CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE Fra Angelico, o.in,3n^ ^924 031 218 641 B Cornell University S Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031218641 ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHIES OF THE GREAT ARTISTS FRA GIOVANNI ANGELTCO DA FIESOLE THE EARLY FLORENTINE PAINTERS OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHIES OF THE GREAT ARTISTS. The follmvin^ volumes, inch, illustrated milh from 14 to 20 Mntp-avi",!;', are nou ready, price t,s. 6d. Those marked with an asterisk are zs. dd. SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. By F. S. Pulling, M.A, WILLIAM HOGARTH. By Austin Dobson. GAINSBOROUGH and CONSTAUL.E. By G. Brock-Arnold, M.A. LAWRENCE and ROMNEY.* By Lord Ronald Gowtii, F.b.A. TURNER. By Cosmo Monkhouse SIR DAVID WILKIE. By J. W. MoLLETT, B.A. SIR EDWIN LANDSEER. By F. G. Stephkns. GIOTTO. By Harry Quilter, M.A. FRA ANGELICO and BOTTICELLI. By C. M. Phillimort.. FRA BARTOLOMMEO and ANDREA DEL SARTO. By Leader Scon MANTEGNA and FRANCIA. By Julia Cartwright. GHIBERTI and DONATELLO.* By Leader Scott. LUCA DELLA ROBBIA and CELLINL* By Leader Scoti-. LEONARDO DA VINCL By Dr. J. Paul Richter. MICHELANGELO BUONARROTL By Charles Cl£.ment. RAPHAEL. By N. D'Anvers. TITIAN. By R. F. Heath, M.A. TINTORETTO. By W. R. OsLER. CORREGGIO.* By M. CowrTON Heatom. VELAZQUEZ. By E. SxoWE, M.A. MURILLO.* By Ellen E. Minor. ALBRECHT DURER. By R. F. Heath, M.A. THE LITTLE MASTERS OF GERMANY. By V/. E. ScOTT. HANS HOLBEIN. By Joseph Cundali,. OVERBECK. By J. Beavington Atkinsoi*. REMBRANDT. By J. W. Mollett, B.A. RUBENS. By C. W. Kett, M.A. VAN DYCK and HALS. By P. R. Head, B.A. FIGURE PAINTERS OF HOLLAND. By Lord RoNALD GowER, F.S.A. CLAUDE LORRAIN. By Owen J. Dullea. WATTEAU. By J. W. Mollett, B.A. VERNKT AND DELAROCHE. By J. RuuTZ Rees. MEISSONIER.* By J. W. Mollett, B.A. FRA ANOELICO. Prom the •represe}Uation of hifii in the Fresco of the ^' Last Jiidgmcnl,'''' by Fra Barlolomineo. in Santa Maria Nuova, Florence. " The whole world without Art would be one great wilderness ' FRA ANGELICO BY CATHERINE MARY PHILLIMORE AUTHOR OF VARIOUS ARTICLES ON ITALIAN LITERATURE LONDON SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON AND COMPANY Fetter Lane, Fleet Street 1892 s {All rights reserved) BICHAKC CI.*Y ASD SONS, I.IMITED, LONDON AND EHNGAT. PKEFACE. THE writer has been guided in the difficult task of treating the early period of the Italian Renaissance by the criticisms and opinions of some of the most recent Italian authorities ; especially those of the great scholar Signer Milanesi, in his new edition of Vasari, the writings of the Dominican Padre Marchese, and others whose names appear in the Bibliography. The work has been further assisted by the careful re- searches, among the documents of the '' Libreria Maglia- becchiana," of a correspondent at Florence, who is the author of the work on the second period of the Renaissance, in this series {i.e., Fra Bartolommeo and Andrea del Sarto). In the arrangement of a treatise like the present, which must, of necessity, deal with the critical as well as the historical side of the Renaissance, the writer has had the benefit of a course of study in the Art Classes of Mrs. E. M. "Ward. Besides the technical instruction admirably imparted in these classes, the writer had also the privilege of appealing in all diflBcult points of Art criticism to the large experience of this eminent and accomplished Artist. C. M. P. Odoier, 1880. CONTENTS. PAOK INTKODUCTION ' . ., IS: CHAPTER I. STEFANO PlOKENTIN'O^l-AOLO TTCOELLO — MASOLINO DA. PANICALE . 1 CHAPTER II. MASAOOIO Ifi CHAPTER III. FRA ANGBLIOO 25 CHAPTER IV. FRA FILIPPO UPr-I AND HIS IMMEDIATE FOLLOW KB.S 5 CHAPTER V. BENOZZO GOZZOLI .... 74 CHAPTER VI. OIL PAINTING IN FLOKENCB. ANDREA DEL CASTAGNO — DOMENIOO VENEZIANO — ALESSO BALDOVINETTI — THE PESELLI .... 81 CHAPTER VII. THE GOLDSMITH PAINTERS OF FLORENCE AND VERROOCHIO ... 87 CHAPTER VIII. THE FLORENTINE ARTISTS IN ROME .... 106 APPENDIX : TRANSLATIONS OF ITALIAN QUOTATIONS, AND NOTES OX DISTEMPER, FRESCO, AND OIL 117 INDEX 121 LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. PAGE Pdrteait of Fea Angelico. Bt Pea An-qelico . Frontispiece. The Deluoe. By Uccello 7 The Expulsion feom Paeadise. By Masaccio W The Eesuscitation op the King's Son. By Masaccio 21 An ANOEt. By Fea Angelico .... 30 The Adoeation of the Kings. By Fra Angelico 37 S. La whence giving Alms. By Fea Angelico 49 The Coeonation of the Viegin. By Filippo Lippi ... 63 The Maetyedom of S. Petee. By Filippino Lippi 69 S. Peteh and S. Paul befobe the Peoconsul. By Filippino Lippi . 69 The Vision of S. Beenaed. By Filippino Lippi 70 The Campo Santo, Pisa ... . . ... 76 Noah and his Family. By Benozzo Gozzoli .79 The Coronation op the Virgin. By Botticei-u 91 The Visitation. By Ghielanuajo 98 Baetolommeo Ooleoni. By Andeea del Veeeocchio 104 Part of the Last Judgment. By Signoeelli , . Ill Portrait of SiONOEELLi. By Signoeelli 112 BIBLIOGEAPHY. LANZI, Luior. Storia Pittorica della Italia dal Kisorgimento delle Belle Arti fin presso al fine del xviii. Secolo. Firenze, 1825. MARCHESE, VmCENZO. Memorie dei piii insigni Pittori, Scultori, e Arohitetti Domenicani, con aggiunta di alconi scritti intorno le Belle Arti. 2 vols. Firenze, 1845—46. CEO"WE, J. A., and G. B. CAVALCASELLE. A new History of Painting in Italy, from the Second to the Sixteenth Century. Drawn up from Fresh Materials and Beceut Researches in the Archives of Italy ; as well as from Personal Inspection of the Works of Art scattered throughout Europe. 3 vols. London, 1864^66. CARTIEE, E. Life of Beato Angelico da Fiesole, of the Order of Friar- Preachers. Translated by a Member of the same Order, from the French of E. Cartier. London, 1865. KTT6LER. Handbook of Painting. The Italian Schools. Based on the Handbook of Kugler. Originally edited by the late Sir Charles L. East- lake, P.R.A. Fourth edition, revised and remodelled from the latest researches by Lady Eastlake. London, 1874. RUSKIN, Jomf. Mornings in Florence. Being simple Studies of Christian Art, for English Travellers. 1875. KUNST und KUNSTLER des Mittlelalters und der Neuzeit. Fea Giovanni Angelico da Fiesole, by Eduard Dobbert ; Masaooio, Sandko Botti- celli, FiLiPPiNO Lippi, DoMBNico Ghirlaitoajo, by Dr. Karl TVoer- niann ; and LuCA Signoeelli, by Dr. Robert Vischer. Leipzig, 1875—8. MILANESI, Gaetano. Le Opere di Giorgio Vasari ; con nuovo Annotazioni e Commenti di Milanesi. Firenze, 1878 — 79. BURCKHARDT, Dr. Jacob. The Cicerone. An Art Guide to Painting in Italy. For the use of Travellers and Students. Translated from the German of Dr. Jacob Burckhardt by Mrs. A. H. Clough. A new edition revised and corrected by J. A. Crowe. London, 1879. OWEN, A. 0. Art Schools of Mediaeval Christendom. Edited by J. Euskin. London, 1879. INTRODUCTION. AS the fourteenth century will always remain an epoch in the history of Art, on account of the decoration of the Campo Santo, by Giotto and his pupils ; so, the dawn of the fifteenth century marks yet another step in its progress. Bitherto, Pisa had been the cradle of the early genius of Italy. Her extensive commerce had first introduced the taste for Art into the country, and her Campo Santo, the first public work of art, became the scene of competition between the great painters of the age. But in the year 1406 Pisa fell into the hands of the Florentines. Deprived not only of her artificers, but of nearly all her citizens, it was vain to hope that the arts would any longer find a home in the shattered and destroyed city. They were, however, gladly welcomed in Florence, whose citizens in the first flush of pride .at their new conquest, were eager to adorn their capital, and to make it worthy of their increased dignity and power. Cosimo de' Medici — called the father of his country — was then at the head of the state ; to be succeeded by the great patron of Literature and Art, Lorenzo the Magnificent. The hereditary taste for the fine arts in the Medici family has been the theme of all the historical annals which record thjir reigns. X INTRODUCTION. Their palace became the Lyceum of philosophers, the Arcadia of poets, and the academy of painters. The talents of Paolo Uccello, Masaccio, Filippo Lippi, Benozzo Gozzoli, Sandro Botticelli, and the Ghirlandaij, were developed under these princely auspices ; and the painters in their turn showed a grateful sense of this favour by immortalising their protectors. With the course of centuries it would almost seem as if the two changed places, the patron owing his existence in the memory of mankind to the painter, who, according to the beautiful conception of a modern Italian poet, becomes a king. " But not of those Before whose face the trembling subjects bow. # * ♦ * For in the minfi's vast continent a realm Called Painting lies— one of the favoured spots Where Beauty loves to dwell. There, hand in hand, See Grace with Nature lead her ceaseless dance ; There gorgeous Fantasy with Pomp displays Her retinue of thought, — ideas arrayed In colours brilliant as the rainbow's arch. But more perpetual." And over this kingdom he rules with undisputed sway, " The Crown which glitters on his head The Universe unanimous bestows, His sceptre's sway all living nations own ; Ay, ami those yet to come — » » • » Lord of the future." ' "Lord," indeed, "of the future," when we perceive that the lapse of more than four centuries has not diminished the ' Caitto di AUardo Aleardi, pp. 180 — 183. INTRODUCTION. xi interest in their paintings, nor dimmed the freshness of colours which have been thus poetically and aptly described. Many a long-forgotten member of the House of Medici still lives on the canvas of his protege in the portraits of the Eastern Kings offering gifts before the Shrine at Bethlehem. Perhaps the painter may have caught the idea from the stately mien of his patron in the rich garments of some newly- acquired Florentine dignity ; perhaps, even it may have been suggested to him that it would be well to accustom the people to the sight of the regal sceptre and robes which were after- wards to be associated with that proudly ambitious house. Whatever the source, the art of painting may be said to have profited by this introduction of portraiture which neces- sitated a strict imitation of nature. There is no need to point out how great this advantage was in cases where the acci- dental beauty of the subject inspired the artist's treatment : — witness, the beautiful figure of " Ginevra de' Benci," who appears so often in the paintings of Ghirlandajo in the choir of the Church of Santa Maria Novella. The patronage of the Medici stimulated the good taste of the citizens, not only of Florence, but also of the neighbouring communities, who vied with one another in adorning their cities and churches, at a time when religious feeling was prominent in art. To this spirit the cathedral in Florence was in itself a striking witness : and many other churches — their walls covered with pious paintings by the devout pupils of Giotto's school — soon reared their heads in the city. We might take for one example the painting formerly ascribed to Simone di Martino, in the Spanish chapel of Sta. Maria Novella. So "noble a piece of pictorial philosophy Xii INTEODUOTION. and divinity," Mr. Ruskin tells us, that it took him five weeks to fully appreciate one quarter of it.' This spirit, virhich in the fourteenth century more especially revealed itself in paintings, found a still wider scope in the fifteenth century in sculpture, statuary, bronze, gold, and silver work. There was a great demand for statues and bas-reliefs to adorn the new Cathedral, the Baptistery, the Church of Or' San' Michele, and others ; and soon Donatelio, Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Filarete, Eosselli, I Pollaiuoli, and Verroechio pro- duced their wonderful works. From such masters as these the youth of Florence learnt the first principles of their profession— principles at once broad and universal, applicable to all the branches of Art. Thus it would frequently occur that the same artificer would be a sculptor, painter, a bronze-founder, a goldsmith, an enamel-worker, and even an architect besides. Such was the dawn of the Renaissance in Florence, the first among the cities of Italy to bask in the sunshine of the golden age of Art. * Mornings in Florence. IV. The VcUted BooV, p. 108. PRECURSORS OF FRA ANGELICO. CHAPTER I. STEFANO FIORENTINO, UCCELLO, AND MASOLINO. STEFANO FIORENTINO. Born 1301. Died 1350. " Faoesti eome qnei che va di notte Che porta il lutne dietro, e i s^ non giova Ma dopo sfe fa le persone dotte." ' 1 Purg, xxii. 66-69. THE servile imitation of the Greek artists was at an end. Giotto and his pupils had released art from the swathing-bands of infancy, yet still the untaught steps tottered along the difficult road, while the hands feebly groped in the dark after the hidden power which was shortly to be held with so firm and enduring a grasp. But at present the figures seemed to slide out of the pictures, the buildings were not in perspective, and the art of foreshortening was imperfectly understood. Stefano Fiorentino was more alive to these difficulties than capable of remedying them ; yet, in his picture of Lucifer ' B*or translations see Appendix. P P a B 2 THE PEECUESOES OF FEA ANGELICO. cist out of Heaven, he made a bold attempt to grapple with them ; and his treatment of the falling angels was so great an advance in the art of foreshortening upon anything hitherto attempted, that it obtained for him the nickname of "Scimia della natura " (the Ape of Nature).' It was the period when the study of Nature was beginning to exercise its fascinating influence upon Art. A general feeling prevailed among the artists that this class of study was of more avail than the mere imitation of even a perfect model. But, as might be expected at first, their studies were without discrimination; new difficulties assailed them at every turn which they paused to analyse and examine, and in many cases the end was lost in the eager pursuit of the means by which it was to be attained. Many a lifetime was spent in the single effort to master one of the various branches of art under this new and diffi- cult aspect, such as perspective, light and shade, or the chemistry of colours. We could have no better illustration of this than the life of Paolo, Uccello. PAOLO UCCELLO. Boen 1397. Died 1475. Paolo di Dong, commonly called TJccello, was born at a time when the science of perspective was the chief object of research among the great masters in art. Brunelleschi was about to impart its rudiments to Masaccio ; Donatello was finding out its adaptation to sculpture ; and Ghiberti for the first time was applying its principles to bas-relief,* in the gates of S. Giovanni. Paolp Uccello was so fortunate as to be associated with him in this immortal work. He began life as a goldsmith, ■ Vasari, Milauesi's ed. 1878-9, p. 450, ' Vasfiri, note to p. 221. PAOLO UCCEIXO. 6 and in this capacity was apprentice to Ghiberti, at the tyne when he was engaged upon the second gate of the Baptistery. Paolo had learnt the rudiments -of his art from the mathe- matician Giovanni Manetti, and had specially devoted him- self to the study of perspective with an enthusiasm which led him to sacrifice much in order to obtain proficiency in the coveted science. The great sculptor Donatello, his intimate friend, pointed out to him that he was taking the shadow for the substance. " Eh, Paolo," he said to him, on finding him absorbed in some of the most intricate problems ; " this perspective of yours makes you abandon what is certain for that which is uncertain." ' But no persuasion could induce him to give up a study which was the delight of his life. It is said that he would pass whole nights and days consecutively working out his problems, and that to the reiterated entreaties of his wife that he would take some rest, he would only reply — "Oh che dolce cosa h la prospettiva " (" How delightful is perspective "). His whole genius was concentrated upon this study, and we can trace in his works his gradual progress towards the goal which he set before him — the earlier revealing his struggles to represent the foreshortened parts, and perspective lines, the latter the high degree of perfection to which he after- wards attained, either in his buildings and colonnades, in whicli he conveys the idea of a vast distance in a small space, or in his treatment of figures, which he foreshortens with a success hitherto unknown to the pupils of Giotto. Still the bas-relief treatment which he had learned when an apprentice to Ghiberti always appears in his pictures. He was, in truth, more of a sculptor than a painter ; nor is it known from whom he learned actually to paint, though, as .has been already observed, the sister arts were practised at the same time in the. various studios of Florence.^ 1 Vasari, ed. 1878-9, p. 205. " See Introduction. E 2 4 THE PRECURSORS OF FRA ANGELICO. His first pictures wei-e in fresco, in the Hospital Df Lelmo ; ' these, with several others of his paintings, have perished. The most important which remain to us are — (1.) His battle pieces. These were originally in the garden of the Bartolini at Gualfonda, near Florence, and they contained portraits of Paolo Orsini, Ottobuono da Parma, Luca da Canale, Carlo Malatesta da Rimini, all famous captains of the day. One of these paintings only remains in the UflSzi, another is in the Louvre, the third is in the National Gallery.^ This last one is said to be the best of the set. It represents the Battle of Scmt' JEgidio, July 7, 1416, "in which Carlo Malatesta, Lord of Rimini, and his nephew, Galeazzo, were taken prisoners by Braccio di Montone. From the fragments of arms, etc., strewed upon the ground, the battle has been already fought ; and the incident represented appears to be an attempt at rescue ; which supposition is strengthened by the fact that Malatesta is marchihg under a strange standard. Of the many armed knights on horseback represented, only four are engaged, but all except Malatesta and his nephew have their faces concealed by their visors. The young Galeazzo, not yet a knight, carries his bassinet in his hand. The figure lying on the ground to the left is an illustration of the painter's love of foreshortening. In the background is a, hedge of roses mixed with pomegranate and orange trees, and some hilly ground behind." The picture is in tempera on wood, 6 ft. high by 10 ft. 5 in. in width. The details of each and all of these paintings show that Uccello was already reaping the harvest of his careful studies in perspective, but the labour bestowed upon them was too ' Lelmo or Lemmo, afterwards San Matteo, and, since 1784, the "Ac- cademia delle Belle Arti." It was so called from its founder, Lemmo Balducci, whose bust Is still there, and whose coat of arms can be seen outside the buiMing in the corner between the Via della Sapienza and the Via Eic8,soli. — Vasari, ed. 1878-9, note to p. 206. ' No. 583. PAOLO uccelLo. 5 evident — and the perspective appears as the end and object of the picture instead of a means of assisting the illusion. The secret of " L'arte clie tutto i'a nulla si scopre," Paolo Uccello and many others hg,d yet to Iv^arn. We do not kpow the exact date of these pictures, but as the battle which forms the subject of the last was fought in 1416, they must have been painted subsequent to that date. (2.) His portrait of the Englishman, Condottiere Hawk- wood, in S. Maria del Fiore at Florence. This was executed in 1436, and shows what great progress Uccello had made in the interval in the art of foreshortening. It was painted in terra verde — an imitation of a stone sepulchre having a bracket high up on the wall drawn as if seen from below — a pedestal resting on the sepulchre, on this the profile of a horse carrying the " Condottiere." Both horse and man were of colossal size, but for some reason or other the work was not approved of by the Florentines, and the archives of the Duomo record an order " to take down the equestrian figure which is not properly painted by Paolo Un<;ello, and to repaint it in lerra verde.'' ' It is not positively known whether the Portrait of Uawk- toood, still to be seen in the Cathedral at Florence, is the first or second of Paolo's productions. The hostile criticism may be in part ascribed to the action given by the artist to the horse. He makes it rest only on one fore, and one hind leg ; for a long time this made it the subject of much discussion. It has since been pronounced correct and true to nature, Fossombroni, in his memorandum as to the motion of animals, declaring that : " Paolo Uccello, who has been the object of such fierce attack on account of his painting of the horse in the Duomo 1 Vasari, ed. 1878-9, p. 212. 6 THE PRECUESOES OF ERA ANGELICO. at Florence, because the horse has both feet raised on the right side, is as much in the right as Giovan Bologna, who modelled his horse in the same manner." i Or we might in- stance Donatello's horse of Gattamellata at Padua, which has precisely the same action. It is curious that the same discussion should have been revived a few years ago by the action of Miss Thompson's horse in her famous picture of the Roll Call. (3.) His frescoes in S. Maria Novella. These were perhaps the most considerable of his works, and display both the result of his indefatigable studies, and his natural gift for drawing animals. Vasari tells us that had he spent the same labour upon the study of the figure and animals from the life, as upon the problems of perspective, he would have been the Bassano of his age. In the Creation of Animals, the subject of the first fresco, he found ample scope for the exercise of this special gift. Vasari describes with enthusiasm portions of this fresco which have since perished — from the lions painted to the life, as thougn about to spring upon each other, down to the fishes and birds ; these latter so admirably rendered as to give the artist the nickname of " Uccello " (bird), which has ever since remained by him. The Creation of Man, the most perfect of the paintings so far as preservation is concerned, the Temptatimi, and the Expulsion, form the subjects of the adjoining frescoes. In each of them the landscapes should be noticed, as Paolo was the first to bestow care and attention in rendering them. The Building of the Arh is supposed to. be by another hand. But the Deluge bears the unmistakable marks of Paolo's treatment in its motioii and force, the masterly drawing of the figures -and animals, and the expression of the different affections — terror, anger, and dismay. " As to perspective and anatomy, suflBcient is to be found ' Vasari, ed. 1878-9, note to p. 212. 8 THE PEKCURSOKS OF FRA AKGELICO. in this one fresco for tracing the exact picture of Uccello's talent ; and for gaining the conviction, that he had mastered the problem of retreating lines to various vanishing points on a common horizon, or in the definition of circles and curves at difEerent distances, and on numerous planes. His masterly foreshortening in floating corpses must have astonished the men of his time." ' His perspective again stood him in good stead in diminish- ing the distant forms. • Two more scenes from the life of Noah complete the set. In one of these, Noah's Sacrifice, Paolo Seems to have reached the climax of his ambition. Indeed, Uccello's idea of his art, which he wished to convey to posterity, would not have disgraced a later stage of the Renaissance, and was summed up in five portraits which he painted and always kept by him — Giotto, as a painter, the luminary of art ; FUippo di Ser Brunelleschi, for architecture ; Donatello, for sculpture ; Giovanni Manetti, for geometry and mathematics ; and himself for perspective and animal painting. Paolo's works out of Florence are confined to Padua and Urbino. At Padua he worked at the same time as Donato, and painted in the entrance of the Casa di' Vitaliani, some giants in terra verde, which were highly esteemed by Andrea Mantegna. At TJrbino, late in life when he was about seventy-two years old, he was invited to paint an altar- piece by the brotherhood of Corpus Cristi, but this is no longer in existence ; though it is suggested as a possibility that it may exist under a difEerent name — ^that of Giusto of Ghent in the church of S. Agatha. Another, among many, of the interesting works of XJccello which have been lost to us, was a predella of an altar-piece at S. Maria Maggiore at Florence, of which one panel was painted by Masaccio. The curious paintings in the Loggia de Peruzzi at Florence have also perished. They represented the elements as four animals — the earth as a mole, water as ' Crowe and Cavaloaselle's Hist, of Painting in Italy, vol. ii. p. 295. ,'PAOL.O UCCELLO. 9' a fish, fire as a salamander, air as a chameleon, but never having seen a chameleon, and deceived by the likeness of name, he represented this latter as a camel with its mouth open drinking in air.^ A rather sad anecdote closes the account of Uccello's in- defatigable efEorts. He was employed to paint the portrait of S. Thomas, above the door of the church of S. Tommaso in the Mercato Vecchio. Paolo intended ihat this picture should embody the result of his life-long labours, and carefully concealed it from the sight of every one till it should be done. Donate inquired with curiosity what was the work which he so studiously veiled ' from all eyes. Paolo replied that he should not see it till it was done, but that it would be a sight worth waiting for. Donato was content to wait in the expectation of so great a work of art, till, one day passing by chance the Mercato Vecchio at a time when Paolo was at work, the painting was uncovered, and the artist asked him his opinion. . Donato examined it narrowly, and then said, " Why, Paolo ! now when it is the time to cover it up, you have displayed it ! " This opinion of a work which he had intended for a chej d'ceuvre, so disheartened Paolo, that he had no longer nerve to show himself in Florence ; and he shut himself up in his house, plunging once more into his favourite problems of perspective. He died in his eighty -fifth year, 1475, and was buried in the church of the S. Maria Novella in the tomb of his father.^ A tardy justice was rendered to his talents in many epigrams and Couplets, of which the following is one . — " Zeusi et Parrasio ceda et Poliguoto, Ch'io fei I'arte una tacita natura Diei affetto et forza a ogni mia figura, Vola ngli iiccelli, a' pesci 11 corso e'l noto.'' \ 1 Vasaii, ed. 1878-9, p. 21. = Ibid, p. 217. 10 THE PRECURSORS OF FRA ANGELICO. Paolo Uccello's Works. His genuine works are not to be found In the public galleries,! with the exception of three out of four of the battle-pieces painted originally in the BartOlini Gardens, and now (1.) In the Uifizi at Florence. (No. 29, 1st Corridor.) (2.) In the Ex-Campana Collection of the Louvre. (3.) In the National Gallery. ,(No. 583.) The Equestrian Portrait of Hawkwood in the Duomo at Florence. The Frescoes in the Cloisters of S. Maria Novella, The Giants in the Casa" dei Vitaliani at Padua. MASOLINO DA PANICALE. Boen 1382. Died 1447. "We select Masolino da Panicalb as the next instance among the Florentine artists who mark the transition from the old to the new manner. The son of Cristoforo di Fino "an imbiancatore," he, Tommaso, was born at Panicale di Val d'Elsa, whence his name is derived. Like so many of the Florentine artists he was, as a child, trained as a goldsmith ; at the age of eighteen he learned painting under Gherardo della Stamina, Vasari tells us that he afterwards studied in Rome, and that while there he decorated the hall of the, Casa Orsino Vecchia in Monte Giordano, but there seems to be a doubt, which can never now be solved (as the frescoes have long ago perished), whether they are to be ascribed to Magolino or to Giottino.^ Altogether 1 Crowe and CaTalcaselle, vol. ii. p. 299. ^ Vasari, ed. 1878-9, vol. iii. p. 264. MASOLINO DA PANICALE. II the early records of Masolino's works have to be received with caution, owing to the confusion which not unnaturally arose between two painters of nearly the same name and date — "Masolino" and " Masaccio," both being corruptions of the Christian name " Tommaso." To make the matter still more complicated, a third painter of less distinction, but still with the same nickname, " Maso " (son of Cristofdro Eraccia), existed at the same time, and worked under the great Ghiberti at the gates of S. Giovanni. This is proved by records extant, and as Masolino's style would barely support the theory of his having been, the pupil of the great sculptor, it is possible that Vasari may have been misled by the similarity of names in his statement to that effect.^ But turning away from these doubts and uncertainties, recent discoveries have revealed to us some of Masolino's undeniable work signed with his name. The Febscoes of Castiglione di Olona. The Church of Castiglione di Olona, in the province of Como, between Tradate and Varese, was built upon the site of an ancient castle by Cardinal Branda di Castiglione in 1422. It was dedicated to Our Lady of the Eosary, and SS. Lawrence and Stephen ; and Masolino da Panicale was chosen by the Cardinal to decorate his new church with frescoes. These he completed in 1428. For years they have been coi-cealed by whitewash, and were only rescued in the year 1843 by the exertions of the "Abate" Malvezzi, who had further the intention of publishing a series of lithographs of the long-concealed treasure, but receiving no support, was obliged to abandon his intention. The subjects of the frescoes are representations of incidents taken from the lives of the Virgin, and the saints to whom the dhurch is dedicated. In the vault above the altar are the scenes from the life ' Crowe and Cavalcaselle, vol. i. p, 513. 12 THE PEECURSORS OF FKA ANGELlCO. of the Blessed Virgin, the Ahnunciation, the • Maxriage with, S. Joseph, the Natiwiy of Christ, the Adoration of the Magi, the Assumption and Coronation of t/ie Virgin. Of these- two last but little remains. The historical interest of ■ these frescoes centres in that of the Nativity/, in which the founder of the chuS'ch, Cardinal Branda, appears as one of the kneel- ing figures, and in a scroll to the right is the inscription, " MasoHnus de Florentia Pinxit." Scenes from the life of S. Lawrence and S. Stephen are represented on the walls of the choir, which is of an octangular form. They are in two different groups, the acts of S. Lawrence on ,the one side, and those of S. Stephen on the other. The exact date is un- happily lacking, though one may form a guess at it, from a bas-relief in the lunette above the architrave of the entrance door of the church, of the same period, but by another hand. This bas-relief, of considerable merit, represents the Virgin enthroned, with the Infant Saviour in the act of blessing Cardinal Branda, who kneels on the left-hand side, supported by S. Lawrence and one of the popes ; on the opposite side are SS. Ambrose and Stephen, and by the latter of these two saints the date 1428 is engraved on the marble — the same date runs round the upper and lower cornice oi the architrave, whei-e are the figures of the four Evangelists, and ihese bear- ing the date 1435 we are led to suppose that the decoration of the church and baptistery occupied about seven years. The frescoes in the Baptistery represent scenes from the life of S. John tfte Baptist : "The Baptistery is built in the form of a parallelogram with a tribune of the same shape, but smaller dimensions, attached to it. Moving to the right as he enters the Baptistery, the spectator will notice, on the entrance wall, traces of figures in a temple. On the next niche is the daughter of Herodias before Herod with the usual attendant -episodes ; by the side of the arch leading into the tribune, the execution of S. John. The rest of the Baptistery is MASOLlNO DA PANICALE., 13 dennJed of fresco except in that part which faces the dance of the daughter of Herodias, where Zacharias may be seen writing the name of his new-born son. In the vq,ulting of the arch leading into the tribune are six saints, and in the key-Btone, the date of 1435 painted of a smoke-colour, and apparently modern. In the tribune, S. John, on the wall to the' left, preaches to a multitude; in the lunette and sides of the end wall, he baptizes the Saviour, and is brought before Herod, whilst on the face to the right, he appears in prison. The ceiling of the Baptistery, divided as usual by diagonals, contains the four evangelists, that of the tribune the Saviour in a glory of angels." ^ In this series of frescoes, the figures of the four evangelists are the best preserved, and in the least changed portions we can trace a careful and delicate handling, an excellent method of colouring, both in the heads and the flesh tints. The colours in the drapery have been absorbed by the damp, the distemper employed being less tenacious than that used for the flesh tints.^ These undoubted works of Masolino da Panicale have given rise to much discussion, whether those ascribed to him in the Brancacci Chapel are his genuine work. It is argued that the style of the work is totally different ; and we are told that Masolino began them, and died before they were finished, leaving Masaccio to complete the work. Now Masaccio died in 1428, so Masolino survived him many years. Again, documents still extant record that shortly after Masolino had been admitted into the Guild of the Speziali, 1423, he entered the service of Filippo Scolari, Ohergespcmn of Temeswar, commonly called Pippo Spano. Spano is, perhaps, ' Crowe and Cavalcaselle, vol. i. p. 503. " The account of these frescoes, and sketches taken from them, were supplied to Milanesi for his new edition of Vasari by several artists and amateurs of the fine arts who visited thejn for that purpose. — Vasari, note to p. 272. 14 THE PEECDESOKS OF FEA ANGEUCO. a corruption of Ohergespann} " Pippo Spano" was a Ghibelline by birth, and, on that account, an exile from Florence. He served the King of Hungary, first as a captain, and afterwards as a statesman, when he was made Obergespann of Temesvar. His wealth, of which fabulous accounts are ^ven, was employed in building churches, and then sending to his native country for artists to decorate them. Among, these artists was Masolino ; to whom, accord- ing to the inscription just cited, the heirs of " Pippo " owed a sum of 360 florins. This was in the year 1427. In 1428 he painted the Castiglione frescoes. There is no record of his return to Florence, so if he had any share in the frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel, it must have been previous to his work at Castiglione. This is admitted as Just possible, and, while the latest commentators on Vasari ^. recognise the force of these arguments, they do not consider them sufficiently con- vincing to withdraw from Masolino the paintings hitherto assigned to him in their apportionment of the frescoes among the three artists.' But the common theory, that Masolino was prevented from finishing his work by death, is obviously incorrect : the Castiglione frescoes were executed subsequent to those attributed to Masolino in the Brancacci Chapel. As Paolo TJccello became the slave of perspective, so Masolino gave himself up in turn to the study of the detail of form to the sacrifice of composition, in his eagerness to depict nature as he saw it. He is said by some to have been a great master of chiaroscuro. As to his colouring, the damaged state of his frescoes ' Hungarian title, signifying a Supreme Count. = Vasari, ed. 1878-9, vol. ii. pp. 265-273. ' Viz., the /teaching of S. Peter, tlie Healing of the Lame Man al the Seau^ful Gate by SS. Peter and Paul, and the Resuscitation of Petro- nilla (Tabitha). It has also been called the Raising of Jairus' Daughter, Adam and Eve beneath the Tree of Knowledge. — Ibid. p. 324. MASOLINO DA PANICALE. 15 would make it difficult to give an opinion, but the system -employed was the distemper {"a tempera"), which, until the invention of oils, was a general practice of the Italian artists The colours were first moistened with water, and afterwards thickened into consistency by some glutinous mixtures, white of egg or the juice of the young shoots of the fir-tree. Fra Angelico's numerous specimens convey the best idea of this method of colouring. The same mechanism was used in the miniature painting on vellum. In fresco painting the colours were laid on while the plaster, spread over the surface to be painted, was fresh and wet ; they afterwards sank into the surface, became incorporated with it, and became a.s durable as the substance which received them. No one knows the origin of the invention, but it dates as far back as the Egyptians, from whom it was borrowed by the Greeks. The paintings of Polygnotus at Delphi are said to have been in fresco, and the mechanism of the art, which required great dexterity and quickness of hand, is said to have been better understood then than ever afterwards, even in the time of Raphael. Besides the frescoes of Castiglione, a few other vestiges of Masolino's painting still remain in Lombardy ; but there is so great an uncertainty about them that they cannot be cited as his genuine works. It is supposed that Paolo Schiavo was one of Masolino's pupils, and that he did credit to his master's teaching in the foreshortening and colouring of his figures. But of this the painting of the Madonna between two Saints on the wall of the Canto de'' Nelli af Florence is produced as a solitary example. CHAPTER II. MASACCIO. Born 1401. Died 1428; " Pinsi, e la mia pittnra al ver fupari ; L'atteggai, I'avvivai, le diedi il moto, Le dieili atfetto — Insegni il Bonarroto A tutti gli altri, e da me solo impari." »iy /TASACCIO was the son of a notary, Ser Giovanni XVX di Simone Guidi, of Castello San Giovanni in the Val d'Amo. Hq was bom on St. Thomas's Day, 1401. Hence his Christian name of " Tommaso," of which the corruption " Maso " had shortly the derogatory termination " accio " affixed to it, on account of the boy's slovenly and disorderly habits. It has ever since remained by the painter, and only under this name are his illustrious works known to the world. From his earlj' yovith he showed an extraordinary natural ability. This, when developed by continual study and the training of such masters as Ghiberti, Donatello, and Brunel- leschi, enabled Masaccio to reach a sununit of excellence hitherto unattained by the Florentine artists. He was among the first to introduce freedom and ease into art, facing the difficulties with confidence, and overcoming t hem without betraying the effort which his victory had cost MASAGCIO. 17 him. We might take as an instance the practice, which, with some few exceptions, generally prevailed, of representiiig the figure poised on the points of the toes, to avoid the fore- shortening of the feet. Masaccio despised this awkward subterfuge, and succeeded in foreshortening the foot in such a manner that the old ungraceful practice was, after his time, never resorted to again. If his drawing was admirable, his colouring was equal to it, being famous for that almost untranslatable Italian word " morbidezza " ; which combines the expression of softness, flexibility, and texture in the rendering of the flesh tints. It is not clear, owing to the confusion, already alluded to in the chapter on Masolino, between the names and dates of the two painters, whether Masaccio learnt of Masolino. The recent discoveries throw great doubt upon this point, representing that — as Masolino entered the Guild of the Speziali in 1423, and Masaccio in 1421 — Masaccio must have entered it two years before his master ! In 1424 we find the record of his being enrolled in the Guild of Painters. He worked in Pisa, and in Florence, before going to Rome, but these works have perished. At Rome he acquired a great reputation in his decoration of one of the chapels in the Church of S. Clemente, with frescoes representing the Passion of our Saviour, and scenes from the Life of S. Catherine. These early works, though full of the promise of his early genius, are not to be compared to his later productions. The Grucifixion is represented on the wall facing the entrance. One of the groups in the foreground, of the Virgin in a swoon supported by the three Maries, was afterwards copied by Perugino. The Legend of S. Catherine occupies the wall to the left of this series ; the finest composition and the best preserved is that which represents the Defeat of the Doctors before Maxentius. p F A c 18 THE PEECURSOKS OF FEA ANGELICO. " S. Catherine, standing in the centre of a hall, at whose sides eight doctors are seated, propounds and enforces her arguments by the action of one hand on the other. Her rea- soning seems chiefly directed to one on the foreseat to the left, who looks up, whilst his arms are crossed on a book resting on his knee. Masxentius sits on a throne at the bottom of the room in an attitude of majestic repose, and his face is affected oy surprise."^ There were several other pictures executed by Masaccio at Rome ; one of these, the Portraits of tJie Pope Martin V. and the Emperor Sigismund, suggests the date of his sojourn there, which coincides with that of the re-appearance of the Plague at Florence (1417). In 1420, the return from exile of the Medici, who had always been his friends and patrons, enticed him back to Florence. Yasari tell us that Oosimo, il Vecchio, was then in power, but the date will not support the theory ; and it was more probably Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, whose portrait was twice painted by Masaccio ; once as a figure in a proces- sion, and again in a picture which once existed in the Casa Simon Corsi. Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici is known in the history of Florence as the inventor of the Income Tax Schedule, which supplied not only himself but posterity with information as to the lives and estates of his subjects. By these means we know that Masaccio was very poor, that he lived with his mother and brother Giovanni, also a painter (but far inferior to Masaccio), in a house in the quarter S. Croce, and that Tommaso kept a shop near the old Badia, that he had many debts, and was obliged to place some of his property in pawn. Happily for posterity this struggling existence did not cramp his powers nor fetter his genius. His frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel of the church of the Carmine in Florence, while they were the wonder of his own ' See Crowe and Cavaloaselle, vol. i. p. 522. MASAOCIG. L9 time, have ever since formed as marked an era in the history of painting as Ghiberti's gates in the history of sculpture. Before beginning upon this task, he gave, as a sample of his powers, the -San Paolo iu the bell-room, but this painting, which Vasari tells us was so noble a figure that it lacked only the power of speech, has since perished. It was drawn from the life, and was the portrait of the Gonf aloniere Bartolo d' Angiolino Angiolini.' It was one of the first and most successful examples of Masaccio's triumph over the difficulty of foreshortening the feet. While he was engaged upon this first example, the church of the Carmine was consecrated, and Masaccio was interrupted in his work to commemorate the event in a fresco. Masaccio represented the procession in terra verde above the door of the convent, exactly as it issued from the cloisters on that occasion. Among the groups of citizens who followed in its wake, portraits are introduced of Brunelleschi, Donatello, Masolino, Felice Brancacci^ (the founder of the chapel), Gio- vanni di Bicei de' Medici, and others, including the porter of the convent with the key of the door in his hand. This work was considered a feat, because of the accuracy of the perspective of the procession, the diminishing propor- tions of the figures, and the care with which he represented their different statures.^ After the completion of this fresco, Masaccio returned to work at the Brancacci Chapel. The chapel is in the form of 1 Bartoli d'Angiolino Angiolini — del quartiere Santo Spirito— was born in 1373, and held many offices under the republic between the years 1406 and 1432. 2 The disputed point, as to which of the Brancacci was the founder of the chapel, has been set at rest by the discovery of the will of Felice Brancacci. See Vasari, ed. 1878, note to p. 296. ' This fresco has also perished, although the original design is said to be still extant in private hands. See Lanzi, Storia pittm-ica della Italia, vol. i. p. 50. c 2 20 THE PRECUESOKS OF FRA ANGELICO. a parallelogram, and three out of the four sides are covered with frescoes divided into twelve compartments, of' which four are large and oblong, and the rest narrow and upright. The two frescoes immediately on each side as you enter represent — the one, Adam and Eve in Paradise, the other, their Expulsion from it. The rest of the paintings represent scenes from the Life of S. Peter, and the two exceptions are said to have been chosen with design, because of the legend that S. Peter was keeper of the gates of Paradise. It is perhaps no wonder that these frescoes, forming so im- portant a feature in the pro- gress of art, should have been the subject of prolonged and eager discussion, as to the exact share which may be attributed to each of the painters who were engaged upon them. The learned commentator on the latest edition of Vasari gives us the result of his careful sifting of the question to this effect, in assigning the following to Masaccio : — (1) The Expulsion from Pa/radise. (2) The Tribute Mcifiey. (3) The Resuscitatim of the King's Son (begun by Masaccio and finished by Filippino Lippi). (4) S. Peter " in Catliedrd." The Expulsion vrom Paradise. By Masaccto. , MASACCIO. 21 (5) The Infirm healed hy the Shadow of SS. Peter and John. (6) S. Peter baptizing. (7) S. Peter distributimj Alms to tlie Poor.^ Among the most notable of the series illustrating the life of S. Peter is — (1) The fresco representing S. Peter taking the Tribute Money out of the Mouth of tJm Fish.^ A wonderfvil-truth- fulness is given in the treatment of S. Peter, wkose face is dark from stooping over the fish. The surrounding apostles appear as if alive ; the one on the extreme right of the central group is known to be the portrait of Ma- saccio himself, done from a looking-glass. It resembles in form and feature the portrait of Masaccio given by Vasari, while the compact, well-knit frame and square head are suggestive of the young painter in all the power and strength he exhibits in his works. For the first time the effect of life is produced in the figures, which are raised from the fiat surface by modelling the forms. (2) The fresco of the Resuscitation of the King's Son in which this art is carried to a still greater perfection. The subject of this fresco is by some supposed to be Eutychus,^ by others the apocryphal story of the challenge of Simon the Magician to the Apostles SS. Peter and Paul to restore to life a youth, who had been dead fourteen years, the kinsman of the Roman emperor. The boy is represented in the picture kneeling before the apostles ; by his side are the skull and bones to indicate his former state of death. J^ large crowd stand round beholding the miracle, and among the figures are contemporary portraits of Guicciardini, Luigi Pulci, Antonio Pollaiuolo, and others. The central group was afterwards finished by Filippino. (3) S. Peter baptizing. — Among the figures in this fresco, 1 As to the distiibution of the remainder of the frescoes, see Lives of Masolino and Filippino Li))pi. 2 See S. Matthew xvii. 24—27. ' See Acts xx. 9. 22 THE PKECURSOES OF FEA. ANGELICO. that of tlie trembling proselyte, who appears actually to shake from cold as he stands on the brink of the water, has obtained a world-wide celebrity. Lanzi tells us that it formed an epoch in the history of art,^ and was the centre of attrac- tion to all who both at the time and afterwards studied these frescoes. Among Jhese we might enumerate Filippino Lippi, who finished them, Verrocchio, Ghirlandajo, Sandro Botticelli, Perugino. Later on Michelangelo did not disdain to learn there the principles of the art which he carried to perfection. Kaphael borrowed from them, and indeed found little to alter in Masaccio's treatment of the Expulsion from Paradise, when he painted the same subject in the Loggie at the Vatican. Besides the frescoes of the Brancacci Chapel, Masacoio exe- cuted a work in S. Maria Novella, which was only dis- covered in 1857, having been hitherto concealed by a large picture by Vasari. This recent discovery, the undoubted work of Masaccio, has, by comparing it with the frescoes of the Brancacci Chapel, helped to determine which are Masacoio's productions. In itself it is a painting of great in- terest, showing how far Masaccio was guided by the Giotto type before he abandoned traditionary art for the study of nature It has been truly said of him that with one hand he grasped Giotto, while the other was stretched out to Ilaphael. An early example of his style was the group of S. Anna the Virgin and Fn/a/nt Sa/uiov/r, originally painted for the Church of S. Ambrogio, and now in the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Florence." There are also two pictures by him in the Uffizi Gallery, one supposed to be his own portrait (No. 286) ; the other, not so certainly known to be by Masaccio, represents a man the size of life (No. 1167). Had Masaccio lived, he might have attained to still greater heights of fame ; but his death was premature and sudden — some, indeed, ascribe it to poison ; such was the jealousy of his ' Lanzi, SLoria PittmHca della Italia, vol. i. p. 60. 2 See Va.fnri, ed. 1878-9, p. 200. MA.SACC10. 23 extraordinary talent. All we know is, that when the next return was issued by the office of the Catasto, on Masaccio's tax paper appeared the vague words, " Dicesi e morta in Eoma." Masaccio's method of drawing was, we are told, excessively rapid ; he chiefly directed his attention to representing the figures in action, neglecting the smaller details, which did not immediately tend to prodvice this effect. In his early studies of modelling, he learnt from Ghiberti and Donatello, not merely the knowledge of form, but the effects of light and shade; in giving roundness to his figures ; to this he added an accuracy of drawing, a softness and harmony in colouring the flesh, which had never been reached before. His habit of painting from life (and it will be remembered how many portraits he introduced into his work) gave animation and character to each individual head, so that it was said of him that he painted not only the body but the soul. " Fu molto semplice nell' paneggiare," the Italian biographer tells us ; and it is a relief to turn from the stiff longitudinal folds of the Giotto school to the grand and simple treatment of drapery by Masaccio. Sir Joshua Reynolds sums up his description in a few brief words : " He appeared to be the first who discovered the path that leads to every excellence to which the art afterwards arrived ; and may therefore be justly considered one of the great fathers of modern art." * List of Paintings by Masaccio. 1. The frescoes in the Church of S. Clemente at Rome. 2. The frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel in the Church of the Carmine at Florence, as enumerated on page 20. .3. The Virgin and Child, in the Accademia delle Belle Arti (No 36). ' Sir Joshua Reynolds, Discourse XII. 24 THE PKEOCESORS OF ERA. ANGELICO. The other works by Masaccio, noticed by Vasari, no longer exist.^ Christ casting out a Devil ; once in the house of Ridolfo Ghirlandajo. which adorn the " Madonna and Samis," e Linanioh tn I43j- HIS EEPKESENTATION OF ANGELS. 31 idea of rapt joy which appears in his face, and to Dante alone can we leave the description — " Qual e queir Angel, che con tanto gioco Guarda negli occhi la nostra Eegina Innamorato si che par di ftioco. * * » * Baldezza e leggiadria Quanta esser puote in Angelo ed in alma Tutto e in Ini, e si volem che sia Perchfe egli k quegli che port6 la palma Giuso a Maria, Quando il Figluol di Dio Carcar si voile della nostra salma." Par. xxxii. 110. Any one acquainted with Fra Angelico's paintings would admit that his genius most clearly shows itself in his painting of angels. The difficulty of clothing the blessed spirits with a body is manifest, and, perhaps, none of the Christian subjects have been more unworthily profaned by the Renaissance. The old school had been wont to paint the angels as they are described to us in the Bible. Sometimes they are represented as the Cherubim of the prophets, as we read in Isaiah: — ' ' Each one had six wings ; With twain he covered his face, With twain he covered his feet, With twain he did fly." — vi.2. In other places we read of the angels who appeared to Abraham, Jacob, and Tobias clad in the shape of youth. This type was always adopted by the school of Giotto, and, in spite of the long flowing robe, there was nothing feminine in their character. Fra Angelico was a true pupil of the school in this respect, and if he sometimes made the angels younger in order to endow them with the freshness of the prime of youth, he never represented them as infants (like the school of Perugino), being of opinion that the age of childhood was not adapted 32 FRA ANGELICO. to express the zeal and intelligence which should belong to the messengers and ministers of the Most High. The fresco executed by IVa Angelico in the fajade of the Church of S. Domenico above the door does not belong to this period, but was probably painted later in life, on his way to Rome.' It represented the Ma donna with the Chi ld in her arms, holding a globe, S8. Doininic and Peter Martyr in adoration. The four Evangelists adorn the arch. These are in the best preservation, having been sheltered from the sun and rains of 400 years, which have damaged other parts of the fresco, although a certain brilliancy of colour and sweetness of touch still witnessed to the work of Fra Angelico till they perished when the convent was destroyed by the French. While Fra Angelico was thus busily engaged in decorating the church at Cortona, the head of his order, Giovanni Dominici, profiting by the death of the anti-pope, Alexander v., obtained the sanction of Pope Gregory XII. to return to Fiesole. The brotherhood had, however, to re-purchase from the Bishop of Fiesole their right to inhabit the convent, forfeited, according to the foundation deed, by an absence of two months, and their exile had extended over nine years. The bishop demanded an ecclesiastical vestment worth a hundred ducats, and then gave his consent to their return. The brotherhood were enabled to pay this considerable fee out of the paternal inheritance of S. Antoninus, one of the brothers, which fell to him at that time. Their funds were still further augmented by a legacy of six thousand florins bequeathed to them by a rich Florentine citizen. This last increase of wealth was spent in enlarging the convent, so that Fra Angelica found an ample field for the exercise of talent now recognised by all his brethren. Some of his choicest works were executed in Fiesole. It seemed as if — turning away from the sad realities of life, ever before him in the city which lay at his feet, divided by * Marchese, vol. i. p. 219. FRA ANGELICO. 33 faction, filled with evil customs and pagan doctrines — he took refuge in an ideal world, and created out of his own imagi- nation the saints who were to people it, in his numerous paintings. During the eighteen years he was at Fiesole, he worked incessantly. For the convent he executed two paint- ings in fresco, one in the refectory ; the other — a Crucifixion^ — in the chapter-room. These are still extant. The three pictures which he painted for the Conventual Church were an altar-piece, which — originally a fine painting — ^has been so badly restored by Francesco Mariani that but little remains of the original colour : an Anmmciation, and the Coronation of tjui Virgin, now in the Louvre, and which we select for description as the best example of his style at the pieriod." " It represents a throne under a Gothic canopy, to which there is an ascent by nine steps. The Virgin kneels on the topr most- step, clothed in a red tunic with a blue robe thrown over it ; a royal mantle with a rich border falls from it. The features are delicate, the expression full of humility and adoration. " The Saviour seated on the throne bends forward and is in the act of placing the crown on her head. On each side are twelve angels playing on various musical instruments ; on the lower grade again on either side are forty personages of the Old and New Testament. Several saints are kneeling before the throne — S. Catherine with her wheel, S. Agnes with her lamb, S. Cecilia crowned with flowers. " A row of seven small pictures form the predella ; beneath 1 This last, has been removed since September 1879. An eye-witness describes the process of renioval thus : — " The brii-k wall was cut with a saw all round the picture, the wall having been previously lined with « wooden support and framework ; it was then lowered gradually and removed." It is now in the Louvre. ' It was purchased by the French Government in 1812, and is now in the long gallery of the Louvre. P F A D 34 FEA ANGELICO. the principal picture are represented various incidents in the life of S. Dominic. The whole is about 7^ feet high by 6 feet in width. It is painted in distemper, the glories round the head are in gold, the colours are the most delicate and vivid imaginable, and the ample draperies Lave the long folds, which recall the school of Giotto ; the gaiety and harmony of the tints, tl^p^xpression of the various heads, the divine rapture of the angels, with their air of immortal youth, the devout reverence of the other personages, the unspeakable serenity and beauty of the whole composition render this picture worthy of the celebrity it has enjoyed for more than four centuries." ' , Vasari praises this picture as an example not only, of the high quality of Fra Angelico's mechanical power, but also of the profound intelligence which guided him in the composi- tion and the arrangement of the figures. Besides these he painted many pictures for the other churches in Fiesole, and sent many to Florence. Several of these have now found their way into the Accademia delle Belle Arti. Among them is the Life of Christ in thirty-five small pictures. This series of paintings has always been reckoned among the best of his small panel pictures. They once formed the panels of a press intended for the treasures of the chapel of the S. Annunziata at Florence. To those who are at ■pains to examine them they will show that Fra Angelico was a theologian of no mean capacity, and perhaps his superi- ority in this respect to the artists who preceded him may have been one cause of his successful treatment of sacred subjects. Nowhere do such proofs appear of this as in these paintings of the Life of our Lord. His mind is imbued with the type and prophecies of the Old Testament, and their fulfilment in every line of the New Testament. . 1 Mrs. Jameson's Early Italian Painters, p. 76. FEA ANGELICO. 35 We find an illustration of this in the double texts affixed to each picture. He was also conversant with the commen- taries of the Fathers upon them, and with all the sciences of the Middle Ages. It would take pages to describe the details and execution of these pictures, the thought and knowledge which suggested the ideas, the pains and care spent in expressing them. The Life of our Lord was closed by two compositions, the sum and conclusion of that Life. The Law of Love, the gift of the Gospel to the world, and the Last Judgment. Again we find the remembrance of Old and New Testament, in the double texts ; the Prophets of the Old and the Apostles of the New Testament, standing on either side of the Cross in the centre of the picture, repeat the twelve articles inscribed on the banner, and each in turn presents his scroll with the text and answering text. The same mystical treatment is oarried throughout the work. 'I'he Last Judgment was a very favourite subject with mediaeval artists. Sculptors would often place it on the doors of cathedrals as the entrance to Heaven. The school of Giotto was well calculated to render aptly a subject whose mysteries are foreshadowed in the Divina Corn- media. Orcagna had already dealt with it in the church of S. Maria Novella and in the Campo Santo. '^Fra Angelico was not unlike the earlier Florentine in his method, and grave, elegant style ; only his greater genius developed and idealised further the forms and types which Orcagna had employed. He painted the subject five times : the oldest is the one to which we have just alluded ; it is inferior to the later ones but still full of beauty. Few could rival Fra Angelico in the gravity of hjs attitudes, the truthfulness of his expression, and religious character of his work. Another Last Jvdgment, that in the Accademia at Florence, is more complete. Montalembert has described it in most D 2 36 FBA. AHUJSLICO. beautiful language/ which we will not mar by curtailing ; we cannot reproduce it at length. Another Last Judgment formed part of the Gallery of Cardinal Fesch, and is now in that of Earl Dudley at Dudley House, the composition the same, but the execution superior. ■ The fourth exists in the Corsini Gallery at Rome. It is not so extensive a composition, and is more like a miniature. A fifth is in the Museum at Berlin, but it is a repetition or copy of the one at Florence. The original design in pen and ink of another Last Judg- ment is preserved in the Gallery of the TJffizi, among the collections of old masters made bj' Andrea Tafi in the thir- teenth century. There is also a study for the same subject in M. de Reiset's collection at Paris, executed in bistre. It represents Christ as Judge, and the three angels accompany- ing him recall the picture in the Corsini Gallery. "At the top, is a hand drawn from life, and given with the precision and liveliness admired in the hands of Holbein's portraits. On the reverse of the sheet, on a yellow ground, is a fine head of a ' religious ' seen in front, half in the light and half in the shade ; and this portrait presents a surprising character of truth. The smallest details are represented in it with the fidelity of daguerreotype ; a little swelling over the left eye is given carefully. A painter of the Renaissance could not have drawn it with greater breadth and skill."= The same collection contains a study probably executed in Fra Angelico's youth when in Umbria — painted on coloured paper set off in white, representing a S. Francis in glory. Besides these there are studies for his latest works — the Evan- gelists SS. Matthew and Mark — ^painted on the arch of the chapel of the Vatican. The former, washed and set off in ' Du Varidalisme et du Caiholityisme, p. 79. ' See Cartier, Lifa of Fra Jngelico, English edition, 1865, p. 53., FEA ANGELICO. 37 wliite and green ground, holds with both hands a book opened on his right knee ; the latter has a pen in his right hand and a closed book in the left. These last three studies are very beautifully finished. To return to the Gallery of Fine Arts at Florence, which contains many other of Fra Angelico's pictures, we find among the most remarkable : — (1) 2%e Descent from t/ie Cross. It was in the Church of Santa Trinita, and is executed with so much care that it may be reckoned among the best works he ever did. It is framed, like a jewel in its setting, with little pictures, twenty in number. As a sequel to this " Descent from the Cross " and apparently of the same period, we find — (2) The Entombment. Painted for the Confraternity of S. Croce del Tempio : Also a picture in two parts, below — (3) The Adoration of the Magi; above, A Pieta. The fragments of the Legend of 88. Cosmo and Damian, which were originally painted for the PharBaa.cy of 8. Marco, and which are now separated and are hung in the Pinacoteca at Munich. In the Uffizi there are also several panel pictures by Angelico, and also a magnificent altar-piece, painted for the Guild ' of Flax-workers, one of the well-known guilds of the Italian Republic, about 1433. This picture was to be painted, according to the contract, within and without,, alluding to tbl doors of the triptych, with brilliant and varied colours, and gold and silver of the purest and finest that could be procured, with the artist's best work- manship, for which he is to receive one hundred andninety golden florins, and more or less according as the painter should think fit, and according to the number of the figures. And here we must notice that Fra Angelico never painted for money, ' The original document of this oominission being still pre.served, bears witness to the name of Guide having been the "yrmitiva noma" of Fra Angelico before he entered the Dominican Order. Marclese, voL i. p. 225. 38 FEA ANGELICO but the sums for whicli his paintings were purchased became a considerable source of income to his convent. The painter faithfully fulfilled his contract. The picture, - which is constantly copied by artists to this day, repre- sents the Madonna (life-size) enthroned, holding the Infant Jesus, with twelve angels in the cornice of such great beauty, that, according to Vasari, they seemed to have been rained down from heaven [" piovuii dal cielo "). We will only mention one other picture, an altar-piece for the church of S. Domenico at Fiesole, of which we now possess the predella^ in our National Gallery^ (No. 663). The Saviour " with the Banner of the Resurrection in his left hand, in the midst of a choir of Angels, some blowing trumpets,- others playing various musical instruments. On the two sides are kneeling a great crowd of th^ Blessed .... Altogether two hundred and thirty-six figures or portions of figures; many with their names attached." Eesidence at Floeence. We now reach the next period of Angelico's life, that of his residence in Florence, the time when he was brought face to face with the Renaissance. Brunelleschi was erecting the Cupola at S. Maria dei Fiori — Ghiberti was finishing the gates of the Baptistery — ^Masaccio had indeed disappeared from Florence, but his frescoes were scarcely dry upon the walls of the Brancacci Chapel. Donatello was the great sculptor of the day.? Fra Angelico profited ' Predella or Gradino. a step which raised the picture quite above the foot of the candlesticks on the altar, and was ornamented with pious suh- jects, calculated to excite the devotion of the priest. ° We possess also one other specimen of Fra Angelico's work in the great National Collection, purchased in 1857 — The Wise Men's Offering {No 682) — once in the collection of Professor Rosini, at Pisa. ' Crowe and Cavalcaselle, vol. i. ]). 675. AT SAN MARCO. 39 by their fellowship ; in his architectural backgrounds he showed he understood and appreciated Brunelleschi, and his figures improved after his study of those in the Branoacci Chapel, while they lost none of their religious and devout character. The brotherhood were removed from their convent at Fiesole to that of S. Marco, by the powerful influence of Cosimo de' Medici. While at his country house at Fiesole this prince and patron of the arts had already been the benefactor of the Fiesole convent. He had ordered many pictures from Fra Angelico, and now on his return from exile to Florence he determined that the brotherhood should accompany him there. Through his influence with the Pope he caused the monks of the order of S. Sylvester, who had long scandalised Florence by their evil lives, to be ejected from their convent of S. Marco, which was then given to the Dominicans of Fiesole. S. Marco was at that time a miserable half -ruined building ; Cosimo caused it to be rebuilt by the famous architect Michelozzo Michelozzi^ It was begun in 1437, and after six years' labour it was completed, at the cost of 36,000 florins. The restorations of the church were finished in 1441, and it was consecrated in that year by Pope Eugenius IV, The princely Cosimo further endowed it with a library, purchasing for that purpose the world-famed collection of MSS. belonging to Niccolo Niccoli, and thus organised the first public library in Italy. He also presented the choir-books, at a cost of 1,500 ducatSj intrusting their illumination to Fra Benedetto, the brother of Fra Angelico. Meanwhile Fra Angelico him- self was already at work upon the altar-piece for the choir, ' which represented the Virgin entJvroned with the Iinfant Samowr, adorned by the kneeling figures of SS. Cosmo and ,Damian ; these two saints he chose for representation as a tribute of gratitude to the patron who had been so lavi.shing in his gifts. 40 FEA ANGELICO The pedestal of the altar-piece represeating the lives of these two saints has long been parted from the altar-piece, Qow in the Accademia ; and has been scattered over various sralleries. Many duplicates also exist of the same subject, as it was frequently treated by Fra Angelico. As soon as the altar-piece was completed, Fra Angelico began his celebrated frescoes, upon which so much of his fame rests. They were painted upon the walls of the first cloister called "primo di S. Antonino," and the cells con- nected with it. The first painting was that of Christ upmi t'le Cross. It occupies the principal wall of this first cloister, at the end of the side running along the church, and facing the entrance door. In this figure of our Saviour, Fra Angelico gave the most perfect expression to the great Ideal which he had before him. We believe that Fra Angelico only attained to the representation of this supreme type of Christian art by the careful study of tradition.' He was guided by the light of those who went before him, whilst increasing it, and endowing it with his own colouring. By examining his works, it is easy to see that he has consulted the two great schools, Greek and Latin, as to his treatment of this subjefct. His types of our Saviour show a remarkable difference ; his heart seems never to have been satisfied in its passionate yearning for the perfection of face and form which belonged to One who was " fairer than the children of men." , Sometimes he follows the type of Giotto, and gives our Saviour the power and strength of full manhood ; sometimes, on the contrary, his types are extremely youthful, and his representation is that of the Tender Lamb who redeemed the world. In the picture we are now considering, the representation of Christ is inferior to that of Giotto in force, but is so ' See Didron, Bistoire de Dieu, p. 229. Quoted in Kiigler's Handbook of Pninting, vol. i. p. 9, See also Cartier's Life of Fra Angelico, p. 84. AT SAN MARCO. 41 sublime in its resignation, as to suggest the words of our first Good Friday Collect, that He was indeed " contented to suffer death upon the Cross." Perhaps, also, Dante's descrip- tion of the Veronica at Eome, may have been before Fra Angelico's mind : — " SigQor mio Gesi Cristo, Dio verace Or fu si fatta la sembianza vostra 1" Far. xxxi. line 106. And if the expression is so wonderfully rendered as to give a faint suggestion of the Divine nature to our feeble imagi- nations, the representation of the human form far surpasses any of Fra Angelico's previous works ; the drawing of the figure being pronounced by able and careful critics to be truly and exactly rendered.^ The figure of S. Dominic is considered to be no less excel- lent. He kneels at the foot of the Cross with an expression of such intensity of passion, and so marked an individuality, that it is supposed to have been a portrait of one of the brother- hood. Perhaps, that of S. Antoninus the Prior, an intimate friend of Fra Angelico ; perhaps Fra Benedetto ; perhaps even the artist himself. Near this painting, and above the door leading to the sacristy, is the next work of Fra Angelico, a fresco of S. Peter Ma/rtyr, painted in the ogive. In the left hand he holds a book and palm, and , the fore- finger of the right hand placed on his mouth enjoins silence. S. Dominic with the discipline of his Order, occupies the space above the door of the chapter-room. The decoration of the cloisters" is completed by a figure of S. Thomas Aquinas, and two more, scenes from the life of our Lord, one a Resurrection, painted near the door leading to the refectory, in which the figure oi the Saviour is again ' See Crowe and Cavaloaselle, vol. i. p. 578. 42 FEA ANGELICO most beautifully rendered ; the other painted over the door of the hospice, where strangers were entertained, in which Fra Angelieo represents Two Dominicom brothers receiving tlie Lord as a pilgrim^ The heads of the two brothers are full of expression, and Fra Bartolommeo must have been inspired by the same idea when he painted the Disciples at Emmaus above the door of the refectory. ^ Another of Fra Angelieo' s masterpieces is at the farther end of the chapter-room. It is a repetition of the painting in the cloister, only with the addition of all the ipcidents of the Crucifixion, and it represents the whole scene on Calvary. The Cross of the Lord is very high, betwixt the two thieves. At his feet a death's head marks the consequence of sin. Around him are the witnesses of His Passion. The Blessed Virgin, sinking under the weight of her griefs, is supported by a holy woman. Mary Magdalen, kneeling at the foot of the Cross, turns without rising to receive the Virgin in her arms, and they form a very beautiful group; On one side are S. John the Baptist, S. Mark, historian of the Passion, and Protector of the Convent, S. Lawrence, SS. Cosmo and Damian, patrons of the Medici. On the opposite side are introduced the figures of various other saints. The whole composition is framed in a broad and rich border divided by medallions which frame the heads of the prophets. In their hands they holds banderols, on which are written texts taken from the prophets. The glories of the order of S. Dominic are represented in the lower border. Among all "the figures of this vast com- position, two only are badly represented, that of the un- repentant thief — it vas always an impossibility with Fra Angelieo to depict crime — and that of S. Mark ; which is accounted for' by it having been possibly painted by Fra Benedetto instead of by his brother. Otherwise the execution is simple and free, the colouring soft and light, with the excep- fion of the background, which -is in a deplorable condition, AT SAN MAUOO. 43 having been since re-painted, with a dull red and a cold grey. No one knows who was guilty of this destructive act. From the Chronicle of S. Marco, we learn that there was another fresco by Fra Angelico in the refectory, representing a Crucifixion, but that it was destroyed in 1634. ' Of all Fra Angelico' s works, there are none which give us a better clue to the mind of the artist, none which give greater evidence of the humility of his character than the frescoes which adorn the bare walls of the ceUs of his con- vent. Narrow, low, lighted by little arched windows, with just enough space for a table, chair, and bed, these rude chambers contain some of Fra Ajagelico's best work, which, unknown till the middle of this century, has for four hundred years borne silent witness to his desire to promote the glory of God, and his total indifference to the praise of men.^ The inexhaustible and favourite theme of this pious painter was the life of the Lord, and, as it has been well expressed, we find in each picture, material for a page of meditation upon it.^ The figures are middle-sized, the original colouring-^if we except the background, which has been occasionally re- touched — is in Fra Angelico's sweetest and purest manner. On the outer wall of the range of cells, the series begins with the 'Annunciation, to which we have already alluded as the finest specimen of Fra Angelico's treatment of this subject. It is again repeated inside one of the cells. The Nativity was also a replica of that painted for the S. Annunziata, now in the Accademia delle Belle Arti. 2%e Presentation in the Temple bears great resemblance to that of Giotto, also in the Accademia; but here, unhappily, the background has been painted over with a heavy-, ugly tint, to the great damage of the general effect.- The Adoration of the Magi is a masterpiece, bearing the evidence of Fra Angelico's recent studies among the Renaissance artists, and worthy to I Since 1867 the convent has been transformed into the Museo Florentine di S. Marco. ' Cartier, Life of Fra Angelico, Eng. ed., p. 213. 44 FKA ANGELICO hold its place by them. It is painted in a cell much larger than the others, the one set apart by Cosimo de' Medici for his own use when he visited S. Antoninus, the prior of the convent, and Fra Angelico. It also received Pope Ea- genius rV., when he consecrated the Church of S. Marco, on the Feast of the Epiphany, 1442. The subject of the picture was no doubt chosen with reference to this event. The Baptism of our Saviour, The Sermon on the Mount, The Transfigv/ration — ^truer, and more divine in its type of the Saviom-, though not so bold as that of Haphael — The Institu- tion of the SacraTTtent, The Agony in the Garden, The Betrayal of Jvdas, The Lord in the PrcBtoriu/m, TIis Ascent of Calvary, The Crucifixion, are all treated in turn with the inexhaustible tenderness of feeling, the unwearied devotion which were the inseparable companions of Fra Angelico's labours. The three last paintings of the series, 2'he Holy Women at the Tomh, The Descent into Limbo, and The Coronation of tlw Virgin, have been selected as the most remarkable — after Tlie Adora- tion of the Magi — of this series. In the Descent into Limbo, Christ, as Conqueror, enters through the gate, which has fallen flat at His approach, beneath it Lucifer lies crushed, the impersonation of death and sin. The Saviour stretches forth His hand to Abraham, the father of the faithful, foremost among the vast multitude of "spirits in prison," who have so long awaited His coming. Among these we recognise Adam and Eve. The Italian critics look upon it as a marvellous rendering of the well-known passage in the Inferno^ " Vidi venire nn Possenle Con segno di Vittoria incoronatn, Trasseci I'ombra del Prime Parente. D'Abel suo Figlio, quella di Noe, Dl Moisb legists e I'ubbidiente Abraam Patriarca e David Re ; « * » « Ed altri molti e fecpgli beati." — (./»/. c.ir. 54. et scq.) AT SAN MAECO. 45 If, in Tlie Descerit into Limbo, Fra Angelico givtis expression to Dante's lines, it is the same poet's conception by which he is guided in the grouping of the saints, who are contemplat- ing the Coronation of the Virgin ; disposing them as if they constituted one of those garlands of blessed spirits who incessantly sing and dance round the Eternal Throne. The principal figures are more celestial in their rendering in this fresco than in the picture which treats of the same subject, now in the Gallery of the Uffizi. The Virgin is seated on a white cloud, overarched by a rainbow. She is robed in white, her arms are folded on her bosom, a gentle smile is on her lips, as she leans forward to receive the crown from the Saviour seated by her side. Her whole attitude is one of deep humility in the midst of all the surrounding glory. The figure of the Saviour is also robed in white, shaded with a light and delicate tone of colour, and in the drapery of the two figures Fra Angelico surpasses himself. The last painting, one of the most perfect as a composition, in the Convent of S. Marco is upon the wall of the upper dormitory, and represents the Madonna surrounded with the patron saints of the convent and order. Besides the paintings which have been specially selected as types of the whole series, there are eighteen smaller pictures in the cells on the right-hand side of the second dormitory ; but of these, some have perished from damp, and some have been still more effectually ruined by the attempt to repair them. 1^ Fea Angelico at Rome. 1445 — 1455. The last ten years of Fra Angelico's life were to be spent at Rome, and some of his best work belongs to this period. He was at that time between fifty and sixty, a];id it is a fact recently brought before our notice,^ that many of the great artists during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, produced * Burckhardt's Cicerone for Italy, Sd. 1879, p. 55. 46 FKA ANGELICO their greatest chefs-d'auvre comparatively late in life. Titian and Miclielangelo, Leonardo, when he painted his Cenacolo at Milan, and Bellini, the most astonishing of all, who painted some of his finest pictures when he had passed his eighty- eighth year! Nor is it difficult to imagine that with such artists as these, and with all the great artists who have since followed in their steps, every year of experience would only add to the practised cunning of the hand so long as it retained its power, and develop in the eye's undimmed gaze an ever-increasing capacity for seeing with the understanding as well as the sight. Vasari tells us that Pope Nicholas V. invited Pra Angelico to Eome ; but in this he is proved to be inaccurate (and is cor- rected in the new Commentary). It is true that Fra Angelico was afterwards employed by him ; '■ but it was from Euge- nius IV., the predecessor of Nicholas Y. in the Pontifical chair, that the first summons came. He consecrated the Church of S. Marco in 1442 : the cell which he occupied on that occasion had been adorned by Fra Angelico : it was, therefore, no wonder that he should invite to Home one who had already achieved so much in art. Fra Angelico painted for him the Cappella del Sacramento, with scenes from the Life of Christ, but the chapel was after- wards demolished by Paul III. It was while engaged upon this- work that the Archbishopric of Florence fell vacant ; the Pope offered it to Fra Angelico, who, shrinking from an honour of which, in his modesty, he felt himself unworthy, recommended in his stead S. Antoninus, who was afterwards appointed to the vacant see. Pope Eugenius died shortly after Fra Angelico's arrival in Home, at the beginning of the year 1445. During the interval which elapsed before his successor Nicholas V. was firmly established in the P9,pal Chair, Fra Angelico painted some of his best frescoes in the Cathedral of Orvieto. He 1 Vasari, ed. 1878-9, vol. ii. p. 528. AT EOME. 47 was engaged by the Chapter in conclave assembled, to paint the Last Judgment in the Cappella Nuova with figures the size of life.' They conferred upon him the title of Maestro de' Maestri ; he was to work there during the months of June, July, and August, at the rate of 200 golden ducats a year. Fra Angelico fulfilled his engagement as to time, and with the help of his pupil Benozzo Gozzoli, was able to accomplish the decoration of three triangular divisions in the ceiling. In these, he represented : — 1. The Saviour surrounded by a glory of Angels, in the act of giving judgment. The attitude is supposed to have been afterwards copied by Michelangelo. 2. Sixteen figures of Saints and Apostles seated in the clouds. 3. The Virgin amongst the Apostles. He was obliged to leave the work unfinished, being sum- moned back to Eome by Nicholas V. There he decorated the Chapel of the Vatican which bears the name of the Pontiff.^ It is curious that for two centuries the key of the ' Their deliberations (May 11th, 1447), still preserved in the archives of the Catliedral, were thus worded: "Considering that the chapel facing the one of the Corporal is blank .... it would be fitting to have it painted by some good and famous master-painter. At this moment there is at Orvieto a religious of the observance of S. Dominic, who has painted, and is painting, the chapel of our most holy Father in the Palace of the Vatican, who might perhaps be persuaded to come and paint the chapel ; he ia the most fwmims of all the painters of Italy, and would paint in the church only three months in the year, that is, in June, July, and August, because during the other months he is obliged to serve the Holy Father ; but in these three months he will not remain in Rome. He aslcs a salary for himself at the rate of 200 ducats of gold a year, with the expenses of food, and colours, scaffolding, &e. And this master-painter is named Fra Giovanni." — Life of Fra Angelico, by E. Cartier, p. 256. ^ The following notes are taken from documents, or registers, of .the Camera Apostolica relative to Fra Angelico's works in Rome: — " 1447 9 May. To Pletro Giacomo, who irorked with Fra Giovanni, 48 FEA ANGELICO. chapel should have been lost, and thus the treasures which it contained were unknown to the general world. The frescoes illustrate scenes from the lAfe of SS. Step/ien and Lawrence. The history of S. Stephen is painted in the arches of the upper part, that of S. Lawrence below. On the pilasters? on each side of the lower course of frescoes, Fra Angelioo painted saints erect in niches. SS. Anastasius, Leo, Thomas Aquinas, Ambrose, Buenaventura, Augustine, John, Chrysostom, and Pope Gregory the Great. In the ceil- ing which he painted azure spangled with stars, he represented in the four compartments in which it was divided, the four Evangelists with their symbols. The whole series show the result of Fra Angelico's studies in the Brancacci chapel, and that "while he had not lost any of his original qualities, he had acquired new ones. Still preserving the purity, and devotional feeling of his drawing, and the transparency of his colouring, he added to these, more science in the lines, more vigorous tones, greater mastery over the arrangement of his figures, more powerful effects of light and shade. From a distance they succeed in giving the effect of the bold touch of Masaocio ; when looked at closely, they have the finish of an exquisite miniature.' Vasari mentions other pictures by Fra Angelico -in Rome ; a Crucifixion, in the for working in the chapel at S. Peter's, 3 florins, 15 bolognese — salary for 1 month and 18 days from 18th March to 2nd of May. "1447, 23 May. To Fra Giovanni di Pietro, painter of the chapel of S. Peter's, to the 23rd day of May 40 ducata, 27 bolognese, on account of the annual 200 ducats from 13th March to last of May proximo, 43 florins, 27 holognese. " 1447, 1 June. To Fra Giovanni, who paints in the chapel of S, Pietro, to the said day, 2 florins, 39 bolognese for expenses in the work of that chapeL "1449. Ducats 182, bolognese 62, denari 8, for the painting of the studio (di N.-S,), Nostro Signore (?), the Pope (?). For the salary of Fra Giovanni, of Fiesole, and his workiSien and other things." (This was probably the cabinet of Nicholas V.) 1 Marchese, vol. i. pp. 293 — 4. St. Latteence giving Alms. By Fra Ahgelico. In the Chapel of Nicholas V. in the Vatican, Some. P F A 50 FRA. ANGELICO. Vatican, and an Annunciation in St a. Maria sopra Minerva; but these are no longer to be seen. We know, however, for certain, that two of his JJast Judgments, those in the Corsini, and Dudley galleries, were executed at this time ; also two pictures which have now been removed to Naples, and are in the Bourbon Museum there.^ One (296) is an Assump- tion of the Virgin', the other Our Lady ad Nives, representing the legend of the foundation of S. Maria Maggiore in Rome. The earth is covered with snow, and while the Pope Liberius traces the foundation of the new Church, our Lord and the Holy Virgin appear in the sky. It is not known why Era Angelico never returned to finisl his work at Orvieto, but it is recorded as a fact that to the last the Chapter of the cathedral waited in the hope of his return. Many painters desired to finish the work, but they never received permission to do so till the tidings reached Orvieto that Era Angelico was dead. He died in Eome, at the age of sixty-eight, March 18, 1455, and was buried in Santa Maria sopra Minerva; Pope Nicholas V. himself wrote the epitaph, which, while it recognises the marvellous talents of the painter, still gives his virtues the first place : - Hie jaeet ven. piotor. _ Fr. lo. de Flor. Ord'. Pdicato. ILLV. M. C. C. C. C. L. V. Uon mihi sit laudi, quod eram velut alter Apelles, Sed quod luora tuis omnia, Christe, daham. Altera nam tenia opera esstant, altera coelo ; Urbs me Joannem flos tulit Etrurise. Though no artist's life was, as a whole, more equal thrai that of Fra Angelico, we can yet trace the different infiuences ' Nos 296, 298. ' Vasari, ed. 1878-9, p. 532. WORKS OF FKA ANGELICO. 51 which divided it into the three distinct epochs to which we have alluded. The first epoch was that of theUmbrian School, during his exile from Fiesole, which fostered the simplicity and purity of his soul, and gave to his youthful compositions great tenderness of feeling, and an inimitable freshness of expression. Of these, the masterpiece is the Coronation of the Virgin in the Louvre. The second epoch, that of his full manhood, is best repre- sented by the frescoes, of S. Marco. He corrected the .defects of his youth, a want of life and pliancy in his figures, and a too great love of ornament in the details. While still pre- serving the devotional spirit of his works, he gathered fresh power from studying the paintings of his great contemporaries in Florence. In the third epoch, that spent at Rome, the fruit of these studies is stni more apparent, in an increased vigour of draw- ing, a grandeur of style, and a marked improvement in his architectural distances. Some critics have indeed pronounced these later works of !EVa Angelico to be superior to those of Masaccio in the harmony o£ his lines in composition, while his colouring only appears inferior to that of Giotto and Masaccio, because his light and shade were not sufficiently defined, and because he was unacquainted with the mysteries of chiaroscuro. Per- haps the best clue to Fra Angelico's paintings is to be found in his character, which Vasari describes with simple eloquence. " Fra Giovanni," he tells us, " was a man of simple and .blameless life. He shunned the world, with all its tempta- tions, and during his pure and simple life was such a friend to the poor that I think his soul must now be in heaven. He painted incessantly, but would never represent any other than a sacred subject. He might have been rich, but he scorned it, saying that true riches consisted in being content to be poor. He might have been placed in a position of power and authority, but he declined on the ground that E 2 62 FKA ANGELIGO. it was easier to obey than to command ; that the temptation was less. He might have enjoyed dignities hoth within and without his convent, but he refused, declaring that his life had but one end in view, to flee from the evils of heU, and to approach the joys of heaven. . . . Humane and sober, he lived a chaste life, avoiding the snares of the world, and he was wont to say that the pursuit of art required rest, and a life of holy thoughts ; that he who illustrates the acts of Christ should be with Christ. He was never known to indulge in anger against his brethren — a great point, and in my opinion, all but unattainable — and he never admonished but with a smile. "With incredible kindness he would tell those who sought his works that, if they could arrange with the prior, he would not fail them. In fact, this father, whom no one can too much praise, was in all his dealings and intercourse modest and humble, and' in his works simple and pious. The saints whom he depicted had inore the air and semblance of saints than any produced by others. He never retouched or altered anything he had once finished, but left it as it was, believing it to be the will of God, that it should be so. Some go so far as to say that Fra Giovanni never touched a brush without first humbling himself in prayer. He never represented the crucified Saviour without having his cheeks bathed in tears ; and hence one may judge from ' the features and attitudes of his figures the perfection of his grand and sincere belief in the Christian faith." ' Here we find the secret of the beauty, sweetness, and truth which prevail in his paintings. "With the single aim before biTn of giving back to the service of heaven talents which were heaven-born,- no worldly distractions had power to disturb the untroubled peace of his soul. Secluded in this holy calm, the cares and passions of human life were un- known to him, hence his inability to deal with their repre- sentation in painting ; hence the lack of power and strength, ' Va.saii, ed. 1878-9, vol. ii. p. 520. WORKS OF FRA ANGELICO. 53 and the incapacity for representing evil, which appears in his treatment of the unrepentant thief upon the cross, of the wicked in his oft-repeated pictures of the Ltist Judgment. In the joys of Paradise he found a more fitting theme for his gentle, loving pencil ; he peopled the blessed regions with saints and angels of unearthly beauty ; he adorned them with the fairest ilowers and colours, whose never-fading brightness have borne witness for more than four, hundred years to the truth of that " Life of the world to come," which throughout his earthly career was the abiding conviction of the artist's soul. A LIST OF THE PRIlSrCIPAL WORKS OF FRA ANGELICO.i ANTWERP. Museum. S. Eomualdo reproaching Otho III. with the murder of Cl-s- scentius.^ BEELIN. Museum. Madonna Enthroned with Child, with S. Dominic and S. Peter Martyr. S. Dominic and S. Francis. Glorification of S. Francis. CORTONA. San Domenico. Virgin and Child with S. Dominic and S. Peter {l^meUe). Four Evangelists {fresco, mueh damaged). Virgin and Child with Saints {altar-piece) a. Baptistery {formerly the Jesuit Okurch). Annunciation, with scenes from the Xife of the Virgin on the predella.C/rom San Domenico, Oortona). Predella, ' with scenes from the Life of S. Dominic ( predella to altar-piece, in San DoTnenico, Oortona a). ' Compiled from Crowe and Cavalcaselle's History of Painting in Italy, BuTckhardt's Cicerone— an Art Guide to Pai-niing in Italy (1879), and the official catalogues of those galleries which contain worlcs by Fra Angelioo. ^ In Crowe and Cavalcaselle it is miscalled "S. Ambrose refusing the Entrance of the Temple to Theodosius." See Crowe and Cavalcaselle, vol. i. p. 588. 54 FRA AHGELICO. FLOKElfCE. AccADEMiA belle Belle Arti. Descent from the Cross {from Swnta Tri/nHA, Florence). The Virgin and Child with Saints ; and, on the predella, a Fietii and Six Saints [from, the GonvetU Ael Bosco a Fraii di Mugello). The Virgin and Child with Saints. The Virgin and Child with Saints (from the Monastery of Anna,- Una, Florence). S. Cosmo and S. Damian replacing a leg out off a sick Man with that of a N^gro (part of a predella). Eighteen scenes from the Life of Christ, $ (from the Conveni of the SS. Annunziata — originally panels to omamemt the plait cupboards. " The Last Supper, The Baptism, and Transfigura- tion, are not by Fra Angelica." — Crowe and Cavalcaselle). The History of Fire Martyrs. Predella, with six scenes from the lives of S. Cosmo and S. Damian (froon the Chapel of S. Xuie, m tlte cloister of the SS. Annumiata, Florence). Seventeen scenes from the Life of Christ (from, the Convent of the SS. Annunziata). Same series as 0. Coronation of the Virgin. Crucifixion. A Ketk, and The Adoration of the Magi. ( " Possibly by a pupil. " — Crowe and Cavalcaselle. ) Entombment (formerly in the Monastery della Croce alTempio). Last Judgment (formerly in the Monastery degli Angeli, Florence). UFFIZt. Virgin and Child with Saints (painted in 1433 for the Corporatum of the lAnaiuoli) y. Birth of John the Baptist (part of predella of S). Marriage of the Virgin (part of predella of S). Death of the Virgin (part of predella of S). The Coronation of the Virgin, 5 (from S. Maria Nuova, Florence). Predella of y. The Preaching of S. Peter; Adoration of the Magi ; Martyrdom of S. Mark. S. Mattbo. In the Hospital — The Virgin and Child adored by Four Angels. Content of San Marco (tjow the Museo Fiorentiiw di San Marco). In the Cloisters — The Crucifixion, with S. Dominic. S. Peter Martyr eiyoining silence. WOBKS OF FKA ANGELICO. 55 FLORENCE. Convent of San Makoo (ambvmud). S. Dominic with the scourge of nine thongs. Christ coming from the Sepulchre. S. Thomas Aquinas. Christ as a Pilgrim welcomed by two Dominican Monks. Christ with the Woundprints. In the Chapter House — Crucifixion. Christ between the thieves, surrounded by a group of twenty Saints, and below — bust portraits of seventeen Dominicans. On the Upper Floor — Annunciation. Christ on the Cross, with S. Dominic. Enthroned Madonna and Saints. In tlie Cells — . Coronation of the Virgin. The Maries at the Sepulchre. , Christ opening the Gates of Hell. Transfiguration. Entombment. Madonna. Adoration of the Magi. Coronation of the Virgin. Three Eeliquaries. One adorned with " The Virgin and Child ; " second with the "Annunciation" and "Adoration of the Magi ;'' and the third with a "Coronation of the Virgin and Saints." (From the Sacristy of Santa Maria Novella.) FIESOLE. San Domenico. Madonna and Saints (the predella is in the National Gallery). In the Chapter House (now a green-house) — Madonna and Saints. FRANKFORT. Stadel. Virgin with twelve Angels. LONDON. National Gallerv. Adoration of the Magi (from the Lomlardi-Baldi Collection, Florenci). Christ — with the banner of the Resurrection in his left hand, in the midst of a choir of Angels, and crowds of the Blessed. In five compartments. (Formerly the predella to the altar-piece in San Domenico at Fiesole. ) 56 FRA ANGELICO. LONDON. Dudley House. Last Judgment (from the Fesch Collection). Virgin and Child with Saints (from the Bisenzio Collection, Rome). MUNICH. PlNAKOTHEK. The Almighty adored by Angels. ("Falsely ascribed to Angelico." — Crowe ^nd Cavalcasdle.) Three scenes from the Lives of Cosmo and S. Damian (part of a pre- dclla of tJie altar-piece, painted in 1438 for San Marco, Florence). OEVIETO. Cathbdkal. Christ, in a glory of Angels, as Judge — with sixteen Saints and Pro- phets to the right, and the Virgin and the Apostles to the left. (All more or less damaged; finished Try Signorelli in 1499.) PARIS. LoTJVM. Coronation of the Virgin — on the predella, seven subjects : six scenes from the Life of S. Dominic, and in the centre Christ risen from the Tomb ( formerly in San Domenico, Fiesole). Crucifixion (from the Convent of San Domenico, Fiesole). PERUGIA. PixAcoiaECA. Annunciation (from San Domenico, Perugia). Madonna and Saints. Miracles of S. Nicholas of Bari. ROME. Vatican. Capella di Niccolo V. Six scenes from the Life of S. Stephen. (Above.) Six scenes from the Life of S. Lawrence. (Below.) The Four Evangelists. (On the Ceiling.) The Teachers of the Church. (On the Vaulting.) Vatican Picture Gallery — S. Nicholas of Bari (part of a predella). Madonna and Angels. CoRsiNi Palace. Last Judgment. Ascension. ("Weak and re-painted." — Crowe and Cavalcaselle.) Descent of the Holy Spirit. (" MiKh restored." — Crowe and Cavalcaselle. ) TURIN. Gallekt. Two Angels kneeling on Clouds. FEA BENEDETTO 57 FRA BENEDETTO. We have seen that Era Benedetto, the brother of Era Angelico, entered simtdtaneously with him the convent at Eiesole. Era Benedetto was also an artist, but of a very- inferior order. He resembled his brother in piety and religious feeling, but had not the same talent ; nor was he, like Era Angelico, an industrious student from nature. It is necessary to recognise the difference between the works of the two brothers, because, as they sometimes worked at the same painting, the fame of Era Angelico has somewhat suffered through the faults of Era Benedetto. A careful study of the two styles will reveal which is the work of Era Benedetto, and accovint for an irregularity of painting which could not otherwise be explained in Era Angelico's work. Benedetto's figures are dumpy and ill set, the heads too broad, the extremities badly finished, the feet ugly, and they are sketched with a heavy brown touch, while those of Era Angelico are prepared with great lightness, and the touch, which is hardly perceived, of a brilliant red. But as a miniaturist and illuminator Era Benedetto earned a well deserved fame in the choir-books of S. Marco. They are in fourteen volumes, and still serve the church. They were executed between the years 1443-8. The writing is beautiful ; they are filled with illuminations, valuable texts of ancient religious music, and bear the arms of Cosimo de' Medici, from whom Era Benedetto received the commission.^ Like Era Angelico, Era Benedetto was particularly beloved by S. Antoninus, who made hjm sub-prior of S. Marco, where he lived till elected Prior of his former convent at Eiesole. There he died of the plague in 1448. ' See ante, p. 39. CHAPTER IV. FBA FILIPPO LIPPI, AND HIS IMMEDIATE FOLLOWERS. FRA FILIPPO LIPPI. BoEN 1412 (?). Died 1469. " I drew men's faces on my copybooks. Scrawled ttem within the autiphonary's marge, Joined legs and arms to the long music notes, Fonud nose and eyes and chin for A's and B's, And made a string of pictures of the world ; Betwixt the ins and outs of verb and noun. On the wall, the bench, the door." Bkowning's Men and Women, vol. i. p. 42. THE life of Era Eilippo Lippi presents in all ~ points as marked a contrast as possible to that of Era Angelico ; but it need only be the concern of these pages to treat of it so far as it is connected with his works as an artist. His great natural gifts showed themselves at a very early age. Having lost his parents in childhood, he was place by an aunt in the convent of the Carmine at Florence. Here, in 1402, he began his novitiate as a brother of ' the order, and here his drawings were so remarkable that he was allowed to abandon all other studies and to devote himself exclusively to art. Great models were immediately before him in Masaccio's paintings, newly completed, in the ERA. FJLIPPO LIPPI. 59 Branoaoci Chapel. He soon became so imbued with the style of the great master, that Vasari tells us it was as if the spirit of Masaccio had entered the body of Fra Filippo Lippi : and Lanzi says, that if he was not the actual pupil of Masaccio, he was the pupil of his works. These early productions have all perished, but many of his altar-pieces and small pictures remain to testify to the fruit of his training in the Brancacci Chapel'. Among the finest specimens of this early manner is the altar-piece, painted when he was only twenty-five years of age, for the church of the Santo Spirito at Florence, now in the Louvre. It represents 17ie Virgin standing on the first step of her throne, between angels and archangels, presenting the infant Saviour to two kneeling bishops of the Augustine Order, SS. Frediano and Gregory. On account of the finish and Expression of their upturned faces, these two figures are ^ considered the best part of the painting ; as, although the attitude of the Madonna is good; the head is commonplace, and that of our Saviour of the heavy, earthly type, with the short neck, which so often appears in Fra Filippo's repre- sentations of the Infant Christ. The Gradino belonging to it, representing the Annunciation and three other scenes, is now in the Accademia delle Belle Arti at Florence.^ "We can form an idea of the amount of labour spent upon this picture from the account of a contemporary artist. Domenico Veneziano, in a letter written from Perugia (1438) to Pietro de' Medici, describes Fra Filippo as " engaged upon an altar-piece for the church of the Santo Spirito, which, if he were to work upon it day and night, might be completed in five years." - "We possess in our National Gallery another painting of the Virgin Enthroned, surrounded hy Saints and Angels, said 1 Quadri Grandi, No. 42. Crowe and Cavalcaselle, vol. ii. p. 323. 2 "Vasari ed. 1878-9, vol. ii. note to p. 618. 60 THE SUCCESSORS OF FEA ANGELTCO. to be by Fra Filippo Lippi; but, according to the latest edition of Vasari,^ this is not the Santo Spirito altar-piece, although it is so marked in the catalogue." Three out of the other four pictures by Fra Filippo Lippi, in our National Collection, can be exactly traced (Nos. 248, 666, 667). (1) The Vision of S. Bernard,^ which was painted for forty lire in 1447, to adorn the space above the door of the Cancelleria in the Palazzo de' Signori at Florence. It is a remarkable and authentic picture, but not by any means so attractively coloured as most of Fra Filippo's pictures. (2 and 3) The Annunciation, and S. John the Baptist with six other Saints. These were painted for his patron, Cosimo de' Medici, for the Palazzo Riccardi, and, therefore, among the saints in the last picture, the usual compliment is paid of introducing SS. Cosmo and Damian among the saints. The pictures are both marked with the crest of the Medici, three feathers tied together in a ring. Cosimo de' Medici was, in' truth, his constant patron, not only using his influence to procure for Fra FUippo ecclesiastical appointments, bu* giving him commissions for pictures, which he afterwards presented to the various potentates of Italy. Among these we may mention Alfonso, King of Naples; and a letter is extant, written by Giovanni de' Medici to Messer Bartolommeo Serragli at Naples, .Tune, 1456, re- joicing that one of Fra Filippo Lippi' s pictures should be 1 Vasari, ed. 1878-9, vol. ii. note to p. 618. 2 Crowe and Cavalcaselle are doubtful whether this picture is by Fra Filippo at all, and see in it traces of the handiwork of Benozzo Gozzoli. Vol. ii. p. 350. ' No. 248, note. " The Saint, dressed in white, is represented writing his homilies at a dest placed on a table formed of the solid rook. On the desk is some paper and a leathern ink bottle ; by his side are some books. The Virgin, surrounded by angels, appears before him." FRA FILIPPO LIPPI. 61 SO highly esteemed by his Majesty Alfonso, and offering him another by the same artist.^ This commerce of pictures between Tlorence and Naples accounts for those paintings which Fra Filippo Lippi is said to have executed during his supposed residence at Naples and Ancona after his deliverance from slavery in Barbary (1432-9). It is now established, by, documents proving his continued residence in Tuscany at that period, that the artist was never at either town ; and we learn with regret that the story of his having obtained his freedom by a clever sketch in charcoal of his master, is a fiction. Besides the powerful support of the Medici, Fra Filippo had other patrons among the great families in Florence and its vicinity. In Arezzo we read of a certain Carlo Marzuppini, who commissioned him to paint the altar- piece for the Cappella S. Bernardo in Monte Oliveto of Arezzo. Vasari records^ that "Messer" Carlo found fault with the artist for the careless way in which he had painted the hands of his figures, and adds that in consequence of this remark Fra Filippo ever afterwards concealed the extremities of his figures with drapery. The artist introduced the portrait of his critical patron into the picture, which is now in the Galleria Lateranense at Home. It is said by competent critics, who have seen it there, that Messer Carlo had some ground for his complaints.* The portrait of another patron, Messer AJessandro degli Alessandri, is introduced among the figures in an altar-piece painted for his chapel at Vincigliati, This picture was for- merly in the Palazzo Strozzi, at Florence. Fra Filippo painted, besides these, numerous other pictures ' Crowe and Cavalcaselle, vol. ii. p. 328. 2 Vasari, ed. 1878-9, pp. 618, 619. ' Crowe and Cavalcaselle, vol. ii. p. 326. 62 THE SUCCESSOES OF FEA ANGELICO. for the chtirch.es and convents in Florence. Many of them have no-w found their way into the galleries at Florence ; among these : — - The Nativity of Christ, with a choir of angels singing the " Gloria," and a background of rocks and caverns, into which are introduced figures of S. Mary Magdalen, S. Jerome, and another hermit, supposed to be a portrait. A beautiful Madonna with four Saints, the best of his sacred pictures. The large Coronation of the Virgin, originally painted for the nuns of S. Ambrogio, in which his own portrait as an old man appears, while an angel in front of him holds a scroll on which is written, " Is p^fecit opus." (See Illustration.) ' ^^^"^ -"^^ The Predella of the Santo Spirito, which we have already mentioned. One of his finest Madonnas is in the Pitti Palace, which, although not vulgar, is of that essentially earthly type which characterises all Fra Filippo's Madonnas. In all the accessories it also marks a deviation from the principle of devotion which had hitherto guided the treatment of this subject." But although the Italian critics select for especial praise his smaller pictures, on account of their graceful execution and the soft delicacy of their colouring, he derives another kind of fame from his frescoes at Prato and Spoleto. His first work in the cathedral was a picture re.presenting the Death of S. Bernard, painted to fill the space above one of the side doors. In the centre of the painting the saint is represented lying in his coffin, which is supposed to heal ' " It ia a circiilar picture representing the half length Virgin seated in a chair with the infant Saviour, all but naked, on her knf e. In her left hand she holds a pomegranate which the Saviour grasps with his right, whilst, looking up, he holds a few of the red grains in his left." — Crowe and Cavalcaselle, vol. ii. p. 333. THE CORONATION OF TH In the Aecaditnia di RGIN. BY FILIPPO LIPPI. 'die Arti, at Florence. FEA FILIPPO LIPPI. 63 all the sick who approach to touch it. Kound it stand a group of weeping friars, among whom Fra Filippo intro- duced his own portrait. The expression of th^ heads is admirable, and the fresh and delicate colouring in the artist's best style. This work gave such satisfaction to the superintendent of the cathedral, Geminiano Inghirami, for whom it was painted, that it obtained for Fra Filippo the commission to paint the frescoes in the choir. He chose two subjects, the life of S. John the Baptist, the patron saint of Florence, under whose rule Prato fell ; and that of S. Stephen, the saint to whom the Church or " Pieve " (for it was not then a cathedral) was dedicated. The scenes selected from the life of S. John the Baptist were — (1) his Birth; (2) Pa/rting Jrom his Pa/rents; (3) his Preaching in the WUdemess ; (4) the Baptism of our Saviour ; (5) Herod's Feast ; and (6) the Decapitation of the Baptist. The Preaching in the Wilderness and Herod's Feast are con- sidered to be the most remarkable of this series. In the first, Fra Filippo succeeds in giving a look of almost divine inspiration to the countenance of the preacher, while the listening crowd exhibit every variety of expression and atti- tude as they hang upon his words. The same talent for varying the expression and attitude of his figures finds full scope in Herod's Feast, which is represented with much splendour, and again the artist introduces his own portrait, dressed in his friar's dress, among the guests. These are clad in the costumes of the period, richly ornamented and embroidered, with the Florentine head-dress of the period. The dismay of the guests when the decapitated head is brought in is admirably rendered. The frescoes representing the life of S. Stephen occupy the opposite side of the choir. In the last of these — the Lamentation over the Death of S. Stephen — is considered almost equal to Raphael in the varied attitudes and motion 64 THE SUCCESSORS OF FEA ANGELICO. of his figures. Among the bystanders he introduced pior- traits of himself, Fra Diamante, and Carlo de' Medici, a very- powerful and unmistakable portrait. All the figures are larger than life, a practice which was afterwards much adopted by succeeding artists. The decoration of the choir at Prato, often interrupted by . other commissions, was not completed till the year 1.465? To the same period belong the altar-piecefe for the churches of Sta. Margherita and San Domenico at Prato, and others, which have, now found their way into the museum there. The frescoes at Spoleto, representing scenes from the Life of. the Virgin, were on the same grandiose scale. They were painted in the apse of the cathedral. Fra Filippo was never able to complete them; dying suddenly, it is said, from poison, in 1469. He was buried in the cathedral at Spoleto, in the midst of his unfinished labours. Fra Filippo was looked upon as the grea^best colourist of his age, especially in wall painting, where he succeeded in giving great charm to his colouring. He was a powerful '' and rapid draughtsman, thoroughly acquainted with the ■ technicalities of his art, although, partly on account of the indolence of his nature, he had a tendency to generalise the drawing of the hands and feet of his figures. Although he formed his style upon Masaccio, he never attained to his master's serious and dignified treatment of his subjects ; a certain coarseness of thought and a want of spirituality mar paintings which would be otherwise full of grace. He has also the unenviable distinction of being the first among the artists to introduce a wilful irreverence into his treatment of sacred subjects, one of the first, steps which led to the final desecration of religious art. His . method of dealing with drapery will serve as an illustration of this ; which, in his hands, underwent a complete transformation, consistent with the realising tendency of the time. He attempted the imitation of texture and material, a practice hitherto un- FRA FILIPPO LIPPI. " 65 known among the artists ; and it is a painful shock to devotional feeling when he introduces the costume of the day into the most sacred scenes, clothing the angels in the Florentine garb, and exchanging the ideal drapery of the Virgin for the same realistic style. Sir Joshua Eeynolds tells us that "it is the inferior style that marks variety of stuffs ; in the grand style the clothing is neither woollen nor linen, nor silk nor satin, nor velvet — it is drapery, and nothing more." The immediate followers and pupils of Fra Filippo were — Fra Diamante, who assisted him in the frescoes at Prato and Spoleto. He also painted two or three altar-pieces at Prato, and the latest commentary has assigned to him a fresco in the Sistine Chapel of Our Saviour giving the Keys to S. Peter, hitherto said to be by Fra Bartolommeo della Gatta.^ Jacopo del Sellajo was another pupil and assistant, but of his works little is known. Francesco Peselli and Sandro Botticelli were pupils of considerably more mark, and will find their place in succeeding chapters. THE PEINCIPAL "WORKS OF FILIPPO LIPPI. BERLIIT. Museum. Madonna and Child. Madonna adoring the Infant Christ, with S. John and S. Bernard (signed fbatbr philippvs. p). The Virgin of Mercy. FLORENCE. Acoademia belle Belle Aeti. Madonna and Saints (fromSamta Croce, Florence : the predella is by Coronation of the Virgin {signed is. peefeoit. otus ; from Sani Amhrosio, Florence). > Vasari, ed. 1878-9, p. 641. P F A F 66 THE SUCCESSORS OF FRA AUGEUCO. FLOEENCE. Aooademia delle Belle Aeti (continued). Predella, Annunciation, and three other scenes (from, (he Conve/iU of Swnto Spirito, Florence : predella of the " Virgin a/ad Child " in the Louvre). Virgin adoring the Infant Christ, with the Magdalen, S. Jerome and S. Hilarion (from the Ohwrch of the Anmde/na, Florenai^. Virgin and Child, with S. John the Baptist and a Camaduline Monk (from, the Comeesai of the Camalduli). TJffizi. S. Augustin. ("Certainly not by Fra Filippo, hut is either by Filippino or Botticelli." — Crowe and Cavalcaselle. " Certainly by Mlippino." — Bwrckhardfs " Cicerone.") Virgin adoring the Infant Christ, with Angels (the dravring for thii is also in the Uffizi). PiTTi Palace. Madonna and Child (The MadonTUt is said to be a portrait of lAKressia Buti). San Lorenzo. Annunciation. Chiesa degli Innooenti. Virgin and Child, with Saints (similar to the picture m the Uffizi). LONDOK. National Gallery. The Vision of S. Bernard. Madonna and Child enthroned, surronnded by Angels and Saints (said to be from Santo Spirito, Florence. " It bears the stamp of the school of Fra Mlippo, with a mixiure of charaeteristic features peotUiar to the Tnanner of Benozxo Oomsoli." — Crowe and Ccmalcaselli). The Virgin Mary seated, an Angel presenting the Infant Christ to her. ("Its style shows it to be by one who issued from the school of the Carmelite." — Crowe and Cavalcaselle. ) The Annunciation (pairUedfar Cosmo de' Medici). S. John the Baptist with six other Saints (painted for Cosmo de' The Adoration of the Ma^. (In the catalogue " ascribed to Filippino Lippi." Mr. J. A. Crowe attributes it to FUippo.) MUNICH. PnfAKOTHEK. The Annunciation. Sladonna and Child. FILIPPINO LIPPl. 67 PARIS. LouvKK. The Nativity {from the church of S. Margherita, Prato. Crowe and Cavalcaselle consider that it is probably by Francesco Peselli), The Virgin and Child (from Santo Spirito, Florence). PRATO. San Domenico. In the Befectory. The Infant Christ adored by the Virgin and Saints. Cathedral. Life of S. John the Baptist. Life of S. Stephen. Death of S. Bernard. Gallekt. The Virgin giving the Girdle to S. Thomas (perhaps painted for Santa MargJierita, Praio). The Virgin and Saints and four poor members of the Ceppo. Predella (said to be that of the Natimiy in the Lotivre). ROME. Latbkan Galleky. Coronation of the Virgin (painted for Carlo Marzuppini). Palazzo Dokia. The Annunciation. SPOLETO. Cathedral. Scenes from the Life of the Virgin (completed by Fra Diamante in 1470). TURIN. Gallery. Two Bishops. EILIPPINO LIPPI. BoEN 1460. Died 1504. The birth of Klippino di Filippo lippi is enveloped in hopeless obscurity. Unfortunately his registry in the guild of the Florentine painters is illegible. Vasari tells us that he died in 1505, aged forty-five. That would place his birth in 1460 — a date given by many writers. Others give 1461, and some 1458. The story of his being a son of Filippo Lippi has long been dismissed. That he was a favourite pupil of the Frate is P 2 68 THE SUCCESSORS OF FRA ANGELICO. probable, and an adopted son or a relative of some degree quite possible. Apart from the commissions he received for paintings, and the dates on his works, we have but scanty records of his life. He was educated at Prato. In 1496 he and Perugino and Cosimo Rosselli were called upon to value Baldovinetti's fresco in the Gianfigliazzi chapel in Santa Trinita, Morence. And in the following year he married : his wife's name was Margherita : his son Francesco became a friend of Benvenuto Cellini. In 1498 Filippino was appointed, with Perugino and Lorenzo di Credi, a member of the committee to decide on the best means of repairing the damage, done by a storm, to the Iah.tem above the cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence. In 1501 we find him mentioned, by a member of the Town Council of Prato, as a "fit person " to paint a picture for the audience chamber of the Palazzo Pubblico. And the last record we have of him, previous to his death, is on the 25th of January, 1504 (the year of his death), when he, with Leonardo da Vinci, Perugino, Ghirlandajo, and others, was called upon to decide on a fitting place for Michelangelo's David. And it was Filippino who made the most practical suggestion, that as Michelangelo had made the statue, he should be asked to say what site it should occupy. The instruction in art of Filippino Lippi was confided to the care of Sandro Botticelli and Fra Diamante. Of these two teachers, Filippino seems to have been most guided by the style of Fra Diamante. Many years of work under Fra FUippo had thoroughly imbued Fra Diamante with his master's manner, hence the indelible stamp of the Frate which appears in Filippino's works. But Filippino was free from many of the defects which are blots upon the paintings of the Carmelite artist. He is never coarse or vulgar in his treatment of sacred subjects, and was far better able to appreciate the grandeur of Masaccio's manner when called upon to complete the painting of the frescoes in the THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. PETER. BY FILIPPINO UPPI. In the Brancacci C, ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL BEFORE THE PROCONSUL. ■apel, in Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence. FILIPPINO LIPtl. 69 Brancacci Chapel,^ wliicli had remained unfinished since Masaccio abandoned them fifty-eight years before. Here he shows himself fully capable of grasping the serious dignity of Masaccio' s style. Although not quite equal to the great master either in the clearness of his colours, or in the distribution of his groups, some of the individual figures are magnificent ; if we take, for example, that of S. Paul standing before the prison of S. Peter, which was afterwards adopted with little alteration by Raphael in his famous cartoon. The Visit of S. Paul to S. Peter in Prison and the Libera- tion of S. Peter occupy the two pilasters of the chapel, and were his first composition there. The next, of SS. Peter and Pa/uZ before the Proconsul, although the figures are noble and dignified, shows the failure in distributing his groups, and the same fault appears in the Crucifixion of S. Peter. The last fresco was the Eeswrrection of the King's Son, left incomplete by Masaccio. Filippino's work in this painting comprised the youth himself, painted from a portrait of the painter Granacci, and the figures of the surrounding group ; among them, the artist introduced portraits of the historian Guicciardini, Luigi Pulci the poet, Antonio PoUaiuolo, a contemporary artist, and many others. His fame as an artist being undeniably established by the completion of this task, Filippino received numerous com- missions. The archives of Florence record that he was chosen (in 1492) to replace Perugino, then absent at Rome, in the adornment of the hall of the Palazzo Pubblico. It is not known whether or not he performed this office, but we do know that about this period he finished the great painting of the Madonna amd Saints in the TJffizi, originally intended 1 S. Peter in Prison visiteii by S. Paul, and S. Peter freed from Prison ; SS. Peter and Paul before the Proconsul ; the Crucifixion of S. Peter ; the Eesiiscitation of the King's Son (begun by MaSaceio). Vasari, ed. 1878-9, vol. iii. pp. 479 et seq. See also p. 488 et seq. for the new commentary, iu which Filippino is undoubtedly proved to have finished these frescoes. 70 THE SUCCESSORS OF FEA ANGELICO. for tlie Sala degli Otto in the Palazza Pubblico. This picture was only rivalled by the altar-piece painted by him in the Badia at Florence ; which, executed when he was only twenty years old, is always considered, for drawing, expression, and vigorous colour, the best type of his early manner. Era Filippo's treatment of the same subject, the Vision of S. Bernard (now in our National Gallery), is very different. The altar-piece of the Cappella Nerli in the Santo Spirito at Florence belongs also to Filippino's-prime. His next commission was from Rome, where he was sum- moned by Cardinal Olivieri Caraffia, to paint the Cappellfi Caraffa, in Sta. Maria sopra Minerva.^ He ornamented this chapel with scenes from the Legend of S. Thomas Aquinas ; and although these allegorical and ceremonial subjects were not in harmony with his genius, he showed a remarkable advance in his power of distributing his figures in the prin- cipal scene, which represents the Miracle of the Crucifix. In another episode, the Glorification of S. Tliomas, he gives a marvellovis variety of expression to the false teachers who have been confounded by the reasoning of the saint. In another part of the chapel he represents scenes from the Life of the Virgin, but these have been retouched. The Garaffa Chapel was finished in 1493. The altar-piece painted for S. Francesco del Palco at Prate belongs to about the same period (1495). It is still recorded how the brotherhood ' intended the commission for Domenico Ghirlandajo, but could not raise the sum he required for it, and therefore entrusted it to Filippino. In the following year he painted for S. Donato al Scopeto at Florence an altar-piece, the Adoration of the Magi, and followed the pyramidal form of composition adopted by Fra Filippo in his treatment of the same subject. Filippino's composition is considered to be the better of the ' On his journey to Rome he was commissioned by Lorenzo de' Medici to order on his behalf a magnificent tomb to be erected to Fra Filippo in the cathedral at Spoleto. ' Vasari, ed. 1878-9, p. 467. VISION OF SAINT BERNARD. BY FILIPI'INO LIPPI. /;/ tJie Church of La Badia, FloycJice, FILIPriNO LIPPI. 71 two, - some of his heads being little inferior to those of Raphael. Quite late in his career he painted, for the heirs of Filippo Strozzi, the paintings in . the Strozzi Chapel, for which he had received the commission, when at Rome in 1489, from Filippo Strozzi himself. The taste of the decorations of the Strozzi Chapel have been called in question, because of the grotesque mixture of exaggerated actions, the architecture overcharged with ornament, and the too brilliant colouring. But these faults are compensated for by traits of great beauty. The artist's extraordinary power of representing emotion and varied dramatic action is nowhere more clearly shown. The paintings represent the Miracles of SS. John and Philip. In one of these — the Resuscitation of Drusiana by S. John — he succeeds in giving a wonderful expression of returning life to Drusiana, as she raises herself upon the bier, from which the bearers flee in terror, while a. number of women remain in trembling attention, with children clinging to their knees. The same animation and movement appears in another of the series, in which aS^. Philip exorcises the Dragon. The figures are drawn with peculiar energy and ease — the women beautiful, and the men dignified. These frescoes are also remarkable for the careful painting of the accessories — vases, armour, head-dresses, swords, togas, and sacerdotal vestments, of which Pilippino made a careful study, and he was among the first of the artists who introduced this new feature into art. Filippino died suddenly on April 18th, 1504. He was universally beloved not only on account of his rare talents, but also because of his blameless life, un- failing gentleness and courtesy to all. "Vasari records that he was carried to the grave in the Church of San Michele Bisdomini, Florence, with every mark of public esteem. Among his pupils, Rafaellino del Garbo was the one who most closely followed his master's manner. 72 THE SUCCESSORS OF FEA AKGELICO. THE PRINCIPAL WORKS OF FILIPPINO LIPPI. BERLIN. Museum. Portrait of a Young Man. Madonna and Child. Christ on the Cross, with the Virgin and S. Francis. Madonna and ChUd. BOLOGNA. San Domenico. Madonna and Saints. 1501. FLORENCE. Bama. The Vision of S. Bernard. 1480. Santa Maria del Carmine. In the Branmcci Chapel. S. Peter in prison visited by S. Paul. S. Peter freed from prison. S. Peter and S. Paul before the Proconsul. Crucifixion of S. Peter. Eeouscitation of the King's son {begun by Masaceio). Santa Maria Novella. In the Chapel o/Filippo Strozzi The Miracles and Martyrdom of the Apostles John and Philip. AOCADEMIA telle BeLLE AkTI. Deposition from the Cross (the lower part by Perugino : from (he SS. Annv/nziata, Florence). S. Augustin. (Attributed m the Catalogue to Mlippo Lippi ; ascribed by Mr. Crowe to Filippino.) CoKsiNi Gallery. Virgin and Child with Saints. PiTTi Palace. Holy Family with Angels. {"It wards the finish amd feeling notice- able in Filippino." — Crowe and Cavalcaselle.) The Death of Lucretia. ToRRTGiANi Palace. The Life of Esther {panels of a wedding-chest). Santo Sfihito. In the OappcUa Nerli. Madonna with S. Martin and S. Catherine. FIUPPINO LIPPI. 73 FLORENCE. Uffizi. Adoration of the Magi {signed filippus me pinxit de lipsis PLORENTiNus, and dated 1496; painted for San Donato al Scopeto, Florence). Madoima and Child with Saints {painted in 1485 /or the Sala degli Otto in the Palazzo Signaria, Florence). S. Augustin. (This work, though given in the catalogue to Filippo, is by several authorities attributed to Filippino. ) LONDON. National Gallery. The Virgin and Child, S. Jerome and S. Dominic adoring the Infant Christ {painted for the Eucellai Chapel in San Panerazio, Florence). Adoration of the Magi {originally part of a painted chest). S.Francis in Glory {dated MOCOOXOli). LUCCA. San Miohelb. Madonna enthroned with Saints. MUNICH. PlNAKOTHEK. The Appearance of Christ to the Virgin' {painied about 1495, for the Brotherhood of S. Fra/ncesco del Palco, at Prato). Pietk {given in the catalogue to Ghirlandajo. Crowe a/nd Cavalcaselle consider that it is by Filippino). PRATO. Mehoatalb. Madonna and Saints {a tabernacle) . ROME. Santa Makia sopba Minerva. In the Capella Cataffa. Legend of S. Thomas Aquinas. SAN 6IMI6NAN0. Palazzo Pdbblioo. The Annunciation. ^^^^^^^^K ^^^^^^^^^^^^m CHAPTER V. BENOZZO GOZZOLI. Born 1420. Died 1498. " Thou in onr wonder and astonishment Hast huilt thyself a life-long monument." BENOZZO GOZZOLI was the favourite pupil and com- panion of Era Angelico. He was almost the last artist who represented the expiring school of sacred art in Italy ; but even in his case, the influence of his master seems only to have guided the first period of his painting. In his later works he became a decided realist, using Scripture scenes and subjects chiefly as a means for the representation of luxurious dress, animal life, and landscape. Benozzo di Lese di Sandro, commonly called Benozzo Gozzoli, was bom at Florence in 1420 (or, according to his father's income paper of 1470, in 1424). Gozzoli, as we have seen, accompanied Era Angelico to Rome, and was his assistant in decorating the cathedral of Orvieto in 1447. Two years later he parted from his master, and went to seek his own fortune. He first applied to the Council of the Duomo at Orvieto, for the commission to complete Era Angelico's unfinished work ; but was met by the request to give some proof of his skill. In this he would appear to have been unsuccessful, as he did not receive the commission ; and we next hear of him at BENOZZI GOZZOLI. 75 Montefalco, near Foligno, the scene of Fra Angelico's early works. Here his master's name stood him in good stead, for he obtained many commissions, and his paintings at this period show more than any of his other works the impress of his master's manner. He painted some frescoes for the Church of S. Fortunato, about a mile from the town ; a Virgin and Child, 'above the portal, with all the fresh purity of Fra Angelico's colouring ; an altar-piece of S. Thomas receiving the Girdle, with a gradino representing scenes from the Life of the Virgin ; an Annuncia- tion, in fresco on the walls, and an Apotheosis of S. Fortunato, which has been much repainted. His labours for the church and monastery of S. Francesco in the same town were more considerable. The apse of the church and four sides of the choir are occupied by Twelve Scenes from the Life of S. Francii ; and on the base of each of the four sides are medallion por- traits of S. Francis and the most illustrious men of his order. Among these are introduced those of Dante, Petrarch, and Giotto,' with Latin inscriptions. The whole work is signed by the painter, and dated 1452.^ He remained at Montefalco till 1456, painting also for the Chapel of S. Jerome, and a large altar-piece for a Perugian church,^ still in the manner of his master, though he never attains to his excellence. In 1457, Gozzoli was summoned to Florence by Piero de' Medici ; here his paintings in the Palazzo Ricardi give evidence that he was no longer proof against the temptations of the realistic school. His great fresco in the chapel, which repre- sented the journey of the wise men from their own country, and their return to it, in one long procession of figures, on ' Beneath that of Giotto : — " Pictonun eximius Jottus fundanientum ct lux. " " Vasari, ed. 1878-9, p. 60. ' Now in the gallery at Perugia. 76 THE SUCCESSOKS OF FRA ANGELICO. foot and on horseback, covered the whole walls of the body of the building. Here Benozzo appears to have laid aside his master's reli- gious and devotional treatment of the subject, and to have adopted another, which, though full of invention and variety, was purely secular. All religious feeling is merged in the gay and brilliant cortege of crowned kings, knights, pages, and squires, horses with their trappings, leopards, and dogs, with a profusion of gold ornament, which with portraits in, the costume of the time down to the minutest details, make a living page out of the history of the fifteenth century. Something of his master's teaching reappears in the paint- ings of angels singing and scattering flowers as they advance, which adorn the sanctuary of the choir. Fra Angelico's in- fluence is still more evident in one of the panel pictures, considered to be Benozzo's best example, representing the Virgin Unthroned, painted for the Compagnia di S. Marco, and now in the National Gallery.' At S. Gimignano during the years 1463-4, Benozzo finished a series of wall-paintings, under the patronage of Domenico Strambi, for the Church of S. Agostino, representing scenes from the Life of S. Augustin ; and several of the neighbour- ing churches contain frescoes executed by him at this period. But the scene of his greatest labours was Pisa. The Pisans were beginning to recover from the calamities with which they had been overwhelmed at the beginning of the fifteenth cen- tury. Once more they had leisure to think of those arts of peace which they had been the first to promote in Italy. Their far-famed Campo Santo was not complete, the north wall was still bare, and they entrusted the work of decorating it to Benozzo in 1469. He was at this time past fifty, but so ' No. 283. The contract stipulated that the figure of the Virgin was to he made similar ia mode, form, and ornament to TM Virgin JEnihroned, over the high altar of S. Marco, Florence, by Fra Giovanni da Fiesole. THE CAMPO SANTO AT PISA. (The North Side.) Showing the position of Benozzo GozzoHs Frescoes. BENOZZO GOZZOLI. 77 passionate was his love of art, so indefatigable his powers, that he cheerfully undertook a task, which, according to Yasari, was sufficient to scare a whole army of painters.^ The frescoes were twenty-four in number, but two out of the twenty-four have completely perished. They represent scenes from the Old Testament, beginning with Noah, and ending with the Queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon. The accompanying illustration shows their position on the wall. On the extreme right hand are, on the top, the Fall of Jericho and David and Goliath, and underneath Aaron's Bod. This marvellous series, in which Benozzo displays an end- lessly fertile imagination, took sixteen years to accomplish. It has the same features as the Adoration of the Magi, in the Palazzo Eiccardi. Hundreds of figures, rich colours, ample draperies, profusion of accessories ; portraits of the great people of his time, Cosimo, Lorenzo, and Giuliano de' Medici, Poliziano, and the artist himself on horseback, witnessing the adoration of the eastern kings before the shrine at Bethlehem. Perhaps some remnant of his master's spirit induced the painter to introduce the portraits of the living only as spec- tators, not as taking part in the action of the scene, as if to suggest that the scenes of sacred history belong to all time, and must pass before the understanding of all mankind. The frescoes were executed in tempera, but owing to some new method employed by the artist, great portions of the colouring have perished, especially in the fresco of the Queen of Sheba, of which scarcely a fragment remains. Both as a draughtsman and a colourist, Benozzo Gozzoli was more a clever imitator of the masterpieces of other artists, than gifted with any great original talent- But this power of imitation, which serves him up to a certain point, in lieu of scientific principle, fails him at critical moments, such as the foreshortening of his figures, in which he showed the ' Vasari, ed. 1878-9, p. 49. 78 THE SUCCESSOKS OF FEA ANGELICO. deficiencies of Fra Angelico's school ; and the perspective of his architecture. Even with this gigantic work in hand, Benozzo found means to paint several other pictures in Pisa ; TM Apotheosis of Thomas Aquinas, for the Duomo ; ^ the Virgin and S. Anna for S. Marta, now in the Academy of Pisa ; also in the same gallery, A Virgin and Child, once in S. Benedetto a Ripa d' Arno, and another of the same subject in the Monastery of S. Anna. The Pisans, as a token of their gratitude for such gigantic labours on their behalf, erected a tomb for him, in the midst of them in the Campo Santo, which they presented to him, during his lifetime, in 1478. The inscription in one of the frescoes above records that his surrounding works are his best monument. The frescoes were finished in 1485, but records prove Benozzo to have been alive in 1496. He died in 1498, at the age of seventy-eight. Zanobi Macchiavelli was the chief pupil of Benozzo Gozzoli. They worked together in the Campo Santo ; he was not an artist of very high powers, but his ability rather consisted in imitating great models. He is supposed to have painted the Madowna and Child (No. 586), ascribed to Era Eilippo Lippi in the National Gallery. In the Louvre the Coronation of the Virgin is signed with his name, and the date 1473 j^ and there is another painting of the same subject in the Academy of Pisa. He must not be confounded with Zanobi Strozzi, a miniaturist, and a pupil of Era Angelico. Melozzo da Eorli has sometimes been confused with Benozzo Gozzoli. He was a contemporary (born 1438, died 1494), and executed some considerable paintings in several churches at Rome. Among these, an altar-piece in the Chiesa degli Santi-Apostoli, representing the Ascension, was once a fine painting, but only a fragment of it is now extant. He also painted portraits of the Popes Sixtus IV. and Julius II. in the Vatican. , ' Now in the Louvre. ' Kot now exhibited. O N N o o N ]z; ft, « « « Q O -Iz; BENOZZO GOZZOLI. 79 Melozzo is supposed to have been the proUgi of Federigo di Montef eltro, Duke of Urbino. Two out of the seven pictures painted by Melozzo for the Palace at Urbino are now in our National Gallery. Another is in the possession of Her Majesty the Queen. THE PRINCIPAL WORKS OF BENOZZO GOZZOU. FLORENCE. Palazzo Eicoabdi. The journey of the Magi to Bethlehem. 1463. Uffizi. A predella — Christ between S. John and the Magdalen; the Marriage of S. Catherine (from Santa Croce, Florence). LONDON. National Gallery. The Virgin and Child enthroned (painted in 1461 for the ' Com- pagnia di Sam Ma/rco' Florence). The Eape of Helen. MONTEFALCO. San FoRTtrNATO. Vu'gin and Child (painted about 1450). Apotheosis of S. Fortunate ,, ,, ,, Annunciation „ ,, „ Monastery of San Francesco. Scenes from the Life of S. Francis. 1452. (In the choir.) Madonna and Saints. 1452. (In the chapel of S. Jerome.) PARIS. Louvre. Apotheosis of St. Thomas Aquinas (painted for the Cathedral at Pisa). PERUGIA. Gallery. Madonna and Child with Saints, opus benotii de ploretia mccoclvi. 80 THE SUCCESSOKS OF FKA ANGELICO. PISA. ' Campo Sakto. Scenes from the Old Testament ' : — (i.) Noah and his Family ; (ii.) The Curse of Ham ; (iii.) The building of the Tower of Babel ; (iv.) Adoration of the Magi ; (v.) Abraham and the worship of Baal ; (vi.) Abraham and Lot in Egypt; (vii.) Abraham's Victory; (vlii.) Abraham and Hagar; (ix.) Sodom and the escape of Lot ; (x.) Sacrifice of Isaac ; (xi.) Marriage of Bebecca ; (xii.) Birth of Jacob and Esau ; (xiii.) Marriage of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's Dream; (xiv.) Meeting of Jacob and Esau, and Rape of Dinah; (xv.) The Innocence of Joseph; (xvi.) Joseph made known to his brethren; (xvii.) Moses's first Miracle; (xviii.) Passage of the Red Sea; (xix.) The Tables of the Law; (xx.) Aaron's rod; (xxi.) Fall of Jericho, and David and Goliath ; (xxii.) The Queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon. TJie '* Destruction of Datlian and AHram," and the " Death of Aaron," are now no longer existiti^. [Painted from 1469 to 14S5.] Academy. The Conception {painted for Santa Marta, Pisa). Virgin and Child with Saints {painted for S. Benedetto u, liipo d'Arno, Pisa). MOKASTEKY OF SANTA AnNA. Virgin and Child, with two Angels.' ROME. Lateean Gallery. S. Thomas receiving the girdle. On the predella, scenes from the Life of the Virgin {from San Fortvmato, Montefalco). SAN GIMIGITANG. Sant' Agostino. S. Sebastian. 1464. Scenes from the Life of S. Augustin {seventeen scenes, from his sehool-days to Ms death). 1463-4. PlEVE. Martyrdom of S. Sebastian. 1465. Madonna {paimted in 1466 for S. Maria Magdalena in San GimC- gnano). Sant' Andrea {n-ear San Gimignmto). Madonna and Saints {signed and dated 1466). TERNL San Francesco. Marriage of S. Catherine {sigruid and dated 1466). 1 Arranged in the order given by Crowe and Cavalcaselle, vol. IL page 510, et seq. CHAPTER VI. OIL PAINTING IN FLOKENCE. ANDREA DEL CASTAGNO. DOMENICO VENEZIANO. BALDOVINETTI. PESELLO AND PESELLINO. ANDREA DEL CASTAGNO, and Domenico Veneziano, have hitherto been as inseparably coupled together in history, as Ugolino and his enemy the Archbishop Ruggiero in Dante's Irifemo;^ and for the same reason — one being supposed to have been the victim of the treachery of the other. The much vexed question of the introduction of oil-painting into Italy is founded on this story, which is as follows, in the first ■> edition of Vasari. Domenico Veneziano, when in Venice learnt the secret of oil-painting from Antonello da Messina, to whom it had been communicated by Jan van Eyck in Flanders. Domenico Veneziano brought this new invention to Floirence, where he astonished the artists by the brilliancy of his colouring. Andrea del Castagno, the friend of Domenico, persuaded him to impart the secret of his method, and then murdered him. Two motives are alleged for this atrocious crime. First, that he was jealous of the superiority of. Dome- nico's painting in a work they were simultaneously ' Canto xxxii. 1. 15. P F A O 82 THE SUCCESSORS OF FRA ANGELICO. engaged upon, in the church of Sta. Maria Nuova ; secondly, that he wished to remain the sole possessor of the marvellouH discovery. This story, universally accepted hitherto, has been re- examined by Signer Milanesi, the great modem authority on Italian art.' In his new gloss upon Vasari we find the conclusive argument that, as Domenico Veneziano survived Andrea del Castagno four years, he could not have fallen a victim to the jealousy of his fellow artist in the way Vasari describes.^ It is further stated that the reason for this supposed jealousy was also unfounded, as the two painters did not work simultaneously in Sta. Maria Nuova, Domenico's frescoes being finished in 1445, six years before Andrea began his share of the decoration of the choir. The learned commentator can only account for the imputa- tion which has for four centuries stained the fame of Andrea del Castagno, by suggesting, that in 1448, one Domenico di Matteo, a painter, was murdered in Florence by an enemy, who might possibly have been another painter, Andrea di Matteo, who died in 1457. The works both of Andrea del Castagno and Domenico Veneziano in Sta. Maria Nuova have peri-shed ; but other works remain to prove that both of them were painters of considerable merit. It remains a disputed point whether the Florentine artists did derive the secret of oil painting from Domenico Veneziano. There is no doubt that in the list of expenses for painting the frescoes in Sta. Maria Nuova, there are items of linseed oil supplied in large quantities to Messer Domenicho di Vine- 1 Ann. 1862. Gennaio-Marzo, p. 1. The question was first opened in the GiornaU Storico degli Archivi Toscani. 2 Andrea del Castagno died in 1457, Domenico "Veneziano in U61, according to the records of the IJilbri dei Morti in Florence. Vasari, ed. 1878-9, pp. 683, 689. OIL PAINTING IN FLORENCE. 83 zia ;' but, on the other hand, those who have examined his painting now in the Church of Sta. Lucia de' Bardi declare that it is painted in tempera, with no trace of oil ; from which two things it would appear that in employing linseed oil to temper his colours for fresco painting he was only following a practice ■ which had been frequently adopted before, but that in panel painting he either could not or would not use it. The question as to the use of oil as a vehicle in painting has been discussed with vehemence by all the great writers on art, both as to the exact date when it was first intro- duced, and the method in which it was used by the artists. The result of their deliberations would appear to be as follows : — Linseed oil was no doubt used in painting as early as the eleventh century. We find frequent mention made of it in the writings of the Monk Rugerius, or Theophilus, called Tlie Scli^dtde of Different Arts. Thirty out of the forty chapters of this most interesting work refer to the preparation and application of pigments both for oil, tempera, and fresco painting.^ It was not, how- ever, used by Giunta and his contemporaries, although their paintings have a certain brilliancy of colouring very like the effect produced by oil painting. A careful chemical analysis has proved this brilliancy to be derived from wax, a vehicle much employed by the Greeks in encaustic painting.^ This practice declined towards the end of the thirteenth century, and was succeeded by that of tempera. ' Giornale Storico degli Arch. Toscani, 1862. Gennaio-Marzo, p. 6. ' Lib. i. u. 18, 20, 26, 27. " And then take the colours which you wish to lay on, rubbing them diligently in linseed oil without water, and make mixtures for faces and drapery as before you have made with water ; beasts, too, and birds, or foliage, you will diversify with their own colours at your will." — Cap. 26, Lib. i. p. 45. ' "The colours were mixed with melted wax, and applied to an ab- sorbent ground, into which they sank. When the whole was finished a g2 84 THE SUCCESSORS OF FKA. ANGELICO. Towards the middle of the fifteenth century (1437) we find that oil was used by Andrea Cennini in the background of his pictures, both in colours and gold, but not for figures. There are also many other records of oil being in common use as a medium, in England, ' France, and Germany before the time of Van Eyck. The difference between the old method and that dis- covered by the Flemish painter may be described as follows : — ^According to the old system, it was impossible to put another colour upon the canvas until the first had dried. On this account the artist had a practice^which Theophilus describes as " overlong and tedious " ^ — of exposing their picture to the sun, and waiting till each tint had separately dried. Van Eyck found the extreme inconvenience of this method when his panel cracked right across from the heat of the sun, and being somewhat of an alchemist as well as a painter, he bethought himself of composing colour with a species of oil and resin, wliich would dry of itself without exposure to the sun ; which, when dry, would not be injured by water ; which made the colours unite in a way hitherto unknown, and gave them an additional force and brilliancy; Therefore, although Van Eyck cannot be said absolutely to have invented the use of oil in painting, he certainly brought it to a perfection which it had never attained before. hot iron was passed over it, which brought out the colours to the surface. This manner of painting was extremely durable, and had the advantage of not being easily injured by damp, sun, or air." — Mrs Jameson, Handbook to the Public Galleries of Art, p. xxvii. ' "The King to his treasurer and chaniberlain sends greeting : Pay out of our treasury to Odo, the goldsmith, and Edward his son, 117 shillings and 10 pence for oil, varnish, and colours bought by them, and for paint- ings made in the Queen's chamber at Westminster, to the octaves of the Jloly Trinity (May 26), in the twenty-third year of our reign [1239] to the Feast, of S. Barnabas (June 11), in the same year, that is, for fifteen days." — WAlT^ole's Anecdotes of Painting, ed. 1828, vol. i. p. 13. " Lib. i. cap. 27, " diutumam et tadiosum nimis." OIL PAINTING IN FLOUKNCE. 85 The new system was first practised in the south of Italy by the Neapolitan painters, and pre-eminently by Antonello da Messina, who brought the art to great perfection, and carried it with him to Venice, where the inscription on his tombstone! gives him the credit of having first introduced the system of oils into Italian painting. But he could not have imparted the secret to Domenico Veneziano ; Antonello da Messina was only, twice in Venice, once in 1'445, and again in 1470.^ In 1445 Domenico was established in Florence ; in 1470 he had been dead some years. It is, therefore, still uncertain how Van Eyck's discovery became known to the north of Italy. We only know that, dating from the close of the fifteenth century, the use of oil colours gradually superseded that of tempera in the Italian School. Alesso Baldovinetti. Alesso Baldovinetti, the master of Ghirlandajo, (born 1422, died 1499) and the Peselli are named by Vasari as foremost among the artists who made the experiment of introducing oils and varnishes as vehicles for their colours. The Peselli. The elder of the two Peselli, Giuliano d'Arrigo di Giuocolo Giuochi, is commonly known as " Pesello." He was born in 1 D. 0. M. " This earth covers Antonello the painter, the chief ornament of his native. Messina, and of all Sicily, celebrated for ever by artists with the highest praise — not only for his pictures in which there was «, singul.it art and grace, but also because he first, with his colours mixed in oil, [gave] to Italian painting splendour and durability." 2 One of the few paintings, by this master, still extant, an Annunciation, is now in the possession of the Eight Hon. Sir R. Phillimore. The picture is painted much in the style of Van Eyok, in oils on a wooden panel. 86 THE SUCCESSOllS OF FKA ANGELIGO. 1367 at Florence. He was in truth, more of a sculptor and architect than a painter, being associated with Brunelleschi in the erection of the cupola of Sta. Maria del Fiore. But he seems to have formed the style of his grandson, Francesco di Stefano, who was born in 1422 and was left an orphan at the age of live ; he was brought up as an artist by his grand- father, and was calledj in consequence, " Pesellino." Giuliano, or " Pesello," was looked upon as the best animal painter of his time. Pesellino's finest work, although not executed according to the new method, was the predella for Fra Filippo's Santa Croce altar-piece. This predella has now been divided into five pieces, of which three are in the Accademia in Florence, and two in the Louvre. The works of the Peselli, even when taken together, were not numerous. Pesello died at the age of seventy-seven (1446), and was buried in the Carmine. Pesellino died young, at the age of thirty-five, in 1457, only surviving his grandfather eleven years. CHAPTER VII. THE GOLDSMITH PAINTERS OF FLORENCE. THE POLLAIUOLI. SANDEO BOTTICELLI. DOMENICO GHIRLANDAJO. IL VEKROCCHIO. " L'antica gloria e'l celebi'ato ouore, Chi non sa della, Medica faniiglia E del gran Cosmo, Italico splendore Di cui la patria sua si cliiam6 figlia." PoLiziANO, Stame per la giostra di Ciuliano de' Medici, Lib. ii. § 2. THE POLLAIUOLI. THE great affinity which always existed among the Flo- rentines between the painter and the goldsmith is best illustrated by the group of artists by whom this early period of the Renaissance is closed — the Pollaiuoli, Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandajo, and II Verrocchio. Antonio and Piero del Pollaiuolo were sons of Jacopo d'Antonio, a poulterer according to some biographers, hence the origin of the name ; a goldsmith according to others, hence the origin of their profession. However that may be, Antonio del Pollaiuolo (born 1429,' died 1498) began his career as a goldsmith, a modeller, and a carver in wood and metal. He was first of all apprenticed to B.ii-toluccio, the stepfather of Lorenzo Ghiberti, and after that worked, it is said, under ' 1433 and other dates are also givei',. 88 THE SUCCESSORS OF FKA ANGELICO. the great Lorenzo himself, as an assistant in the second bronze gate of the Baptistery. It is said that Lorenzo, when at one time engaged upon a particular group of ornament in this gate, left it to Antonio to finish, who thereupon introduced a quail of such perfect workmanship "that it only lacked the power of flying." ^ As soon as his term of apprenticeship expired, Antonio opened a shop as goldsmith in the " Mercato Nuovo," Florence, where he rivalled Maso Finiguerra, the best modellist of the time, in the beauty and variety of his works, both in chiselled bronze, silver and gold,' representing all sorts of figures and ornaments. The dossale, an elaborate silver altar for the church of S. Giovanni, is selected as a particular instance of this elaborate and beautiful kind of workmanship. It was engraved in low relief with incidents from the Life of S. John t/ie .Bopiisi, /culminating with the Feast of Herod and the Dance of tlie Daughter of Herodias. It is still preserved in the cathedral, and exhibited every year on the festival of the saint.'' He also supplied the altar with a silver cross and candlesticks of magnificent proportions. Besides these, and many other works of the same kind, with which he embellished the churches of Florence, his talents ministered to the fastidious taste of Lorenzo, II Magnifico. We read of a silver helmet carved by Antonio, and presented by Lorenzo to his general, Federigo di Monte- feltro, after the successful sack of Volterra ; and of a silver basin furnished to the Signori in 1473 ; but it would be impossible to enumerate the variety of articles, both eccle- siastical and secular, of exquisite taste and subtle workman- ship, which issued from the shop of the " first goldsmith of the day," as he is named in contemporary records. Throughout his life this branch of the art absorbed his talents and energies. His designs were so good that Ben- venuto Cellini testifies to their having been used by sculptors ' Vasari, ed. 1878-9, p. 287. ^ Ibid., note to p. 288. THE GOLDSMITH PAINTERS OF rLOEENCE. 89 and painters ; but his colouring was hard and formal, showing the defects of the goldsmith training. These faults are obvious in the best specimen of his work, now in the National Gallery/ This picture was originally painted, in 1475, as an altar-piece for the Pucci family in the church of San Sebastiano dei Servi at Florence, and repre- sents the Ma/rtyrdom of S. Sebastian. In spite of the defect of the colouring, the composition is beforehand with the age in vigour and power of design, the great technical skill of the artist being especially manifest in the foreshortening, and the expression of strong bodily effort, of the two soldiers in the foreground in the act of charging their crossbows. Piero (1441-1489), the younger brother of Antonio, was the better colourist of the two. Both brothers had a leaning to the pagan and classical taste of the age, and took pleasure in representing mythological subjects. The Combat of Hercules and tlte Jlydra, and the Death of Antceus, were painted by them in colossal proportions for the Casa Medici. These paintings have since, perished, but two little pictures of the same subject are still to be seen in the Uffizi. The figure of I'rudence in the same gallery, one out of the series of Virtues painted by the Pollaiuoli for the Mer- catanzia at Florence, is noticed as a specimen of strong, bold drawing, after the fashion of Andrea del Castagno, of a successful adaptation of the new method employed by the Peselli in colouring, and of careful, well-executed draperies. The rest of the series of figures are stowed away in the private magazines of the gallery. The Pollaiuoli were among the first artists who made a stud}' of anatomy with the view of making it serve a purpose in art. We shall find in the monument of Sixtus IV. in the Cappella del Sacramento in S. Peter's at Rome, an illustration of their elaborate study of the bones and muscles of the human figure.^ ' Bo. 292. ' See concluding chapter. 90 THE SUCCESSORS OF FRA ANGELICO. SANDEO BOTTICELLI. Born 1446. Died 1510. Alessandrp, the son of Mariano Filipepi of Florencej was also apprenticed in liis early youth to a goldsmith, named Botticelli ; hence the name by which he is usually known. Alessandro, or " Sandro," as he was commonly called, soon turned aside from that branch of the art to follow the pleasanter study of painting, which, as we have seen, was closely connected with the sterner work of the goldsmith during the fifteenth century. Sandro set before him as a model Era Filippo's style of' painting, and was for some time his pupil ; following his teaching with such dili- gence and success that at the death of Fra Filippo, Sandro remained one of the first masters in Florence. He assisted the Pollaiuoli in their work of decorating the Mercatanzia at Florence, but his Fortitude, the virtue which he chose to represent, is not an example of his best manner. The figure is that of a woman enthroned under a niche. She wears a winged helmet adorned with pearls, and wields a club. It is now in the Uffizi. His fresco of aS'. Augustin, in the Ognissanti, was another of his earlier paintings. Ghirlandajo was at the same time engaged in painting the head of ^S". J&rome on 4he opposite side of the choir, and the two painters were fired with generous rivalry. Vasari gives the palm to Botticelli, on account of the expression of concentrated thought which he has managed to convey to the countenance of S. Augustin. The famous circular picture of the Virgin Crowned by Angels (now in the Uffizi), is one of the best specimens of Sandro's painting. With one hand the Virgin supports the Infant Saviour, while with the other she is in the act of writing the Magnificat on the leaf of a book held by an angel. The angel behind her throne is the portrait of THE GOLDSMITH PAINTERS OF FLORENCE. 91 Lorenzo de' Medici. The conception was new and original, and the execution worthy of Era Klippo in character, action, and colouring ; but Botticelli's Madonna is of a more refined type, and was the beautiful original of the female heads repeated many times by this master, especially in the pictures where the same subject is represented with little variation, as in the Berlin and Louvre Galleries, and in our national collection. The great Coronation of Hm Virgin, at the Florentine Academy, is considered more harsh in colour, but it shows a great mastery of action in the springing, dancing attitudes and floating drapery ; yet, unlike the spiritual joy conveyed by Era Angelico to his saints and angels in Paradise, the heavenly sphere, as Sandro represents it, appears like one of the earthly coui-ts of" the fifteenth century, with all its solemn pageantry translated into the clouds. The same spirit inspires the artist in his painting (now in the Ufiizi) of the Adoration of the Magi, for Sta. Maria Novella, where he introduces Cosimo il Vecchio, as the first of the eastern kings, kneeling before the Virgin and worshipping the Infant Saviour, followed by Giuliano de' Medici, and Giovanni the son of Cosimo — all, "Vasari tells us, living portraits ^ — with the retinue of each of the princes exactly rendei-ed. Botticelli's talents afterwards procured him the favour and patronage of Lorenzo il Magnifico, and he painted several pictures for the Casa Medici, in the classical and allegorical style which was the fashion of the time. Among these his elief d'ceuvre was Venus floating on a shell on tlie Ocean, driven by two of the winds with a shower of roses towards the shoi'e. It is now in the Uffizi. The Birth of Venus, and Venus among t/ie Graces, are inferior examples of the same class of pictures, and are ciied as showing the goldsmith's taste in representing luxurious richness of ornament and abundant jewellery. ' Vasari, ed. 1878-9, p. 315. 92 THE SUCCESSORS OF FRA ANGELIGO. But the allegorical picture of the Calumny of Apelles (now in the Uffizi) shows Botticelli to have been a student both of sculpture and architecture. The vehemence of Sandro's action, an exact contrast to that of his master Fra Filippo, who was al) repose, is nowhere more shown than in this painting. Sandro's love of movement, his quaint, fanciful conceptions and bril- liant colouring, have been made familiar to us in his illustra- tion of Boccaccio's story of Nastagio degli Onesti} These four panels were originally painted for the Casa Pucci in 1487, for the wedding of Pier Francesco di Giovanni Bini with Lucrezia Pucci. Besides these decorative paintings, Sandro was employed, as the chief historical painter of the day, to paint the effigies of the conspirators in the famous " Congiura de' Pazzi," on the walls of the Palazzo Pubblico. The fame of his paintings caused him to be summoned to Rome, to share in the decora- tion of the Sixtine Chapel.^ His labours were munificently rewarded by Pope Sixtus IV., but Sandro was of an improvident disposition, and quickly squandered all his money in Rome. He returned to Florence totally impoverished, but found a new scope for his energies in designs for engraving. He was one of the first artists to engrave some of his own designs ; but his illustrations of Dante, the best specimens of his work, were engraved by Baccio Baldini, and belong to the edition commented by Cristoforo Landino, and printed in Florence in 1481. At the close of his life he became a devoted adherent of Savonarola, and gave up, it is said, his profession as a painter. Under such auspices it is most probable that he did renounce the secular subjects whidh had been hitherto expressed by his pencil ; but competent critics have decided that the picture of the Nativity of our Saviowr, recently added ' Winter Exhibition of Old Masters at Burlington Hon.se, eleventh year, 1879-80 ; Nos. 212, 213, 253, 264, lent by Mr. 1'. K. Leyland. ' See concluding chapter. THE GOLDSMITH PAINTERS OP FLORENCE. 93 to the collection in the National Gallery,^ must belong to this later period of Sandro's life, more especially as the inscription would refer to the troubles in Italy, so eloquently foretold by Savonarola, which must then have reached their height. Sandro Botticelli died in 1510, and therefore outlived by some years the great preacher and reformer of Italy. THE PRINCIPAL WORKS OF BOTTICELLI. BERLIN. Museum. Madonna and Child enthroned with Angels. Madonna and Child and the two S. Johns {formerly, it is said, in Santo Spirito, Florence). Portrait of a Yonng Woman [supposed to be " la bella Simonetta ")■ Portrait of Giuliano de' Medici. The Annunciation. Venus [study for the painting in tlie Vffi«i). S. Sebastian (formerly ascribed to Antonio del Pollaiuolo). FLORENCE. Accademia. Virgin enthroned with Saints [from the Convent of Sant' Ambrosia, Florence), ["Probably by Andrea del Castagno." — Crowe and Cavalcaselle.1 The Coronation of the Virgin, with SS. John the Erangelist, Augustin, Jerome, and Eloisius (from the Convent of San Marco, Florence). and its Predella. The Annunciation: and four scenes from the Lives of SS. John the Evangelist, Augustin, Jerome, and Eloisius. The Virgin and Child, and with Saints (from Sania Barbara, Florence). Allegory of Spring (jiaintfd for tlie Villa Medici at Castello). S. Augustin dead, and Vision of S. Augustin (frorm, Sania Barbara, Florence), The Daughter of Herodias with the head of S. John : and the Resurrection [from Santa Barbara, Florence). Uffizi. The Allegory of the Birth of Venus [painted for the Casa Medici at Castello). I No. 1,034. Purchased from Mr. W. Fuller Maitland, M.P., ls78. 94 THE SUCCESSOES OF FRA ANGELICO. FLORENCE. Urrizi (continued). Judith cutting off the head of Holofemes. Holofemes found Dead in hia Tent. The Calumny of Apelles. Madonna and Child, and Angels. {The Magnificat.) The Adoration of the Magi {painted for Santa Maria Novella). Madonna and Child, and Angels. Fortitude. Madonna and Child. The Annunciation. PiTTi Palack. Holy Family, with Angela. Portrait of " La bella Simonetta.'' - The Virgin, Infant Christ, and S. John. Casa Alessandbi. Madonna and Child, with Angela. CORSINI GAUEnY. Madonna and Angels. San Jacopo di Rifoli. The Coronation of the "Virgin (formerly asaribed to Ghirlandajo ; given by Crowe and Cavalcaselle to Botticelli). San Salvadoke d' Ognissanti. S. Augustin {fresco : painted in 1480). LONDON. National Gallery. The Virgin and Child, S. John the Baptist, and two Angels. The Virgin and Child, S. John the Baptist, and an Angel {onas in the possession of Oiuliano da San Gallo). Madonna and Child. Mars and Venus. Venus reclining, with Cupids. The Nativity of the Saviour. ( The inscription on it has been thus read by Professor Sidney Colvin: " This picture J, Alessandro, painted at the end nf the year 1500, in the (troubles) of Ilaly in the half-lime after the time during the fulfilment of the eleventh of S. John in the Second Woe of the Apocalypse, in the loosing of the devil for three years and a half. Afterwards he shall be chained and we shall see him trodden dovm as in this picture. " Tlie date has been variously read as 1460, 1500, and 1511. 1500 is that most generally accepted.) MILAN. Ambrosian Gallery. Virgin and Child. THE GOLDSMITH PAINTERS OF FLORENCE. 95 MUNICH. PiNAKOTHEK. Pietk. PARIS. LoTJvnE. The Magnificat {nearly similar to the picture in the Uffizi, Florence). The "Virgin, Infant Christ, and S. John. ROME. "Vatican. (/"» the Sixiine Chapel.) The Miracles of Moses (fresco). Death of Korah, Dathan, and Abirain (fresco). Temptation of Christ (fresco). BoRGHESE Gallery. Madonna, Infant Christ, S. John the Baptist, and Angels. GHIRLANDAJO. Boen 1449. Died 1494. Domenico, di Tommaso Curradi di Doffo, Bigordi, called Ghirlandajo,' because of his skill in making silver garlands for the Florentine women, was the prince of the goldsmith painters. He was the son of a goldsmith, he was brought up as a gold- smith, and the name by which his paintings have come down to posterity was derived from his success in the goldsmith's art. Still, early in life, at the age of twenty-four, the trade became irksome to him, and the talents which had declared themselves in taking likenesses of the customers who fre- quented his father's shop, were placed under the direction of Alesso Baldovinetti.^ Although the precision of his draw- ing, and the exquisite finish of his paintitags, were no doubt due to his early training, his manner was not cramped by the formality of the goldsmith's style. He is entitled to rank among the first fresco painters of the age, and, like all the great masters of this branch of the art, he studied the immortal works of Masaccio in the Brancacci Chapel. The first fruits of his labours - showed themselves in the frescoes of the Cappella de' Vespucci, at the church of Ognissanti ' In the Florentine dialect, Grillandaio. ' Vide ante, p. 85. 96 THE SUCCESSORS OF FRA ANGfELICO. (1480). These were, unhappily, covered with whitewash in 1616, and with them perished the interesting portrait of Amerigo Vespucci, introduced by Ghirlandajo into one of his pictures. Those in the body of the church — including the pic- ture of S. Jerome, the rival of Botticelli's S. Auyitstin — still exist ; also a Ceriacolo in the refectory, but this is fast perishing from the damp.^ The frescoes in the Sala del Orologio, in the Palazzo Vecchio, were his next work, in which he painted simultaneously with Botticelli, Pollaiuoli, and' other Florentine artists, till they were interrupted in their labours by the summons of Pope Sixtus IV. to decorate the Sixtine Chapel at Rome.^ The wall pictures of the Ghapel Sta. Fina in the pieve of San Gimignano — very beautiful decorative works — may be classed among Ghir- landajo's early paintings. But they were surpassed by those in the Sassetti Ghapel, where his great powers as a fresco painter declared themselves in the most unmis- takable manner. These were painted for a rich Florentine citizen, Francesco Sassetti, and the artist therefore chose for his subject scenes from the Life of S. Francis. The whole series of pictures is full of feeling and dramatic power, mark- a different epoch in Italian art, which was carried another stage on its ro^d to perfection by Ghirlandajo. The per- fection which he aimed at was of a peculiar kind. He was not satisfied with the mere representation of the external form, or an imitation of the circumstances of nature in the abstract, however admirably rendered ; but, with him, land- scape, architecture, and portrait were destined to be com- bined in some grand composition to redound to the glory and honour of his native city. In the frescoes of the Sassetti Chapel we find familiar features of Florentine and Pisan» architecture in the back- grounds ; and portraits of the most famous citizens — Lorenzo il Magnifico, Maso degli Albizzi, Agnolo Aociajuoli; Paolo ' Vasari, ed. 1878-9, note to p. 256, ' See concluding chapter. THE GOLDSMITH PAINTERS OF FLORENCE. 97 Strozzi, and others — introduced as spectators of the events chosen for illustration. The portrait is indeed an eminent characteristic of the work of Ghirlandajo ; but, unlike Botti- celli, in sacred pictures he follows the more devout school of thought, which only introduces the familiar figures and faces of the time as witnesses of, and not actors in, the incident represented by the picture. The Death of S. Francis, surrounded by weeping monks of his order, is considered to be the most remarkable of the frescoes in the Sassetti Chapel. At the head of the bed a bishop chants the Litany, the figure so life-like that Vasari ^ tells us his silence alone proves him to be a painting and not a reality. The spectacles on his nose are said to be the first representation of them known in a picture. The decoration of the Sassetti Chapel was completed by an altar-piece representing the Adoration of tlte Shepherds, now in the Accademia at Florence. The subject was a very favourite one with Ghirlandajo ; he represents it again in a painting at the back of the choir of the church " degli Innocenti " at Florence, besides the circular picture now in the Ufiizi. As soon as he had completed the Sassetti Chapel, Ghir- landajo received a commission from one of the great citizens of Florence, Giovanni Tornabuoni, to restore the choir of S. Maria Novella, replacing by new frescoes the damaged work of Andrea Orcagna. Ghirlandajo was to receive 1200 ducats for his wotk, and 200 more if he pleased his patron. On its completion, Tornabuoni expressed his complete satisfaction at the work, but endeavoured to excuse himself from payment of the 200 ducats. Ghirlandajo generously said that he was satisfied with his reward. The work of re- decorating the choir should have fallen by rights on the family of the Eicci, who were the patrons of the altar, and whose arms were to be seen in every part of 1 Vasari, ed. 1878-9, p. 255. PF A C 98 THE SUCCESSORS OF FKA ANGELICO. the cturcJi. But poverty compelled them to waive their right in f avoiir of Giovanni Tornabuoni ; it was stipulated, how- ever,* that their arms should be preserved intact in the most honoured positions. Tornabuoni agreed, but, nevertheless, had' his arms engraved prdminently on the front pilaster of the choir, on a much larger scale than those of the Eicci, who moreover haci the mortification to see portraits of their richer rivals frequently figuring in Ghirlandajo's frescoes. Ghirlandajo's-task occupied him four years. On the right hand wall he represented the History of S. John the Baptist, on the left the Life of the Virgin. In the picture which represents the Birth of the Virgin, we find in the lady who advances toward S. Anne the portrait of Ginevra de' Benci, the loveliest woman of her time. ' The same portrait is again repeated ' in the corresponding picture of the Meeting with Elizabeth. Mr. Ruskin compares Ghirlandajo's treatment of this last incident with Giotto's fresco of the same subject, in its recess behind the Marchesa Ridolfi's tomb in the same church, very much to the disadvantage of Ghirlandajo. His remarks are severe upon what he terms the " pompous " style of paint- ing adopted by Ghirlandajo ; and yet there is something so inimitable in his description of the two pibtures, that we must cite the passage : — " You can't easily see better pieces (nowhere more pompous pieces) of flat goldsmith's work. Ghirlandajo was to the end of his life a mere goldsmith with a gift of portraiture. And here he has done his best, and has put a long wall in wonderful perspective, and the whole city of Florence behind Elizabeth's house in the hill-country ; and a splendid bas- relief in the style of Luca della Eobbia in S. Anne's bedroom ; and he has ca,rved all the pilasters, and embroidered all the dresses, and flourished and trumpeted in every corner ; and it is all done, within just a point as well as it can be ' Vide Introduction. THE VISITATION. BY GHIRLANDAIO, In the Louvre, Paris. THE GOLDSMITH PAINTERS OF FLORENCE. 99 done ; and quite as well as Ghirlandajo could do it. . . Now, just for another minute, look at the Birth of tlm Virgin ; a most graceful group (your Murray's Guide tells you) in the attendant servants. Extremely so, — also the one holding the child is rather pretty ; also the servant pouring out the water does it from a great height without splashing, most cleverly. Also the lady coming to ask for S. Anne,^ and see, the baby walks majestically and is very finely dressed." ^ Still with all due deference to so great an authority upon art, we must give Ghirlandajo credit for a higher motive in art than the brilliant display of his abilities as a painter of portraits, classic ornament, and architecture in accurate per- spective. His singular gift as a portrait painter — which even Mr. Euskin will not deny — is again displayed in the opposite series, representing the Life of S. John the Baptist ; in which he introduced, as spectators of Zacharias offering sacrifices in the Temple, \ living likenesses of the well-known brilliant satellites of II Magnifico's Court — Angelo Poliziano, Gristo- foro Landino, Marsilio-Ficino, and Demetrio Greco. Two other prominent characteristics in the paintings of Ghirlandajo — his power of composition, and his art in group- ing the figures — are exemplified in the Preaching of S. John the Baptist, another fresco in this series. Although Domenico was the best colourist of the time in fresco, he has not the same success with his easel pictures, which are often marred by gaudy inharmonious tones. The Madonna amd Saints, an altar painted for S. Giusto, now in the Uffizi ; the Adoration of the Magi, the altar-piece of S. Maria Novella ; and the Visitation, in the Louvre, are selected as the finest specimens of Domenico's numerous paintings of this class, which have been scattered all over the world. He adhered throughout his life to the use of tempera or fresco, and never attempted the new system of oils — perhaps discouraged by the failure of his master's (Alesso Baldovinetti) efforts to ' Ginevra de' Benci. - Mornings m Florence, No. ii. p. 27. 11 2 100 THE SUCCESSOES OF FRA ANGELICO. introduce it into wall painting. As a worker in mosaic, the Annmiciation over the portal of Sta. Maria del Fiore is an instance of his great ability in that branch of the art. His brothers, Davide and Benedetto, made it their distinct profession^ and it was Davide who repaired the mosaics of the Duomo at Orvieto which had been entrusted to Domenico. Domenico died at the age of forty-four, with sudden illness, in the prime of his manhood. " "Would I had all the walls of Florence to paint ! " he had exclaimed only a short time pre- viously, fired with indomitable energy and conscious of his great powers. He had been twice married ; his first wife, Constanza, died in 1485 ; his second choice was Antonia, a widow of San Gimignano. Ghirlandajo was, as a painter, in- dustrious, painstaking, and always ready for work. He considered no order too uniijaportant for his acceptance, and was wont to tell his assistants that "they were not to refuse any commissions that should be brought to his shop, were it even for ladies' petticoat panniers ; and that, if they did,not choose to accept them, he would. " His pupils were Oranacci, Jacopo del Indaco, Alessandro of Florence, Sebas- tiano Mainardi his favourite assistant, and last, but not least, Michelangelo. THE PRINCIPAL WORKS OF GHIRLANDAJO. BERLIN. Museum. Madonna and Child, with Cherubim and SS. Paul, Clara, Francis, and Catherine {exeeutid with the assistance ofpv/pils). Madonna and Child, with SS. John the Evangelist, John the Baptist, Francis, and Jerome {SS. Fra/nds and Jerome are in oil, hy Granacci ; the two S. Johns by another assistant). FLOEENCE. Aocademia. Adoration of the Shepherds {painted in 1485 for the Sassetti Chapel), THE GOLDSMITH PAINTEKS OF FLOEENCE. 101 FLORENCE. Aocademia (contirmed). Madonna, with SS. Thomas Aquinas, Dionysiiis the Areopagite, Clement, and Domenio. Uffizi. Adoration of the Magi 1487. u,. Madonna and Saints (painted for San Gfiusto, near Florence). PiTTi Palace. Adoration of the Magi {replica of a). Spedahb degli Innooenti. Adoration of the Magi, 1488 (m t?ie Eefedory). San Salvadore d' Ognissakti. S. Jerome, 1480. Last Supper, 1480 (m the Refectory). MoNASTBEY OP San Maroo (m the Small Eefectory). Last Supper Santa Maria Novella (in the Clioir). Various frescoes : — The Coronation of the Virgin ; S. Francis before tlie Sultan ; Death of f). Peter Martyr ; the Annunciation ; Departure of John the Baptist for the Desert ; Portrait of Giovanni Tomabuoni and his wife. Scenes from the Life of the Virgin : — (I.) The Expulsion of Joachim ftom the Temple ; |(ii.) Birth ; (Hi.) Pre- sentation in the Temple ; (iv.) Marriage ; (v.) Adoration of the Magi ; (vi.) Massacre of the Innocents; (vii.) Death; (viil) Assumption. Scenes from the Life of S. John the Baptist : — (i.) Zacharias in the Temple [contai/ning portraits of the Tomatmoni family. and other celebrated persons of Ftorence] ; (ii.) the Visitation ; (iii.) Birth of John; (iv.) Naming of the child; (v.) John preaching repentance; (vi.) Birth of Christ ; (vii.) the Daughter of Herodias dancing. Santa Tkinita {in the Sassetti Chapel). Scenes from the Life of S. Francis : — (i. ) Renouncing his father's heritage ; (ii.) Pope Honorius conUrming the rules of the Franciscan order; (iii.) Before the Sultan; (ir. ) Receiving the Stigmata; (v.) Resuscitation of a child of the Spini; Oi.1 Fonera) of 3. Francis {painted in 1485). Palazzo Vecchio {in the Sala del Orologio). Glorification of S: Zenobio. 1481. LTJCCA. San Martino (m the Sacristy). Madonna and Saints. 102 THE SUCCESSOES OF FRA ANGELICO. MUNICH. PiNAKOTHBK. Madonna and Child, with SS. John the Baptist, John ths Evange- list, Michael, and Domenie. On the wings — (i.) S. Catherine of Siena ; (ii.) S. Lawrenui'. [Part of cm altar-piece exeeuted from designs hy Domenico Ghir- landajo for Santa Maria Novella, Florence. The exterior wings, finished hy Davide and Benedetto Bigordi and Granacci, after Domenico' s death, are in the Berlin Gallery.] PARIS. LouvEE. The "Visitation, 1491 (from Santa Maria degli Angeli, Florence). Portrait of an Old Man. RIMINI. Palazzo Pubblico. S. Domenie, S. Sebastian, and another Saint. ROME. Vatican {in the Sixbme Chapel). The Calling of Peter and Andrew. 1483. SAN GIMIGNANO. Pieve. Vision of S. Fina, and Burial of S. Eina (m the Oappella S. Fina). The Annunciation, 1482 (m the Oratorio San Giovanni). VOLTERRA. San Francesco. Christ adored by Saints. ANDEEA DEL VEEROCOHIO. Born 1435. Died 1488, Goldsmith, master in perspective, sculptor, carver and painter ; Andrea del Verrocchio makes a worthy climax to the Florentine art of the fifteenth century ; and reveals, at the same time, the source of the versatile talents of his great pupil Leonardo da Vinci. Andrea was the son of Michele de' Cioni. He did not belong to the family of Verocchio who were in existence at the time, but derived his name either from the truth of his sight — the keen-sighted — or because it was the name of the goldsmith Giuliano Verrocchi to whom he was apprenticed. While in (lis service,she executed many curious and beautiful works ; among others, two goblets engraved with curious figures of animals and foliage, well-known to all the goldsmiths in THE GOLDSMITH PAINTERS OF FLORENCE. 103 Vasari's time.' The fame of these goblets caused him to be employed by the Arte de' Mertatanti, to model two of the reliefs of the silver altar, which was then being prepared by the PoUainoli for S. Giovanni. Like the other Florentine artists of the day, he was also summoned to Home,'' to place his talents at the disposal of the imperious pontiff. On his return from Rome he pursued in Florence the sculptor's art ; which he had brought to perfection in the study of the antiques of the ancient capital of the world. His works are few, and little known ; but among others we may instance a life-size statue of David, which, when finished, was placed at the head of the Palace stairs, and is now to be seen in the Uffizi ; the figure of the Virgin above the sepulchre of Leonardo Bruni Aretino in Sta. Croce ; two bronze heads of Alexa/nder the Great and Ba/rius, presented by Lorenzo il Magnifico to Mathias Corvinus, King of Hungary ; and his representation of the Incred/idity of S. Thomas, in bronze, for the church of Or San Michele. Andrea del Verrocchio is said to have been the first artist who took casts in plaster from life, as aids to the study of form. He was a careful student of nature, and his designs — some of which have been preserved to us — have the admirable precision and clearness natural to a carver in metal, but he never succeeded in rendering them in colour. These defects are visible in the one authentic picture which he has left behind him in Florence of the Baptism of Owr Saviov/r ; and they are, perhaps, made more evident by contrast with the grace and beauty of one of the angels, supposed to have been introduced into the picture by Leonardo da Vinci. In England one of the few paintings by Verrocchio, still extant, is in the possession of Mr. W. S. Dugdale, of Mere- vale, Warwickshire. It is painted on panel, 2 feet by 1 foot 9 inches. It represents our Saviour crucified between the two ' See Vasari, ed. 1878-9, p. 359. " See ooncludiug ohapfier. 104 THE SUCCESSORS OF ERA ANGELICO, thieves : the blessed Virgin and another woman, perhaps the Magdalen, on her knees clasping the cross, and S. John. Two angels, nearly the same size as the figures in the foreground, in the upper corners, are in the act of adoration. Jerusalem is seen in the distance. As a sculptor, if Verrocchio had given no other proof of his skill, his fame might securely rest on the equestrian statue of Ba/rtolommeo Goleoni at Venice, the last work of his life (see illustration). A masterpiece of its age, it remains a masterpiece to the present day ; and while it makes up for the loss of Leonardo's productions of the same kind, it ex- plains where the great pupil of Verrocchio learnt his thorough knowledge of the form, action, and anatomy of the horse. But although Verrocchio's talent in modelling a horse was universally accepted, the Venetians seem not to have placed such entire confidence in his powei* of representing the rider, and therefore proposed to entrust this part of the commission to Giacomo Vellano, da Padova. Andrea, as soon as this scheme became known to him, roused to just indignation, broke the model of his horse to fragnients, and went back to Florence. The Signoria bade him beware of ever returning to Venice, for if he did so his head would pay the forfeit. To which Andrea made answer that they had better take care what they were about ; because, although they had the power of chopping off men's heads, they were unable to put them on again ; and certainly they could not replace his, though he could make another head as good as, and better than, the one he had broken off his horse. The Venetians, pleased with his spirit, invited him back to Venice to execute the model as he thought best, offering him a double commission for his pains. Those who have seen the magnificent counten- ance and attitude of Bartolommeo Coleoni, as he sits on his bronze steed in the Piazza outside SS. Giovanni e Paolo, know that the Venetians have had no cause to regret their bargain. BARTOLOMMEO COLEONI. BY ANDREA DEL VERROCCHIO. In the Piazza outside SS . Gioianni e Paolo, Venice. THE GOLDSMITH PAINTERS OF i'LORENCE. 105 The model was complete ; but in casting it, owing to the great heat of the furnace, the sculptor caught a cold, of which he died in a few days.^ In his will he had entrusted the completion of his work to his pupil, Lorenzo di Credi. The Venetians, disregarding his request, placed it instead in the hands of Alessandro Leopardo, whose name is engraved on the girth of the horse. He was ever afterwards called by the people " Alessandro del Cavallo." The pedestal, also Verrocfihio's design, is one of the finest of its kind, and scarcely less worthy of attention than the statue itself. Andrea del Verrocchio was only fifty-three years of age when he died. His friends and pupils grieved sorely over his untimely end. We have mentioned that the great Leonardo da "Vinci learnt the first principles of art under the guidance of Verrocchio ; Pietro Perugino, an artist of almost equal fame, was also his pupil. ' Vasari, ed. 1878-9, p. 368. M ^^ W 1^ H 1 i ^Sfe >H^^^^ ^^S! ^^ ^<^ ^^ CHAPTER VIII. THE FLOKENTIKE ARTISTS IN ROME. "Study, therefore, the great works of the great artists for ever. Study; as nearly as you can, in the order, in the manner, and on the principles on which they studied. Study nature attentively, but always with thqse masters in your company ; consider them as models which you are to imitate, and at the same time as rivals with whom you are to contend." — Sir Joshua Reynolds, Discourse VL, p. 109. VASAEI tells us that, " of all the methods of painting, the fresco upon the wall is the most masterly and the most beautiful ; because, in it the painter must do his ■work in one day, and at one stroke ; whereas, in other cir- cumstances, he may touch and re-touch it as often as he pleases." It was a custom much employed by the Greeks, and the old masters of the Renaissance adopted the same practice. The art consisted in working upon the fresh plaster, and in finishing a certain portion of the picture by the end of «aoh day, while the plaster remained fresh. Then both dried together, the painting and the plaster, and there was no possibility of re-touching the work afterwards. If there was any delay, the plaster, exposed to the effects of heat and cold, sun and wind, became coated with a sort of crust, which blurred and stained the work. It was necessary to THE FLORENTINE ARTISTS IN RO;HE. 107 keep the wall moist during the process, and the colours had to be of a special kind, vegetable and not mineral. The fresco painters required, above all things, a swift, dexterous, and, resolute hand, a dexterity which was only acquired by years of study and practice, and great powers of calculation as to the tints which changed with the wall as it dried. Many of the painters who succeeded admirably well in tempera and oil-painting, failed in the fresco, which may be considered the highest kind of art, both on account of the great abilities it develops in the artist, arid because, once done, it remains for ever. Was it possibly the strong conviction of this durability which made Zeuxis so paint, that posterity might be his spectators, while he exclaimed with confidence, " In seter- nitatem pingo ! " (" I paint for eternity ! ") Vasari concludes Ms advice to the fresco painters by urging them to paint " Virilmente e non ritocchino a secco." (" With decision, and never to retouch their work when dry.") Sir Joshua Keynolds^ chooses fresco painting as the illus- tration of that "great style" which he would have the ambition of every art student, for in it, he says, consists "the intellectual dignity that ennobles the painter's art, that lies the line between him and the mere mechanic, and produces those great effects in an instant which eloquence and poetry by slow and repeated efforts are scarcely able to attain." Never was there so grand a field for the fresco painters as when Pope Sixtus IV., having erected the chapel which bears his name (1474), sent to Florence for the great masters in that special branch of the art to come and vie with one another in decorating- the newly-finished walls. They came : Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandajo, Cosimo KosseUi, and Luca Signorelli. More or less distinguished in their own country, these great masters surpassed themselves in ' Ksarwrse V. p. 33. 108 THE SUCCESSORS OF ERA ANGELICO. the decoration of this chapel. Perhaps they were fired with generous emulation ; perhaps the mere fact of their residence in the far-famed city enlarged their ideas, and gave them a fresh and more powerful grasp of the great principles of their art. Sandro Botticelli was chosen to superintend the whole work. It was proposed that the frescoes should represent the History of Moses on one side of the chapel, and that of 0«w Saviour on the other ; the intention being to place in contrast the old law and the new, the Hebrew with the Christian dispensations, types and prophecies with their fulfilment.! Besides the general superintendence, SanJro undertook three of the subjects himself : — 1. Moses's Miracles in Egypt. 2. The Fall of Korah. 3. The Temptation of owr Saviour. All three paintings are still extant, and are reckoned b^ the critics as Botticelli's best productions, both on account of the spirit and vivacity of their action, and the brilliancy of their colouring ; these two especial features of the painter's ' The series begins from the altar on the wall to the left : - 1. Journey of Moses and Zipporah. (Pemgino.) 2. Moses's Miracles in Egypt. (Botticelli.) 3. Drowning of Pharaoh. (Rosselli.) 4. Moses receiving the Law : Adoration, and destruction of the Calf. (Rosselli.) 5. Fall of Korah and his Followers. (Botticelli.) 6. Publication of the Ten Commandments, and Death of Moses. (Signorelli.) On the wall to the right : — 1. The Baptism of Christ. (Pemgino.) 2. The Temptation of Christ. (Botticelli.) 3. The calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew. (Ghirlandajo. ) 4. The Sermon on the Mount. (Rosselli.) 6. The Investiture of S. Peter. (Perugino. ) 6. The T.ast Supper. (Rosselli.) THE FLORENTINE ARTISTS IN ROME. 109 style appear most vividly in the two paintings which relate to Moses, where he succeeds in rendering with extraordinary power the numerous figures in strong and varied action, the flutter of the draperies in the breeze, and all the richness of Eastern ornament. Being ignorant of the laws of distribu- tion, he is tempted to overcrowd his paintings with figures ; but some of the individual groups in his last painting of the Temptation in the Wilderness are equal in their beauty to any work produced by him either before or afterwards. Cosimo Roselli continued the representation of the life of Moses. He was not equal to his fellow-labourers in the power of design ; to make up for this deficiency, he loaded his pictures with gold and brilliant colouring— a style which, if it pleased no one else, pleased the pontiff, who, having no real taste in the fine arts, commended Cosimo beyond all the other artists. Cosimo's best work in the Sixtine was the Sermon on the Mount ; he was assisted in the landscape by Piero di Cosimo, who also was a better colourist than draughtsman. The real claim of both artists to distinction is derived from their pupils, Fra Bartolommeo, the pupil of Roselli; Andrea del Sarto, the pupil of Piero di Cosimo. Ghirlandajo continued the illustration of the Gospel history in the Galling of S/S. Peter and Andrew, and the Resurrection. The last has been so much repainted that it can no longer be called Ghirlandajo's work ; but the Calling of SS. Peter and Andrew, both for design and execution, is one of the noblest frescoes of the series. Not only does Ghirlandajo exhibit in this painting his unsurpassed skill in the technical management of the fresco, but in the conception he rises far beyond the realism of the goldsmith's school, and gives the most solemn and striking side of the incident, making it the principal idea. Some critics have compared the grandeur and dignity of the figure of our Saviour with Masaccio's treatment of the same figure in his fresco of the Tribute Money ; while others look upon 110 THE SUCCESSOES OF FEA ANGELICO. it as an anticipation of Raphael's Miraculous Draught of Fishes, and of his Feed my Sheep. Thus does Ghirlandajo form the connecting link between the two great masters, Masaccio and Haphael. The nobility of his conception is, in this instance, enhanced by a vast landscape background, displaying the artist's accurate know- ledge of the laws of linear perspective to which we have already alluded ; the subordinate figures are .admirably grouped, nor are the garments overcharged with gold and ornament — always the temptation of the goldsmith paiaters, as if the beauty of the figure increased in proportion to the richness of their apparel. LUCA SiGNOEELLI. The name of Luca Signorelli (born 1441, died 1523), called, from his birthplace, Luca da Cortona, completes the group of the great fresco painters of the fifteenth century. Although not a Florentine by birth, Signorelli was an eminent painter of the Florentine school, and, as such, was called upon to take his share in the decoration of the Sixtine Chapel. He carried on the series illustrating the history of Israel, and painted the Publication of the Ten Commandments and the closing scenes of the life of Moses. Vasari places these works as the highest of all the frescoes in the Sixtine Chapel ; but, although equal to Ghirlandajo in the grandeur of his conception, Signorelli is more coarse in hi's selection of individual forms. The pupil of Piero della Francesca, he possessed his master's gift of drawing the forms of the body anatomically, and was thus able to throw a wonderful spirit and expression into the various attitudes of his figures. He was a complete master of the delineation of the nude form, and was in thia point only equalled by Michelangelo, whose immediate pre- decessor he was in this class of study. Michelangelo is v^ -.^o THE FLORENTINE ARTISTS IN ROME HI supposed to have borrowed many of his ideas frMa Signo- relli's Last Judgment in Orvieto Cathedral — especially the principal figure, which in his hands lost much of the original nobility of the conception. The fresco was designed by Fra Angelico. But although it would be in vain to look for the spiritual rendering of the saintly master, Luca Sigaorelli awakens at once our astonishment and admiration by his knowledge of human anatomy. This he displays by throwing his figures into every conceivable attitude never attempted before in art. We might choose, for an example, the Fidwninati, or the Wicked cast out of Heaven, in which he foreshortens the falling figures with a daring success quite unapproached by any of the masters of the fifteenth century. From the time of Niccolo Pisano up to that of Michel- angelo, this fearful sul^ect, the Last Judgment, always had an irresistible attraction for the minds of the great artists, who vied with one another in their endeavour to portray with equal vividness in sharp contrast the joys of the just and the despair of the wicked. Their efforts were, no doubt,, greatly due to the influence of the Divina CoTmnedia — and they were, in fact, rivals of Dante, endeavouring to depict in their art the scenes which he had rendered in his immortal; poem. They exhausted their invention in the effort to represent the frantic despair of the wicked at the sudden realisation of their awful condition ; the body writhing with the torture of the mind in every conceivable attitude of pain and agony, so that the spectator turns shuddering away from such fearful scenes as Signorelli's Last Judgment in Orvieto, or that of Michelangelo at Rome. Unhappily, neither the artist nor the poet are able to depict with corresponding power the joys of the blessed. It would t seem as if man, familiarised by a long apprenticeship with pain and sorrow, knew only too well how to represent them, either in poetry or on canvas,. 112 THE SUCCESSOES OF TEA ANGELICO. but that his invention fails him to describe a joy which he caiinot even approach with his imagination. Portrait of Bignorelli, By Himself, In the Cathedral of Oi-vieto. Signorelli worked in Umbria, Perilgia, Volterra, and Florence. His greatest works in fresco, besides those we THE FLORENTINE ARTISTS IN ROME. 113 have already mentioned, were painted in the convent of Monte Oliveto, south of Siena, representing scenes from the Life of S. Benedict; and those in the sacristy of the church at Loreto representing, the Evangelists cmd Doctors of the Church in the vaulting, and the Conversion of S. Paid upon the walls. His native city of Cortona was enriched by many of his works. Three powerful pictures adorn the choir of the Duomo : — 1. The Institution of the Holy Gommiunion, remarkable because he departs from the usual custom of representing a long table running across the picture. He makes the dis- ciples kneel on either side of our Saviour, who stands in the midst of them. . ' 2. The Descent from the Cross, celebrated for the great number of beautiful heads, the power of the colouring, and the chiaroscuro, worthy of a later age. 3. The Conversion of S. Thomas, the least important of the series. Besides these in; the' sacristy, he painted the lunette of a Madonna, almost' equal to a Leonardo in beauty. These were his principal painiings, but many other churches, in Cortona and its vicinity, caii boast some beautiful works bj' Luca Signer el li. Luca Signorelli lived to a great age. In his eighty-second year he undertook one of the frescoes in the new palace built by Sylvio Passerini, Cardinal of Cortona, about a mile out of the city. The subject of the fresco was to have been the Baptism of our Saviou/r, but he died before it was finished. Besides his very singular genius, he was a man of great industry, who thoroughly mastered every subject he under- took, and then treated it with unfaltering decision and energy. He was no doubt the greatest fresco painter of his age, but he also painted movable pictures and altar-pieces of great value which have found their way to the various galleries of Europe. Vasari, who was personally acquainted with him, describes him as a man of blameless life, and gentle courteous manners ; r F A I 114 THK SUCCESSOUS OF FRA ANGELICO. and, like the true artist he was, most anxious to impart the result of his labour and experience to his pupils, to enable them to follow in the path which he had opened to them — a path which led straight to that perfection of design illustrated by the immortal works of the succeeding century. Besides the decoration of the Sixtine Chapel by the fresco painters there was work also in Kome for the Florentine goldsmiths and sculptors. The huge silver figures of the Apostles which stood on the altar in the Pope's Chapel were missing. Andrea del Verrocchio was sent for from Florence to supply them. Inspired by the treasures of antique sculpture which surrounded him, Verrocchio abandoned the goldsmith art for that of the sculptor and statue maker, and, after casting several small figures in bronze, embarked in the large under- taking of a marble tomb for the wife of Francesco Torna- buoni, with bas-reliefs representing scenes from her life, very finely sculptured, which was placed in the Minerva, but has .since been removed thence. The Pollaiuoli were also summoned by the successor of Sixtus IV — Innocent VIII— to adorn the tomb of one who had, from whatever motive, been so keen a patron of the fine arts. They spent themselves in the effort to produce a monument befitting the occasion, which is still to be seen in the Cappella del Sacramento bearing their name and the date 1493. It has been made the subject of careful criticism by the great writers on art.' "The pontiff (Sixtus IV.) lies at full length on the lid of a sarcophagus, on the corners of which are figures of Virtues and ornaments in relief. The piece is remarkable for its successful distribution and the beauty of its ornamentation ; but the rigid and exaggerated action, the searching study of the muscular developments of flesh, the realistic coarseness of the joints and extremities, the defective draperies, accuse ' Crowe find Cavalciaelle. vol. ii. p. 388. THE- FLORENTINE ARTISTS IN ROME. 115 an absence of the idea of severe sculptural simplicity, or prove that the hardness and angularity incidental to the casting of bronze were not to be overcome, when the artist attempted to realize too many of the details of movement in the limbs and extremities, or in the tendons and muscles." The tomb of Innocent VIII. now in the Cappella della Concezione was also the work of the PoUaiuoli ; and it was superior to that of Sixtus IV. The subject was differently treated, the Pontiff being twice represented ; first, seated on high, the right hand in the act of Benediction, the left holding a lance ; the second time he is represented at the foot of the monument in a recumbent attitude.' The PoUaiuoli died in Home, and are buried in the church of S. Piero in Vincoli. Such was the state of art in Italy at the decline of the fifteenth century. Much progress had been already made in painting from life, and the heads of the figures are charac- terised by a truth and vivacity not surpassed even in the present day. The painting of the hands and feet was by no means so excellent, and there was still great scope for improve- ment in representing the ideal beauty — instead of the bare imitation — of the form. Fulness of design, harmony of colour, serial perspective, variety in composition, freedom of the pencil, — still somewhat cramped even in the hands of the greatest artists ; all these were necessary to complete that perfection of art which belongs to the succeeding age. In Florence every surrounding circumstance combined to promote this improvement. The taste for fine architecture was rapidly spreading all over Italy : the most beautiful buildings, cathe- drals, public and ducal palaces in Florence, Rome, Mantua, Venice, Umbria, and Kimini were the creation of this century. When their magnificent external proportions were complete, the internal decoration followed as a matter of course. There ' Vasari, ud. 1878-9, p. 296. 116 THE SUOOBSSOKS OF FEA ANGEUCO. was a universal demand for the painter and sculptor — and thus arose among the artists that noble emulation and inter- change of ideas so conducive to the progress of art. The study of poetrj', analogous to that of painting, was likewise in the ascendant ; investing the age with that golden halo, which, ever ready to shine upon the sister arts, does not shed so brilliant a light upon the severer studies of science. These circumstances prepared the way for the most glorious era in painting, when the schools of Italy, fired with generous rivalry, each developed a decided character of its own — some one peculiar excellence, illustrated by some famous master — which, as it has been aptly described by one of their great artists, procured for each school its own special claim to distinction. ' ' CM farsi un buon Fittore brama e desia II disegno di Rrnna abbia alia Mano La Massa ooU' orribra Venessiano E il degno colorir di Lombaidia Di Micbel Angelo la terribil viii II vera natural di Tiziano Di Coreggio lo stil puro e sovrano E di tm Bafiael la vera simmetTia Del Tebaldi il decoro e il fondamento Del dotto Primatiooio I'inventare E un p6 (Ji grazia del Parmigianino. " APPENDIX. TRANSLATIONS OF ITALIAN QUOTATIONS. Page 1. " Thou didst as one, Who, journeying through the darkness, bears a light Behind, that profits not himsell, but makes His followers wise." Gary's Translation. Page 9. " Zenxis, Parrhasius, Polygnot, stand by, Art in my hands became a silent nature ; Feeling and force I gave to every feature My fish appear to swim, my birds to fly.' ' R. P. Page 16. •' I painted — and the very truth my painting seemed to be Each figure on my canvas with quick life appeared to glow Every feature moving, speaking — let great Angelo Teach the rest as his disciples, but learn alone from me." R. P.- Page 25. '' And in that midst their sportive pennons wav'd Thousands of Angels ; in resplendence each Distinct, and quaint adornment. At their glee And carol, smiled the Lovely One of heaven, That ]'oy was in the eyes of all the blest." Cart's Translation. Page 28. " One, seraphic all In fervency ; for wisdom upon earth, The other, splendour of cherubic light." Cart's TransIiAtion. lis APPENDIX. Page 31. " Say, who that angel is that with such glee Beholds our queen, and so enamoured glows L>-f her high beauty, that all fire he seems. ***** In him are summed Whate'er of buxomness and free delight May be in spirit, or in angel, met ; . And so beseems ; for that he bare the palm Down unto Mary, when the Son of God Vouchsafed to clothe Him in terrestrial weeds." Cart's Teanslatios Page il. " And didst thou look E'en thus, Jesus, my true Lord and God V And was this semblance thine ? '' Cart's Translation Page 44. " I beheld a puissant One arrive Amongst us, with victorious trophy crowned. He forth the shade of our first parent drew Abel his child, and Noah righteous man. Of Moses lawgiver for faith approv'd. Of patriarch Abraham : and David King. * *, * * * ^And others many more, whom he to bliss Exalted." Cart's Translation Page 116. " How to paint well who doth desire to knof Careful design will study well at Rome. From Venice breadth of light and shadow come. Of Lombard colouring mark the noble glow ; Then tread the awful path of Angelo. ■ See Titian's nature every eye beguile, Correggio's chastening and imperial style. The matchless symmetry of RafBaello, Tibaldi's grave decorum and his ground ; In Primaticcio learned invention trace, From Parmigianino steal a little grace." R. P. NOTE. "TEMPERA." (C. vi., Vasari, ed. 1878—9, vol. i. p. 183.) OF THE USE OF DISTEMPEK, ' ' Before the time of Cimabue, the use of distemper both in panel and wall-painting was common among the Greeks ; and afterwards it was a uniyersal practice among Italian painters. These old masters used to pre- pare their panels by spreading a linen cloth over them, and glueing it firmly down, lest they should split at the joins. Over this they spread ingesso, a sort of prepared plaster, made from sulphuric acid and lime ; and they then distempered their colours to lay upon this gi'ound mth yolk of egg, or 'tempera.' Their method of distempering was as fol- lows : — They took the yolk of an egg and beat it up, they (hen mixed with the egg the tender shoots of a fig, in order that the milk of the fig combined with the egg might temper the colours to the different qualities with which they afterwards worked. Their colours were mineral, partly made by the alohymist, partly found in caves and grottos. All colours were good for this species of work, except white made from slaked lime, which was too strong for the purpose. The azures were tempered with glue or size, because the yellow of the egg was liable to turn them green, but the glue (size) preserved their own colour, also gum. " This method can be pursued either with or without the preparatory chalk. In painting upon the wall when dry (as opposed to fresco when the plaster is fresh), the method is the same, only the wall is first prepared to receive the tempera colpurs with hot size. The colours themselves can also be tempered with size without being any the worse for it ; it was a practice with many of the old masters, whose works have remain«d for hundreds of years in their first beauty and freshness. Certainly this freshness is most obvious in Giotto's works, for there is not one of them which does not now appear as fresh as when it was first painted two hundred years ago. ' " The recent discovery of the oil colours has caused many to lay aside the tempera, so that we see this new method constantly employed now both in panel painting, and other works of importance." Still more elaborate recipes for the illumination of books are to be found in the Monk Theophilus's "Schedule of Different Arts,"' already mentioned. We give one or two at full length as instancing the minute care and pain required for one preparation of the colours before using them. Extracts from « SCHEDULE OF DIFFERENT ARTS." CHAPTER XXXI. HOW GOLD AND SILVER ARE LAID IN BOOKS. " Afterwards take pure minium (red lead) and add to it a third part of cinnabar (vermilion), grinding it upon a stone with water. Which, being carefully ground, beat up the clear of the white of an egg, in summer with water, in winter without water ; and when it is cle^r, put the minium into a horn, and pour the clear upon it, and stir it a little with a piece of wood put into it, and with a pencil fill up all places with it upon which you wish * The first edition of Vasari was published 155Q. I Vide ante, chapter on Oil Painting:. ] 20 apvksdix. to lay gold. Then place a little pot with glue over the fire, and when it is liquifiea pour it into the shell of gold, and wash it with it. When you have poured which into another sheU, in which the purifying is kept, again pour in warm glue, and holding it in the palm of your left hand, stir it carefully with the pencil, and lay it on where you wish, thick or thin, so, however that there be little glue, because, should it exceed, it blackens the gold and does not receivs a polish ; but after it has dried, polish it with a tooth or bloodstone, carefully filed and polished, upon a smooth and shining horn tablet. But should it happen, through negligence of the glue not being well cooked, that the gold pulverises in nibbing, or rises on account of too great thickness, have near you some old clear of egg, beat up without water, and directly with a pencil paint slightly and quickly over the gold ; when it is dry again rub it with the tooth or stone. Lay in this manner silver, brass, and copper in their place and polish them." CHAPTER XXXIV. HOW COLOURS ABE TEMPBEED FOE BOOKS. " These things thus accomplished, make a mixture of the clearest gum and water as above, and temper all colours except green, and ceruse, and minium, and carmine, with clear of egg. Compose all preparations of colours for a book as above, if you want them for painting figures. All colours are laid on twice in books, at first very thinly, then more thickly ; but twice for letters." CHAPTER XL. OF IKK. " To make ink, cut for yourself wood of the thorn-trees in April or May, before they produce flowers or leaves, and collecting them in small bundles, allow them to lie in the shade for two, three, or four weeks until they are somewhat dry. Then have wooden mallets, with which you beat these thorns upon another piece of hard wood, untU you peel off the bark every- where, put which immediately into a barrelful of water. When you have filled two or three, or four, or five barrels with bark and water, allow them so to stand for eight days, until the waters imbibe all the sap of the bark. Afterwards put this water into a very clean pan, or into a cauldron, and fire being placed under it, boil it ; from time to time, also, throw into the pan some of this bark, so that whatever sap may remain in it may be boiled out, when you have cooked it a little, throw it out, and again put in more ; which done, boU down the remaining water unto a third part, and then, pouring it out of this pan, put it into one smaller, and cook it until it grows black and begins to thicken ; add one-third part of pure wine, and putting it into two or three new pots, cook it until you see a sort of skin show itself on the surface ; then taking these pots from the fire, place them in the sun until the black ink purmes itself from the red dregs. Afterwards take small bags of parchment, carefully sewn, and bladders, and pouring iu the pure ink, suspend them in the sun until all is quite dry ; and when dry, take from it as much as you wish, and temper it with wine over the fire, and, adding a, little vitrol, write. But if it should happen through negligence that your ink be not black enough, take a frag- ment of the tmckness of a finger, and putting it into the fire, allow it to glow, and throw it directly into the ink. " INDEX. (The Names of Paintings are printed in italic.) Academy Boyal (Old Masters), 92. Alfonso, King of Naples, 6U, 61. Angelico, Fra Giovanni, 15, 25—56. „ "VVorks of, 53. Angiolini, Bartolo d'Angiolino, 19. A nnimciation^ The, 33, 43. Antoninus, S., 41, 46, 57. Antwerp Museum, 53. Apotheosis of S. Thomas Aqtdiias, 78. Gennini, Andrea, 84. Coleoni, Bartolommeo, 104. Conversion of S. Thomas, 113. Coronation of tlie Virgin, by Fra An- gelico, 33. — — — , by FUippo Lippi, 62. ■ , by Benozzo Gozzoli, 78. , by Botticelli, 91. Cortona, 28, 29, 32, 43, 53. Badia, Florence, 70, 72. Baptism of ovr Saviour, The, 103, BalJovinetti, Alesso, 68, 85. Benci, Ginevra de', 98. Benedetto, Fra, 39, 57. Berlin Museum, 36, 53, 65, 93, 100. ' Bologna, 72. Botticelli, Sandro, 65, 68, 87, 90—95, 109. Botticelli, 'Works of, 93. Brancacci, Chapel of the, Frescoes in, 13, 14, 18, 19, 22, 30, 48, 69, 72. Brancacci, Felice, 19, Branda, Cardinal, 11. Brunelleschi, Filippo di Ser, 8, 38, 86. Carapo Santo, Pisa, 76, 78, 80. Caraffa, Cappella dei, frescoes in, 70. Carmine, Convent of the, 58. Castiglione di Olona, frescoes at, 11 — 15. Castagno, Andrea del, 81, 82. Cellini, Benvenuto, 88. P F A Dante, 28, 30, 31, 41, 44, 75, 81, 111. Death of S. Bernard, The, 62. Death of S. Francis, The. 97. Descent from the Cjvss, by Signorelli, 113. Diamante, Fra, 64, 65, 68. Distemper, or a tempera, 15, 83. Dominic, S., Order of, 26, 28. Donatello or Donato, 6, 8, 9, Fesch, Cardinal, Gallery of, 36. Fiosole, Convent of, 27, 33, 34, 38, 39, 55. Florence, Accademia delle belle ^rti, 22, 34, 37, 43, 64, 65, 72, 91, 92, 97, 99, 101. Florence, Cathedral of (Santa Maria del Fiore), 5, 38, 68, 86. Foligno, 27—29, 100. Forli, Melozzo da, 78. Frankfort, 55. Francis, S. of Assisi, ES. Fresco-Painting, 15, 83, 106. Fulminati, The, 111. K ,122 INDEX. Ghiberti, 2, 16, 19, 23, 87. Ghirlandajo, 70, 85—87,95—102, 109, 110. Grhirlandajo, Works of, 100. Giotto, 1, 8, 28, 29, 75. Goldsmith Painters, The, 86—105. Gozzoli, Benozzo, 74—80. Worlcs of, 79. Gradino, A, 38. Hawkwood, Condottiere, 5, 6. Institution of the Holy Communion, 113. Last Judgment, The, by Fra Angelico, 35, 36, 47. , by Signorelli, 111. Legend of S. Catherine, The, 17, 18. Leopardo, Alessandro, 1C5. Lelmo, Hospital of, 4. Life of CItrist, 34. Lippi, Fra Fihppo, 58—67. „ Works of, 65. Lippi, FiJippiuo, 67 — 73. „ „ Works of, 72. Louvre, The, 10, 33, 56, 59, 67, 78, 79, 95, 99, 102. Luooa, 73, 101. Lucifer cast out of Heaven, 1, 2. Maccbiavelli, Zanobi, 78. Madonna with four Saints, 60. Manetti, 3, 8. Martyrdmn, of S. Sebastian, 89. Marzuppini, Carlo, 61. Masaccio, 8, 13, 16—24, 59, 69, 109. „ Works of, 23. Masolino da Panicale, 10—15, 17. Medici, Cosimo de', 18, 39, 44, 60, 77, 91. „ Giovanni dl Bicci de', 18, 19. „ Giovanni de', 60. „ Lorenzo de', 70, 77, 88, 91. „ Kero de', 75. „ Giuliano de', 77, 87, 91. Messina, Antonello da, 81, 85. Milan, 94. Montefalco, 75, 79. " Morbidezza," 17. Munich, Pinakothek, 56, 66, 73, 95, 102. National Gallery, 10, 24, 38, 56, 59, 60, 66, 73, 76, 79, 89, 93, 94. Nativity of Christ, Tlie, 62. Nicholas T., Pope, 46, 47, 50. „ Chapel of, 48, 49. Oil-Painting, origin and use of, f 3. Orvieto, Cathedral of, 46, 56, 74, 111, 112. Padua, 10. Palazzo PubUioo, Florence, 68,69,82. Pazzi, Congiura de', 92. Perugia, 29, 56, 75, 79. Peruzzi, Loggia de', 8. Peselli, or Pesellino, Francesco. 65, 86. Pesello, Giuliano d'Arrigo, 85, 86. Pisano, Niccolo, 27. Pisa, 76, 77, 78, 80. Pippo Spano, 14. Pitti, Palazzo, 62, 72, 94, 101. PoUaiuoli, The, 87—89, 114, 115. Polygnotu.s, 9, 15. Prato, Frescoes at, 63, 64, 67, 73. Predella, A, 33. Eeynolds, Sir Joshua, 23, 65, 107. Kiocardi, Palazzo, 60, 75. Roll Call, The, 6. Home, 17, 45, 56, 67, 73, 95, 102. Bugerius, 83. Buskin, Mr., 98, 99. San Clemente, Church of, Borne, 17. San Fortunate, Church of, near Mon- tefalco, 75. San Gimignano, 73, 76, 80. San Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, 104. San Marco, Convent of, 30, 39, 45, 54, 55, 101. Santa Maria Novella, Church of, Florence, 6, 10, 22, 27, 35, 72, 91, 97, 101. Santi Apostoli, Church of, Borne, 78. Santo Spirito, Church of, Florence, 59, 60, 70, 72. Sassetti Chapel, Frescoes in, 96, 99. Savonarola, 92, 93. Schiavo, Paolo, 15. Sellajo, Jacopo del, 65. INDEX. 123 Signorelli, Luca, 110—115. Sixtine Chapel, Paintings in, 107 — 110, 114. Sixtus IV., Pope, 89, 92, 96, 107, 114. Spoleto, Cathedral of, frescoes in, 64, 67. Stefano Fiorentino, 1, 2. Stamina, Gherardo della, 10. Strozzi, Palazzo, 61. „ Chapel, 71, 72. Strozzi, Zanobi, 78. Thompson, Miss, 6. Tornabuoni, Giovanni, 97. Turin, 56, 67. Uccello, Paolo, 2—10. „ List of his paintings, 10. Uffizi Gallery, 10, 22, 72, 76, 91—94, 97, 9S 36, 37, 54, 70, , 101, 103. Van Eyck, 83, 85. Vatican, The, 27, 29, 48, 56. Veneziano, Domeuico, 59, 81 — 83. Venvs Floating on a Shelly 91. Verroochio, Andrea del, 102 — 105; Viochio, 26. Vinci, Leonardo da, 103. Virgin Crowned hy Angels^ 90. Virgin Enthroned, The, 76. Virgin and S. Amia, The, 78. Vision of S. Bernard, The, 60, Volterra, 88, 102, 112. Zeuxis, 107. Richard Clay and Sons, Limited, london and bungay.