right is St. Peter giving the money to the tax-collector. The figures are all admirably drawn, and painted with great breadth of treatment; that of the back view of the tax-collector is more especially a remarkable example of accurate drawing and of easy freedom in the pose and action. The same person, but in front view, represented in the right scene, has a similar freedom of pose and action, and there is an intensely gratified expression in his face as he receives the tribute money. The natural treatment of the hilly landscape of the background is also far in advance of the landscape-painting of Masaccio’s time.
On the altar wall there is another fresco by this painter, though now in a very bad state; the subject is “St. Peter baptizing,” where, among other figures, is the celebrated nude figure of a benumbed and shivering youth, a figure so well drawn, and so correct in anatomy, that, as Lanzi says, “it has made an epoch in the history of art.”
Another very fine and authentic work by Masaccio is the “Expulsion from Paradise,” painted on the left wall of the chapel, where Adam and Eve are represented as being driven from the gates of Eden by the angel with the flaming sword. The figures in this intensely dramatic composition have been borrowed, with little alteration, by Raffaelle, and used in one of the Loggia frescos, and he has also adapted some other figures from the paintings in this chapel for the cartoons, and in his frescos ofthe Stanze of the Vatican; and yet he, to whom so many others were indebted, was, as Vasari tells us, “little esteemed in life.” It was after his death that his real greatness was discovered; for do we not read that the great artists of Italy and other countries came to study the work of Masaccio in that veritable school of art, the Brancacci Chapel of the Carmelite Church, and it was only then that he was truly honoured? Filippino Lippi founded his style on the work of Masaccio, and Ghirlandajo, Verocchio, Leonardo, Perugino, Raffaelle, and Michael Angelo acknowledged his greatness and learned of him. This painter who was, like many other great men, so little esteemed in life, had, after his death, this epitaph written on him—
“I painted, and my picture was as life;Spirit and movement to my forms I gave—I gave them soul and being. He who taughtAll others—Michael Angelo—I taught:He deigned to learn of me....”
“I painted, and my picture was as life;Spirit and movement to my forms I gave—I gave them soul and being. He who taughtAll others—Michael Angelo—I taught:He deigned to learn of me....”
“I painted, and my picture was as life;Spirit and movement to my forms I gave—I gave them soul and being. He who taughtAll others—Michael Angelo—I taught:He deigned to learn of me....”
Photo. Brogi.[To face p. 51.Plate 19.—Angels. Detail from The ParadiseBenozzo Gozzoli, Riccardi Palace, Florence
Photo. Brogi.[To face p. 51.Plate 19.—Angels. Detail from The ParadiseBenozzo Gozzoli, Riccardi Palace, Florence
Photo. Brogi.
[To face p. 51.
Plate 19.—Angels. Detail from The Paradise
Benozzo Gozzoli, Riccardi Palace, Florence
Benozzo Gozzoli(1420-97), the most celebrated pupil of Fra Angelico, is seen at his best in his great decorative frescos which adorn the four walls of a room in the Riccardi Palace in Florence. This room, which had formerly been the Chapel of the Medici, has its walls completely painted over with the processional subject, the “Journey of the Magi,” by Gozzoli, when he was about forty years old. It is one of the best, if not the best, preserved fresco paintings in Florence. The colouring is very rich and warm in glowing tones, as in the case of all Gozzoli’s work which has remained uninjured. The extremely rich effect is considerably heightened by the free use of gold on the embroideries of the principal figures, and on the horse-trappings. The work contains many portraits of the principal people of the time, among which are those of Cosimo de Medici, Lorenzo the Magnificent, and that of the artist himself. The kings, in sumptuous apparel, are represented on horseback, attended by lords, squires, retainers andservants, all travelling slowly and with much solemnity, through a beautiful country. A hunting party occupies the left wall, looking towards the window, where some leopards and hawks, used for hunting, are admirably drawn and painted. On the recessed wall surrounding the window the scene represented is Paradise, or the Garden of Heaven, in which many angels are in prayer, and others soaring in the clouds. The fine condition of these frescos presents a great contrast to the decayed and almost obliterated paintings executed by Gozzoli on the walls of the Campo Santa at Pisa. Very little, indeed, except slight traces, now remains of the latter paintings, but the cause of their decay is not far to seek. It is true that all the paintings on the walls of the Campo Santa have always been exposed to the open air, but the real cause of the disintegration of the Gozzoli paintings in this place is from their being painted in tempera, or fresco-secco, and not, as in the case of the Riccardi frescos, in veritable or buon-fresco. The Campo Santa frescos by Gozzoli represent scenes from the history of the Old Testament, from the time of Noah to the Queen of Sheba’s visit to King Solomon. They were painted between 1469 and 1485, when the artist was in the zenith of his powers, and from what remains of them we can easily imagine them to have been the finest of any works executed by this great nature-loving artist. An Italian artist who was engaged in repairing the more decayed
Photo. Brogi.[To face p. 53.Plate 20.—Angels. Detail from The ParadiseBenozzo Gozzoli, Riccardi Palace, Florence
Photo. Brogi.[To face p. 53.Plate 20.—Angels. Detail from The ParadiseBenozzo Gozzoli, Riccardi Palace, Florence
Photo. Brogi.
[To face p. 53.
Plate 20.—Angels. Detail from The Paradise
Benozzo Gozzoli, Riccardi Palace, Florence
portions of Gozzoli’s wall paintings in the Campo Santa, in the summer of 1908, informed the writer that nearly all the remaining colours on these paintings were in a powdery state on the surface of the wall, and could easily be dusted off. This rarely happens in the case of paintings which have been executed in buon or veritable fresco, and there is doubt that the chief cause of decay and of the faded appearance of many of the old Italian frescos is due to the fact that they were either executed in tempera, or in the fresco-secco method, or that they were begun in buon-fresco and finished afterwards with glazings and opaque touches of tempera colour. Many of Simon Memmi’s frescos in the Spanish Chapel, in the Church of Santa Maria Novella at Florence, were repainted or “restored” about one hundred years after his death, and Ruskin has stated that some of the restorer’s over-painting has since fallen away, revealing the very pure original work underneath.
Pietro Vanucci, better known as Pietro Perugino (1446-1524), was one of the most important artists of the Umbrian school of painting, and was Raffaelle’s early instructor. He painted many frescos in Florence, where he lived and worked for about fourteen years, and where he acquired much of the Florentine manner of design and painting. One of his most important works in Florence is the great fresco of the “Crucifixion,” with saints standing around the foot of the cross, whichhe painted in three compartments on the wall of the chapter-house of the Church of St. Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi, in the Via Colona. The design and pose of the figures in this fresco are very characteristic of Perugino’s manner, which may be seen in the upcast and wistful expression of the eyes, the pose of the heads, and devout attitudes of his standing figures. The illustrations of the two heads from this fresco, here given, are in the above respects very typical of Perugino’s work; they also admirably show his method of handling, as well as the brush-marks of the fresco. The light touches in the beard and hair of the male head are later reinforcements, but with this exception, the whole of the painting in these heads is quite likely to be the genuine work of Perugino. Another fresco in Florence, known as the “Cenacolo di Foligno,” is ascribed to Perugino; it is in the refectory of the old convent of St. Onofrio, in the Via Faenza.
This artist painted some important frescos in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican, at Rome, some of which are still in existence, namely, the “Baptism of Christ,” and the “Delivery of the Keys to St. Peter.” It is recorded that he had also painted a fresco on the wall at the back of the altar in this chapel, but that it was destroyed in order to make way for Michael Angelo’s “Last Judgment.” In those palmy days of great artistic activity it was evident that some difficulty was experienced in finding sufficient wall space on which the painters of
Photo. Alinari.[To face p. 54.Plate 21.—St. Benedict, from The CrucifixionPerugino, Church of Sta. Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi
Photo. Alinari.[To face p. 54.Plate 21.—St. Benedict, from The CrucifixionPerugino, Church of Sta. Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi
Photo. Alinari.
[To face p. 54.
Plate 21.—St. Benedict, from The Crucifixion
Perugino, Church of Sta. Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi
Photo. Alinari.[To face p. 53.Plate 22.—St. John, from The Crucifixion.Perugino, Church of Sta. Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi
Photo. Alinari.[To face p. 53.Plate 22.—St. John, from The Crucifixion.Perugino, Church of Sta. Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi
Photo. Alinari.
[To face p. 53.
Plate 22.—St. John, from The Crucifixion.
Perugino, Church of Sta. Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi
that time might execute their numerous commissions, when, as we see, masterpieces had to be destroyed to make room for still greater works. If we contrast those spacious days of art with those of our own time and in our own country, it affords us food for some reflection of a mournful kind to find there are acres of blank spaces on the walls of our churches and public buildings, and capable enough artists in our midst who might be employed to decorate these barren spaces, but nobody, or no Government, public-spirited enough to entrust modern artists with commissions to execute such works.
Bernardino Pinturicchioof Perugia (1454-1513) was an excellent painter in fresco, although Vasari, in hisLives of the Painters, has done scant justice to his great merits. In the face of much splendid work that has been done by Pinturicchio, the want of appreciation of his merits by Vasari is quite inexplicable. Any one who has seen, and carefully examined his frescos in the Borgia apartments of the Vatican must acknowledge him as one of the greatest decorative artists of his time, greater, for example because less conventional, than Perugino, his contemporary, with whom he sometimes collaborated, and who often got credit for work which was done by Pinturicchio. To compare his work with that of Perugino we should say that in the design and colouring of the former artist there is more life, more spontaneity, and much less mannerism than is seen in the work of Perugino. In design his wall decorations are characterized by great variety and plenitude of incident, and although he may appear at times to aim at the expression of too
Photo. Alinari.[To face p. 56.Plate 23.—Detail from Christ’s Charge to PeterPerugino, Sistine Chapel
Photo. Alinari.[To face p. 56.Plate 23.—Detail from Christ’s Charge to PeterPerugino, Sistine Chapel
Photo. Alinari.
[To face p. 56.
Plate 23.—Detail from Christ’s Charge to Peter
Perugino, Sistine Chapel
Photo. Anderson.[To face p. 57.Plate 24.—St. Catherine Disputing before the Emperor MaximianusPinturicchio, Borgia Appartments, Vatican, Rome
Photo. Anderson.[To face p. 57.Plate 24.—St. Catherine Disputing before the Emperor MaximianusPinturicchio, Borgia Appartments, Vatican, Rome
Photo. Anderson.
[To face p. 57.
Plate 24.—St. Catherine Disputing before the Emperor Maximianus
Pinturicchio, Borgia Appartments, Vatican, Rome
much individuality in the figures of his groups, the outcome perhaps of his great versatility, yet in a masterly way he invariably succeeds in uniting the various and contrasting elements of his work into one harmonious arrangement, the unity being largely assisted by the judicious disposition of his colour, which, generally speaking, is a harmony of azure and gold. Pinturicchio has been adversely criticised for his practice of giving undue prominence to some of the mouldings and other salient points of the painted architecture in his frescos, and the patterns of embroidery on the dresses of his figures, by modelling them in low relief and afterwards gilding them, the objection being that such a practice is not the function of painting; that may be, but surely an artist may be allowed to treat his subject in his own way, by using any means to produce the desired end he may have in view, especially if that end is to produce a beautiful work in harmony with its surroundings. Artistic heresies may be illogical enough, but it matters very little if the result is a production of beauty, for do we not often see that some dreadfully logical people only succeed in producing the ugliness of the commonplace however careful they may be in the due observance of artistic laws?
In the vaulted ceiling panels and on the groined ribs of the vaults in the Borgia apartments there is a good deal of stucco relief modelling of ornament and animal forms by Giovanni da Udine and Perinadel Vaga, this relief decoration being coloured and gilded, similar to the cameo reliefs in the loggia of the Vatican, which the two last-named artists had executed under Raffaelle’s direction; and as Pinturicchio’s frescos were in all probability painted before the date of the ceiling decorations, it is not at all unlikely that the relief work on the wall frescos underneath suggested in a great measure a similar enrichment of the vaulted ribs and ceilings. In any case the whole of the decorations on both walls and ceilings of the Borgia apartments are in singular harmony and unity, although the work has been done by different hands.
Pinturicchio was employed by the Pope, Alexander VI, to decorate the Borgia apartments; accordingly, the frescos of the second, third, and fourth rooms were painted by him, with scenes from the life of Christ, the lives of the Saints, and with allegorical representations of the arts and sciences respectively. The most important and largest fresco has the subject of St. Catherine of Alexandria disputing before the Emperor Maximianus, in the background of which is a representation of the Arch of Constantine. This is painted on the back wall of the third room. The figure of St. Catherine is finely designed and painted, and is supposed to be a portrait of Lucretia Borgia. (See illustrations.) Among the best work of Pinturicchio are his frescos in the first chapel to the right in the Church of S. Maria Araceli, Rome, representing scenes from
Photo. Anderson.[To face p. 58.Plate 25.—Portrait of Lucrezia Borgia. St. Catherine Disputing before the Emperor. Detail of FrescoPinturicchio, Borgia Appartments, Vatican
Photo. Anderson.[To face p. 58.Plate 25.—Portrait of Lucrezia Borgia. St. Catherine Disputing before the Emperor. Detail of FrescoPinturicchio, Borgia Appartments, Vatican
Photo. Anderson.
[To face p. 58.
Plate 25.—Portrait of Lucrezia Borgia. St. Catherine Disputing before the Emperor. Detail of Fresco
Pinturicchio, Borgia Appartments, Vatican
[To face p. 59Plate 26.—The NativityPinturicchio, Church of Sta. Maria del Popolo, Rome
[To face p. 59Plate 26.—The NativityPinturicchio, Church of Sta. Maria del Popolo, Rome
[To face p. 59
Plate 26.—The Nativity
Pinturicchio, Church of Sta. Maria del Popolo, Rome
the life of St. Bernard of Siena, and on the vaulted roof is painted the four Evangelists, all of which are very vigorous and lifelike representations; the same may also be said of his frescos in the Baglioni Chapel in the Duomo at Spello. His two frescos in the Sistine Chapel, “Moses journeying to Egypt” and the “Baptism of Christ,” were formerly ascribed to Perugino.
The Florentine artist, Domenico Ghirlandajo (1449-1498), was one of the most eminent fresco painters of his time. He was fond of introducing sumptuously dressed personages into his works, many of whom were representations of the people of his day. The powerful Tornabuoni family of Florence were his patrons, who commissioned him to paint many frescos in Florence and in Rome. He can claim the distinction of having Michael Angelo as one of his pupils.
Some of his best existing works are those in the choir of the Church of Santa Maria Novella, and the Church of St. Trinita at Florence. In the Church of Santa Maria degli Innocenti, in the Foundling Hospital at Florence, is a well-preserved altar-piece, a tempera painting on panel by him, the “Adoration of the Magi,” which is dignified in its design, and the colouring is brilliant in reds and golden hues, these colours being very characteristic of his later works. In the background of this fine work is a beautiful landscape, and at the foot of the hill on the left is the scene representing theslaughter of the Innocents. The drapery of the kneeling king is masterly in the design of its folds, but the standing figure of the youthful king on the left is the most beautiful of the larger figures. In all the range of Italian art it would be difficult to match for beauty and for types of innocence the two little babes, orinnocenti, who are kneeling at the bottom of the picture, adoring and adorable, as in every way they are. At the top, kneeling on clouds above the manger, are four lovely angels holding a scroll, on which is written, “Gloria in excelsis Deo.” Generally speaking, his frescos are remarkable for their high degree of careful finish, and nearly all of the spectators or accessory figures in his paintings are portraits of his patrons and contemporaries. His compositions are very simple and dignified, with a certain degree of solemn severity in the drawing of the principal figures. The latter characteristic is partly due to his practice of making many of his figures stately portraits, and partly to the long and straight folds of his draperies, which remind us of Masaccio’s work, and, in a lesser degree, that of Giotto. It is interesting to compose and note the similarity of design which is apparent in his fresco, the “Calling of SS. Peter and Andrew,” in the Sistine Chapel, with the “Tribute Money,” by Masaccio, in the Brancacci Chapel of the Carmelite Church at Florence; and also his celebrated work, the “Death of St. Francis,” in St. Trinita at Florence, with the same subject painted by Giotto
Photo. Alinari.[To face p. 60.Plate 27.—Florentine Lady. Detail of Fresco, Birth of St. JohnGhirlandajo, Church of Sta. Maria Novella, Florence
Photo. Alinari.[To face p. 60.Plate 27.—Florentine Lady. Detail of Fresco, Birth of St. JohnGhirlandajo, Church of Sta. Maria Novella, Florence
Photo. Alinari.
[To face p. 60.
Plate 27.—Florentine Lady. Detail of Fresco, Birth of St. John
Ghirlandajo, Church of Sta. Maria Novella, Florence
[To face p. 61.Plate 28.—Death of St. FrancisGhirlandajo, Church of St. Trinita, Florence
[To face p. 61.Plate 28.—Death of St. FrancisGhirlandajo, Church of St. Trinita, Florence
[To face p. 61.
Plate 28.—Death of St. Francis
Ghirlandajo, Church of St. Trinita, Florence
in the Bardi Chapel of Santa Croce. In the latter work we see piety and sentiment more strongly expressed by Giotto, while portraiture and light and shade are more in evidence in Ghirlandajo’s rendering of this subject, but the figure composition in both works is almost identical.
The frescos by Ghirlandajo in the choir of the Church of Santa Maria Novella are among the most important of his works, and remain as fine examples of his skill as a great decorator. The subjects are from the life of the Virgin and John the Baptist, all of which are treated with great care and elaboration of rich detail, the utmost finish being not only accorded to the principal actors in the scenes, but also to the architectural backgrounds, with their panels and friezes of figures, the embroidered patterns on the dresses, and other decorative accessories, in fact all his beauties of style in design, execution, and colouring are admirably expressed in these characteristic works.
In the Monastery of San Marco in Florence, in the smaller refectory, is an interesting fresco of the “Cenacolo,” or Last Supper, by Ghirlandajo. There is a little stiffness and formality in the composition of this work, but the heads of the principal figures are lifelike and well painted. The colouring is strong and rich, gold has been freely used in the nimbi and on the dresses of the figures, and in the background. Above the figures, in the background, is painted an abundance of cypress, orange trees, and flowers;while in the sky, hawks are pursuing wild duck. There is also a similar, but in some ways a much better, “Cenacolo” by Ghirlandajo in the refectory in the convent of the Church of the Ognissanti at Florence.
Photo. Alinari.[To face p. 62.Plate 29.—Florentine Lady. Detail of Fresco, Birth of the VirginGhirlandajo, Church of Sta. Maria Novella, Florence
Photo. Alinari.[To face p. 62.Plate 29.—Florentine Lady. Detail of Fresco, Birth of the VirginGhirlandajo, Church of Sta. Maria Novella, Florence
Photo. Alinari.
[To face p. 62.
Plate 29.—Florentine Lady. Detail of Fresco, Birth of the Virgin
Ghirlandajo, Church of Sta. Maria Novella, Florence
Photo. Alinari.[To face p. 63.Plate 30.—Detail from Fresco, Birth of the VirginGhirlandajo, Church of Sta. Maria Novella, Florence
Photo. Alinari.[To face p. 63.Plate 30.—Detail from Fresco, Birth of the VirginGhirlandajo, Church of Sta. Maria Novella, Florence
Photo. Alinari.
[To face p. 63.
Plate 30.—Detail from Fresco, Birth of the Virgin
Ghirlandajo, Church of Sta. Maria Novella, Florence
Inthe anterior court of the Church of the Santissima Annunziata, in Florence, there are five fairly well-preserved frescos by Andrea del Sarto (1488-1530). In the same court there are others painted by his pupils, and contemporary artists. The best of the five by Andrea is the “Death of St. Filippo,” where a young man is raised to life by the dead body of the saint. The colouring is very strong and luminous, and has the soft melting character of the various tones into each other, which distinguishes the work of this painter, more especially seen in his easel pictures. The next fresco in importance of this series is that which represents the miracles wrought by the robes of St. Filippo, where children are healed by touching his garments. The colouring of this painting is lively and fresh, and the effect of light and shade is a very important feature in the work. The backgrounds of these frescos, whether architectural or landscape, are at present exceedingly light in tone, which eithermeans that these parts have faded or have been destroyed by cleaning. This causes the figures to look completely out of tone with the pale backgrounds.
The Brera Palace at Milan contains a great number of small and extremely interesting frescos, that have been removed from various churches and suppressed convents in the city and neighbourhood, among which are some very good examples of Bernardino Luini’s work (1470-1530?). Luini was the most famous scholar of Leonardo da Vinci, and was so greatly influenced by the latter that many pictures had for a long time been ascribed to his master. He was a most prolific and industrious artist, both in fresco and in easel pictures, and as a rule his work is full of grace and charm. The female figures and children painted by Luini are always characterized by their easy natural poses, and have a refined delicacy and sweetness of expression. His colouring, always rich and warm in tone, is chiefly distinguished by its freshness and purity; these qualities are best seen in his smaller frescos, now in the Brera galleries. In the entrance corridor there is an example of his fresco work, brought from the Church of St. Maria di Brera, in Milan. The subject is the “Virgin and Child,” with an angel and two other figures, St. Abate, and St. Barbara, and a boy with a lute. The colour and drawing of this example are extremely good, though the general composition is lacking in
Photo. Alinari.[To face p. 64.Plate 31.—Fresco, Infant AngelLuini, Brera, Milan
Photo. Alinari.[To face p. 64.Plate 31.—Fresco, Infant AngelLuini, Brera, Milan
Photo. Alinari.
[To face p. 64.
Plate 31.—Fresco, Infant Angel
Luini, Brera, Milan
Photo, Alinari[To face p. 65.Plate 32.—The Virgin and Child with St. John and St. MarthaLuini, Fresco in the Brera, Milan
Photo, Alinari[To face p. 65.Plate 32.—The Virgin and Child with St. John and St. MarthaLuini, Fresco in the Brera, Milan
Photo, Alinari
[To face p. 65.
Plate 32.—The Virgin and Child with St. John and St. Martha
Luini, Fresco in the Brera, Milan
cohesion and unity. The “Burial of St. Catherine” is also in the Brera. It is a small fresco brought from the Convent della Pelucca, and is one of the more successful works of Luini. Three finely designed angels are carrying the body of St. Catherine, below which is the tomb. The robes of the saint are red in colour, while those of the angel on the right are purple; the middle, green; and the angel to the left has yellow drapery. The best work, however, by Luini in the Brera is the beautiful fresco, in the Sala XVI, of the “Virgin and Child” with St. Martha, St. John, and a nun. In this work the landscape background is remarkably fresh and pure in colour, and is painted in a very naturalistic manner, the treatment of the trees, and details of the landscape reminding one forcibly of a picture by Constable. There are some fine passages of luminous and harmonious colouring in the draperies, the faces of the figures have a tenderness and purity of expression, and the whole work is a convincing example of the master at his best. Being on a level with the eye, and in a good light, one is enabled to see in this fresco that Luini’s method of painting consisted in his first modelling the forms in a solid impasto, and afterwards finishing his work, like the majority of Italian fresco painters, by shading transparently in finely hatched lines.
There are other examples of Luini’s fresco work in the Brera, consisting chiefly of heads and figures of boys. In the old Romanesque basilica churchof St. Ambrogio at Milan, in the first chapel of the left aisle, is a fresco by him, the “Ecce Homo,” in a fairly good state of preservation, and in the sixth chapel of the right aisle is his work, the “Legend of St. George.” The Church of St. Maria della Grazie in the same city contains his fresco of the “Virgin Enthroned,” with saints around, the colour and composition of which are good, but an injurious dusty bloom has appeared on some portions of this fine work. Numerous examples of Luini’s fresco decorations may be seen in the Church of St. Maurizo (Monastero Maggiore), including the large “Crucifixion,” on the wall over the entrance to the choir. This great work contains nearly 140 figures, many of which are of singular beauty. At Saronno, not far from Milan, in the Church of the Santuario there are also some very important frescos by Luini, representing scenes in the history of the Virgin, the best of which is a very fine “Adoration of the Magi.”
Gaudenzio Ferrari (1484-1549) was another Milanese painter, though a native of Piedmont, but Milan and its neighbourhood was strictly speaking the centre of his labours. He was a follower of Leonardo da Vinci, although he had worked with Perugino, and later with Raffaelle. He painted numerous frescos in Milan, Saronno, and Varallo; most of them are characterized by life and animation of pose in the figures, and as a rule his works contain many figures of great merit and beauty,
[To face p. 66.Plate 33.—St. Lucy Sentenced to DeathJacopo D’Avanzo, Church of St. Anthony, Padua
[To face p. 66.Plate 33.—St. Lucy Sentenced to DeathJacopo D’Avanzo, Church of St. Anthony, Padua
[To face p. 66.
Plate 33.—St. Lucy Sentenced to Death
Jacopo D’Avanzo, Church of St. Anthony, Padua
showing fine qualities of freedom in the execution. But his work as a whole is unequal, owing to his tendency of allowing himself to be influenced by that of his contemporaries. The best of his frescos are those which are most Luinesque in style and character.
In the side entrance of the right aisle, in the Church of St. Ambrogio, in Milan, Ferrari has painted the frescos, “Christ bearing the Cross,” and the “Three Marys”; the latter, though darkened much, is in a good state of preservation, and is now under glass. At Saronno, in the Church of the Santuario, he has decorated the cupola with an assemblage of angels and winged boys, some of which are designed with great spirit, and are beautifully painted. Later work by Ferrari is the fresco decoration of the fourth chapel in the right aisle of St. Maria delle Grazie (1542), where he painted the powerful compositions of the Passion, namely, the “Crucifixion,” the “Scourging of Christ,” and “Christ Crowned with Thorns.” The figures are life-size, and are characterized by much animation, strong colouring, and great freedom of execution.
The works of Raffaelle and Michael Angelo in fresco painting which adorn the Stanze of the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel, respectively, have been so much described, and are so well known to students, that any criticism which might be offered here would amount to an unstinted appreciation of their labours. It goes without saying that it is avery serious thing for the sake of Italian Art that so much of the finest work of these masters has either gone very dark and dirty, or, what is worse, has in places almost perished by the disintegration of the colours. The large fresco of the “School of Athens,” in the Stanze of the Vatican, probably the best work in fresco from the hand of Raffaelle, is now quite different from what it must have been when first it was painted. The composition of the figures and some portions of the original colours still remain, but all else must be entirely changed. Even where the original colour is still on the wall, such parts are extremely blackened by age and dirt, but the architectural background, the central flight of steps, and the foreground around and between the figures are, on the contrary, much lighter in tone than they must have been originally, and consequently all the shade and shadows, which formerly connected the masses of the figure groups together, have disappeared. The present extreme lightness of tone which surrounds the dark figures, unduly emphasizes the latter, and gives an unsatisfactory and very spotty appearance to the general composition, which is at variance with the early engravings and copies of this fresco. It is quite likely that the present aspect of this great work is due to the fact that the cleaners and restorers engaged on it from time to time have employed their cleansing energy on the background more than on the figures, and have cleaned off the dirt,
Photo. Anderson.[To face p. 68.Plate 34.—The Fire in the BorgoRaffaelle, Stanza dell’ Incendio, Vatican, Rome
Photo. Anderson.[To face p. 68.Plate 34.—The Fire in the BorgoRaffaelle, Stanza dell’ Incendio, Vatican, Rome
Photo. Anderson.
[To face p. 68.
Plate 34.—The Fire in the Borgo
Raffaelle, Stanza dell’ Incendio, Vatican, Rome
Photo. Braun, Clément et Cie.[To face p. 69.Plate 35.—Figure of Adam, from The Creation of ManMichael Angelo, Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome
Photo. Braun, Clément et Cie.[To face p. 69.Plate 35.—Figure of Adam, from The Creation of ManMichael Angelo, Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome
Photo. Braun, Clément et Cie.
[To face p. 69.
Plate 35.—Figure of Adam, from The Creation of Man
Michael Angelo, Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome
and paint as well, so leaving this portion in a clean-looking or light state; and if we bear in mind that the background work has in all probability been painted much more thinly, or with less impasto, than the figures, we can easily imagine that in the parts under notice there has always been less body of colour to be destroyed by the cleaners. It is also noticeable that where a blue or grey colour has been used in the draperies, the painting of such parts has badly perished, which suggests that either a vegetable or a copper-blue pigment has been used, instead of a cobalt or an ultramarine blue, or that these parts have been afterwards repainted in tempera. The other frescos in this room, the “Mount Parnassus,” and the “Prudence, Fortitude and Temperance,” are in a much better state than the “School of Athens.”
Michael Angelo’s great work in fresco, on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, is still, fortunately, in a fairly good state, but the “Last Judgment,” on the altar wall, is very grimy, and in a much blackened state. One cannot help thinking that a good deal of the dirt could be removed from this work by a little judicious cleaning.
THE END
A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,K,L,M,P,R,S,T,U,V,W.
Andrea del Sarto,63-64Architecture,1Architecture, principles of,6Arts of Peace fresco,34Arts of War fresco,33-34Bardi Chapel, Santa Croce, Florence,39-40Benozzo Gozzoli,51-53Borgia apartments, Vatican,56-58Brancacci Chapel, Carmelite Church,47-49Brera Palace, Milan, frescos at,64-65Brown, Ford Madox,32Brushes for fresco,20Buon-fresco,9Campo Santa, Pisa,52Cartoons,16,17,24,56Cenacolo by Ghirlandajo,61-62Cnossus,10Colour sketches,16,36Colours for buon-fresco,17-19Design in objects of general utility,5Drapery painting,28-29Egyptian tempera,11Encaustic painting,9Filippino Lippi,47Flesh painting,25-27Foundling Hospital, Florence,59-60Fra Angelico,44-46Fresco-buono,12Fresco-secco,8,11Fresco, systems and methods,8Gaudenzio Ferrari,66-67Ghirlandajo, Domenico,59-61Giotto,39-43Giovanni da Udine,57-58Gloucester Cathedral,31Houses of Parliament frescos,30Intonaco,15Keim’s process,9Last Judgment fresco,68Leighton, Lord,32-33Luini, Bernardino,64-66Lyndhurst Church fresco,32Masaccio,47-49Masolino da Panicale,47Method of execution in buon-fresco,23Method of execution in spirit fresco,36-37Michael Angelo,38,50,54,68Monastery of St. Mark frescos,44-46,61Monumental painting, essentials of,4Mosaics,3Mycene,10Painting,2Parry, Gambier,53Perina del Vaga,57-58Perugino,53-55Pinturicchio,56-58Pompeii,11Poynter, Sir E. J., Bart., P.R.A.,16,30Raffaelle,49,67,69Retouching,27Riccardi palace,51Ruskin,53Santa Maria della Grazie, Milan,66-67Santa Maria Maddalena de Pazzi,54Santa Maria Novella, Florence,39,61Santissima Annunziata, Church of the,63St. Ambrogio, Milan,66-67St. Catherine of Alexandria,58St. Maurizo Church (Monastero Maggiore),66St. Stephen’s, Dulwich,71Saronno, Church of the Santuario,66-67School of Athens fresco,68Simon Memmi,53Sistine Chapel,38,54,59Spanish Chapel,53Spirit fresco,31Spirit fresco medium,38Spirit fresco painting,9Tempera painting,9Test brick for colour,22Thera,10Tiryns,10Undercoating, or ground tint,21Vasari,40,50,56Vatican, Loggia of the,58Victoria and Albert Museum,33Walls for fresco paintings,14,33Walls, preparation of,14,33-34Water-glass fresco,9
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