Part 17
Michael Angelo and Bernini, 16
Michael Angelo, 97 f. affectation of the period, 119, 120 complexity of his work, 101, 103 feeling for the nude figure, 101 muscles emphasized, 120, 123 period of, 98, 103, 111 pupils of, 122 sonnets and letters, 115
Michael Angelo, works of, Bacchus, 116 f. Battle of the Centaurs, 133 David, 133 Eros, 116, 118, 120 Madonna of Bruges, 116, 131 Moses, 100, 102 Night and Dawn, 122 Pietà in St. Peter’s, 100 Sistine Chapel, 121, 125 f., 132 Victor, 116
Morelli on Giorgione, 155 f.
Mourning Athena, 148
Myron’s Discobolus, 17
mystical fervour in art, 3
Niobid group, 73
nude figure felt under drapery, 101 f.
Oberammergau, 31
origins of art, 3
Pausanias, 138
Pericles, portrait of, 58, 75, 78 f.
Pheidias and Michael Angelo, 93 f.
Pheidias, age of, 105, 109 and Pericles, 110 influence of, 94 f.
Pheidias, work of, Athena Parthenos, 131 Lemnian Athena, 101, 131 Parthenon, 3, 132 frieze, 118 pediments, 101, 121 Zeus, 108
photography and art criticism, 155
physical beauty prized by Greeks, 151
portraits of women and children, 89
portraits made for friends, 65
portraiture, art of, 57 f. commemorative, 60, 64 Egyptian, 60 Florentine, 90 Greek and Roman, 85 in language, 66 in large compositions, 62 in painting and sculpture, 59, 71, 74 motives for, 59 religious, 59 summary, 91
Raphael, Angelo Doni, 58
realism, in sculpture, 75
realism, Greek and Roman, 75
religion and art, 104, 106
Roselli, 156
Roman art, 4
Ruskin, 156
Scipio, so-called bust of, 57
Sheik-el-Beled, 57
Shelley, 66, 68
Silanion, 83
technical peculiarities in paintings, 157 f.
temple, significance of the Greek, 106
Tintoretto, Greek spirit of, 113
Titian, Duke of Norfolk, 58
Triton, 47
“Truth unveiled by Time,” 13
Turner’s Rizpah, 67
violence in art, 8
wealth and art, 64, 91
youth in Greek art, 111
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Footnote 1:
Filippo Baldinucci Fiorentino. _Vita del cavaliere Gio. Lorenzo Bernini._ Firenze. 1682.
Domenico Bernino. _Vita del cavaliere Gio. Lorenzo Bernino._ Roma. 1713.
Stanislao Fraschetti. _Il Bernini._ Milan. 1900.
Footnote 2:
Fraschetti, _op. cit._, p. 47.
Footnote 3:
Fraschetti, _op. cit._, pp. 425, 426.
Footnote 4:
Fraschetti, _op. cit._, p. 428.
Footnote 5:
This portrait (Fraschetti, _op. cit._, p. 434) is probably a copy of one owned by Baron Geymüller in London.
Footnote 6:
Fraschetti, _op. cit._, p. 429.
Footnote 7:
In the Museum at Weimar is a portrait on which is written that it was done by Bernini himself, and as an _autoritratto_ it has been published by Fraschetti (p. 433). It is a wretched performance, done not by Bernini, but by someone who had neither an observant eye nor a well-trained hand.
There is still another portrait which I think is very probably of him. It hangs in the Capitoline Gallery in Rome (Plate II), where it is called “Portrait of Velasquez, by himself,” an attribution which no student of Velasquez would maintain to-day. The shape of the head and face and the expression are extremely like Bernini. Even the different shape and angle of the two eyebrows is the same as in his portraits. The quality of the hair is the same, and the way it grows over the temples. In the earlier portraits of him the hair is parted on the right side as in the Capitoline picture. The nose is very nearly the same as in the pencil portraits by himself in the National Gallery in Rome and in the Chigi collection.
Footnote 8:
The Borghese Warrior was found at Anzio at the beginning of the seventeenth century. See Friederichs-Wolters, _Gipsabgüsse_, 1885, p. 541 f; Vulpius, _Vetus Latium_, 1726, Vol. III, p. 28.
Footnote 9:
It is not improbable that the statue of St. Lawrence, in the Strozzi palace in Florence, which Bernini made at this time, was influenced by the Dying Gaul. The two statues resemble each other closely in many ways. There is a tradition that Michael Angelo restored certain small portions of the Gaul, but the character of the work of the restorations suggests Bernini rather than Michael Angelo.
Footnote 10:
In Brookline, Mass.; see p. 44 and Plates XI-XXVII.
Footnote 11:
The head reminds one of the Capitoline Alexander, which Bernini may have seen.
Footnote 12:
Balcarres, _The Evolution of Italian Sculpture_, p. 333–334.
Footnote 13:
Balcarres, _op. cit._, p. 334.
Footnote 14:
In relation to the influence of ancient work on Bernini, it is worth note that the four great figures in the Piazza Navona are very Hellenistic in character and would, if turned into reliefs with their surrounding trees and animals, resemble closely the fountain-reliefs of the Græco-Roman world.
Footnote 15:
The one of Paul V is in the Villa Borghese, Rome; the other two are in the National Gallery, Venice.
Footnote 16:
In the Brandegee Collection. It was published by Signor Busiri-Vici in his work _La Piazza Vaticana_, Rome, 1890, and by Fraschetti, _op. cit._, p. 307. The latter gives reduced and poor reproductions of the drawings. We have thought it worth while therefore to reproduce them on a larger scale; see Part III of this Study.
Footnote 17:
In San Lorenzo in Lucina, Rome.
Footnote 18:
They were exhibited in Rome by the then owner Sig. Andrea Busiri-Vici at the Bernini Exposition in 1879 and are spoken of and reproduced in small form by Fraschetti in his book on Bernini.
Footnote 19:
And these bonds are dependent, I believe, on fundamental laws of sculpture and painting.
Footnote 20:
It is true that wood was sometimes made use of, but for serious work only in the early times before the art had been developed. Nor can it be supposed that the lack of marble in Egypt was the effective cause that led to the use of granites and basalts. The Egyptians were energetic traders and might have obtained marble had they desired it, but the fact is they preferred the harder sorts of stone, though alabaster was sometimes used.
Footnote 21:
That there may be no misunderstanding of the terms employed, I will say that by breadth of treatment I mean that the sculptor or painter leaves the various surfaces of the object reproduced by him in large measure unbroken by small lights and shades which, however true to nature, are apt in art to distract the attention from the general effect. Though small differences are disregarded there may be, as Greek work shows, exquisite modulation of surface.
Footnote 22:
I refer of course to statues in the round. The bas-reliefs show much free action due partly to the technique, partly to their being in softer stone and partly to the fact that the figures in them are illustrations to historic chronicles and not primarily portraits. So too figures and groups in wood, faience or metal are freer.
Footnote 23:
The bas-relief of the potter in the Acropolis Museum in Athens belongs to this class.
Footnote 24:
Though no woman has ever reached the highest rank in any art, her influence has been enormous. It is a subject to be studied by itself, but it must be constantly kept in mind that no people who have regarded woman from any but the highest point of view has ever produced the noblest art. It may be a fallacy to regard her so, but it is the most powerful and helpful ideal the western mind has yet conceived.
Footnote 25:
When kept to its true course, the magnificent effects attained by language in perpetuating landscape are splendidly seen in Ruskin, when, for example, he describes the Roman Campagna (Preface to 2d ed., _Modern Painters_) or Verona (_Joy Forever_, sec. 76 ff.).
Footnote 26:
In speaking of Niobe I refer naturally to the group in Florence and not to the less well known and understood earlier groups at St. Petersburg and elsewhere; typical examples of the massacre are those by Matteo di Giovanni, in the church of the Servi at Siena, and by Fra Angelico in the Academy at Florence.
Footnote 27:
The copies known to me are (1) in the British Museum, (2) in the Vatican, (3) in the collection of Barrone Barracco, Rome, and (4) a fragment in the collection of Alden Sampson, Esq., Haverford, Penn.
Footnote 28:
This is not the place to discuss the meaning of the Latin word _nobilis_. Suffice to say that if it is translated in this passage by its more commonplace equivalent of _famous_, the criticism has little point, since it is self-evident that an enduring monument, whether a statue or bust, adds to the fame of the individual in whose honour it is erected.
Footnote 29:
It is a long-standing error to suppose that Pericles’s skull as shown in these busts is peculiarly domed. The shape of the tilted helmet makes it seem to be so, but comparison with other heads covered by the Corinthian helmet shows that his is in no way abnormal when thus represented, however it may have been when uncovered.
Footnote 30:
In the Brandegee Collection.
Footnote 31:
One instance will suffice to show what I mean by this. Far more pure imagination is shown in the Italian representations of the Creation or the Last Judgment than in the Greek scenes of the lives of their Gods with which they decorated pediment and frieze.
Footnote 32:
The recent discovery of a life-size marble copy of the Athena of the Marsyas group has made Myron’s character much clearer than before. See Pollak in the _Jahresheften des Oesterreichischen Archaeologischen Institutes_, 1909, p. 154.
Footnote 33:
The modern theory that wall paintings should be flat, that they should not give the impression of an opening beyond the wall they are on, is contradicted by all the practice of the Renaissance. Lippi, Gozzoli, Leonardo, Raphael, Michael Angelo, Veronese, Correggio, to recall but a few, all used wall painting as a means of suggesting larger dimensions and more ample space than the rooms they decorated actually afforded.
Footnote 34:
To illustrate by an example: the low relief work of the Tempietto at Rimini is a more perfect form of decoration (partly because of its permanency) than painting would have been.
Footnote 35:
In the _Bulletin of the Archæological Institute of America_, Vol. II (1910–11), Plates 47 and 79, and p. 162.
Footnote 36:
Mr. Berenson has done much to correct the attributions in his studies on the artist he calls, since his real name is unknown, the _Amico di Sandro_. Berenson’s _amico_ was, I believe, several _amici_.
Footnote 37:
In the gallery of Mr. Davis, in Newport, R.I.
Footnote 38:
An inscription of the seventeenth century on the back of this picture reads: _Giorgon De Castel Franco_, F. Maestro De Titiano. The picture was engraved by Wenzel Hollar in 1650, as the portrait of Buffalmacco by Giorgione.
Footnote 39:
The picture in Brunswick, a poor replica of which is in Buda-Pesth, is, or is derived from, a picture engraved by Hollar in 1650 and called by him a “portrait of Giorgione by himself.” This is possible, but the picture is a mere wreck. See Justi, _loc. cit._
Footnote 40:
Larpent, “Le jugement de Paris attribué au Giorgione,” Christiania, 1885.
Footnote 41:
See Gronau, _Repertorium für Kunstwissenchaft_, 1908, p. 405. His comment on p. 407 seems to me an error.
Footnote 42:
Cf. p. 52 f.
Footnote 43:
_The Painter’s Voyage of Italy._ Englished by W. Lodge. Written originally in Italian by Giacomo Barri, 1679.
Footnote 44:
I put a question mark after those which by general consent are no longer attributed to Giorgione, and those which I doubt and shall discuss in the following pages.
Footnote 45:
It is noteworthy that the backs of these two panels have patterns painted on them showing that the pictures once formed part of some piece of furniture, and it was in decorating such objects that much of Giorgione’s time, according to Ridolfi, was employed. For Bode’s remarks cf. Burchardt’s _Cicerone_, Vol. II, 913.
Footnote 46:
_Die Galerien zu München und Dresden_ (Leipzig, 1891), p. 270 f.
Footnote 47:
Morelli adds the following note: “Weder die Herren Crowe und Cavalcaselli, noch Herr Director W. Bode lassen diese zwei Bildchen alz Werke des Giorgione gelten, sondern sehen dieselben als Schülerarbeiten an.” So far as Crowe and Cavalcaselle are concerned, this statement is an error, as one can easily see by reading what they say on pp. 128–9 of the second volume of their _History of Painting in North Italy_.
Footnote 48:
I have not yet mentioned this picture, but shall speak of it in detail later.
Footnote 49:
_The Venetian Painters of the Renaissance_, p. 107.
Footnote 50:
_Gazette des Beaux Arts_, October, 1897.
Footnote 51:
Berenson in the first edition of his little book on Venetian Painting did not mention it either, but in the third edition he passes it by with these words: “The scarcely less famous picture belonging to Mr. Banks is by the hand which painted the Christ and Adulteress, of the Glasgow Corporation Gallery, and that hand is Giovanni Cariani’s. To repeat, I would have preferred to publish opinions so divergent from those usually received, in a form adequate to the importance of the theme; but I console myself with the belief that the merest indication suffices the competent. As for the others—Procul o procul este, profani.”
Such statements can only be excused by supposing the writer to have been pressed for time. Unless they are of sufficient importance for the author to make them intelligible, they are not entitled to our consideration. No critic is justified in making an arbitrary statement which he will not take the pains to make clear.
Footnote 52:
This picture was formerly called a Bellini. It comes from the collection of Sir William Miles of Leigh Court. See Redford, _Art Sales_, I, pp. 364–5.
Footnote 53:
Berenson, _Venetian Painters of the Renaissance_.
Footnote 54:
See _Archivio Storico dell’ Arte_, 1895, I, p. 77. In this passage the writer (Miss Ffoulkes) speaking of an exhibition in London mentions the Benson picture and the Epiphany. She thinks them by neither Giorgione, nor Catena, but offers no suggestion as to the painter except that there is another picture by him in the Venice Accademia attributed (wrongly) to Cordegliaghi.
Footnote 55:
_Die Galerie zu Dresden_, p. 266 f.
Footnote 56:
It is noteworthy that Morelli claimed (as is shown by the + with which the attribution is marked) to be the first to show that this picture of the Knight was by Catena. Crowe and Cavalcaselle had already written of the picture as by Catena. Considerable care must be exercised in the use of Morelli’s writings to distinguish between his true discoveries (which were many) and his agreements with earlier authorities. It may be that these agreements were based on his own private study, but there is a great difference between the result of one’s study leading to our giving assent to what others have perceived before us and our discovery of what had never been imagined by our predecessors. _Pereant qui ante nos nostra dixerint_, but still honesty and justice are of greater value than fame. Nor does a pleasant temper show in the implied sarcasm of Morelli’s words about this picture which he calls a “herrliches Werk des Catena, obwohl es im Galeriekatalog noch immerfort blos der Schule des Giambellino zugetheilt wird (+).” It is surely not so very inaccurate to describe a work by Catena as of the ‘Schule des Giambellino.’
Footnote 57:
A copy of this picture hangs in the Vienna Gallery and I was told by the Director in 1901 that he considered it the original; but this seems to me impossible, for it is much less good in every way than the Beaumont picture. A drawing of a portion of it is at Windsor.
Footnote 58:
Parts of Mr. Benson’s picture have suffered from repainting. This is especially true of the landscape, which seems to have lost its original form.
Footnote 59:
_Die Galerie zu Dresden_, p. 297, n.
Footnote 60:
The inaccurate copy in the Rovigo Gallery is a wretched daub that is not worth preserving. There are other poor replicas of the picture; one owned by Count Lanckoronski in Vienna is considered by Venturi to be the original. The other picture in the Rovigo Gallery (No. 11), sometimes spoken of in the same breath with Giorgione’s name, is equally worthless. It is nothing but a wretched copy of the head of the Vienna David.
Footnote 61:
The picture in Madrid is by Titian; the one in the Louvre is said by Crowe and Cavalcaselle to be by Pellegrino da San Daniele, while Berenson attributes it to Cariani.
Footnote 62:
Examen | Historique et Critique | Des Tableaux | Exposées Provisoirement | Venant des premier et second envoies de Milan, Crémone, Parme, Plaisance, Modène, Cento et Bologne, auquel on a joint le detail de tous les Monumens des Arts qui sont arrivés d’Italie.—An VI^e de la Republique.
Footnote 63:
A good replica is in the Corsini Gallery, Florence.
Footnote 64:
_Die Galerie zu Dresden_, p. 276.
Footnote 65:
And still is in some galleries, as Hampton Court.
Footnote 66:
The picture has been much restored, but the faults pointed out here are not due to the restorer.
Footnote 67:
_Die Galerie zu Dresden_, p. 282. A copy of the picture is at Hampton Court.
Footnote 68:
_Die Galerie zu Dresden_, p. 282.
Footnote 69:
_Gazette des Beaux Arts_, Oct. 1897, p. 270. Berenson in this suggestive article has mixed ecstatic and girlish talk inextricably with sound argument. In his criticism of the Judith he says: “Il faudrait le talent d’un poète de premier ordre pour exprimer dans la plénitude tout ce qu’on devine dans la _Judith_ de Saint Pétersbourg.” True, but though such sentiments fill the page, they do not have the same effect on our mind as the picture.
Footnote 70:
See the engraving published by Justi in his _Giorgione_.
Footnote 71:
_Italian Painters: Critical Studies of their Works._ By Giovanni Morelli. _The Galleries of Munich and Dresden._ Translated by C. J. Ffoulkes (London, 1893), p. 218.
Footnote 72:
_Die Galerien Borghese und Doria-Pamfili in Rom_ (Leipzig, 1890), p. 99, n. 1.
Footnote 73:
Not only did Morelli weaken his writings by exaggeration—which, however, was quite natural—but in the less excusable way of giving illustrations that are misleading. The woodcuts which serve to show the _Grundform_ of hands and ears are only partially exact, and in one case, the Bonifazio ear, a positive caricature. The process cuts of the paintings are too miserable to consider. This is unfortunately as true of the translations as of the original editions.
Footnote 74:
Nothing shows better the distinction between the work of the Renaissance and that of to-day than the fact that the careful training to which the earlier artists were accustomed led them to produce in their youthful and undeveloped period finished works and sketches that are stiff, whereas nowadays the majority of the works of young artists show not so much stiffness as laxity. The one developed from hardness to easy restraint, the other advances from looseness to a mastery generally much less even.
Footnote 75:
Reproduced in the _Burlington Magazine_, 1895–6, p. 338.
Footnote 76:
The reason I have not discussed in detail the list given by Cook in his book on Giorgione (London, 1904) and in various articles in the _Burlington Magazine_ (1905–1906) and _Gazette des Beaux Arts_ (1902) is due to no careless disregard of his work but to the fact that his point of view in regard to Giorgione and the principles of criticism are so utterly dissimilar to mine that no good would be gained from pointing out in detail my disagreement with his judgment.
Footnote 77:
Since writing the above I have been pleased to have Signor Venturi tell me that he, too, considered the work to be by Giorgione. He does not agree with me about the Benson, Beaumont and National Gallery Holy Families, but he does not share the Catena theory of their origin. His full views will unquestionably be propounded in his forthcoming edition of Vasari’s _Life of Giorgione_. Cook also thinks this Virgin is by Giorgione. Venturi’s views on Giorgione are indicated in the _Galleria Crespi_, p. 133 f.
Footnote 78:
I leave out the one with the forged monogram of Albert Dürer in the Correr Museum, for it is, I believe, by no means sure that Bellini was the painter.
Footnote 79:
Before the earthquake I saw in the Gallery at Messina a picture by Antonello da Messina the composition of which is practically identical with, and must be the origin of, the Correr panel. Whether the Messina picture still exists or was destroyed I do not know.
Footnote 80:
Justi’s book contains a reproduction of the engraving. A copy of the engraving is owned by Mr. C. F. Murray of London.
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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
● Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. ● Used numbers for footnotes, placing them all at the end of the last chapter. ● Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. ● Enclosed blackletter font in =equals=.