Part 1
# Old world masters in new world collections ### By Singleton, Esther
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OLD WORLD MASTERS IN NEW WORLD COLLECTIONS
[Illustration]
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK . BOSTON . CHICAGO . DALLAS ATLANTA . SAN FRANCISCO
MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED LONDON . BOMBAY . CALCUTTA MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TORONTO
[Illustration:
_Collection of Mr. J. P. Morgan_
GIOVANNA TORNABUONI
--_Domenico Ghirlandaio_]
OLD WORLD MASTERS IN NEW WORLD COLLECTIONS
BY ESTHER SINGLETON
New York THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1929
COPYRIGHT, 1929, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
SET UP AND ELECTROTYPED. PUBLISHED JANUARY, 1929.
SET UP AND ELECTROTYPED BY T. MOREY & SON
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY BERWICK & SMITH CO.
_PREFACE_
It is noteworthy that the first book to be published in any country and in any language treating of Old Masters in private Collections should be devoted exclusively to treasures in America.
_Old World Masters in New World Collections_ may be called a permanent loan exhibition of the greatest and most renowned examples of Art in America, which cannot be seen anywhere but in this volume.
It is owing to the gracious response and courtesy of the most distinguished American Collectors that I am able to present between these covers a selection of a hundred and ten of the choicest paintings in the country, representing portraits, religious and mythological subjects, and _genre_ from the Thirteenth through the Eighteenth Centuries.
One of the principal factors in the formation of many of these magnificent Collections has been the outstanding influence of Sir Joseph Duveen, Bart., under whose guidance the foremost American Collections have been raised to a dominating position in the world of art.
It is significant that among the paintings reproduced here, the greater number have been brought to this country by Sir Joseph Duveen; and I am happy to express my thanks to Sir Joseph for his enthusiastic interest and encouragement to me throughout the entire preparation of this volume.
A very interesting feature in this book is the distinguished ownership of these paintings: Frederick the Great, for instance, owned Lancret’s _La Camargo_, the celebrated French dancer; Queen Christina of Sweden, Raphael’s _Agony in the Garden_; Madame de Pompadour, Chardin’s _La Serinette_ and Boucher’s _Les Deux Confidentes_; Sir Joshua Reynolds, Rembrandt’s _Standard-Bearer_; Sir Horace Walpole, Rembrandt’s _Simeon and Mary_; and Charles Le Brun, Poussin’s _Jupiter and Calisto_. Fra Filippo Lippi’s _Madonna della Stella_ came directly to the present owner from the Monastery of the Carmine (Florence) for which it was painted; Raphael’s _Niccolini Madonna_, from the Niccolini Palace; Titian’s _Caterina Cornaro_, from the Riccardi Palace, Florence; Bartolommeo Veneto’s _Maximilian Sforza_, from the Sforza Palace, Milan; Rubens’s _Louis XIII, King of France_, from the ex-Emperor of Germany’s Palace of Charlottenburg; and Van Dyck’s _Dædalus and Icarus_, from the famous Collection of Earl Spencer at Althorp and was consequently in the home of the Duchess of Devonshire, whose beautiful eyes must have frequently looked upon it. Holbein’s _Prince Edward of England_ was painted for King Henry VIII; and with the portrait of Sir Thomas More, Holbein’s great reputation began. Of all Sir Joshua Reynolds’s portraits _Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse_ is considered the greatest; and Gainsborough’s _Blue Boy_ and the _Duchess of Devonshire_ rank among the world’s most famous pictures. Surpassing the _Blue Boy_ in beauty and charm (though not so famous) and depicting withal a far lovelier personality, is Romney’s _John Walter Tempest_; and Romney’s _Lady Derby_ and the _Hon. Mrs. Davenport_ will stand forever among the loveliest presentations of charming womanhood. On a par with these are _La Marquise de Villemomble_, by Drouais; _La Marquise de la Fare_, by Fragonard; and _La Marquise de Baglion_ by Nattier. Many critics call the last named work the greatest French portrait of the Eighteenth Century.
We read with amazement of European Collectors and Collections of the past: of the treasures owned by the wealthy Dukes of Burgundy; by Lorenzo the Magnificent and by other members of the Medici family; by the Sforzas, Gonzagas, d’Estes, and other Italian princes; by the Fuggers, those wealthy bankers of Augsburg; by noble Austrian and German barons; by the great merchant-princes and lords of England from Queen Elizabeth’s day to the present; by Cardinal Richelieu, Cardinal Mazarin and Cardinal de Rohan; and by the Rothschilds and other notable bankers. Yet, in some respects--particularly in the high quality of their Collections and the velocity with which these Collections have been made--our American Collectors surpass them all. On this point Sir Joseph Duveen remarks:
“The particular thing that makes American Collections so unique and so priceless is that their pictures are all masterpieces. In Europe you will find much larger Collections and these will have, like the Bridgewater for instance, a large number of very mediocre paintings and a few of supreme excellence--gems--magnificent! Many Collections in England and also on the Continent go into hundreds with just a few fine things. In America, on the contrary, every Collector wants the best. He may have only thirty pictures, but they will all be fine. Americans make Collections of masterpieces. _That_ is why they are different. That is why Americans are a new race of Collectors. American Collections are Collections of Masterpieces.”
_The Blue Boy_ purchased from the Duke of Westminster by Sir Joseph Duveen for the late Mr. Henry E. Huntington at the then unheard of sum of $800,000 set the imagination of the American public aflame. When exhibited at the National Gallery, London, and afterwards at the Duveen Galleries, New York, for charity in 1922, the whole world flocked to see it. _The Blue Boy_ proved to be a “sensation.” Within a few months Gainsborough’s masterpiece was followed by Sir Joshua Reynolds’s _Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse_, also purchased from the Duke of Westminster by Sir Joseph Duveen for the late Mr. Henry E. Huntington for $500,000. _Mrs. Siddons_ was, in her turn, followed by eighteen superb examples of Gainsborough, Romney, Reynolds, and Lawrence, several of which appear in this book. It was, therefore, the English School that started the ball rolling for a new type of Collector, who sought gems of the first water only.
From this period onward great paintings of all Schools--Italian, French, Dutch, Flemish, and Spanish, as well as English--have been coming across the Atlantic in amazing numbers, and with eagerly awaiting purchasers to greet them. The result is that America has become a great Repository of Art, in which the entire country is beginning to take a personal and justifiable pride.
On this question of Art-migration the noted critic and director of the Berlin Museum, Dr. Wilhelm von Bode, wrote not long ago:
“Any one who a decade ago had even hinted at the possibility of Gainsborough’s _Blue Boy_ making its way across the Atlantic to become the central gem in the Huntington Collection would have been thought mad. He might as well have suggested the uprooting of England’s century old oaks, or the removal of the Rock of Gibraltar. And yet the impossible has happened; and not only the famous _Blue Boy_ but many another of the world’s masterpieces has travelled the same route.
“This is the greatest transplantation of art-works the world has known since the Roman plundering of Grecian art and the rape of the churches and museums of Europe whereby Napoleon enriched the Louvre.
“No power on earth can turn back the pages of history to the first of August, 1914, on which day forces were set in motion that were to result in a complete reversal of all hitherto existing political, geographical, social, and economic values. No one could have foreseen at the time that the world’s accumulated art-treasures would also be affected by these sweeping changes.”
From the amazing wealth that has been so generously placed at my disposition, I have been guided by one principle of selection,--that of _Beauty_!
Art, according to my way of thinking, is something to be enjoyed, something to delight the senses, and something to refresh the mind; and I feel sure that many _connoisseurs_ will agree with me and gladly welcome a book devoted to Old Masters in which not the slightest suggestion of suffering enters. Therefore, in this book there are no Crucifixions, Pietàs, martyrdoms, nor tragedies.
Nor in my definition of Beauty do I recognize any distortion of the word that might include the cant phrase--the “beauty of ugliness.” Beauty, when most subtle, is always obvious; and I agree heartily with Bernard Berenson’s dictum: “And not what man knows but what man _feels_ concerns Art. _All else is science._”
Fashions may come and fashions may go, but while these changing tides ebb and flow the great manifestations and expressions of genius shine with undimmed splendor as shine the stars of Heaven over a world racked with dissension and controversy and troubled with many shell-shocked minds. Shakespeare and Shelley and Keats and Tennyson will charm, inspire, and uplift generations to come when yawping _vers libre_ has been thrown into the literary junk-heap; Beethoven and Chopin and Wagner will delight, astound, and refresh sensitive spirits when the scores of the Twentieth Century cacophonists will be unopened and coated with dust; and Raphael, Botticelli, Watteau, Fragonard, Chardin, Gainsborough, Reynolds, and Romney will fascinate, enthrall, and enrapture lovers of the beautiful when works of jostled planes and lurid color will have been hooted to extinction.
The Torch of Beauty burns brightly through all the confusion of tongues and wild ragings of Twentieth Century iconoclasts. In this belief and hope I have the support of the noted French critic, Robert de la Sizeranne, who says:
“Art never dies, even when all that has maintained it and served as the motive for its very existence--civilization, society, religious belief, social authority--has fallen into irremediable decay. For it has still another reason for existence, which is the powerful one of _Beauty_. Humanity is not rich enough to dispense with a vision of Beauty. The day comes when it will return to it gladly and acclaim it as if it were a living being.”
Some idea of the value of the paintings shown in this book will be had if I mention a few sums which were reached at the last sales, although the figures have risen considerably since those sales. Here are, for example, twelve paintings:
Gainsborough’s _Harvest Waggon_, $360,000; Lawrence’s _Pinkie_, $377,000; Gainsborough’s _Blue Boy_, $800,000; Reynolds’s _Mrs. Siddons_, $500,000; Raphael’s _Small Cowper Madonna_, $700,000; Raphael’s _Niccolini Madonna_, $875,000; Frans Hals’s _Laughing Mandolin Player_, $250,000; Botticelli’s _Giuliano de’ Medici_, $240,000; Raphael’s _Agony in the Garden_, $500,000; Gainsborough’s _The Mall_, $500,000; Romney’s _The Hon. Mrs. Davenport_, $304,700; and Romney’s _Anne, Lady de la Pole_, $206,850.
Hence it will be seen that these twelve paintings represent considerably more than $5,500,000.
With these figures in mind (and I have not attempted to estimate the Memlings, Holbeins, Bellinis, Crivellis, Titians, Rembrandts, Van Dycks, Fragonards, Nattiers, and others) it will be easily appreciated that the value of the paintings shown in this book soars beyond millions into the billion dollar class!
It gives me pleasure to offer my thanks to all the Collectors whose pictures are represented and very particularly to Mrs. Herbert L. Satterlee, Mr. J. P. Morgan, Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Taft, and Miss Helen C. Frick who permitted me to have photographs especially taken of the Duchess of Devonshire, and Lady Betty Delmé; Eliza Farren, Countess of Derby; Maria Walpole, Duchess of Gloucester and “The Jessamy Bride”; and Sir Thomas More.
I also wish to thank most cordially Mr. Felix Wildenstein for his valuable advice and approbation and for important material sent to me from Paris and to express my appreciation to Mr. C. R. Henschel of Messrs. Knoedler & Co., and to Mrs. Paul Reinhardt of the Reinhardt Galleries for their warm support and aid.
E. S.
NEW YORK, November 8, 1928.
_CONTENTS_
CHAPTER PAGES
I. ITALIAN 3–153 Sienese Florentine Umbrian North Italian Venetian
II. FLEMISH 157–196
III. DUTCH 199–232
IV. GERMAN 235–253
V. SPANISH 257–272
VI. FRENCH, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 275–326
VII. ENGLISH, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 329–428
_ILLUSTRATIONS_
GIOVANNA TORNABUONI _Domenico Ghirlandaio_ Frontispiece Mr. J. P. Morgan.
PAGE
ST. FRANCIS AND THE BEGGAR _Sassetta_ 7 Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS AND ANGELS _Matteo di Giovanni_ 11 Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
ADORATION OF THE MAGI _Benvenuto di Giovanni_ 13 Sir Joseph Duveen, Bart.
MADONNA AND CHILD _Giotto di Bordone_ 27 Mr. Henry Goldman.
THE ANNUNCIATION _Masolino_ 29 Mr. Henry Goldman.
GABRIEL, THE ANNOUNCING ANGEL _Fra Angelico_ 33 Mr. Edsel B. Ford.
THE VIRGIN RECEIVING THE DIVINE MESSAGE _Fra Angelico_ 35 Mr. Edsel B. Ford.
ST. COSIMAS AND ST. DAMIANUS _Fra Angelico_ 41 Mr. Albert Keller.
MADONNA DELLA STELLA _Fra Filippo Lippi_ 43 Mr. Carl W. Hamilton.
MADONNA AND CHILD _Alesso Baldovinetti_ 49 Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG LADY _Piero Pollaiuolo_ 53 Mr. Nils B. Hersloff.
GIULIANO DE’ MEDICI _Sandro Botticelli_ 57 Mr. and Mrs. Otto H. Kahn.
PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MAN _Sandro Botticelli_ 63 Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
MADONNA AND CHILD _Sandro Botticelli_ 65 Mr. Max Epstein.
GIOVANNA TORNABUONI _Domenico Ghirlandaio_ 67 Mr. J. P. Morgan.
FRANCESCO SASSETTI AND HIS SON TEODORO _Domenico Ghirlandaio_ 71 Mr. Jules S. Bache.
MADONNA AND CHILD _Gentile da Fabriano_ 75 Mr. Henry Goldman.
MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ANGELS _Benedetto Bonfigli_ 79 Mr. and Mrs. Otto H. Kahn.
MADONNA AND CHILD _Perugino_ 81 Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
THE NICCOLINI MADONNA _Raphael_ 85 Sir Joseph Duveen, Bart.
THE SMALL COWPER MADONNA _Raphael_ 87 Mr. Joseph E. Widener.
AGONY IN THE GARDEN _Raphael_ 91 Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
PORTRAIT OF A LADY _Pisanello_ 101 Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS _Andrea Mantegna_ 105 Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
VIRGIN AND CHILD WITH THE INFANT ST. JOHN AND ANGEL _Francia_ 109 Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
PORTRAIT OF A LADY _Luini_ 111 The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
TITIAN’S SCHOOLMASTER _Moroni_ 113 Mr. Joseph E. Widener.
MADONNA AND CHILD _Antonello da Messina_ 123 Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
MADONNA AND CHILD _Crivelli_ 127 Mr. A. W. Erickson.
MADONNA AND CHILD _Crivelli_ 129 Mr. Philip Lehman.
THE VIRGIN AND CHILD WITH ST. LUCY, ST. CATHERINE, ST. PETER AND ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST _Giovanni Bellini_ 131 Mr. Jules S. Bache.
THE VIRGIN AND CHILD _Giovanni Bellini_ 133 Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas F. Brady.
MADONNA AND CHILD _Giovanni Bellini_ 135 Mr. Philip Lehman.
FEAST OF THE GODS _Giovanni Bellini_ 139 Mr. Joseph E. Widener.
THE VIRGIN AND CHILD _Titian_ 141 Mr. Jules S. Bache.
CATERINA CORNARO, QUEEN OF CYPRUS _Titian_ 145 Mr. John Ringling.
GIORGIO CORNARO WITH FALCON _Titian_ 147 Mr. A. W. Erickson.
MAXIMILIAN SFORZA _Bartolommeo Veneto_ 149 Mr. Henry Goldman.
A SCENE ALONG THE ADRIATIC COAST _Francesco Guardi_ 153 Mrs. Charles B. Alexander.
PORTRAIT OF A LADY _Roger van der Weyden_ 167 The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
PORTRAIT OF A CARTHUSIAN MONK _Petrus Christus_ 171 Mr. Jules S. Bache.
MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ANGELS _Hans Memling_ 173 The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG GENTLEMAN _Hans Memling_ 175 Mrs. John N. Willys.
LOUIS XIII, KING OF FRANCE _Peter Paul Rubens_ 177 Sir Joseph Duveen, Bart.
RINALDO AND ARMIDA _Sir Anthony Van Dyck_ 183 Mr. Jacob Epstein.
DÆDALUS AND ICARUS _Sir Anthony Van Dyck_ 185 Mr. Frank P. Wood.
ROBERT RICH, EARL OF WARWICK _Sir Anthony Van Dyck_ 189 Mr. Jules S. Bache.
QUEEN HENRIETTA MARIA WITH JEFFREY HUDSON AND A MONKEY _Sir Anthony Van Dyck_ 193 Mr. William Randolph Hearst.
THE STANDARD-BEARER _Rembrandt van Rijn_ 205 Mr. Jules S. Bache.
PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG OFFICER _Rembrandt van Rijn_ 209 Mr. A. W. Erickson.
AN OLD LADY SEATED IN AN ARMCHAIR _Rembrandt van Rijn_ 211 The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
SIMEON AND MARY PRESENTING THE INFANT CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. _Rembrandt van Rijn_ 213 Mr. Nils B. Hersloff.
PORTRAIT OF AN OFFICER _Frans Hals_ 221 Mr. Henry Goldman.
THE LAUGHING MANDOLIN PLAYER _Frans Hals_ 223 Mr. John R. Thompson.
A MUSIC PARTY _Pieter de Hoogh_ 225 Mrs. John N. Willys.
THE LACE-MAKER _Jan Vermeer_ 229 The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
PORTRAIT OF A MAN _Albrecht Dürer_ 239 The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
PRINCE EDWARD OF ENGLAND _Hans Holbein the Younger_ 241 The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
SIR THOMAS MORE _Hans Holbein the Younger_ 245 The late Mr. Henry Clay Frick.
DIRK BERCK OF COLOGNE _Hans Holbein the Younger_ 247 The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
JEAN DE DINTEVILLE _Hans Holbein the Younger_ 249 Mr. Henry Goldman.
CARDINAL ALBRECHT AS SAINT HIERONYMUS _Lucas Cranach the Elder_ 253 Mr. John Ringling.
CARDINAL QUIROGA _El Greco_ 261 The late Mr. Henry Clay Frick.
THE VIRGIN APPEARING TO ST. DOMINIC _El Greco_ 263 Mr. J. Horace Harding.
MARIANNE OF AUSTRIA _Velasquez_ 265 Mr. Philip Lehman.
PHILIP IV OF SPAIN _Velasquez_ 267 The late Mr. Henry Clay Frick.
GENERAL NICOLAS GUYE _Goya_ 269 Mr. J. Horace Harding.
PEPITO COSTA Y BONELLA _Goya_ 271 Mrs. William Hayward.
JUPITER AND CALISTO _Nicolas Poussin_ 279 Mr. Carroll Tyson.
LA DANSE _Antoine Watteau_ 283 Mr. Charles A. Wimpfheimer.
MADAME BONIER DE LA MOSSON _Jean Marc Nattier_ 287 Mr. Edward J. Berwind.
LA MARQUISE DE BAGLION _Jean Marc Nattier_ 289 Mr. A. W. Erickson.
LA CAMARGO _Nicolas Lancret_ 293 The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
LE DUO _Nicolas Lancret_ 295 Mr. and Mrs. Emil J. Stehli.
UNE FÊTE CHAMPÊTRE _Jean Baptiste Joseph Pater_ 297 Mr. Jules S. Bache.
UNE FÊTE GALANTE _Jean Baptiste Joseph Pater_ 299 Mr. Edward J. Berwind.
LA SERINETTE _Jean Baptiste Siméon Chardin_ 301 The late Mr. Henry Clay Frick.
LES DEUX CONFIDENTES _François Boucher_ 305 Mrs. William R. Timken.
A YOUNG GIRL READING A LETTER _Jean Baptiste Greuze_ 307 Mr. John McCormack.
YOUNG GIRL _Jean Baptiste Greuze_ 309 Mr. William Randolph Hearst.
LA MARQUISE DE BESONS TUNING A GUITAR _Jean Baptiste Greuze_ 311 Dr. and Mrs. Henry Barton Jacobs.
LA MARQUISE DE VILLEMOMBLE _François Hubert Drouais_ 313 Mr. Jules S. Bache.
MADEMOISELLE HELVETIUS _François Hubert Drouais_ 315 Mr. Mortimer L. Schiff.
L’INVOCATION À L’AMOUR _Jean Honoré Fragonard_ 317 Mr. Mortimer L. Schiff.
LE BILLET-DOUX _Jean Honoré Fragonard_ 319 Mr. Jules S. Bache.
LA MARQUISE DE LA FARE _Jean Honoré Fragonard_ 321 Mrs. James B. Haggin.
THE FOUNTAIN IN THE PARK _Hubert Robert_ 323 Dr. and Mrs. Henry Barton Jacobs.
MADAME LABILLE-GUIARD AND TWO PUPILS _Madame Labille-Guiard_ 325 Mr. Edward J. Berwind.
LADY BETTY DELMÉ _Sir Joshua Reynolds_ 339 Mr. and Mrs. Herbert L. Satterlee.
THE STRAWBERRY GIRL _Sir Joshua Reynolds_ 343 Mrs. Francis F. Prentiss.
DIANA, VISCOUNTESS CROSBIE _Sir Joshua Reynolds_ 345 The late Mr. Henry E. Huntington.
MRS. SIDDONS AS THE TRAGIC MUSE _Sir Joshua Reynolds_ 349 The late Mr. Henry E. Huntington.
GEORGIANA, DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE _Sir Joshua Reynolds_ 355 The late Mr. Henry E. Huntington.
THE COTTAGE DOOR _Thomas Gainsborough_ 359 The late Mr. Henry E. Huntington.
THE MALL _Thomas Gainsborough_ 365 The late Mr. Henry Clay Frick.
MARIA WALPOLE, DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER _Thomas Gainsborough_ 367 Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Taft.
GEORGIANA, DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE _Thomas Gainsborough_ 373 Mr. and Mrs. Herbert L. Satterlee.
THE BLUE BOY _Thomas Gainsborough_ 379 The late Mr. Henry E. Huntington.
GENERAL PHILIP HONYWOOD _Thomas Gainsborough_ 387 Mr. John Ringling.
THE HARVEST WAGGON _Thomas Gainsborough_ 391 Sir Joseph Duveen, Bart.
JOHN WALTER TEMPEST _George Romney_ 393 Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Field.
THE HON. MRS. DAVENPORT _George Romney_ 399 The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
LADY DERBY _George Romney_ 401 Mr. Jules S. Bache.
EMMA, LADY HAMILTON _George Romney_ 405 The late Mr. Henry E. Huntington.
ANNE, LADY DE LA POLE _George Romney_ 409 The Hon. Alvan T. Fuller.
THE HON. MRS. GRANT OF KILGRASTON _Sir Henry Raeburn_ 413 Mr. C. Fisher.
QUINTON MCADAM _Sir Henry Raeburn_ 415 Mr. A. W. Erickson.
MARY HORNECK, “THE JESSAMY BRIDE” _John Hoppner_ 417 Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Taft.
ELIZA FARREN, COUNTESS OF DERBY _Sir Thomas Lawrence_ 421 Mr. J. P. Morgan.
PINKIE _Sir Thomas Lawrence_ 427 The late Mr. Henry E. Huntington.
ITALIAN
Sienese Florentine Umbrian North Italian Venetian
_SIENESE_
There are no beginnings of art in Italy. The old civilizations of Etruria, Rome, and Byzantium never perished entirely; and upon their surviving traditions “Christian Art” was built. Old pictorial ideas and old decorative motives were absorbed, rearranged, and worked over again and again in conjunction with theological dogma until in the Thirteenth Century, largely owing to the beautiful character, ideals, and influence of St. Francis, to the intellectual teachings of Dante, and to the fervor aroused by the Crusades, “Christian Art” became a living movement, which inspired, among other important things, the creation of magnificent Cathedrals. When the architects, the carvers of wood and stone, and the makers of the jewel-like windows had finished their work, the best painters of the day were called on to produce altar-pieces that would stimulate religious devotion, charm the worshippers by beauty, and instruct the people (unaccustomed to books) by representation of saintly lives and scriptural stories.
Italian Painting in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries thus shows many of the old Byzantine traditions still lingering in the new “Christian,” or “Gothic Art.”
Siena and Florence were the chief early Italian Schools. Siena was at first the more important of the two and greatly influenced Florentine and also French Painting. The leading early artists of Siena were Guido da Siena, Duccio di Buoninsegna, Ugolino da Siena, Segna di Bonaventura, Simone Martini, Lippo Memmi, Pietro Lorenzetti, Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Lippo Vanni, Andrea Vanni, Bartolo di Fredi, Taddeo di Bartolo, and Stefano di Giovanni (Sassetta).
The next group includes Domenico di Bartolo, Lorenzo Vecchietta, Neroccio di Landi, Benvenuto di Giovanni, Girolamo di Benvenuto, and Matteo di Giovanni.
“To understand and appreciate the painting of Siena one should think of it as the culmination of the art of the Middle Ages rather than as a promise of anything modern. Therein lies the difference which caused so great a gulf between the art of Siena and that of contemporary Florence only forty miles away. Sienese Art may be regarded as the most perfect expression of the Byzantine ideal. It was hieratic and mystic. While Giotto was forecasting the development of modern art by studying nature and making his figures act like the real people whom he saw about him, Duccio and Simone Martini were sounding the Byzantine creed that the Christian saints were not _human_ but _divine_, not _vulgar_ but _regal_, not _approachable_ but _aloof_. To the early Sienese, as to the Byzantine, the Raphaelesque conception of the Madonna as the most tender possible human mother would have been blasphemous bad taste.
“Although Sienese Art was founded on Byzantine and was in a sense the culmination of Byzantine, it was, nevertheless, a Gothic art. In other words it belonged to its period, but it selected certain elements of Gothic style for emphasis.
“In Florence Giotto was inspired by the plasticity of Gothic Art and its naturalism. In Siena Duccio and his followers developed the Gothic living line; and, later, the emotionalism of Gothic spirit. Thus both Florentines and Sienese were Gothic, but in a different way.