dax, Paul, 441. Day, the, Correggio, 179. Dead Orlando, Velasquez, 222. Dead Soldier, the, Wright, 414. Death-dances, popularity of, in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries,
259. Death Choking a Warrior, Burgk-
mair, 256. Death of Duke of Guise, Delaroche,
379.
Earl of Chatham, Copley,
405.
General Wolfe, West, 403.
Gernianicus, Poussin, 362.
Major Pierson, Copley, 406.
Nelson, Maclise, 423.
Procris, Cosimo, 69.
S. Benedict, Spinello, 45.
S. Clara, Murillo, 224.
S. Francis, Ghirlandaio, 67.
the Virgin, unknown, 238 j
M. Schon, 245.
Virginia, Lethiere, 373.
Decamps, Gabriel, 377, 381. Decker, Conrad, 352.
sonnet by, 332.
Decorative art, 99, 118, 137, 166,
187, 189, 190. Defregger, Franz, 267.
INDEX.
471
Deig, Hans, 441.
Delacroix, Eugene, 373, 376, 377,
379,380,381. Delaroche, Paul, 378, 383. Delen, Dirk van, 355. Delft, 336, 339, 345. Delivery of the Keys to 8. Peter,
Terrugino, 78. Delli Dello, 201. Delphi, paintings at, 11. Denis, S., 358. Denner, Balthasar, 263, 396. Dentist^ the, Victoor, 338. Dentone. See Curti. Deodati Orlandi, 41. Derby, 414. Descamps, 349. Descent from the Cross, Campana,
204; Ricciarelli, 135; Rubens,
317, 322 ; Vander Weyden, 288. Desportes, Francois, 379. Deutsch, See Manuel. Development of art in Flanders,
274.
in Germany, 232.
in Holland, 335.
in Italy, 49, 76.
Deveria, Eugene, Chr. L., 7. Devonshire House, 191. Diamante, Fra, 432. Diana and Callisto, Titian, 168. Diana Hunting, Domenichino,
187. Diary of A. Diirer, 253. Diaz, Gonzalo, 202. Diaz de la Fena, n.v., 383, 384. Dibutades, 1. Dickens, illustrated by Maclise,
423. Dictionary of Nat. Biography,
418. Diderot, 368, 369. Dido building Carthage, Turner,
410. Didron's Christian Iconograph,
29. Diego de Deza, Archbishop, 216. Diepenbeck, Abraham V., 446. Dietrich, Christian, 203. Digby, Lady V., 324. Dgon, 269.
Dilke, Lady, 359.
Dinant, 310.
Dionysios of Colophon, 12.
Diotisalvi, Chr. L.,2.
" Discourses on Fainting," 397.
Disputa del Sacremento, Raphael,
107, 216. Distressed Poet, Hogarth, 392. Divine Justice and Crime, Prud'-
hon, 374. Dobson, Austin, 394, 396. Dobson, William, 326, 387. Dodgson, 421. Doelen-stuk. 336. Doges, 150, 172. Dohme's Kunst u. Kiinstler, 369,
385. Dolci, Agnese, 191. Dolci, Carlo, 190. Dombild, the, of Cologne, 236. Dom-hild, Stephan Lochner, 236. Domenichino. See Zampieri. Domenico di Bartolo, 431. Domenico, Pietro di, 433. Dominican order, 38, 57, 100. Dominici, "Vile dei Pittori," 197. Donatello, 53, 70. Donato, 143. Donducci, Andrea, 436. Doni, Paolo, 52, 62. Don Quixote, Smirke, 427, Donne, Dr., 387. Dore, Gustave, 384. Dortrecht, 350. Dossi, Dosso. See Lutero. Dou, Gerard, 281, 332, 338, 340,
344. Douai, 304. Doyle, Richard, 427. Dream of M. Angelo, Piombo,
134. Dresden, 340.
Drouais, Jean-Germain, 373. Druidic circles, 231. •• Dubarrydom," 368. Dubbels, Jan, 354. Dubbels, Heindrik. 449. Dubois, Ambrose, 360. Dubreuil, Toussaint, 360, Duccio, 28. Duch&tel, Fr., 446.
472
INDEX.
J)udley, Earl, 105, 144, 224. Dufresnoy. See Fresnoy. Dughet, Anna M,, 363. Dughet, Gaspar (Gaspar Poussin),
310, 363, 364, 365-66. Dulwich. See Galleries. Dumoustier, 451. Duncan, 421.
Dunwegge, H. and V., 441. Duplessis, " Hist, de la Gravure,"
63. Dupre, Jules, 384. Diirer, Albrecht, 152, 168, 211,
225, 236, 240, 241, 242, 244,
245, 247-54, 255, 256, 260, 261,
262, 296, 299, 306, 307, 314.
Hans, 441,
Pupils or " Little Masters,"
255-56. Dusart Cornelis, 344. Dusseldorf, School, the, 265, 266,
267. Dutch Claude, 350.
fruit, flower, and still life
school, 355.
genre painters, 226.
interiors, 339.
Italianisers, 347, 354.
School, 330-57; modern, 356.
See Holland.
sea painting, 465.
Dyce, Will., 423.
Eagles Repast, J. Fyt, 325. Early Christian painters of the Netherlands, 268.
Flemish School, 279, 282,
285, 287.
Flemish painters, 293.
French painters, 358.
Italian School, 244.
School of Holland, 297.
Spanish painters, 199.
Eastlake, Sir C. L., 109, 114, 122, 137, 262, 270, 423.
Eoce Homo, Correggio, 180 ; Gio- vanni, 50; Titian, 168.
Ecclesiastical element in Spanish art, 206.
Eclecticism, 183, 192.
Eclectic Schools, 181, 190.
Eddas of the North, 243.
Edinburgh, 414.
Edridge, H., 421.
Education of Achilles, Regnault, 379.
Edtication of Cupid, Correggio, 180.
Edwin, Wright, 414.
Eeekbout, Gerbrandt van den, 337.
Eel-butts at Goring, MuUer, 423.
Effects of Intemperance, J. Steen, 345, 346.
y^gg, 407.
Egidius, Pctrus, 299.
Egmont, Count, 309.
Egypt, 1, 2, 3.
mummy cases, 5.
tombs, 4.
Egyptian art transmitted to Greece, 1, 9.
Eleanor of Austria, 175.
Election Series, Hogarth, 392.
Elements, the Four, Mola, 188.
Elevation of the Cross, Vandyck, 323.
Eliot, George, 69.
Elixir of Life, Pin well, 427.
Elizabeth, Queen, 300, 387.
Elle, Ferdd., 362.
Ellis, Wynn, Collection, 355.
Elmore, Alf., 457.
Eisner, Jac, 441.
Elzheimer, Adam. 263.
Embarkation rf the Q. of Sheba, Claude, 36L-.
Embassy of Hydi^r.Bi'Cn, in Cal- cutta, Zoffany, -±ul.
Emotional pictures of the seven- teenth century, 255.
Emperor Trajan, Y&ndcT Weyden, 286.
Engelbrechtsen, Cornelis, 311.
England, 232, 258 ; long delayed birth of art in, 385 ; foreign painters in, 309, 318, 323, 339, 353, 358, 386, 401.
painting in, 385-428.
English painters, exhibited in France, 393.
Vandyck, 387.
in little, 387.
INDEX.
473
Engraving, copper, 63, 72, 173,
185, 255, 311, 312, 349, 359,
361.
invention of, 63.
in Germany, 242, 253, 262.
metal, 63, 64.
mezzotint, 414.
wood, 63, 255, 262.
Engraving in England, 389,
390. Enraged Musician, Hogarth, 392. Enthroned Madonna, Crivelli,
144. Enthroned Mary, Morelli, 144. Entombment, M. Angelo, 134 ; Q.
Massys, 299 ; Kaphael, 108 ;
Titian, 168. Entry into Bruges, 277, 284. Entry of Henry IV. into Paris,
Gerard, 373. Ephysius, 8., scenes from legends
of, Spinello, 42. Eraclius, 270.
Erasmus, 254, 258, 259, 299. P>emitani chapel, 71. Es, Jacques v., 446. Escalante, Juan Ant., 440. I^henbach, Wolfram von, 234. Escurial, 197, 205. Espinosa, Jacinto Geronimo de,
210. Este, Alfonso d', 138. Esteban, Rodrigo, 201. Estense, Bahiassare, 432. Esther and Ahasturus, L. v. Leyden ,
314. Etching, 229, 255, 335, 352. Ethiopian paintings, 3. Eton Coll., 198. Etruscan paintings, 16, 27. Etty, William, 407, 423. Eulens2negely L. v. Leyden, 313,
314. Eumaros, of Athens, 10. Euphranor, 14. Eupom|K)S, 14. Even, Ed. van, 295, 297. Evening Hymn, Muson, 427. Everdingen, Albert van, 352. Execution of L. Jane drey, Dela-
roche, 37^-
Executions in the Alhamhra, For-
tuny, 230 ; Kegnault, 384. Exeter, Marq. of, 282. Eycks, the van, 63, 143, 144, 235,
236, 238, 241, 245, 269-84, 297,
298, 314, 315, 359.
Jan's daughter Lyennie, 282.
discovery of oil-painting,
270-72. Eyck, Hubert van, 268, 269, 271,
*272, 273.
his epitaph, 273.
Eyck, Jan van, 145,201, 268, 269,
270, 271, 272, 273-84, 288, 290,
293,294,310,343,359. Eyck, Lambert van, 282. Eyck, Margaret v., 282.
Fa Presto. See Giordano. Fabius Pictor, 18. Fabriano, Antonio da, 430. Fabriano, Francesco Gentile da,
430. Fabriano, Gentile da, 77, 143,
146, 147. Fabrique, Nicholas La, 446. Fabritius, Carel, 336, 339. Faccini, Pietro, 436. Faes, Peter van der (Lely), 326,
388, 394. Faith, School of, 53, 55. Falcone, Aniello, 196, 197. Fall of the Angels, Frans Floris,
308.
Damned, Aeken, 296; Ru- bens, 321.
Rebel Angels or Lucifer,
Spinello, 44, 244.
Family of Darius, Veronese, 176. Family of Chiorgione, Giorgione,
157. Family Group, Coques, 326. Fantastic spirit in art, 243, 326. Farnesina, 98, 118, 184, 186. " Father of Paintei-s," 70. Fattorine, Fra Bartolommeo di
Pagliolo del, 46, 66, 99, 100,
101, 103, 107, 119, 125, 138,
139, 150. Feast qf the Lcvite, Veronese, 175.
474
INDEX.
Feast of the Rose Garlands, Diirer,
249. Fede, Lucretia del, 141. Feeling for Form, Florentine, 324. Feltre, Morto da, 158. Ferdinand VII., 217. Fernandez, Pedro, 202. Ferramolo, 84, 85. Ferrara, 72, 82, 83, 162, 289. Alfonso I., Duke of, 162;
and his wife, 163.
School of, 72, 138.
Ferrari, Gaudenzio, 96, 97, 181.
Ferri, Giro, 438.
Feselen, Hans, 441.
Feti, Domenico, 437.
Fetishism, first stage of religious
belief, 2. Feuerbach, A., 443. Ficinus, Marsilius, 111. Fictoors. See Victoor. Fielding, Antony Vandyck Cop- ley, 421, 422. Fiesole, Giovanni da (Fra An-
gelico), 49, 53, 55-7, 58, 59, 60,
62, 73, 74, 75, 79, 101, 103, 107,
146, 235, 288. Fiesole, altar-piece of S. Domenico,
57. Fifth Flague of Egypt, Turner,
410. Fighting Temeraire, Turner, 410. Figino, Ambrogio, 436. Filipepi, Sandro (Botticelli), 63-4. Filippo, Fra. See Lippi. finding of Moses, Poi-denone, 159. Finiguerra, Maso, 63. Fino, Tommaso di Cristofero. See
Panicale. Fiore, Jacobello del, 142, 144. Firmin-Didot, 360. Five Senses, G. Coques, 326. Flagellation, Luini, 97 ; Sodoma,
98. Flanders, 262, 274.
School of, 237, 282, 289, 386.
School of, in Spain, 201.
Flandrin, 453.
Flatman, T., 454.
Flaying of the Venal Judge, G.
Davis, 292.
Flemalle, Bertholet, 446. Flemish art, 282; in Italy, 289,
308 ; decline, 329.
large work, 285.
fifteenth century influence,
237. in Spain, 201.
Italianisers, 202, 302-5,
314,341, 354.
miniatures, 268, 293.
School of Seventeenth Cen- tury, 315-30, 361.
style, 145, 241.
the. Patriarch of, 273.
the, Raphael, 306.
Fleury, Cardinal, 367.
Flight into Egypt, Caravaggio or Saraceni, 193.
Flinck, Govert, 336.
Florence, 27, 29, 30, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 48, 50, 54, 55, 57, 70, 76, 77, 78, 93, 95, 99, 101, 102, 105, 106, 107, 108, 121, 123, 127, 130, 132, 134, 140, 142, 146, 169, 191, 197, 198, 289, 323, 395.
Bargello, 126.
Baptistery Gates, 51.
Cathedral of S. Maria del
Fiore, 39, 40.
Convent of S. Marco, 56.
Painters' Guild of, 87.
Palazzo Publico, 87; Palazzo
Vecchio, 94, 127.
Raphael at, 108.
Signiory of, 128.
Uffizi, which see.
Government of, 62, 74, 75.
Florentine art, 50, 76, 106.
faction in Padua, 7 1.
Jeremiah, 99.
maiden ornaments, 66.
School, 139.
victories depicted, 94, 127
[Vinci and M. Angelo]. Floris, Frans. See Vriendt. Fogliani, Guidoriccio, 47. Followers of Vandyck, 326. Fontainebleau, 138, 183, 360,
383. Fontana, Lavinia. 436.
INDEX.
475
Fontana, Prospero, 182. Foppa, Vinccnwi, 84, 85, 95. Ford's Handbook, 200, 202, 208,
213. Forli, Melozzo da, 73, 76. Fomarina, La, 117. Forster, Kunstblatt, 41, 53. Fiirster's Deukmiiler, 288, 312. Fortwie Teller, Caravaggio, 192 ;
Valentin, 362. Fortuny, Jose Mariano, 229. Fossano, Ambrogio (Borgognone),
84, 85. Fosse, Charles de la, 452. Foundling Hospital, 392. Fountain of Youth, Cranach,
261. Fouque, 252. Fouqiiet, Jean, 358. Four Apostle, Diirer, 251.
Maries^ Mabuse, 302.
Oxen in MeadowSy F. Potter,
349. Fourment, H^lene, 319. Fourmois, Theodore, 330. Fra Angelico. See Fiesole. Fra Filippo. See Lippi. Fragonard, J. Honore, 368. France, 232, 309, 359.
painting in, 368-84.
Francesca, Piero di Benedetto
della, 52, 58, 73, 76, 77. Franchoys, Paul, 444. Francia. See Raibqiini. Francis I., King, 95, 96, 102, 138,
140, 142, 175, 360, 386. " Francis I. and Charles V. at Ch. of
S. Denis, Gros, 374. Francis, S,, 32, 37, 67, 76, 122.
Giotto's Death of, 38.
Franciscans, Order of, 38, 57, 215-
16, 224, 227. Franciscan Monk, Zurbaran, 216. Francken, Frans, the Elder, 309. Francken, Frans, the Younger,
444. Frangois, 446. Franconian School, 247. " Fraser," 423. Fraser, Alexander, 466. Frederick the Great, 266.
Frederick the Magnanimous, 260, 261.
Frederick the Wise, 260.
French Correggio, 374.
Raphael, 366.
Vandyck, 367.
School, Modern, 329, 330,
386, 422.
Freminet, Martin, 360,
Frere, Edouard, 384.
Frescoes at Antwerp, 299 ; Assisi, 32 ; Basel, 257 ; Bologna, 83, 184; Brauweiler, 233; Cagli, 104; Castiglione d'Olona, 52; Ecole des Beaux Arts, 379 ; Escurial, 197 ; Florence, 67, 140; Germany, 232; Lugano,
96 ; Mantua, 137 ; Milan, 84,
97 ; Munich, 265; Naples, 187, 197 ; Naumberg, 265 ; Padua, 71 ; Parma, 178 ; Perugia, 80, 107 ; Piacenza, 159 ; Pisa, 41-4, 58; Prato, 61; Rome, 54, 57, 64, 68, 71, 73, 78, 98, 109-15, 129, 137, 184, 186, 264; San Gemignano, 59, 68 ; S. An- thony in San Daniele, 154; Saronno, 96 7 ; Siena, 47, 48, 81 ; Spoleto, 62 ; Varello, 97 j Vatican, 109, 129 ; Venice, 147, 166, 157, 162, 197 ; Vienna, 266 ; Vercelli, 97.
Fresnoy, Charles du, 451,
Frey, Agnes, 248.
Friedrich, Kaspar D., 442.
Fries, Hans, 440.
Frisian peasantry, 357,
F>iuli, 154, 162.
Froberius, 258.
Frohlich, Ernst, 443.
Froment, Nicolas, 359.
Fromentin, Eugene, 384.
Froude, 269.
Fruitiers, Philipp, 446.
Frutti, II Gobbo d'. See Bonri.
Fuhrich, Joseph, 264.
Fuligno, Niccolo da, 76, 77.
Fuller, Isaac, 454.
Funeral at Ornans, Courbet, 384.
Fungai, Bernardino, 433.
Furtmeyer, P., 440.
476
INDEX.
Fuseli, H., 89, 262, 362, 404. Fyoll, Conrad, 440. Fyt, Jan, 325.
Gaddi, Agnolo, 40.
Gaddi, Gaddo, 28, 39.
Gaddi, Taddeo, 39, 57.
Gael, Barend, 348.
Gaillon, castle at, 98.
Gainsborough, Thomas, 380, 398- 99,400,415, 417, 419.
Galassi, Galasso, 431.
Galileo, 88.
Gallait, Louis, 266, 329.
Gallegos, Ferdinand, 201.
Galleries : Aldobrandini, 108 ; Amsterdam, 340; Antwerp,280, 299, 301, 302, 308, 309,312,320; Arenberg, 349 ; Augsburg, 257 ; Berlin, 85, 180, 245, 261, 266, 278, 279, 327; Borghese, 108, 187, 188; Bridgwater, 108, 161, 164, 168, 341, 344, 362; Bruns- wick, 340, 348; Brussels, 273, 301, 302, 309, 329; Cologne, 233, 245; Dresden, 121, 158, 160, 162, 168,174, 178, 180,185, 189, 191, 195, 228, 240, 258, 341; Dulwich, 197, 228, 350; Esterhazy, Pesth, 158 ; Frank- fort, 251, 289, 339 ; Grosvenor, 349, 413, 417; Hague, 346; Liechtenstein, 193 ; Lucca, 102; Madrid, 121, 122, 195, 203, 210, 2 19, 229, 250, 288, 297 ; Munich, 4, 7, 228, 238, 239, 245, 246, 251, 254, 257, 265, 303, 309, 322, 352; Parma, 179; Sciarra, 160, 190 ; Sid, 340; Siena, 98 ; Stuttgard, 246; Vienna, 157, 221, 241,250, 256.
Gamble, Ellis, 389.
Game Laws, the, Hubner, 266.
Ganymede, Correggio, 180. Garbieri, Lorenzo, 437.
Garden of Hesperides, Turner, 410. Gargiulo, Domenico, 197. Garofalo. See Tisio. Garrick, 392, 397. Garvagh, Raphael, the, 121. Gassel, Lucas, 310.
Gatta, Bartolommeo della, 431, Gaye's "Carteggio," 61. Gay Science, Dallas, 252. Gedde&, Andrew, 406. Geeraert, Marcus, 445. Geest, Corn, v. d., 334. Gelde, Catherine Metten, 295. Geldorp, Gortzius, 309. Gel^e, Claude, (Claude Lorrain), 185, 187, 188, 189, 190, 197, 310, 335, 364, 365, 381, 398, 400, 409, 417, 419. Genelli, Buoneventura, 442. Genevay, Style Louis XIV., 369. Genoa, 323.
Doria Palace, 159.
S. Maria di Castello clois- ters, 239, 316. Genre. See Painting, Genre. Gentile. See Fabriano. Gentileschi, Artemisia, 437. Gentileschi, Orazio Lomi de, 436. George I., 388. George III., 403. George Eliot, 396. Gerard, Francois, 373. Gerard of S. John. See Haarlem. Gericault, Jean-Louis, 373, 375,
377, 380. Gerini, Nicolo di Pietro, 431. German altar-pieces, 233.
art. National character of,
240, 248, 264, 265, 266.
burlesques, 262.
engraving, 63, 242.
Italianisers, 262.
rise of, 231, 258 ; fall of,
262.
wall-painting, 232.
Germany, painting in, 231-267, 268, 386.
lack of art patrons, 253.
Upper, free schools of, 240.
Gerrit. See Gheeraerdt of Sint
Jans. Gessi, Francisco, 437. Gessner, Salomon, 442. Gheerardt, of Sint Jans, 293, 311. Ghent, 236, 272, 273, 274, 279, 284. Ghiberti gates, 51. Ghiberti, Lc^renzo, 51, 53.
INDEX.
477
Ghirlandaio. See Bigordi, Dom. Ghirlandaio, Ridolfo del, 69. Ghisolfi, Giovanni, 197. Giambono, 143. Gillot, Claude, 452. Gillray, James, 455. Gin Lane, Hcjgarth, 392. Giocondo, Francesco, 92, Giolfino, 173.
Giordano, Luca, (Fa Presto), 197. Giorgio, Francesco di, 432. Giorgione. See Barbarelli. Giotteschi, the, 39, 40, 42, 51, 53. Giottino, 40. Giotto. See Bondone. Giovanni, Matteo di, 50. Giovanni da Milano, 66. Giovanni, Stefano di, Chr. L., 2. Giovanni, Tomasso San. See Ma-
saccio. Giovenone, Girolamo, 85, 97. Girl at an Open Window, Vermeer,
340. with a Drinking -glass, Ver- meer, 340.
with a Lute, Caravaggio, 193.
Girlhood of the Virgin, Hoi. Hunt,
426. Girodct. See Trioson. Girtin, Thomas, 380, 408, 409,
419, 420, 421. Giunta, of Pisa, 28. Giusto di Gio. del Menabuoi, 45. Gladiator, Wright, 414. Glass of Lemonade, Terburg, 343. Glass-painting, French, 358. Glass window designs, 265, 267,
297, 359. Glockenton, George, 441. Glockenton, Nicholas, 441. Goes, Hugo Vander, 284, 295. Goethe, 121,265. Goffaerts,EIiz.,286. Goldsmith, 397, 398. Golden Bough, Turner, 410. Golden Fleece, Order founded,
277. Goldfinch, C. Fabritius, 337. Goltzius, Heinrich, 2G2, 314. Goltzius, Hubert, 314. Gomez, Sebastian, 439.
Goncourf s L'Art (XVIII. Siecle),
Gonzaga.. See Mantua.
Good Samaritan, Bassano, 177.
Shepherd, Murillo, 228.
Good,T. S.,406. Gordon, Sir J. W., 457. Gortzius, Geldorp, 309. Gossaert, Jan (Mabuse), 301-304,
306, 313.
anecdote of, 303.
Gothic Architecture, 232.
Art, 201,231.
Gouda, 304, 314.
Gourmont, Jean de, 451.
Goya, 219, 229.
Goyen, Jan van, 345, 348.
Goyen, Marg. van, 345.
Gozzoli, Benozzo, 58, 66, 77, 82.
Graces, P. Vecchio, 160.
Graeco-Roman school, 17.
Granacci, Francisco, 433.
Granada, 200, 214.
Hall of the Council frescoes,
200. Grandi, Ercole di Giulio, 84. Grandi, Ercole di Robert!, 83. Granet, Fr. Mar., 453. Granson, 287. Grebber, F. P. de, 448. Greco, II. See Theotocopuli. Greece, painting in Ancient, 7, 19. Greedy Eater, Carracci, 185. Greek art, fall of, 16.
contrasted, 24, 26, 53, 54.
development of, 10, 15, 268.
ideal, the, 9, 64, 118, 152,
371.
marriage of Otho, 269.
meaning of, 263-4.
nature worship, 8.
traditional origin, 1.
transmitted from Egypt, 1, 9.
transmitted to Rome, 17.
Green, Valentine, 414.
" Green complexions," cause of,
25. Greenhill, John, 454. Greenwich, 353.
Hospital, 389.
Hospital, Vincent, 419.
Gregory XI., 111.
478
INDEX.
Greuze, J. B., 369.
Grien, Hans Balding, 256.
Grimaldi, F., 190.
Grimani MS., 293.
Grimm, 110, 117, 127, 128, 133, 177.
Grimmer, Abel, 445.
Grimmer, Jacoli, 444.
Grisaille, 299.
Gros, Antoine Jean, 374, 381.
Grosvenor Gallery, 349, 392.
Grotesque, The, in art, 299.
Gruchy, 383.
Griinewakl, Matthias, 255.
Guadelupe, Ped. Fr. de, 202.
Guardi, Francisco, 198.
Guariento, 430.
Guercino. See Barbieri.
Guerin, Narcisse, 373.
Guicciardini, 297.
Guidi, Tommaso. See Masaccio.
Guido, of Bologna. See Reni.
Guido, of Siena, 28.
Guild of German Merchants, 157, 162, 249.
Guild of Joiners, Antwerp, 300.
Guild, Painters', Antwerp, 253, 301, 306, 309, 316, 322, 327 Bologna, 182 ; Bruges, 288 Brussels, 288 ; Florence, 87 Ghent, 273 ; ' Louvain, 288 Padua, 70; of S. Luke, Ghent, 285 ; Tournay, 286, 288.
Guitar Lesson, the, Terburg, 344.
Haarlem, 239, 293, 304, 307, 310,
314, 336, 838, 339, 345, 346,
348. Haarlem, Gerard van (St. John,
Gerard of), 293,311. Hackaert, Jan, 355. Hackert, Johan P., 442. Haecht, Tobie van, 316. Hagen, Jan van, 352. Hague, The, 334, 341 , 345, 349. Hallam, 62, 88. Hals, Frans, 327, 336, 338, 346,
355. Hals, Frans, the younger, 339
Hals, Dirk, 339.
Halt at an Inn, RUysdael, 348.
Haman before Esther, Victoor,
327. Hampstead, 419. Harbour of Refuge, Walker, 427. Hampton Court, 72, 115, 116, 138,
160, 161,257,303. Harding, J. D., 421. Hargreaves, Will., 456, HarloCs Progress, Hogarth, 390. Harlow, G. H., 404, 415. Harvest Moon, Mason, 427. Hasselt, Jehan de, 443. Havard, 304, 341, 342, 347, 353. Havell, William, 421. Hay don, Benjamin Robert, 405,
406, 423. Hayley, 399.
Hayman, Francis, 389, 398. Haij-wain, Constable, 381. Hazlitt, 324.
Head, Sir E., 200-204, 366, 368. Head of Christ, Solario, 98 ; Van
Eyck, 283. Hearne, Thomas, 421. Heath, J., 414. Hebert, 489. Hebrews, Art of the, 7. Heda, Cornelis, 448. Heemskerk. See V. Veen. Heideloff, C, 234. Heil, Daniel de, 446. Heinz, Joseph, 442. Helen, by Zeuxis, 13. Heller, Jacob, 251. Helmont, 310. Helmont, Matt, van, 446. Heist, Bart Van der, 336, 338. Hemessen. See Sanders. Hemicycle, fresco, Delaroche, 379. Henley, W. E., 383. Hennequin de Bruges, 443. Henry III., 166, 200. Henry VIII., 155, 258, 303, 386. Herbst, Hans, 440. Herculaneum, 19, 137, 370, Here, Lucas van, 285. Herkenbald, Legend of, 286. Herkenbald the Magnificent, Van
Weyden,286.
INDEX.
479
Herkomer, Hubert, 415.
Herle, Wilhelm v. See Master
Wilhelm. Herlin, Friedrich, 241. Hermit Life, or the Father in the
Desert, Pietro, 48. Herp, Gerard van, 446. Herrera, El Mozo, 212, 225. Herrera, Francisco de, el Vicjo,
212,213,217. Herrint^, J. F., 457. Herreyns, Guillaume, 329. Hess, Peter, 442. Hej'^de, J., v. d., 355. Heyens, Catherine, 300. Heytesbury, Lord, 219, 282. "High Art," English painters of,
402, 404, 405, 423; French,
379. Hildebrandt, Ed., 443. Hildesheim, 233. Hilliard, Nicholas, 387. Hills, R., 421. Hilton, W., 405, 423. Hippolytus, 8., Scenes from Legend
of, Spinello, 42. Hire, lliurent de la, 361. Hirtz, Hans, 440. Hispania, Pctrus de, 200. Hispano-Neapolitan Art, 194. Historic-painting, 266, 286, 292,
405, 423. History of Civilization of Man,
Barry, 404.
Creation, M. Angelo, 115.
Joseph, d'Ubertino, 142.
8. Ursula, Carpaccio, 154.
Hobbema, Minderhout, 352, 353.
Ilobbes, Th., 388.
Hoefnagel, Joris, 444.
Ht)eckgeest, 448.
Hoffman, H., 442.
Hogarth, William, 345, 369, 380,
386, 389-94, 395, 400, 406, 416. Holbein, Ambrose, 441. Holbein, Hans, the elder, 256, 257. Holbein, Hans, the younger, 241,
253, 257-260, 262, 307, 309,
351,359. Holbein, Sigmund, 257. Holl, F., 415.
Holland, Early School of, 297,
310,314. Holland, Paintuig in, 293, 311,
386. Holland, James, 421, 422. Holy Family, Bartolommeo, 103;
Burgkmair, 256 ; Lanini, 97 ;
M. Angelo, 129 ; Murillo, 228 ;
Raphael, 108; [The Pearl], 121 ;
del Sarto, 141 ; Schongauer,
241 ; Titian, 168 ; Zurbaran,
216. Holy Land, 260, 428. Holy Trinity, Raphael, 107. Homer, 10.
Homer as a Fiddler, Rubera, 195. Hondecoeter, Melchior, 355. Hone, Nat., 454. Honthorst, Gerard, 314. H{X)ghe, Peter de, 193, 330, 339,
344. Hoorn, Count, 309. Hope, Mr. Beresford, 282. Hoppner, John, 415, Horebout or Horembout, 444. Hoskins, John, 387. Hospital of Holy Charity, Seville,
226. Hospital of St. John, Bruges, 290,
291. Hotel de Ville, Brussels, 287. Houbraken, Arnold, 441. Houses of Parliament, 423. Howard, Henry, 456. Hiibner, Karl, 266. Hudibras, 390.
Hudson, Thoma.s, 389, 394, 395. Hue de Lannoy, 276. Huet, Paul, 381. Hiiffel, Victor, 446. Hugtenburg, Jan viin, 351. Humphreys, Noel, Holbein's
Dance of Death, 260. Humphrey, O., 455. Hunt, Holman, 412, 425. Hunt, Wm. H., 421,422. Hussite Conventicle, Hubner, 266. Huy, convent of, 269. Huysmans. Coruelis, 446. Huysum, Van, 365. Hymans, Henri, 293, 301.
480
INDEX.
Inlysos, 15.
Ibbetson, Jul. Caesar, 455. Ichthus, Sj^mbol for Christ, 21. Iconoclasts, The, 24, 75, 100, 301,
311. Ideal, The Christian, 22, 24, 25,
26, 76. Irleal in Art, 9. Idealism, 237.
Ideal, Italian, 244, 291, 313. Ideal beauty, 120, 291.
beauty of Raphael, 118.
Idealist, definition of, 120. Idle Apprentice, Hogarth, 392. II Furioso. See Kobusti. Illuminations, 358. Illuminatoi's and Printers, Society
of, Bruges, 293. Illustrator, first, of modern books,
64. Imhof altar-piece, 234. Imitators of Rembrandt, 337. Immaculate Conception, Murillo,
206, 226,228. Impressionists, 384. Incantation Scene, Teniers, 327. Ince, Madonna, 282. Incredulity of S. Thomas, Battista,
154; II Calabrese, 196. India, art of, 7 ; Zoffany in, 401. Individuality of style, 331, 337,
364. Infanta, Mai-garita Maria, 220. Infanta, Maria Theresa, 221. Inferno, Dante's, 36. Ingelheim, Upper, church and
castle, 232. Ingobertus, 451. Ingres, J. Aug. Dom., 376. Innocent VIII., 71. Innspruck, 266. Inquisition, The, 202, 210.
Inspector of paintings, 205.
Inquisitorial Spain, 226. Interior, with S. .4w?«e, Rembrandt,
192. Invention of oil painting. See Oil- painting. Ionic School, 13. Iphigeneia, 14. Ipswich, 398.
Iriarte, Ignacio, 439.
Isabel of Portugal, 276.
Isabella, Regent of Netherlands, 317, 318.
Isenmann, Caspar, 440.
Isle of Pheasants, 220.
Israels, Joseph, 356.
Italian perfection, 86 ; art in six- teenth century, 153; influence of, 202; decadence, 361, 386; painters in Spain, 201, 206 ; Society, 75, 163; School of seventeenth century, 361.
Italy, 220, 223, 240, 268, 289, 323, 354, 395.
fifteenth century magnifi- cence, 75.
painting in, 33-198.
Italianisation of Spanish art, 206.
DutcJi, 354.
Italianisers of Antwei*p, 305.
Dutch landscape, 352.
ItaHanisers, 398.
" Itinerant," 420.
Itinerant Musicians, Madou, 330.
Ixion, Ribera, 195.
Jackson, John, 415.
Jackson and Chatto, 250.
Jacob, 232.
Jacobzoon, Dirk, 312.
Jacobzoon, Luc (Lucas van Ley- den), 296, 310, 312-14.
Jacobi, Bernardino, 84.
Jacopo, Gio. Batt. di, il Rosso 142, 360, 383.
James, I., 387.
Jameson, Mrs., 58, 65, 72, 139, 159, 318, 320, 331.
Jamesone, George, 326, 387, 388.
Janet. See Clouet.
Jauetchek, 184, 186.
Janssens, Abraham, 324.
Janssens, V. H., 446.
Japanese, Art of the, 7.
Jardin, Karel du, 354.
Jason, Turner, 410.
Jeaurat, J., 452.
Jervas, Charles, 389.
Jerusalem, 280, 306.
Jews, 215.
Ka Ka Ka Kai Ka,
Ken Kep Kepj Kess
\ Key.
Aierii
INDEX.
481
Jiefenbronn in Swabia, 237. Joanes, Vicente, 204, 207. Job^ Trials oj, Francesco, 42. Jode, P. de, 359. John III., Duke of Brabant, 270. Johnson, 397. Jones, G., 456. Jongkind, Joh. Bart. Joost, Jan, 239. Jordaens, Jacob, 322, 324, 325. Joseph, Pontormo, 135. Josepli of Austria, 278. Joseph, King, 217. Josephus, 358. Jouvenet, Jean, 367. |JuanII. of Castile, 201. Juanes, Vicente, 204. Judgment of Cambyses, G. David,
292. Judgment of Solomon, Giorgione,
157.
Judith, C. Allori, 190. Judith and Holofernes, Francia,
82 ; Pordenone, 159. Julian, emperor, 23, 24. Julius II., Pope, 98, 108, 112, 113,
114, 127, 128, 129, 130, 188. Jupiter and Antiope, Correggio,
180.
— Danae, Mabuse, 302. Justi, Karl, 307. Justin of Nassau, Prince, 220. Justus of Ghent, 285. Justus of Padua. See Giusto di
Giovanni.
Kalf, Willem, 355. Kaltenhof, Peter, 440. Karlstein, castle of, 233. Kauffman, Angelica, 402. Kaulbach, Willielm von, 266. Kempeneer. See Canipana. Kensington Museum, 425. Kepler, 88.
Keppcl, Commodore, 395. Kesselberg hills, 295. Key, Adrian Th., 309. Key, William, 309. Keyzer, Th. de, 336. Kierings, Alex., 448.
Klein, Jos. A., 442. Knaus, Ludwig, 266. Kneller, Sir G., .355, 388, 394. Knight of Malta, Giorgione, 157. Kniqht, Death and Devil, Diirer,
252. Knights of the Holy Sepulchre,
306. Knudtzon's Masaccio, 53. Knuffer, 345. Koch, Jos. Anton., 266. K(>ck, Pieter, 444. Koekkoek, B., 451. Kolbe, K. W., 442. Koninck, Ph. de, 338, 348. Krell, Hans, 441. Krodell, W., 441. Kiigler's Handbooks of Painting,
28, 31, 61, 114, 163, 245, 255,
257, 287, 312, 350. Kulmbach, 256. Kulmbach, Hans von, 345. Kiinstblatt, 290. Kiinst u. Kiinstler, 53, 60, 184. Kunz, 233.
Laar, Pieter de, 340. Laborde, De, 275, 359. Lacroix Collection, 337. Ladbroke, Robert, 467. Lady and Getiilcman, Van Eyck,
281. LeetUia, Morland, 416. La Fcmme Hydropiqiie, Dou, 341. La Gloria, Phillip, 428. Laia or Lala of Cyzicus, 18. L'Allemand, 362. La Source, Ingres, 377. La Viergc au bas-relief, Vinci,
93.
aujc RocherSf Vinci, 93.
Limb, Chas., 390, 391, 425. Lamoriniere, Fr., 330. Lampsonius, Dom., 307. L:ince, Geo., 222. Lancret, Nicolas, 368. Landini, Jacopo, 40. LaiuUcapc, Patinir, 310. Landscape painting, 19, 58, 59,
145, 152, 167, 186, 188, 190,
I I
482
INDEX.
196, 209, 221, 253, 255, 256, 266, 304, 310, 335, 338, 348, 360, 351, 353, 364.
Landscape painting in England, 354,401, 408, 416, 418.
in Flanders, 292, 309.
Heroic School of, 365.
in Holland, 347.
Landseer, Sir Edwin, 412, 416.
Lanfranco, Giovanni, 186, 188, 196.
Lange Pier. Sec Aartzen.
Lanini, Bernardino, 97, 181.
Lansdowne, Lord, 205.
Lanzi, 48.
Largiiliere, Nicolas, 380.
Lasinio, Pitture del Campo Santo, 42.
Last Judgment, 4; J. Aeken, 296; Bartholommeo, 1 03 ; Bout's, 295 j Cousin, 359 ; L. v. Leyden, 312; Lorenzetti, 48; M. An- gelo's, 78, 132, 133; Meister Stephen, 237,243 ; in the Burg at Niirnberg, 233 : Orcagna, 43, 133; Prevost, 296; Rubens, 321; Signorelli, 74 ; Stuerbout, 296; Tintoretto, 172; Vander Weyden's, 287.
Lastman, Pieter, 314, 332, 337.
Last Sleep of Argyle, E. M. Ward, 424.
Last SKjyper, I). Bouts, 294 ; Ces- pedes, 208 ; Ercole di Roberti, 84; Justus of Ghent, 285; D'Oggione, 95 ; del Sarto, 141 ; Tintoretto, 172; Vinci, 89-90, 93.
Latour, Maurice Quentin de, 380.
Lautensac-k, Hans Sebald, 442.
Lawrence Collection, 109.
Lawrence, Sir Thomas, 399-400, 415.
Lawson, Cecil, 458.
Layard, A., 104.
Layard, Sir Henry, 67, 148, 158.
Leal, Juan de Valdes, 225, 229.
Le Beffroi, Weale, 269.
Le Brun. See Brun.
Lecky, 2, 23, 207.
. 366. Poussin,
Leda with Swan, Correggio, 180.
Leech, John, 427.
Latevre, Claude, 367.
Legend of King Arthur, Dyce,
423. Leighton, Sir F., 412. Leipsig, 261. Leith, 405.
Lcly, Sir Peter. See Faes. Le Mans, 358. Lemoine. See Moine. Le Nain, Antoine, Louis, Mathieu,
361. J^enoir. See Noir. Leo IV., 114. Leo X., 94, 113, 114, 115, 130,
131, 188. Leonardo. See Vinci. Leslie, C. R., 340, 403, 407. Les Moissonneurs, Robert, 376. Lessing, K. F., 266. Le Sueur, Eustache, 361, Les Vergers d'Arcadie,
364. Lettenhove, K. de, 274. Lethiere, 373. Letter of Leonardo da Vinci to
Ludovico Sforza, 91. Lewis, J. F., 421, 422. Leyden, 311, 312, 331, 345. Leyden, Lucas van. See Jacobzoon. Leys, Baron Henri J. A., 266,
329. Liber Studiorum of Turner, 410. Liberale da Verona, 84, 173. Library, Paris, 359. Libri, Girolamo dai, 173. L'cinio, Bernardino, 160. Liege, 269, 275, 307, 310.
John, Bishop of, 274.
Liesborn, Meister von, 239.
Lievens, Jan, 337.
Life and Death of Duke of Bicck-
ingham, Egg, 407. Life of Christ, Wilhelm of Cologne,
235.
Lavid, Sebald, 255.
S. Bruno, Le Sueur, 366.
the Virgin, Diirer, 250.
Life School of the B.A., Zoffany, ,
401. . i
1
INDEX.
483
Liget, 358.
Light and shade, first student of,
12. Sec al/io Chiaroscuro. Ligozzi, Jacopo, 436. LilJe, 274, 352. Limburg (/hronicle, 235. Limner for Scotland, 414. Lincolnshire, 422. Lindsay's " Christian Art," 27, 66. Lingeibach, Johann, 348, 354. Linnell, John, 423. Lint, PieUn- van, 446. Linton, William, 457. Lioti Hunt, Rubens, 321. Lippi, Fra Filippo, 60-2, 63, 68,
101. Lippi, Filippino, 54, 62, 64,68, 94. Lippn J^alma.sii, 431. Lisbon, 204, 276. " Literar}' Club," 397. Little Masters, 255 ; [of Holland],
340, 344. Liverpool exhibitions, 413.
Corporation, 426.
Institute, 47, 138.
Livy, 18.
Llorente, D. Bernardo German de,
440. Lochner, Stephan, 235, 238, 239. Locusta trying Poison on a Slave,
Sigalon, 379. Lodi, 170.
Lodovico da Parma, 435. Ijocihener. See Lochner. Loggie of S. Damascus, decora- tions of the, 114, 115. Lomazzo, Gio. Paolo, 182. Lombard, Lambert. See Suster-
man. Ix)mbard School, 84, 177. London, 198, 323, 324, 389, 400,
408, 414, 418, 419. Loiighi, Antonio. iSV« Veniziano. lionghi, Luca, 435. Longhi, Pietro, 198. Longhi's engraving, 106. I^oten, Jan, 352. Loredano, Doge Leonardo, 150. Lorenz Kirche, 234. Lorcnzetti. See Lorenzo, Amb. and Piet.
Lorenzo, Ambrogio di, 43, 47.
Lorenzo, Fiorenzo di, 77.
Lorenzo, Monaco, 57-8.
Lorenzo, Pietro di, 43, 47.
Lorenzo the Magnificent. See Medici.
Lorraine, 361.
Ljrraine, Claude. See G6\6e.
Los Borrachos, Velasquez, 219.
Loschi, Countoss of, 157.
Loth, Carl, uf Munich, 442.
Lotto, Lorenzo, 15S, 161.
Louis XI., 35S.
LiuisXIL, of Milan, 94.
L)ui3 XIII., 361, 363.
L)ui3 XIV., 94, 116, 221, 361, 363, 366, 367, 375.
L)uis XV., 367, 368, 370, 375.
Louis XVL, 371.
Loutherbourg, Ph. de, 402.
Louvain, 238, 292, 293, 297, 299, 309.
Chapel of S. Peter's, 294.
School of, 293, 297.
— Town Hall, 293-4, 295, 296, 325.
Louvre, The, 56, 72, 80, 84, 92, 93, 98, 99, 102, 108, 121, 140, 146, 148, 149, 158, 161, 163, 168, 175, 179, 180, 193, 196, 209, 212, 216, 222, 224, 226, 228, 229, 255, 280, 282, 286, 289, 300, 322, 327, 338, 341, 34S, 369, 361-64, 366, 367, 369, 370-74, 376-80, 414.
Lovere, 147.
Low Countries, realistic tendency, 269.
Ijower Rhine Schools, 240.
Lubbock, Sir John, 2.
Liibke's '' History of Art," 12, 73, 90, 110, 122, 247, 258,407.
Lucca, 102.
Lucian, 13.
Luciani, Sebastian (del Fiombu), 122, 134-5, 142, 159, 186, 209.
Lucientes. iSee Goya.
Lucina, 363.
Lucretia del Fede,'14L
Lucretia, Sodoma, 98. i Ludius, 19.
484
INDEX.
Ludovico da Parma, 435. Ludovisi, Villa, 187, 189. Lufhvig, King of Bavaria, 266. Ludwigskirche, 265. Lugano, 96, 97. Luini, Bernardino, 99, 182. Lumley, Sir J. Saville, 222. Lutero, Gio. Nic. di (Dosso Dossi),
138. Luther, 241, 254, 260, 262. Luther sinking in Eisenach, Leys,
330. Luvino. See Luini. Lyons, 80, 259, 280. Lyversberg Passion, 238. See
Meckenen.
Maas, Nicolas, 337, 339, 344.
Maas, Kiver, 350.
Maaseyck, 273, 282.
M abuse. See Gossaert.
Macbeth, 1^.. 427.
Macbeth and Witches, Koch, 266.
Machinisti, The, 198, 316.
Machleskircher, G., 440.
Machuca, Pedro, 204.
Machse, Daniel, 423.
Madness of H. van der Goes, 235, 330.
Madonna, Bartolommeo, 101 ; Battista, 154; Credi, 99; Francia, 82 ; Giorgione, 156 ; Holbein, 258; Luini, 96; Pacchi, 99 ; Perugino, 79, 80, 107 ; Petrus Cristus, 283; Raphael, 105, 108, 118, 119, 121; Santi, 104, Sarto, 140; Solario, 97; Vecchio, 160.
Madonna Ansidei, Raphael, 107 ; the Meier, Hans Holbein, 257.
Mado?mas,Borgognone,S5 ; Botti- celli, 63 ; Byzantine, 243 ; Cano, 213; Guido, 189; Lippi, 60,61; Memling, 291; Murillo, 226; Ribera, 195 ; Sassof'errato, 191 ; Titian, 163, 168; Veronese, 174; Vinci, 93.
Madonna a^id Child, Beltraffio, 96 ; Gioi'gione, 157; L. v. Leyden, 312; Memrai, 47; Mantagna, 72 J Santi, 104; J. van Eyck,
282; Veneziano,83; Wihelmof
Cologne, 235. Madonna del Gatto, Baroecio, 180 ;
del Granduca, Raphael ; del
Pesee, Raphael, 121 ; del Sedia,
Raphael, 121. Madonna della Misericordie, Bar- tolommeo, 102; della Vittoriay
Mantagna, 72. Madonna di Fulgino, Raphael, 121,
122; rfi-Saw/SVs^o, Raphael, 121,
122, 154. 226. Madomia Enthroned, Bartolommeo,
102 ; Garofalo, 138 ; Mantagna,
170 ; Vivarini, 143. Madonna in Rose Garden, Francia,
82; tuith the Roses, Luini, 97;
in Rose Arbour, Wallraf Mus.,
237 ; with the Rosary, Sassofer-
rato, 191. Madonna with Saints, Correggio,
178. Madou, J. B. de, 330. Madrazo, 230. Madrid, 121, 161, 168,195,207,
208, 211-13, 216-18, 221, 223,
228, 229, 297. Maestlin, 88. Maestricht, 234. Magdalen Coll., Oxford, 209. Magdalen, Correggio, 179; Guido,
189. Magno, Cesare, 435. Mahomedan inspiration, 200. Maiden Lane, 408. See Academy. Maids of Honour, Velasquez, 220. Mainardi, 68. Makart, Hans, 267. Malines. See Mechlin. Malta, 193, 196. Malvasia, " Felsina Pittrice," 184,
188. Malvolio, Maclise, 423. Manchester, 413. Mander, Carel van, 272, 273, 282
284, 289, 293, 299,313. Mandyn, Jan, 311. Manet, Edouard, 384. Manet ti, Rutilio, 436. Manfredi, Bart., 194. Manneristi, 181, 182, 305, 361.
INDEX.
485
Manni, Giannicolo di Paolo, 80. Mansiieti, Giovanni, l/»4. Mantegna, Andrea, 49, 70-2, 73,
81, 83,84, 103, 146, 149, 173. Mante<?na, Cai-lo del, 434.
Francesco, 433.
Mantovano, Rinaldo, 137. Mantna, 71, 92, i;}7, 165. Duchess of, 92.
Federigo Gonzajja, Duke
of, 137, 165.
Gunzaga, Duke of, 316.
Gonzaga family, 72, 92.
Ludovico Gonzaga, Duke
of, 71, 72.
Vincenzio Gonzaga, Duke
of, 316.
Mantz, Paul, 283, 369.
Manuel, Nicolas (Deutsch), 260.
Manufactory of altar-pieces, 246.
Maratti, Carlo, 191.
Marcellis Otho, 355.
March, Esteban, 212, 213.
March to Finchley, Hogarth, 392.
Marche, Olivier de la, 275, 284.
Marcm Brutus, David, 371.
Margaret of Austria, 304.
Margaret, Regent of the Nether- lands, 306.
Margaret of York, 284.
Margaritone of Arezzo, 28.
Maria, Wright, 415.
Marie delle Grazie, Convent, 90.
Marien Kirche, Zwickau, 247.
Marihat, Prosper, 453.
Marino, 362.
Marinus of Romerswalen, 301.
Maris, Jacob, 356.
Maris, Matthew, 356.
Maris, Willom, 356.
Marius a Mintunics, Drouais, 373.
Marlborough, Duke of, 107.
Marne, J. L. de, 446.
Marquez, Esteban, 440.
Marriage ^ la Mode^ Hogarth, 392,
of Alexander am Roxana,
Sodoma, 98.
■ of Cana, Schnorr, 265 ; Ve- ronese, 175.
• Isaac and Rebecca, Claude,
365.
Marriage of 8. Catharine, Borgog-
none, 85 ; Correggio, 179 ; Luinl,
97; Murillo, 227. the Virgin, Buonacorso, 46 ;
Memling, 290; Perugino, 80 j
Raphael, 105. Mars and Venus, Botticelli, 64. Martin, David, 455. Martin, John, 457. Martinez, Luxan, 229. Martin d'Ollanda. See Schongauer. Martini, Bernardino. See Zenale. Martini, Simone. See Memmi. Martino di Bartolommeo, 431. Martino da Udine (Pellegrino),
154. Martins, Nabor, 443. Martyrdom ofSacco, del Sarto, 14 1 . Martyrdom of Savonarola, 100,
127.
of S. Catherine, Ferrari, 97.
of S. Erasmus, D. Bouts, 294 ;
Poussin, 363. of S. Lawrence^ Elzheimer,
263. SS. Processus and Martianus,
Valentin, 362. S. Sebastian, A. Pollaiuolo,
69 ; Veronese, 174. Mary of Hungarv, 228, 301. Mary, Queen, 175, 309. Margs, Ribera, 195. Marziale, Marco, 154. Masaccio, 49, 51, 53, 54, 65, 58,
69, 60, 65, 68,74, 101, 103. Masaniello, 196. Mascagni, Donaio, 437. Mascarone, II, Anni-Carracci, 185. Maso, 40.
Masolino. See Panicale. Mason, Geo., 427. Massacre of Scio, Delacroix, 377. Massari, Lucio, 436. Massone, Gio., 433. Massys, Cornelius, Quentin, and
Jan, 301. Massys, Catherine, 298. Massys, Jusse, 298 ; the younger,
299. Massys, Queutin, 294, 297, 300,
302, 311, 330. See also MeUys.
INDEX.
ilaster Cristoferus, 236.
Master, The, of the Death of the
Virgin, 238, 245. Master, The, of the Lyversberg
Passion, 238. Master Rogier of Louvain, 298. Mastiirzio, Marzio, 197. Matres Dolorosa, Domenichino,
187. Matteo di Giovanni, 50. Mauberge, 301. Maurer, CHstoph., 442. Maurolycus, 88. Mausoleum of Julius II., 129. Mauve, Anton., 356. Max, Gabriel, 267. Maximilian, Emperor, 249, 253,
256, 292, 502. Maximilian, Elector, 252. Mayno, Juan Bautisti, 205. Mazo, 221. Mazza, 90.
Mazzolino, Ludovico, 138. Mazzuola, Francesco (II Par-
migiano), 180, 183.
(three brothers,) 435.
Mecarino. See Beccafumi. Mechlin, 306, 329, 338. Meckenen, Isi'ael van, 238. Mediaeval German life, 242. Medici, the, 50, 61, 62, 100, 131,
240, 285, 289. Medici, Alessandro do, 132. Medici Chapel, 59, 61, 132. Medici, Cosmo de', 56, 60, 62,
289. Medici, Giovanni de, 61. Medici, Giuliano, 62, 131. Medici, Ippolito, Cardinal, 113,
164. Medici, Loj-enzo de', 62, 74, 94,
HI, 124. Medici, Lorenzo, gardens of, 124;
tomb of, 131. Medici, Marie de', 322. Medici, Piero de', 62, 125. Medici portraits, Benozzo, 59. Medicean Courts, 119.
Pope, 132.
Meer, Jan Van der, 339, 344. Meeting of the Regents, Bol, 336.
Meeting rf Wellington and Blucher,
Maclise, 423. Meier, Jacob, 257. Meire, Gerard van der, 284, 285. Meister Stephan (Stephan Loch-
ner), 231, 235, 243. Meister Wilhelm of Cologne, 231,
235. Melancholia, Diirer, 252. Melancthon, 251, 254, 260, 262. Melanthius, 14. Melone, Altobello, 170. Melozzo, da Forli, 73, 76. Melusine, Schwindt, 266. Melzi, Francesco, 95. Memling, Hans, 289-92, 294, 299. Memmi, Lippo, 46, 47. Memmi, Simone (Simone di Mar-
tino), 46, 48, Mengs, Raphael. 198, 263, 370,
375. Menniti, Mario, 194. Menzel, Adolf, 266. Mercury and Woodman, Salvator
Rosa, 196. Merian, Matthew, 449. Merisi, Michelangelo, da Cara-
vaggio, 188, 190, 192-4, 195,
215, 325, 331,361. Merlo, 236. Merzal, Pedro, 201. Mesdag, H. W., 356. Mesopotamia, 7. Messina, Antonello da, 97, 143,
144, 145. Metelli, Agost., 437. Metsu, Gabriel, 344. Metsjs, Jean, ironwork by, 297. Metten Gelde, Catherine, 295. Meulen, Ant. Fr. v. d., 446. Meyerheim, F. E., 443. Michael Angelo. See Buonarotti. Michallon, 382. Michel, A., 369. Michelet, 92. Michiels, Alf.,285. Micon of Athens, 12. Middelburg, 301, 304, 313. Miel, Jan, 445. Mielich, Hans, 441. Mierevelt, Michael Van, 336.
INDEX.
487
Mieris, Frans, 341-2, 344.
. Frans, the younger, 342.
Mieris, Willem, 342. Mignard, Pierre, 367. 371. Milan, 84, 85, 87, 90, 93, 94, 95,
96, 97, 98, 105, 134, 169, 190,
192, 193. Si-c Brora.
Duke of, 91, 289.
Milanese School, 85, 170. Milano, Giovanni da, 40. Mildmay, H. B., 392. MUkwoman, Vermeer, 340. Millais, Sir John Everett, 412,415,
425. Millbank, 410.
Millet, Francois, 356, 379, 383. Milton Gallery^ Fuseli, 404. Miniatures, 232, 320, 360, 387. Miniaturists, 55, 256, 268,290,292,
293.
English School, 387, 421.
Minutiae, 341.
Miracle of S, Mark, Tintoretto,
Miracles of the Cross, Gentile,
148. Miseres de la Guerre, Callot, 361. Misers, Massys, 300. Mocetto, Girolamo, 173. Modena, 138, 183. "Modern Painters," Buskin, 410,
411. Modern Schools — Belgian, 3£9 ;
Dutch, 356; English, 418;
French, 384 ; Munich, 267. Moer, J. B. Van, 330. Moine, Fr. Le, 452. Moise. See Valentin, 362, Mol, Pieter van, 446. Mola, G. B., 188. Mola, P. F., 191. Molanus, J., 297. Molenaers, The, 344, 346. Moliere, illustrated, 407. Molyn, Pieter de, 348. Monaco. See Lorenzo. Mona Lisa, 92, 93. Monamy, Peter, 454. Money -pieces, 300, 301. Monk Scrgius killed by Mahomet,
L. V. Leyden, 312. Monna Vanna, Hoi. Hunt, 426.
Monnoyer, J. B., 379, 382. Mons, 296, 309. Monson, Lord, 93. Montagna, Bartolommeo, 170. ]\IonteteItro, Duke F. de, 285. Monte Luce, 108. Moonlight scenes, 351. Moonlight, Turner, 410. Muore, illustrated by Maelise, 423. Moors, The, in Spain, 200, 201. Morales, Luis de (El Divino), 202-3,
209. Morality in Art, 151, 369. Morando, Paolo, 173. Morat, Battle of, 287. More, Sir Thomas, 258, 259, 299. Moreel, William, 290. Moreelse, Paulus, 336. Morelli, 64, 77, 82, 97, 105, 144,
145, 157, 170. Moreito. See Bonvicino. Morgenstern, Chris., 443. Morghen, Raphael, 89, 90, 189. Morland, Geo., 415, 416. Moruay, M. de, 377. Morning, sculpture, by M. An-
gelo, 131. Moro, Sir Antony, 204, 307, 309-
10, 314. Moi'one, Domenico, 84. Morone, Francesco, 84, 173. Moroni, Giambattista, 170, Mortimer, J. H., 404. Mosaics at Home, Venice, and
Kavenna, 27, 28. Mosaic of the Navicella, 35.
Ghirlandaio's opinion of, 69.
Moscow, 230.
Moser, G. M., 454.
Moser, Lucas, 237.
Moser, Mai*y, 455.
Moses, statue by M. Angelo, 130.
a7ul the Burning Bush, Gior-
gione. 157. Mostert, Jan, 304. Mottraye's Travels, 390. Moucheron, F.. 449. Mount Athos, School of Fainting
of, 29. Mouth of a Dutch River, Koninck,
348.
488
INDEX.
Moya, Pedro, 439.
Mozo, El. See Herrera.
Mudo, El. See Navarrete.
Muhlberg, battle of, 260.
Muller's Archtelogie der Kunst, 10, 14.
Muller, M. K. F., 443.
Miiller, Will., 422.
Mulready, William, 406.
Mummy-cases, Paintings on, 7.
Munich, 68,82, 108,168,261,265, 312, o21, 322,355.
See Finakothek.
Munich School, The, 264, 265, 267.
Munkacsy, 267.
Munro, Dr., 409.
Miintz, 305.
Mural paintings in France, 358.
Murano. See Vivarini and Ala- manus.
Murano, island of, 143.
school of, 1 43.
• painters, 146.
Murder of Bishop of H}ge, Dela- croix, 377.
Murillo, Bartolome Esteban, 199, 204, 206, 212, 213, 216, 217, 218, 222-28, 325.
Museum Pictorium, 207.
Museums, Amsterdam, 348 ; Ant- werp, 47, 283, 297, 302, 309, 359 ; Basel, 257 ; Berlin, 39, 47, 143, 146, 165, 173, 193, 235, 266, 294 ; the British, 2, 128, 147, 185, 190, 254, 260, 335, 425 — Print Room at, 242 ; Brunswick, 337 ; Brussels, 204, 290, 295, 309, 325, 329, 330 j Cluny, 359 ; Cologne, 233, 235, 237, 238, 239 ; Dijon, 269 ; Dresden, 265 ; Frankfort, 169, 283 ; Ghent, 325 ; Hague, 340 ; Lyons, 80; Madrid, 157, 208, 279; Milan {See Brera and Ambrosiana); Naples, 196, 197; Rotterdam, 337 ; Seville, 208, 212,216; Soluthurn,258; South Kensington, 26, 72, 116, 116, 202, 425 ; Valencia, 210 ; Van der Hoop, 340.
Music^ Melozzo, 73. Music Lesson, MetzH, 344. Mtisical Party, Caravaggio, 193. Mtisicians, Caravaggio, 192. Musset, AHred do, 375. Mystic Lamb, the, of S. Bavon, Van Eyck, 236, 272, 278, 306. Mytens, D., 448. Mythology, old Northern, 243.
Nain, Antoine Le, 361.
Nain, Louis Le, 361.
Nain, Matthew Le, 361.
Nake, Heinrich, 265.
Nancy, battle of, 290.
Naples, 47, 186, 189, 193, 195, 196, 210 ; the Catacombs at, 22 ; gal- lery at, 93, 96, 197 ; Giotto at, 38 ; plague at, 197 ; school of, 194 ; Viceroy of, 194.
Napoleon I., 90, 372, 374, 378.
Napoleon III., 216, 228.
Nasmyth, Patrick, 423.
National characteristics in art, 243, 250, 261, 302, 310, 348, 361, 363.
National Gallery, 28, 32, 39, 40, 44, 45, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 57, 58, 59, 60, 63, 64, 66, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73,77, 79,80, 81,82,83,84,85, 93, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 104, 107, 108, 112, 121, 129, 134, 135, 137, 138, 141, 142, 144, 145, 150, 154, 155, 156, 157, 161, 162, 168, 169, 170, 172, 173, 175, 176, 180, 181, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 190, 191, 193, 195,196, 198,216,222, 225, 228, 237,238,239,245,257,260,263, 281, 289, 293, 300, 307, 310, 319, 321, 324, 326, 327, 334, 335, 337, 338, 339, 340, 343, 344, 346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 352, 353, 354, 355, 359, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367, 368, 370, 381, 391, 392, 398, 409, 410, 414, 423, 424, 425, 426, 427.
National Portrait Gallery, 204, 387, 388, 389, 415.
Nativity, Botticelli, 63 ; J. Cornel-
INDEX.
489
iszoon, 312; Roelas, 206; Sig-
norelli, 74, Natoire, 368.
Naturalism in art, 184, 192, Naturalisti, 185, 198, 225, 331. Navarrete, Juan Fernandez (El
Mozo), 205. Navez, Francois, 446. "Nnzarenes,^' 2G5. Neapolitan, Schot)l, 194. Neer, Aart van der, 350. Negroponte, 143. Neptune and Amphitrite, Mabase,
302. Netherlands, 201, 232, 236, 240,
250, 253, 260, 269, 304, 312,
317, 329, 335, 385. Netherlands, Hegents of, 306, 317. Netscher, Gaspar, 344. Neuchatel, Nicholas, 309. Neudoi-ifer, 251. Neuhuys, 356. Newlings, Albert, 356. Newton, Gilbert Stuart, 407. New York, 224. Nichols, 390. Nicias of Athens, 429. Nicola of Pisa, 28. Nicomachus of Thebes, 429. Niessen, Herr, 237. Nieuwenhuys, M., 278. N^ht, sculpture by M. Angelo,
131. Night uatch, Rembrandt, 334. Niobe, Guido, 189. Noir, Nicholas Le, 452. Noort, Adam van, 316. Northcoie, J., 404. Northiiml)erland, Duke of, 152. Norwegian scenery, 362. Norwich, 418 ; school, 419, 420. Notte,Con'i'g^\o, 179. Nottinj^ham, 4 14. Novara, 97, Novelli, Pietro, 437. Noyon, ti-eaty of, 151. Nude, representation of the, in
art, 74, 102, 103, 136, 163, 195,
250, 354, 383. Nunez, Juan, 202. Nunnery of S. Paolo, 178.
Nuremberg, 306, 309. Nurnberg, 234, 247, 248,249,252, 233, 255.
Chronicle of, 246.
School of, 233, 246, 255.
Nuzi, Allej;retto, 430.
Oakes, J. R.,423.
Oath of the Horatii, David, 371.
Obervellach altar-piece, 307.
Oderisio di Gubbio, 430.
O di Giotto, 35.
Odile, S., 269.
(Edipus arid the Sphinx, Ingres,
377, Off the Mouth of the Thames, Back-
huysen, 353. Oggione, Marco d', 93, 95. Ognisanti, the, 68. Oil-painting, 52, 63, 78, 83, 143,
144, 145, 149, 204, 207, 236,
265, 269-71, 279, 283, 294, 311. Introduction of, in Italy,
145.
invention of, 269, 270.
Old Tcstajnent frescoe, Berrozza,
58. Old Woman Spinning, Maas, 337. Olivarez, Duke of, 2 18, 219. Oliver, Isaac, 387. Oliver, Peter, 387. Oostzaandam, Jacob of, 306. Opie,J., 317, 404. Oppenheim collection, 284. " Oracle of Battles." See Falcone. Orcagna. See Arcagnolo. Organo, 173. Oriental art, 12. Origin of painting, 1. Oriolo, Giovanni, 84. Orizonte. See Van Bloemen. Orlandi, Deodati, 41, Orley, Bernard van (Bernard van
Brussel), 304-6. Ormonde, Duke of, 209. Orrente, Pedro, 205. Orrery, the, Wright, 414. Ortolano. Sec &nvenuti. Orvieto, 44, 47, 57, 73. Os, J. van, 355. Osorio, Meneses, 440.
490
INDEX.
Ostade, Adrian van, 327,346.
Ostadn, Isaac van, 347.
Ostendorter, M.,44I.
Otho, Emperor, 269, 295.
Otho 111., 290.
Ottaviano, di Martiiio Nelli, 431.
Oudewatcr, 292.
Oudewater, Albert van, 293, 310.
Oudry, J. B., 379.
Unless, 415.
Our Lady of Solitude, Becerra,
207. Overbeck, Friedrich, 264. Overthrow of the Giants, Romano,
137. Owen, William, 456.
Pacchia, Girolamo della, 99. Facc'hiarotti, Giacomo, 99. racbec'o, Francisco, 204, 20.5, 208, . 210-12, 217,218.
his work on painting, 210-11.
Pacheco, Juana de, 204, 218, 221. Pacher, Michael, 440. Pacuvius, 18.
Padovanino. Sec Varotari. Padua, 143, 144, 147, 169, 173,
395.
• Giotto's frescoes at, 36, 46.
Justus of. See Justus.
School of, 70, 143, 146.
University of, 70.
Paduan Guild, 70.
Paele, G. Van der, 280.
Paelincx, 446.
Pa^an and Christian art, 22, 103,
106, 136. Paganism, 118, 153. Painter, attributes of a good, 183. Painting on glass, 7, 232, 297,
369.
of allegory, 364.
Biblical-genre, 205, 227.
on copper, slate, &c., 186.
on metal, 7.
in Catacombs, 22.
Early Christian, 21.
Egypt and Asia, 1, 3, 7.
in England, 386.
Etruscan, 16.
— — flower, 356.
Painting in France, 358.
fresco. See h resco.
genre, 14, 176, 185, 192, 209,
224, 226, 266, 281, 283, 284, 308, 314, 326. 330, 337, 341, 342, 355, 361, 362, 407, 412.
in Germany, 231-67.
Graico- Roman, 17.
Greek, 8.
historical, 336.
in Italy, .-33.
in oil. See Oil painting.
in oil by Italians, 52, 63, 83.
landscape. See Landscape.
on linen, 289.
methods of, 270.
of minutiae, 340, 341.
modern, 26.
in the Netherlands, 268, 310,
330.
of Pastorals, 367, 368.
Roman, 17.
in Spain, 199-230.
symbolic, 21.
on terra cotta, 7.
texture, 341-5.
on wood, etc., 5.
Palamedes, 339, 344. Pallas Athene, 10. Palazzo Barberini, 117, 189. Bargello, 126.
Borghese, 108, 180.
Colonna, 185.
Doria, 193.
Fava, 184.
Farnese, 184.
Pitti, 107, 117, 121, 190.
Pubblico, Florence, 87.
Pubblico, Siena, 47, 99.
Rospigliosi, 189.
Sciarra, 192.
Spada, 192.
del Te, 137.
Vecchio, 94, 127
Venice, 147.
Palaeolithic art, 2. Palermo, 323. Palestrina, Turner, 410. Pallas, Lucas v. Leyden, 313. Palma, Jacopo (Palma Vecchio), 159, 160-1. 163.
INDEX.
491
Falma, niece Afagdalcna, 160.
Palma, J. (II Giovine), 191.
Palmer, Samuel, 421, 422.
Palmerucci, Guido, 430.
Palomino He Castro, 207, 216,217, 222, 227.
Pamphilos, 429.
Fan and Apollo, A. Carracci, 186.
Bacchante, A. Carracci, 186.
Syrinx, Rottenhammer, 263.
Panaenos of Athens, 12.
Panicale, Masolino da, 49, 51, 52, 54.
Pan in i, Paolo, 438.
Panshanger, 141.
Pantin, Jelian, 277.
Papal Rome, 109.
Pape, Adrian de, 344.
" Paradise Ix>st," 120.
Paradise, Tintoretto, 172.
Pareja, Juan, 439.
Paris, 154, 196.362,370,380,383.
Parma, 154, 178, 184, 188, 194.
Parmigiano. Sec Mazzuola.
Parrhasios of Ephesos, 12, 13, 15.
Parrocel, Charles, 452.
Parrocel, Joseph, 452.
Parthenon, 10.
Passavant, 79, 104, 108, 112, 117, 250, 280, 290.
Passerotti, Bart., 182.
Pfl5sio», <Ae, I}erruguete,204; Hol- bein, 257 ; L. V. Leyden, 312.
Passion of Christ, 42.
Passions, Diirer's Great and Little, 250.
Past and Present, Egg, 407,
Patch, Thomas, 39.
Patel, Pierre, 452.
Pater, 368.
Patinir, Joachim de, 292, 309,
Pattison, E. F. S., 360.
Paul III., 132, 133.
Paul v., 188.
Pausauias, 11.
Pausias, 14.
Pavia, 79, 95.
Pax, Finiguerra's, 63.
Peace and War, Kul)ens, 319.
Peace of Nunster, Terburg, 344.
Peasant Breughel. See Breughel.
Pedro of Cordova, 201.
Peel Collection, 321, 327, 356.
Peiraiikos, 429.
Pelasgians, 1.
I'cllegrino. See Martino.
Pelo, Ciuta di Lapo di, 39.
Pembroke, Earl of, 312.
Pena, N. V. D. de la, .383, 384.
Penelope, History of, Pinturicchio,
81. Peninsular War, 217. Pennachi, Girolamo, 154. Pennachi, Pierre Maria, 154. Penni, Gio. Fr,, 434. Pennsylvania, 403. Penny Wedding, Wilkie, 406. Pensz, George, 255. Pepyn, M., 445.
*' Percival," by Eschenbach, 234. Pereda, Antonio, 439. Pericles, 10. Perrier, F., 451. Persians, art of the, 7. Perspective, first knowledge of,
51,52. Perugia, 77, 78, 105, 107, 191. Perugino. See Vannucci. Peruzzi, Baldassare, 99. Peruzzi Chapel, 37. Pesellino, Fr. di Stefano, 66. Pesello, Giuliano d'Arrigo, 66. Pesne, Antoine, 452. Pesth, 96, 158.
Peter delivered from Prison, Fil. Lippi, 65.
Peter denying Christ, Teniers, 329.
Petersburg, St., 96, 161, 169, 284.
Peter the Great, 353.
Pether, W., 414.
Petrarch, 47.
Petrucci, Pandolfo, 81.
Petrus de Hispania, 200,
Pfenning, D., 440.
Pheidias, 10.
Philip II., 168,183,204,206,300, 306, 309.
Philip III., 316.
Philip IV., of Spain, 121, 212 j portraits of, by Velasquez, &c. , 214, 218, 220, 328.
492
INDEX.
Philippe le Bon, Dnke of Bur- gundy, 274, 275, 276, 287,288.
Philippe of Burp;undy, 302.
Phillip, John, 428.
Phillips, Thomas, 456.
Phoebus and Aurora with the Hours, Guido, 189.
Phoenician art, 7.
Phryne, Turner, 410.
Piacenza, 159.
Piagnoni', 100, 102, 125.
Piazza, Albertino, 170.
Piazza, Calista, 435.
Piazza, Martino, 170.
Picininno, Nicolo, 94.
Piccolomini Library, 80.
Pickersgill, H. W.,415.
Pied Piper of Haonelin, Pinwell, 427.
Pieta, Domenichino, 187; Fi*ancia, 81; M. Angelo, 127; Nunez,
. 202 ; Stranzioni, 195.
Pieterzoon, Aart, 444.
Pietro, Lorenzo di, 431.
Pietro, Sano di, 431.
Pilas, 222.
Pieve, 161.
Piloty, Karl, 267.
Pinacoteca, 143.
Pinacothek, 228, 238, 241, 245, 247,251,252,288, 291,355.
Pinas, Jacob, 332.
Pinchart,Les Tapisseries de Berne, 287.
Pinturicchio. See Bernardino di Betto.
Pinwell, Geo., 427.
Piola, Pelegro, 438.
Piombo. See Luciani.
Pippi, Giulio (Giulio Romano), 114, 136-7, 360, 362.
Pirkheimer, Willibald, 248.
Pisa, 41,50.
Campo Santo at, 41, 48, 58,
59.
cartoon of, 109.
Duomo di, 42.
pulpit by Pisano at, 26.
Pisan campaigns, 94.
Pisano, Andrea. See Ugolino.
Pisano, Kicola, 26, 41, 51.
Pisano, Nino and Giovanni, 41.
Pisano, Vittore (Pisanello), 84.
Pitti, the, 80, 196.
Pius II., Pope, 60.
Pius VII., Pope, 372.
Plague among the Philistines^
Poussin, 363. Plague, the, 260.
Platina, Prefect of Sixtus IV., 73. Plato, 120.
Platonian philosophy, 119. Platonic Academy, 111. Play Scene in Hamlet^ Maclise,
423. Pleydenwurff. W., 246. Pliny, 3, 10, 13, 15, 19. Plough, Walker, 427. Plymouth, 276. Plympton, 394. Pocetti, B. B., 436. Pocock, Nicholas, 445. Poel, Egbert, v.d., 355. Poelenburgli, Cornells v., 355. Poems by Mich. Angelo, 133. Poitiers, 358. Poitou, 358.
Poldo-Pezzoli collection, 98. Pole, Cardinal, 307. Pollaiuolo, Antonio, 63, 66, 69. Pollaiuolo, Piero, 63, 69. Polygnotos of Thasos, 10.
his Polyxene, 11.
Polyxene, 11.
Pompeii, art of, 11, 19, 137, 188,
370. Ponte, Jacopo da (Bassano), 176,
187. Pontormo. See Carucci. Poole, P. F., 424. Pope, Alex., 389. Pope Gregory and the remains of
Trajan, V. der Weyden, 286. Poperinghe, 304, Porbus, Frans, 308. Porbus, the younger, 309. Porbus, Pieter, 296, 308. Pordenone, Giovanni Antonio da,
154, 157, 159, 160, 163. Pork Butcher, the, Victoor, 338. Porta, Baccio delia (Fra Barto-
lommeo). <Sbc Fattorine.
INDEX.
493
Porte, Roland de la, 462.
Portinari, altar-piece, Van der Goes, 285.
Portinari, Tomraaso, 285.
Porto d'Ercole, 194.
Port-Royal, 367.
Portrait-painting, Roman, 18.
Portrait-painting in Venice, 150.
Portraits: Agostino, 161; Alva, Duke of, 167, 309; Amerigo Vespucci, 68; Andrea del Sarto, 141; Antonello, 145; Archers of S. George and S. Adrian, 338 ; Aretino, 167 ; Ariosto, 167, 168 ; Arnolfini, Jean and Wife, 281 ; Balthazar Carlos, 219; Beatrice Cenci, 189 ; Bery- steyn, 338 ; Bishop IBurnet, 388 ; Blount, Martha, 389; Burgk- mair, 256 ; by Beltraffio, 96 ; by Bissolo, 156; by Croce, 155; Carracci family, 184 ; Caesar Borgia, 167; Charles I. and his nobles, 324; Charles II.'s Court, 326; Charles II., 328; Charles IV., 229; Charles V., 167 ; Charles VII., 164 ; Chester- field, Earl of, 389 ; Christ, 23 ; Christian II, of Denmark's chil- dren, 303; Cleve, J. van, and wife, 309 ; Constable de Bour- bon, 167; Coram, Capt., 392; CostanzOjMatteo, 157 ; Cranmer, 259; Cromwell, 387; David, 372; Del Sarto, 141: Digby, Lady Venetia, 324 ; Doges of Venice, 150, 167; Dou, Gerard, 340 ; Diirer, 254 ; Egidiua, 299 ; Erasmus, 259, 299 ; D'Este, Isabella, 92 ; D'Este, Lionel, 289; Eycks, the van, 273; wife of, 280; Family portraits, 326 ; Fleury, C^ardinal, 367 ; Francis I., 167; Garrick, David, 401 ; and wife, 392 ; George III., 389 ; Gevurtius, 324 ; Ginevra de Benci, 68 ; Girl, by Cranach, 262 ; Grand Master of Malta, 193 ; Grimstone, Edward, 284 ; Guillemardet, French Amb., 229 ; llandelj 389 ; Hayman,
389; Helena Fourment, 319; Henry VIII., 259 ; Hobbes, T., 388 ; Hogarth and wife, 392 ; Holbein's parents, 257 ; Infanta Margarita Maria, 220, 222 ; Isabel of Portugal, 276, 277; James II., 388; Julius II., 112; La Bella di Teziano, 160; La Belle Ferroniere, 92 ; Lady, by S. Holbein, 257 ; Longono, Gio. Chr., 98 ; M. Angelo, 99 ; Mans- field, Lord, 389 ; Margarita, " La Fornarina," 117, 135 ; Massys and wife, 300 ; Mathe- matician and Son, 309 ; Mead, Dr., 389 ; Medici, Ippolito de, 1 67 ; Medici, 59 ; Mona Lisa Giocondo, 92 ; More, 259 ; Moreel, Maria, 290 ; Moreel, William, and wife, 290; Niccolo della Torre, 161; 01ivarez,Duke of, 219; Oldfield, Anne, 389; Paul, IV., 165; Philip IL, 167, 204 ; Philip IV., 167, 218, 220, 222 ; Pope, Alex., 389 ; Pope Pius VII., 372 ; Pordenone family, 160; Prim, General, 384; Prior, Mat., 389; Queen Caroline, 389; Q. Charlotte, 389; Queen Mary, 309 ; Queen of Philip IV., 219, 220; Queens- bury, Duchess of, 389 ; Raphael, 99, 104 ; Recamier, Mdme., 372 j Regents of the hospital, 338 j Richelieu, Cardinal, 367 ; Rubens' wives, 319; Russell, Lord Wm., 388; Sansovino, 167 ; Schmidt family, 309 ; Sid- dons, as the Tragic Muse, Mrs., 397; Siddons, Mrs.,398; Steele, 389 ; Sultan Mehemet II., 148 ; Swift, Dean, 389 ; Talbot, Lord Chanc, 389; Titian, 99, 167; Titian's daughter, 165 ; Van Veeren, Marquis, wife, and son, 303; Velasquez, 220; family, 221; Venetian Senator, 98; Veronese and family, 176; Vert ue, 389; Waller. 388; Wal- pole. Sir R., 389 ; Willes, Ed- ward, 389 ; Wolsey, 259.
494
INDEX.
Portraiture, 170, 193, 219, 262,
266, 308, 321, 323, 336, 337,
338, 344, 387-89, 395, 413. Portu<;al, Jan van Kyck in, 276. Posso, Cavaliere del. 362, Potter. Paul, 349, 350, 356. Potter, Pieter, 355. Poujol, Abel de, 453. Pourbus, Pi(!ter, 296. Ponrtales ('ol lection, 222. Poussin, Gas{»ard. See Dughet. Poussin, Nicolas. 185, 186, 310,
362, 381, 400.' Prajjue, 233, 356. Prato, frescoes of Lippi in Duomo,
61. Prayei'-book, Alb. Diirer's, 261. Preach 171 g of Mary Magdalen,
King keni, 359. Precocious genius, 312, 349. Precursors of Rembrandt, 336. Preller, Lndwig, 442. Pre-raphaelite Brotherhood, 264,
394, 425. Pre-Raphaelite School, 393, 394. Presentation in the Temple, Am-
brogio, 48 ; Meckenen, 238 ;
Vouet, 361. Preti, Fra Mattia, 195. Previtali, Andrea, 155. Prevost, Jean, 296. Primaticcio, 137, 142, 180, 183,
3b0, 383. Prim, General, 230, " Prince of Light," 334, Prints by Hogarth, 390.
Lucas V. Leyden, 312-13.
Procaccini, Ercole, 190.
Prodigal Son, Murillo, 226, 227;
L. V. Leyden, 314. Promenade without the Walls, Leys,
330. Prometheus, Kibera, 195. Propert's Hist, of Miniature Art,
387. " Prophetic Books," Blake, 424. Projyhcts and Sibgls, M. Angelo,
115. Proportion, first to study, 13 ; A.
Diirer, human, 254. Proserpine, Hoi. Hunt, 426.
Protestant Iconoclasts, 278. Protestantism in art, 187, 251.
and Catholicism, 225.
Protogenes, 16.
Prout, Samuel, 421, 422. Prud'hon, 374. Prussia, King of, 278. Pseudo-classicism, 268. Pucci, chapel, 69. Puccio, Pietro di, 42. Puligo, Domenico, 142. Pupils of Rembrandt, 336. Purism in art, 55. Pyramids, the, 3. Pyrenees, Treaty of, 220.
Quandt, J. G., 247. Quattrocentisti, 49, 86, 144. Quirinal, the, 187, 188.
Raeburn, Sir Henry, 413.
Baft of the Mediisa, G6ricault,
376. Raibolini, Francesco (Francia), 78,
81, 82, 83, 99, 101, 103, 108,
121. Raising of the King's Son, F.
Lippi, 65.
Lazarus, Cousin, 359 ; Del
Piombo, 135.
Hake's Progress, Hogarth, 390. Hamersdorf. 233. Ramsay, Allan, 389, 397. Ranitri, S., scenes from, Firenzjef
42. Ransdorp, 332. Raoux, Jean, 452. Rape of Europa, Veronese, 176.
Helen, Benozzo, 59.
Liicippus, Rubens, 321.
Raphael. See Santi,
of animal painting, 349.
Raphon, Johann, 441. Rathgeber, 292. Rationalism, 187, 315. Ravenna, mosaics at, 28 ; battle of,
114. Ravesteyn, Jan van, 336. Reader, the, Vermeer, 340. Reading the Will, WUkie, 406.
INDEX.
495
Real and ideal, meaning of the
terms, 120, 188, 320, 331. Ueasun, school of. 53, 55. Kedgrave, K. and S., " Century of
Painters," 386, 409, 410, 411,
419. Reformation, 225, 241, 260 School of Germany, 241,
2.34. Regatta on the Grand Canal, Cana-
letto, 198. Regemorter, Pierre van, 446. Regents, meeting of, 3o6, 338. of the Netherlands, 306,317,
327. Regnault, Henri, 384. Regnault, J. B., 379. Reims, Adrian, 291. Reinagle, Philip, 455. Religion in art, 57, 79, 106, 288,
305, 315.
in seventeenth century, 187.
in art, Venice, 174.
Beliqtiary of S. Odile. 269. Rembrandt. See Ryn, Van. Renaissance in France, Dilke, 360. the, in Italy, 62, 66, 67, 74,
76, 83, 98, 204, 239, 264, 269,
301, 315, 359. Ren6, of Aiyou, 359. Reni, Guido (Guido), 186, 187,
188, 190, 195,225,361. Bent Day, VVilkie, 406. Bepose in Egypt^ Van Orley, 307. Bepresentation of Human Life, J.
Steen, 345. Republic in France, 375. " Retaliation," 397, 398. Rethel, Alfred, 443. Rettberg, " Niirnberg's Kunstle-
ben," 233. Revival of art, 191, 198, 264, 329.
of art in Germany. 457.
of learning, 53, 207.
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 14, 153,
156, 162, 320, 331, 380, 391,
394-97, 398, 599, 400, 402, 411,
414. Rhetoric, Melozzo, 73. Rhine Schools, Lttwer, 240. Rhodes, 307, 337.
" Rhuparographia" (dirt painting),
16. Ribaltas, the, 194. Ribalta, Francisco, 208. Ribalta, Juan de, 210. Ribera, Guiseppe de (Lo Spagno-
letto), 194, 197, 210, 222, 223. Ricchi, Pietro, 437. Ricci, Sebastian, 438. Ricciarelli, Daniele (J)a Voltcrra).
135. Richardson, Jonathan, 388 ; Art
Criticisms, 388. Richardson, T. M., 421. Richartz-gift, 238. Richelieu, 361, 363. Richmond, T., 415. Richter, G. K. L.,443. Richter, Dr. J. P., 53, 64, 135. Richter, Ludwig, 267. RidoIH, Carlo, 437. Ridolfo, 144, 148, 159, 175. Rigaud, Hyacinthe, 367. Riley, John, 388. Rinjon, Antonio del, 202. King, Ludger Zum (the younger),
442. Ring, Zum, 441. Rio, 54, 60, 87, 101, 105. Riposo, Solario, 98. Rizi, Francesco, 439. Rizo, Francesco, da Sta. Croce,
155. Robbia, Luca della, 39. Robert, Leopold, 370. Roberts, David, 427. Robespierre, 372. Robinson, Hugh, 455. Rcbson, Geo. F., 421. Robusti, Domenico, 172. Robusti, Jacopo (II I'intoretto),
153, 156, 171-2, 176, 181, 182,
205.
his daughter, Tintoretta, 172.
Roddelstedt, I'eter, 441.
Ro<lriguez, Juan, 200.
Roelas, Juan de las, 205, 208, 216.
Roeselberg hills, 295.
Rtiger of Louvain, 298.
Rogers, Mr., Collection, 109.
Rokc wood-Gage, 200.
496
INDEX.
Rollin, Chancellor, 280, 282, 287, 288.
Roman Brotherhood, 264.
Roman Catholic Imagination in Art, 244.
Roman Church, 53, 215, 240, 243, 254, 283, 313.
painting, 17.
Romance in Art, 243.
Romanelli, Gio. Fr., 437.
Romanesque style, 232.
Romanino, Girolamo, 169, 170.
Romano. See Giulio Pippi.
Romanticism in Belgium, 329.
France, 374, 376.
Germany, 266.
Rombouts, Gillis, 449.
Rombouts, Theodor., 324.
Rome, 22, 35, 47, 57, 71, 85, 86, 94, 95, 98, 99, 102, 104, 108, 109, 130, 132, 134, 135, 142, 165, 186, 188, 191, 194, 195, 197, 198, 204, 223, 230, 264, 289, 302, 362.
Rome, Borghese Palace, 180.
Capitol, 190, 192.
Casa Zuccari, frescoes, 264.
Claude in, 190, 365.
Leonardo in, 94.
Michelangelo in, 125, 133,
134.
Poussin in, 362.
Raphael in, 109.
S. Peter's, 35, 117, 118, 127,
128, 133.
S. Sabina, 191.
Titian at Belvedere, 165.
Villa Ludovisi, 187, 189.
Villa Massimi frescoes, 264.
Romero, Juan, de Sevilla, 439.
Romerswalien. See Marimus.
Romney, George, 399, 404.
Romola, 69.
Rontbouts, A., 352.
Rooden Clooster, 285.
Rooker, M. A., 421.
Rosa, Salvator, 196, 364,398, 400.
Rosa, Sisto. See Badalocchio.
Rosselh, Cosimo, 59, 64, 69, 100.
Roselli, Matteo, 190.
138, 193, 212, 307,
Rossetti, 412, 425, 426.
Rosenkranctafel, 233.
Rosso, II (II Maitre Roux). See
Jacopo. Rothschild family, 228. Rottenhammer, Johann, 172, 263. Rotterdam, 339. Rottman, Karl, 266. Roubaix, Sire de, 276. Rouen, 293. Rousseau, Th., 379, 381, 382, 383,
384, 417. Rowlandson, Thos., 455. Rubens and Charles I., 319. Rubens, Peter Paul, 94, 115, 163,
218,308,315-22,323,324,326,
327, 329, 331, 336, 338, 387. Rubens, Philip, 317. Rudolf II., 356. Rulaud, C, " Notes on Raphael's
Cartoons," 115. Rumohr, 79. Ruskin, 18, 36, 79, 139, 151, 152,
156, 164, 319, 335, 351, 396,
405, 409, 410, 425. Russia, Emperor of, 349. Rustic genre, 415. Ruysch, Rachel, 451. Ruysdael, Jacob, 351, 352, 419. Ruysdael, Solomon, 348, 352. Ryckaert, Daniel, 446. Ryn, Jan van, 446. Ryn, Rembrandt Hermanszoon
van (Rembrandt), 192, 330-36,
337, 338, 339, 340, 347, 348,
349, 410.
his son Titus, 332.
Rysbraeck, P., 446.
Sabine Women, David's Bape of
the, 371. Sacchi, Andrea, 437. Sacchi, Bartolommeo, 73. Sacrifice to Goddess of Fertility,
Titian, 162. Sages of the North, 243. S. Anthony, Schon, 244 j of Padita,
Muriilo, 224. 8. Anthony and S. George, Piva-
nello, 84. with the Staff, Zeitblom, 245.
497
SS. Annunziata, frescoes in, 140.
S. Augustine, Vandycke, 323.
S. Barbara, Veccbio, 161 ; Van
Eyck, 280. 8. Bartholomew, Ribera, 194. S. Basil dictatiirg his Doctrine, F.
Herrera, 212. S. Baron, Ghent, 273. S. Bernard Chapel, 87. S. Bernai'dino, frescoes, Peruzzi,
99. S. Catherine, Raphael, 108; body
borne by Angels, Luini, 97. 8. Cecilia, Francia, 82 ; Raphael,
83, 121. 8. Christopher, Castro, 202 ; and
Saints, Ruebens, 317. S. Denis, 368.
S. Diego of Alcula, Murillo, 224. S. Donato, monks of, 87. S. Elizabeth, Nake, 265. S. Eloysius, V. Cristus, 284. 8. Francis, Van Eyck, 282. S. Franciscan cloisters, Seville,
224. 8. George and Dragon, Domeni-
chino, 187 ; Tintoretto, 172.
old Spanish, 202.
holding Banner of Holiness,
Zeitblom, 245. S. Giacomo degli Spagnuoli, 186. S. Giorgio Ma«^giore, 175. 8. Criovanni, Palma, 178. 8. Hcrmengild, F. Herrera, 212. 8. Hubert, L. v. Leyden, 312. 8. James, frescoes of, Mantegna,
71. 8. Jerome, Battisti, 154; Bellini,
162; Correggio, 179 j II Greco,
205. in his 8ti(dy, Catena, 155;
i;» Wilderness, Tura, 73; Read- ing, Basaiti, 155. 8. John the Baptist and 8. Stephen,
Lippo, 61.
and Angels, M. Angelo, 134.
in a Cave, Martino Piazza.
8. John the Baptist's Head, Gentile,
148. iS. John and the Lamb, Murillo,
228.
8. Juan de Dios, Murilte, 228.
8. Liberale, Giorgione, 157.
S. Louis, Psalter, 358.
8. Lxike painting the Virgin, Van-
der Weyden, 288. S. Maria delle Grazie, 90. 8. Mark at Alexandria, G. Bellini,
149. 8. Paul at Ephesus, Le Sueur, 366. 8. Peter, scenes in life of, Masaccio,
54. 8. Peter and 8. Paid, Bartolommeo
and Raphael, 102.
8. Jerome, A. Vivarini, 143.
-S^. Peter Martyr, Titian, 167. Trial and Crucifixion, Filip-
pino, 65. 8. Petronilla, Guercino, 190. 8. Rochus, A. Carracci, 186. 8. Rodericks Crovm of Martyrdom,
Murillo, 228. 8. Sebastian, Bartolommeo, 102 ;
Foppa, 84 ; Sodoma, 98 ; sta- tuette. Cousins, 360. 8. Sixtus, Raphael, 122. ^S". Symphorion, Ingres, 377. 8. Thomas Aquinas, Zurbaran, 2 1 6. 8. Veronica, Wilheim of Cologne,
235 : Zeitblom, 24B. Saint-Just, 372. Saints, G. Croce, 155. Sala di Constantino, frescoes, 114,
137. Salaino, Andrea, 95. Salamanca, 201, 204. Salimbeni, Ventura, 436. Sallaert, Anthony, 445, Salon of 1824, 1831, 1867, 381. Salvator. See Rosa. Salvator Mundi, Antonello, 145;
Massys, 300. Salvi, Convent of S., 141. Salvi, Gio. Batt., 158, 191. SanchoIV., 201. San Daniele. See Martino. Sandby, Paul, 417,420. Sanders, Jan (Hemessen), 301 ;
Catherine, 301. Sanderus, 284.
Sandrart, Joachim von, 263, 340. San Gemignano, 59, 68, 69.
K K
498
INDEX.
San Giorgio, Cardinal, 125.
San Lorenzo, 363.
San Marco Convent, 100, 102.
San Martino, 195.
San Flacido, Nunnery of, 221.
San Severino, Lorenzo di, 77.
San Sisto, the Madonna di, 121.
Sansovino, 165.
Santa Croce, F. and G. See Rizo.
Sant lago, Roelas, 205.
Sant, James, 412.
Santerre, J. B., 452.
Santi, Giovanni, 104, 272.
rhyming chronicle, 104, 272.
Santiago, Order of, 220.
Santi, KafTaello, 14,45,49, 54, 58, 66, 68, 69, 72, 75, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 85, 86, 87, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 101, 103, 104-23, 125, 130, 132, 134, 135, 136, 140, 142, 158, 161, 177, 183, 186, 191, 204, 216, 242, 245, 248, 252, 282, 301, 305, 376, 377, 386, 403, 410.
Santi, Eaffaello, pupils of, 11 6, 136.
his mother Magia Ciarla,
104.
and Perugino, 79.
Frescoes in Stan ze of Vatican,
109-112.
bis character, 113 ; his love,
117.
and Mich. Angelo, 126.
School of, 138.
Santos Cruz, 202.
Saraceni, Carlo, 193, 194.
Saragoza, 229.
Sarah bringing Hagar to Abraham, WerfF, 354.
Saronno frescoes, 96, 97.
Sarto, Andrea del. See Angelo.
Sassetti Chapel, 67.
Sassoferrato. See Sah'i.
Savery, Roland, 356.
Savoldo, Gironimo, 169.
Savonarola, 75, 99, 100, 125, 127.
Saxony, Electoral House of, Court Painter, 260.
Searselo, Ippolito, 436.
Scenes from the French Invasion, Goya, 229.
Deltige, Girodet, 373.
Scenic quality of French art, 366, 367.
Schadow, Wilhelm, 264, 265.
SchafFner, Martin, 246.
Schalken, Godefried, 344.
Schaufelin, Hans, 256.
Schedone, Bart., 437.
SchefFer, Ary, 373, 377.
Scheibler's Catalogue, 312.
Scheltema, Dr., his discourse on Rembrandt {note), 333.
Schiavone, Andrea, 170.
Schiavone, Gregorio, 72, 171.
Schick, Gotlieb, 442.
Schirmer, J., 443.
Schirmer, W., 442.
Schlegel, F. von, 231, 313, 371.
Schleich, Ed., 267.
Schnorr, Julius, 264, 265.
Schongauer, Caspar, 241.
Schongauer, Martin (Schon), 123, 241, 245, 247.
Schools of art, early, 28 ; Athens, 98 ; Bohemia, 233 ; Bologna, 81 ; Bruges, 268-97 ; David, 373-76 ; Eclectic, 181 ; English, 385-412, 413 ; Ferrara, 72 ; Florence, 177, 204, 393; Fon- tainebleau, 183, 360, 361 ; Franconia, 246, 247 ; Lombard, 84, 177 ; Milan, 85 ; Murano, 143; Norwich, 419-20; Niirn- berg, 233; Padua, 70-72, 177; Perugia, 78 ; Seville, 212 ; Sicyon, 13, 14 ; Siena, 45, 50, 75, 77 ; Swabia, 245 ; Umbria, 75, 81, 101, 177 ; Valencia, 204: Venice, 82, 142.
Schools of painting, definition of, 393.
Schoreel, Jan, 304, 306, 311, 313, 314.
Schotel, J. C, 442.
Schreiber, 256.
Schrodter, Adolph, 443.
Schiichlein, Hans, 245.
Schut, Cornells, 445.
Schwartz, Christi.ph., 442.
Schwindt, Moritz von, 266.
Science, Leonardo Da Vinci and, 87.
INDEX.
499
Science, in art, 51, 163. Scopeto, 87. Scott, David, 405. Scott, Samuel, 454. Scott, W. Bell, 41, 253, 255. " Scottish Vandyck," 326. Scrovigni Chapel, 36. Scrovigno, Enrico, 36. Sculpture, 50, 130, 133, 234, 359. Sea painters of Holland, 314, 353. Sebastiani, Lazzaro, 154. Secularity and testheticism in art,
153. Seghers, Gerard, 324. Segna, Nicolo di, 430. Seisenegger, J., 441. Sementi, Gio. Giacomo, 437. Semitecolo, Nicolo, 430. Sens, 359. Sen'es, J. S. , 455. Servites, Order of the, 140. Sesto, Cesare da, 93, 96. Seven Joys of the Virgin, Memling,
291. Bcven Ravens, Schwindt, 266. Seven Sacraments, Poussin, 362. Seville, 201, 202, 201, 205, 208,
212, 213, 216, 222, 226, 228.
Academy of Painting in, 227.
School of, 212, 217, 222, 225,
229. Sforza, Fran, 91. Sforza, Lud.,91, 92,93. Shadows, King of, 331, 334. Shakespeare, Illustrations of, 404,
407, 423.
411.
Shee, Sir Martin Archer, 456.
Shelley, 126.
Shipwreck, Delacroix, 377 ; Gdri-
cault, 381. Siberechts, Dan., 446. Sibyl Zambeth, .Memling, 290. Sicily, 193. Sicyon School, 13, 14. Siddons, Mrs., 398. Sicgen, 315. Siena, 28, 39, 48, 50, 80, 98, 99.
Cathedral, 46, 48.
fresco in Palace, 47, 48.
Sienese School, 45, 50, 73, 77, 98.
Sigalon, Xavler, 379, Signorelli, da Cortona. See Ven- tura. Silenics, Ribera, 195. Simone dei Crocefissi, 431. Simone Memmi. See Murtino. Simpson, .John, 456. Simson, William, Chr. L., 8. Sintram of Fouqu^, 252. Sirani, Elisabetta, 438. Sirani, Gio. Antonio, 437. Sistine Chapel, 64, 73, 89, 112,
115, 129, 132. Six, Jan, 332. Skill, technical, 320. Sleeping Venus, Giorgione, 158. Slingelandt, Peter van, 344. Sluys, 274. Smirke, Robert, 427. Smith, George, 454. Smith, John (of Chichester), 454. Smith, John (of Warwick) 455. Smith, J. Raphael, 414. Smith, William, 454. Smith's Catalogue Rai8onn6e, 328,
343, 350, 354. Snavers, Peter, 445. Sneilincic, Jan, 445. Snyders, Frans, 322, 325. Society of Artists in Edinburgh,
414. Society of Arts, Adelphi, Subjects
by Barry, 404. Soderini, Gonfalonier of Florence,
128. Sodoma. See Bazzi. Solario, Andrea, 42, 96. 97. Solario, Christopher, 97. Solimena, Francesco, 438. Solly, Mr., 278. Solothurm, 258, *' Songs of Innocence" and of
"Experience," 424. Sonnet, Carracci, 183. Sonnets, Michael Angelo's, 131,
133,
Decker, 332.
Pacheco, 218.
Raphael, 117.
Sorgh, Hendrik, 344, Sorri, Pietro, 436.
600
INDEX.
Soucy, 359.
Soult, Marshal, 224, 227.
South Kensington, 397.
South Sea Bubble, E. M. Ward,
424. SoiithwarJc Fair, Hogarth, 392. Soutman, Pieter, 445. Sower, the, Millet, 383. Spada, Lionelio, 190, 194. Spadaro, Micco. See Gargiulo. Spagna, Giovanni di Pietro, Ld,
80. Spagnoletto, Lo. See Ribera. Spain, 277, 318, 319, 325. Spanish art, 200, 208, 225, 228.
cathedrals, 201.
Spanish Italianisers, 202, 206.
painters, biographers of", 207.
restrictions on, 211.
Spanish Beggar Boy, Murillo, 228.
Flower Girl, Murillo, 228.
Wedding, Portuny, 230.
Spiers, 306,
Spinelli, Spinello di Luca (Are-
tino), 42, 44, 162, 165, 166,
244. Spinola, Marquis of, 220. Spoil- Sport, Madou, 330. Spoleto, frescoes at, 62.
Lo Spagna in, 80.
Sposalizio, Raphael, 80, 105. Spranger, Bart., 445. Spring, Botticelli, 64. Springinklee, Hans, 256. Squarcione, Prancesco, 70, 71, 84,
144, 210. Stafford House, 216, 227. Stanfield, Clarkson, 411. Stanley's Synopsis, 344. Stanza della Segnatura, 98, Stanza
of Rapliael, 191. Stanzioni Massimo, 195. Stark, James, 419. St amino, Gherardo, 48, 201. Statuary, tinting of, 287. Steen, Jan, 296, 344-6, 356. Steenwick, H. v., 314. Stefano, Fr. di. See Pesellino. Stefano (II Sciraia della Katura),
40.
Stefano di Giovanni, 431.
Stefano, Tommaso di. See Giottino.
Steffens, Jan, of Calcer, 447.
Steinle, Eduard, 443.
Stella, Jacques, 451.
Stephan, Meister. See Lochner.
Stevens, Alfred, 330.
Stevens, Joseph, 330.
Still Life, Dutch painters of, 355.
Stimmer, Tobias, 441.
Stirling, Sir W. M., Annals of
painting in Spain, 200, 208,
210, 211, 213, 216, 218, 219,
221,222, 223, 227. Stockade, Held, 348. Stone, bronze, and iron ages, 2. Stone, Henry, 454. Stoop, Dirk, 344.
Stothard,Th()S., 404, 424,425, 427. Straet, Jan van der, 444. Strahof, Monastery, 249. Strasburg, 306. Stratonice, Ingres, 377. Sti-eater, Robert, 454. Street Artists of Seville, quotation
from Stirling, 223. Street in Delft, Vermeer, 340. Strigel, Bernhard, 441. Strixner, 261. Strobant, Prans, 330. Strozzi Bernardo, 437. Strozzi Chapel, 44, 65. Stuart, G., 455. Stubbs, G., 454. Stuerboat. See Bouts. Stuerbout, Hubert, 295-96. Stuttgart, 154. Style, Raphael's, 105. Suabia, 234, 237. 246. Suardi, Bart. (Bratnantina), 84,
85, 97. Subleyras, Pierre, 452. Sudbury, 398. Suftss. Hans, 256. Suffolk, 419.
Earl of, 93.
Sultan of Turkey, 1 48.
decapitation of slave to prove
a theory, 148. Supper at Emniatcs, Caravag;^io,
193 : Veronese, 175.
INDEX.
501
Surrender of JBreda, Velasquez, 220.
Susannah, Valentin, 362.
Sussex, 422.
Susterman, Lamprecht (L, Lom- bard), 307, 309.
Sutlierland, Duke of, 227.
Swabia, 241, 246.
Swabian School, 245, 247.
Swanenberg, Isaakszoon van, 332.
Sweden, Queen of, 366.
Swinburne, 424.
Symbols, Christian use of, 21 disuse, 23.
Syraonds, J. A., 133.
Tacconi, Francisco, 170.
Tadini, Count, 147.
Tafi, Andrea, 27.
Talcing down from the Cross,
Rubens, 320. Taking of Jerusalem, Poussin, 362. Tapestry, 115, 287, 303. Tassi, Agostino, 190. Taunton, Lord, 134. Taurel, 311. Taverner, William, 420. Taylor, J. E., 133. Telephanes of Sicyon, 10. Tempera-painting, 19, 63, 230,
312. Tempi family, 108. Temptation of S. Anthony, Aeken,
296; L. V. Leyden,312'; Schon-
gauer, 123 ; Teniers, 327. Tenebrosi, The, 193, 215, 225. Teniers, David, the elder, 327. Teniers, David, the younger, 220,
308, 322, 326-29, 346, 356, 386,
416. Tennyson, 396. Ter Borch. See Terburg. Terburg, Gerard, 193, 343, 344,
351, 407. Testelin, Louis, 462. Teutonic art, 231 ; history of,
263. Teutsche Acadanie, 263. Thames, 408. Thausing, Dr., 53, 246.
Theban-Attic school, 14.
The Apostle, Pordenone, 1 60.
The East, Delacroix, 377.
Theodolinda, Queen, 232.
Theodorich of Prague, 233.
Theon of Samos, 1 5.
Theotocopuli, Domenico, 205.
Theophilus, 270.
"Theory of Painting," 388, 394.
Thinle, John, 456.
Thomas a Becket, Consecration of.
Van Eyck, 282. Thome, Luca di, 431. Thomson, Henry, 456. Thornhill, Sir James, 389, 390. Three Eastern Sages, Giurgione,
137. Three Graces, Regnault, 379. Three Marys, A. Caracci, 185. Three Stages of Life, Giorgione,
158. Three Trees, etched by Rembrandt,
335. Thulden, Theodore van, 446. Thurlow, Lord, 399. Tiarini, Allesandro, 436. Tibaldi, Domenico, 182. Tibaldi, Pellcgrino, 183. Tiber, valleys of, 76. Ticozzi, 163. Tidemand, Adolf, 443. Tietfenthal, Hans, Chr. L., 2. Tiepolo, Gio. Batt., 198. Tiger Hujit, ZofPany, 401. Timanthes of Cy thnos, 13. Timomaehus of Byzantium, 18. Timotheos, Van Eyck, 282. Tinting Statuary, 421. Tintoretta, 172. Tintoretto. See Robust i. Tisio, Benvenuto, Gai'ofalo, 138. Titian. See Vecellio. Tobar, Alonso Miguel, 440. Tobias with the angel, i.)omeni-
chino, 187. Tohit and the angel, Luini, 97. Toc(|U^, Louis, 452. Toledo, Juan de, 439. Toledo, 202. Toms, Peter, 395. Topers, the, Velasquez, 210. K 2
502
INDEX.
Torbido, 173.
Torre, Flaminio, 438.
Torreggiani, Bart., 197.
Toiirnay, 287.
Tournay, School of, 286, 297.
Tournus, 358.
Town-Halls, 286, 292,296.
Town-painter, 286, 295.
Traini, Francesco, 44.
Trajan, Emperor, 286.
Transfiguration, Kaphael, 122, 135,
186. Trattato della Pittura, 182. Traut, Hans, 440. Trecentisti, Quattro- and Cinquo-
centisti, 49. Trevi^o, 154, 161. Treviso, Girolamo da. 8tc Pen-
nacchi. Tribute money, Titian, 162, 168. Trinity, Pesellino, 66. Trioson, A. L. Girodet de Roucy,
373. Triptych, Engelbrechtsen, 311 ;
Key, 309. Tristan, Luis, 205. Triumph of Bacchus, A. Carracci, 184.
David,, Roselli, 190.
Death, 43, 48. '
Galatea, Carracci, 184.
Julius C(esar, Mantegna, 72.
the Catholic Church, Van
Eyck, 279. Trompes, Jean de, 292. Troost, 451. Troy, Jean de, 452. Troyon, Constant, 384. Truth and Justice, D. Bouts, 295. Tulp, Nicolas, 332. Tura, Cosimo, 72, Turhaned Portrait, Van Eyck,
281. Turchi, Alessandro, 437. Turin, 85, 97, 284, 323. Turks, 148.
Turner, Joseph Mallord William,
153, 156. 354, a64, 365, 380,
401, 406, 408-11, 417, 418, 419,
420,421, 422.
Turner, William, of Oxford, 457.
Turoni of Verona, 430. Tuscany, 27, 33. Tuylt, Alyt, 298,301. Twilight, sculpture by M. Angelo,
131. Two Singing Boys, F. Hals, jun.,
339.
Ubaldo, Archbishop, 41. Ubertino, Francesco, 142. Uccello, Paolo. See Doni. UflFenbach, Phillip, 442. Utfizi, 58, 64, 87, 98, 108, 124,
129, 157, 158, 185, 186, 189,
193, 196, 198, 289,300,359. Ugolino, Andrea di, of Pontedera,
39, 41. I^golino da Siena, 28, 46. Uilenberg, Saskia, 332. Ulm, 245. Ulysses and Polyphemus, Tumor,
410. Umbria, 76, 121.
See also Assisi.
School of, 75, 76, 77, 81, 101,
105. University of Padua, 70. Upright Judges, Mabuse, 302. Urbino, 73, 104, 118, 285, 286.
Duke of, palace, 73, 104.
Ursula, S., 237,291. Utrecht, 302, 306, 307, 345. Utrecht, Adam van, 445. Uwins, Thomas, 456. Uytenbroeck, Moses van, 448.
Vaccaro, Andrea, 195. Vaernewyck, van, 273, 290. Vaga, Perino del, 360. Valckenborgh, Luk van, 444. Valdes-Leal, Juan de, 225, 229. Val d'Arno, 87.
Valencia, 202, 204, 209, 210, 214. Valentin, 192, 265, 361. Valesio, Gio. Luigi, Chr. L., 2. Valladolid, 204. Vander Geest, Cornel., 324. Vander Hoop Collection, 338, 340. Vander Werff and citizens of Ley'
den, Wappers, 329. Vandervelde, Esaias, 448.
INDEX.
503
VandeveWe, Adrian, 348, 354. Vandevelde, VVilletn, the elder,
348, 353, 386, 388. Vandevelde, Willem, the younger,
353, 386, 388. Vandyck, Anthony, 219, 223,
322-24, 327, 338, 387. Van Eyck, Hubert. See Eyck. Van Eyck, Jan. See Eyck. Van Lo.>, 368. Van Orley. Sec Orley. Van Wyck, Catherine, 333. Vanni, Francesco, 436. Vanni, Turino, 431. Vannucci, Pietro (II Perugino),
45, 49, 64, 75, 77, 78, 80, 81, 82, 83, 86, 97, 99, 101, 103, 105, 142, 150, 242,245.
— and liaphael, 79. Vannucci, Cristofano. 77. Vannuchi, Andrea (Sarto, Andrea
del). See Angelo.
Varello, 97.
Vargas, Luis de, 204, 207.
Varin, Quentin, 362.
Varlets, 275.
Varley, John, 421,422.
^■amishes, 271.
Varotari, Alessandro, 191.
Varstari, Alessandro, 91.
Vasco di Gama, Scott, 4U5.
Vasari, Giorgio, 27, 29, 30, 187 ; his account of the invention of oil-painting, 34, 35, 40, 42, 44,
46, 48, 53, 54, 56, 56, 60, 62, 64, 66, 70, 71, 72, 77, 78, 81, 83, 86, 91, 96, 105, 110, 113, 116, 117, 123, 132, 136, 139, 141, 143, 144, 147, 148, 166, 157, 158, 162, 165, 166, 172, 173,201, 207,244,270,286.
Vase-paintings, 11.
Vasitacchi, Antonio, Aliense,
172. Vatican, 73, 80. 85, 105, 108, 114,
121, 188, 191, 193, 264, 362,
363.
— Haphael's frescoes in, Stanze of the, 110, 191.
V»vchio. See Palma. Veceliio, Orario, 165, 166.
Vecellio, Tiziano (Titian), 49, 150, 151, 156, 157, 159, 160, 161-68, 170, 173, 177, 182, 185, 192, 205, 219, 225, 248, 306, 318, 335, 361, 362, 364, 393.
Vecellio, his son Pomponio, 165; his daughter Lavinia, 165.
Veen, Martin van, 314.
Veen, Otto van (Vaenius, Otto), 316.
Veeren, Marquis van, 303.
Vega, ])iego Gongalez de la, 439.
Veit, Phihpp, 264, 265.
Velasquez, Diego Kudriguez de Silvay, 199,209,211,212,213, 214, 216-22, 218, 223, 225,228, 338, 344.
and Order of Santiago, 220.
Aposentador-mayor, 220.
Velasquez of Flanders, 322.
Vendome, 358.
Vendramin, Andrea, 149.
Venetian style, 182, 361.
Venetian Embassy^ Gentile, 148.
Veneto-Byzantines, 143.
Veneziano, Antonio, 42, 48, 49.
Veneziano, Bartolommeo, 155.
Veneziano, Domenico, 83.
Venice, 92, 97, 142, 143, 145, 150, 156, 161, 163, 166, 169, 173, 176, 191, 192, 193, 198, 249, 293, 306, 316, 395.
School of, 50, 82, 134, 138,
139, 142-81, 176, 191, 198, 316, 393.
mosaics of St. Mark's, 27.
Great Hall of Council, Ducal
Palace, 147, 163, 173.
Hall of Exchange, or Fon-
daco de' Tedeschi, 157, 102.
Giunvanelli Palace, 157.
Seminario Vescoviie, 158.
Senseria, office of, 163.
Ducal Palace, 172.
Religion in, 174.
Diirer in, 249, 253.
Venne, Adrian Vander, 448. Ventura, Luca d'Egidio di, 64,
73, 76, 83, 101, 103. Venus, Titian, 168. Crowned by Love^ Titian, 168.
504
INDEX.
Venus, del Pardo, Titian, 168,
Rising from the Sea, Barry,
403. Venus Anadyomene, 14. Venusti, Marcello, 135. VerbcBckhoven, E., 330. Verboom, Abraham, 352. Vercelli, 97, 98. Verlat, Charles, 330. Vermeer of Delft. See Meer. Vermejen, Jan, 444. Vernet, Carle, 378. Vernet, Horace, 378. Vernet, Joseph, 370, 401. Verona, 45, 84, 173.
Liberale da, 84.
Cathedral of, 147.
School of, 45, 85, 173.
Veronese Art, the Proteus of, 1 73. Veronese, Paolo. See Cagliari. Verrio, 388.
Verrocchio, Andrea, 77, 87, 99.
Verulam, Earl of, 284, 411.
Vespignano, 33, 34.
Vespucci, Amerigo, 68.
Vespucci Chapel, 68.
Vesuvius, Micco Spadaro, 197.
Viardot, 360, 372, 375, 393, 410.
Vicenza, 157, 170.
Victoor, Jan, 337.
Victories of Alexander, Le Brun,
366. Victories of the Lombards, 232. Viejo, El. See Herrera, F. Vicn, Joseph Marie, 370. Vienna, 80, 96, 108, 161,180,195,
221, 261.
See also Belvedere.
Opera House, frescoes, 266-7.
Vierge au coussin vert, Solario, 98.
Viet, Philipp, 264.
View between Dolgelly and Bar- mouth, Wilson, 417.
of the Alps, T. Rousseau, 381.
ofAiivcrgneJT. Ilousseau,381 .
of Delft, Vermeer, 340.
of Venice, Canaletto, 198.
Vigee Le Brun, Elizabeth, 380.
Vigne F^lise, La, 447.
Village Festival, Wilkie, 406: Politicians, Wilkie, 406.
Villaviccncis, Don Pedro n. de,
440. Villeneuve, 359. Vincent, George, 419. Vinci, 86. Vinci, Leon : and Mich. Angelo
contrasted, 94. Vinci, Leonardo da, 14, 77, 84, 85,
86-95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 103, 105,
107, 112, 114, 127, 132, 134.
142, 161, 164, 168, 177, 254,
301. letter to the Duke of Milan,
91. Vinckeboons, David, 445. Viola, Gio. Batt., 190. Virgin, early representation of the,
23. of Byzantine school preferred,
31. Virgin and Child, Basaiti, 155 ;
G. Bellini, 149 ; J. Bellini, 147 :
Botticelli, 64 ; Eilippino, 66 ;
jVIabuse, 303; Mui-illo, 228;
Perugino, 80 ; Schongauer, 241 ;
B. Vivarini, 143.
Child Enthroned, Mantegna,
71.
female saints, G.David, 293.
S. Anna, Francia, 82.
S. Donat, Van Eyck, 280.
Saints, Sodoma, 98.
the Donor, ^Nlemling, 292 ;
Van Eyck, 280. in the Rose Garden, Schon-
gauei*, 241. miracle working, Joanes,
207. sewing, Caravaggio, 192.
with Cherubs, in Lorenz
Kirche, 234.
Mary, Massys, 300.
Virgins, Bartolommeo, 101 ; Hem- ling, 290 ; del Sarto, 141 ; Zur- baran, 216.
Vision of EzeJciel, Poole, 424 ; of S. Helena, Verones'- 176; of S. Jerome, Parmigiauj, 180.
Vitale of Bologna, 430.
Viti, Timoteo, 105.
Vittoria. 217.
INDEX.
505
Vivarini, Luigi, 154, 155. Vivarini, The, Antonio, Bartolom-
meo and Luigi, 143. Vlaenderberch, Barbara, 290. Vlerick, Pieter, 444. Vlieger, Simon de, 348. Vliet, Willem van der, 366. Volterra, Daniele da. See Ric-
ciarelli. Volterra, Francesco da, 42. Vos, Cornelius de, 326. Vos, Martin de, 309. Vos, Paul de, 446. Vouet, Simon, 192, 361, 363,
366. Vrancx, Sebastian, 445. Vriendt, Frans van (F. Floris),
307-8, 309. Vries, Jan Vredeman de, 314. Vroom, Hendrik, 314. Yydt, family chapel, 278. Yydt, Jodicus, 273.
Waagen, Dr., 160, 245, 256, 260,
319. "Wales, 401, 422. AValkenberg, Dirk, 451. Walker, F. VV., 412, 427. Walker, Robert, 388. Wallerant, Vaillant, 446. Wall-paintings in Egypt, 4 ;
France, 358 ; Germany, 232. Walpole, H., 367. 386, 388. Wallraf Museum. See Museums,
Cologne. Walscappelle, Jacobus, 355. Wappers, Guslave, 266, 329. Ward, E. M., 424. Ward, J., 416. Wiirrior adoring Infant Christ,
Catena, 155. AVarwick, Earl of, 93. Washburne's " Early Spanish
Painters," 200. Wateiet, 4.')3.
Water-carrier, The, Murillo, 217. Water-colour painting in England,
407, 416,420,421. Waterloo, Antoni, 352. Watteau, Antoine, 367, 368. Watts, Frederickj 412, 415.
Wauters, A., Peinture Flamande, 204, 295, 296, 304, 307.
Wauters, E., 330.
Weale, W. H. J.,"Le Beffroi," 269, 282, 283, 290, 296.
Webber, John, 455.
Webster, Benjamin, Clir. L., 8.
Wedmore, Fr., 369.
Weenix, Jan, 355.
Weimar, 261, 262.
Wellington, Duke of, 180, 217.
Werff, Adrian Vandfr, 354.
Werff, Burgomaster Vander, 329.
West, Benjamin, 402, 404.
Westall, Richard, 456.
Westphalia, 239, 315.
Westrheene, M. T. van, 345.
Weyden, Goswin and Pieter Van- der, 289.
Weyden, Roger Vander, the younger, 289.
Weyden, Rogier Vander, 145, 201, 238, 241, 245, 286-89, 290, 293, 294, 295, 297.
Wheatley, Francis, 415.
Whitaker's " Richmondshire," 420.
Whitehall, 259, 319.
Wiertz, Antoine-Louis, 447.
Wild, G., 456.
Wilhelm, Master, of Cologne, 231, 235, 236.
Wilkie, David, 179, 222, 266, 405-7, 428.
Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, 4, 6.
William and Mary, 388.
William III., 116.
Williams, H. W., 456.
Willson, Andrew, 456.
Wils, Jan, 356.
Wilson, Richard, 400, 402, 409, 417,418.
Winckelmann, J., 9, 263, 370.
Windsor, 116.
Windsor Castle, collection of Hol- bein's drawings in, 260, 300, 309, 324.
Winghen, Joost van, 444.
Wint, Peter de, 421, 422.
Winter Exhibitions of lioyal Aca- demy, 413.
60()
INDEX.
Witt, Jacob de, 451.
Witte, Emanuel de, 356.
Witte, Pieter, 445.
Wittenberg, 260, 261.
Woermann's Masaccio, 53, 54.
Wohlgemuth, Michael, 246, 248, 249.
Wolfvoet, v., 446.
Woltmann and Woerman, Hist, of Painting,6, 11, 31, 48,60,97,98, 105, 158, 182, 184, 187, 192, 200, 204, 208, 210, 239, 256, 257, 2G2, 280, 358, 385, 402.
Wolzogen, 117.
Wood-cuts, Wohlgemuth, 246 ; Diirer, 250 ; Grien, 256 5 Biirgk- mair, 256.
Wood-engraving, 63,250, 252, 253, 255, 256,259, 311.
— — History of, 250.
Woodforde, Samuel, 455.
Wooton, James, 454.
Wordsworth, 133.
Wornum, 44, 54, 255, 260, 281, 324, 335, 339, 351, 378.
Wousam, Anton, 441.
Wouverman, Pieter, 351.
Wouverman, Jan, 351.
Wouverman, Philip, 351.
Wren, Sir Christopher, 116.
Wright of Derby, 395, 414.
Wright, J. Michael, 388.
Wurmser, NicxDlaus, 233.
Wyck, Catherine van, 333.
Wyck, Th., 449.
Wynants, Jan, 348.
Yafifz, Fernando, 204.
Yongkind, 356.
Youiig Bull, P. Potter, 349.
Young Girl at her Window, Maas,
337. Young Tailorcss, Dou, 341. Youth, Caravaggio, 192. Ypres, 274. Yriarte, Ch., 229.
Zaganelli, Francisca, 433. Zampieri, Domenico (Domeni-
chino), 184, 186, 191, 209, 225,
362. Zeitblom, Bartolomaus, 245, 246,
247. Zelotti, Battista, 176. Zenale, Bernardini Martini, 84. Zeno, Caterino, 285. Zeus Olympios, 10.
254.
Zeuxis of Heracleia, 12, 14, 15.
his Centaur, 13.
Helen, 13.
Zoffany, Johann, 401. Zuccai-elli, Francisco, 186, 209,
401, 402. Zuccaro, Federigo, 136. Zuccai'o, Taddeo, 136. Zurbaran, Francisco de, 199, 215,
226. Zwickau, 247.
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