Part 8

The influence of Giorgione is still clearly seen in Titian’s _Man with a Glove_ (No. 1592, Plate XII.). It is a noble portrait of an unknown man; the colour is rich, and the light and shade are contrasted with great mastery; the bare right hand and the gloved left holding the second glove are admirably modelled. The canvas, which seems to have been painted about 1518, is signed “TICIANVS F.” Soon afterwards Titian must have painted the _Portrait of a Man in Black with the Thumb of his Left Hand in the Belt of his Doublet_ (No. 1591), the _Madonna with the Rabbit_ (No. 1578), which is inscribed _Ticianus F._, and the magnificent _Entombment_ (No. 1584, Plate XIII.). This priceless picture, which was painted not later, than 1523 for Federigo Gonzaga, passed from Mantua into the collection of Charles I. It was sold off by Cromwell for £128 and, after being one of the masterpieces for a few years in the collection of Jabach, was acquired by Louis XIV. The deep religious feeling and the rich, sonorous harmony of colour make this one of the world’s most precious pictures. Notice the sunburnt arm of Joseph of Arimathæa; it is significant of the art of Venice.

At an interval of about eight years we come to the _St. Jerome_ (No. 1585), a religious scene set, curiously enough, in a moonlight landscape, which has darkened. The exact interpretation to be placed upon the _Allegory in honour of Alfonso d’Avalos_ (No. 1589), of about 1533, has been much discussed; it is supposed to represent Alfonso bidding farewell to his wife on his departure for the wars, and entrusting her to the safe keeping of Chastity, Cupid, who bears a sheaf of arrows, and a third figure. The _Portrait of Francis I._ (No. 1588), whom Titian never saw, appears to have been painted about 1536 from a medal, and represents the King in profile. François I. died in 1547. It belongs to the same period as the _Portrait of a Man in Damascened Armour with a Page holding his Helmet_ in the collection of Count Potocki. Another portrait, painted about 1543, represents a _Man with a Black Beard resting his Hand on the Ledge of a Pilaster_ (No. 1593). By this time Titian’s art was rapidly maturing, as we see from his magnificent and imposing _Supper at Emmaus_ (No. 1581) of the same year. It had passed from Mantua to England before being acquired by that excellent connoisseur, Jabach. It is said to be signed _Ticianus F._, while the _Christ Crowned with Thorns_ (No. 1583), which was painted for a church in Milan about 1550, is inscribed TITIANVS _F._ When Charles I., as Prince of Wales, visited Madrid in 1623, he was presented with the _Jupiter and Antiope_ (No. 1587), which has the alternative title of the _Venus del Pardo_. It had been painted for Philip II., and had already escaped the fire which broke out in the Prado. Jabach acquired it for 600 guineas, and passed it on to Cardinal Mazarin, from whom it was acquired for 10,000 _livres tournois_ by Louis XIV. It escaped destruction by fire in the Old Louvre in 1661. It has been very much repainted from time to time.

TITIAN’S FOLLOWERS

The _Madonna and Child, with St. Catherine (? St. Agnes), and St. John the Baptist as a Child_ (No. 1579), which has been enlarged by the addition of a strip of canvas down the left side, contains a glimpse of the country near Pieve di Cadore, the native place of Titian. Fourteen of the twenty pictures here officially credited to him are to be regarded as authentic. Polidoro Lanzani (1515?-1565), an imitator of Titian, however, painted the _Holy Family with St. John the Baptist_ (No. 1580), and the _Holy Family and Saints_ (No. 1596) in the La Caze Room; while Andrea Meldolla (Schiavone), who was a pupil of Titian, no doubt executed the _Ecce Homo_ (No. 1582) credited to the great Venetian artist, as well as the _St. John the Baptist_ (No. 1524) which is rightly assigned to him.

The German painter Johan Stephan von Calcar, who to Italian biographers is known as Giovanni Calcar (1499-1546), was a pupil of Titian. He painted the imposing _Portrait of a Man_ (No. 1185). He is seen at half length standing, and holding a letter in his right hand; his left hand to his waist. On a column in the background is painted the coat of arms, reputed to be that of the Buono family of Venice, which is repeated on the bezel of the ring on the forefinger of his left hand. Below his right hand is the inscription:

ANNO 1540 ÆTATIS 26.

Paris Bordone (1500-1570), who “painted women with more of an eye on the fashion-plate than on the expression of their features,” is not the author of a _Portrait of a Lady_ (No. 1180A), nor of the _Portrait of a Man and a Child_ (No. 1180), which seems to be a Flemish rather than a Venetian picture. His _Vertumnus and Pomona_ (No. 1178) is less representative than his _Portrait_ (so called) _of Jeronimo Croft_ (No. 1179). It takes its title from the inscription, “_Spss. Domino Jeronimo Crofft ... Magior suo semper obsero ... Augusta_,” which is written on the letter held in the right hand.

The last dying echo of the “fire” and poetry of Giorgione is seen in some of the works of Bonifazio Veronese (1487-1553), who was also a pupil of Palma. Bonifazio is now regarded as a single individual, although formerly the varying differences in his style of painting led certain critics to regard him as three different members of the same family. The varied grouping seen in the large canvas entitled _Holy Family, with St. Francis, St. Anthony, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Elizabeth, and St. John the Baptist_ (No. 1171), and the colouring of this canvas, seem to prove its authenticity. The smaller picture of a _Holy Family_ (No. 1172), with a similar pedigree and a Greek inscription, which includes the same saints, is a mediocre work. The _Madonna and Child, with St. Joseph, St. John the Baptist, St. Paul, and St. Ursula_ (No. 1674D) is a poor picture.

From the studio of Bonifazio issued Jacopo Bassano (1510?-1592), whose _Vintage_ (No. 1428) shows his predilection for introducing animals and kneeling peasants into genre pictures, the treatment of which is apt to be rugged. This did not prevent his at times painting striking and vigorous portraits. The Louvre contains a good example of this branch of his art in the _Portrait of Giovanni da Bologna_ (No. 1429), which is at present not exhibited. _The Animals entering the Ark_ (No. 1423), _Moses striking the Rock_ (No. 1424), _Cana of Galilee_ (No. 1425), _Christ bearing His Cross_ (No. 1426), and the _Descent from the Cross_ (No. 1427) are also credited to him in the Catalogue.

Leandro Bassano (1558-1623), his son, is represented in the La Caze collection by an _Adoration of the Magi_ (No. 1430) and a _Rustic Labour_ (No. 1431).

The vigorous, ambitious and late Venetian painter Tintoretto (1518-1594), who painted portrait-groups, religious subjects, and mythological compositions on a large scale, and brought his achievements to completion with extraordinary rapidity, is not adequately represented in this Gallery, in which, however, no fewer than eleven works pass under his name. His _Susanna and the Elders_ (No. 1464) testifies to the increasing frequency with which painters or their patrons at that period preferred the representation of sensational incidents from the Apocrypha. The subject is unattractive, but the picture, which is in a very dirty state, is wonderfully painted.

The _Paradise_ (No. 1465) is but a preliminary sketch for the colossal painting, measuring 84 ft. × 34 ft.,—the largest oil-painting by an old master in existence,—which Tintoretto painted for the end wall of the Sala del Maggior Consiglio in the Doge’s Palace at Venice. The _Portrait of a Man holding a Handkerchief in his Hand_ (No. 1467) reveals his great power as a portrait painter.

The _Portrait of Pietro Mocenigo_ (No. 1470), signed PETRUS MOCENIO SENATOR, and the _Portrait of a Venetian Senator_ (No. 1471), inscribed ANNO ÆTATIS LVII MVII IACOMO TENTORETO . F, are among the pictures of the La Caze collection.

In Room XV., which is given up to self-portraits by artists, hangs a picture which passes as an authentic _Portrait of Tintoretto_ (No. 1466) by himself. It is inscribed JACOBVS TENTORETVS PICT^{OR} VENET^{IVS} and IPSIVS. F.

PAOLO VERONESE

The harmonious colour, the sense of material magnificence, and the masterly draughtsmanship of Paolo Veronese (1528-1588) are seen to the greatest advantage in his _Marriage at Cana_ (No. 1192). He signed a contract in June 1562, to paint this large picture, which measures 21 ft. × 32 ft., for the refectory of San Giorgio Maggiore at Venice, and completed it by September 8, 1563. According to the agreement, Paolo was to receive 324 ducats, a sum equal to-day to about £200; to be fed during the time he was engaged on the work; to be repaid the cost of the materials; and to receive a pipe of wine. The picture was seized by Napoleon during his victorious campaign of 1797, and brought by road to Paris. In accordance with the terms of the Peace of Campo Formio of 1814, it should have been returned. As it had proved a very difficult matter to take it to Paris, where it had to go into the restorer’s hands, the French urged that it was too vast and too dilapidated to bear a second journey. Astonishing as it may seem to us to-day, the Italians accepted the suggestion and in exchange took Charles Le Brun’s large but mediocre _Magdalene at the Feet of Jesus_, perhaps because it measured 12 ft. 6 in. × 10 ft. 4 in. Le Brun’s picture now hangs in the Venice Gallery (No. 377), the Catalogue of which pointedly remarks that “the exchange is much to be regretted.”

Paolo Veronese’s masterly work contains no devotional feeling. The Scriptural story merely serves as a pretext for depicting a scene of Venetian festivity and material magnificence with imposing architectural background. The grouping of the figures is varied, dexterously disposed and stately, while the colour is harmonious and sparkling. The changing of the water into wine is, however, merely incidental. It is a significant fact that a work of this description, in which Art in Venice begins to trick herself out in meretricious embellishments, should have been regarded as a seemly decoration for the refectory of a convent. An additional but frankly worldly interest is imparted to the work by the introduction of a portrait of Alfonso d’Avalos (whose portrait by Titian we have already seen) as the bridegroom, on the extreme left of the composition; to his left is the bride, with the features of Eleonora of Austria. The other figures include François I., dressed in blue and wearing a curious headdress; Mary of England, sister of Henry VIII. and widow of Louis XII., in yellow; the Sultan Soliman, in green, at the side of a negro prince who addresses a servant. On the left of the next figure sits Vittoria Colonna, whom Michelangelo described as “a man within a woman,” plying her toothpick! At the end of the table, speaking to a servant, is the Emperor Charles V., seen in profile and wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece. The introduction of the fool with the bells in the centre of the picture is perhaps intended to express the pomp and pleasure of the world pursued without thought of Christ, who, however, occupies the place of honour in the centre of the composition. The couple of dogs in leash, one gnawing a bone, and a cat, lying on her back as she scratches at one of the vases which hold the wine on the right of the composition, may stand for merely brutal nature.

The painter’s personal interest in the scene is depicted in the group of four artists in the foreground. Paolo himself is playing a viol; just behind him is Tintoretto with a similar instrument; while on the right are Titian, in red with a bass viol, and Bassano playing the flute. The theory put forward by Mr. Herbert Cook that Titian was born as late as 1489, and so would be seventy-four years old in 1562-63, the year in which this picture was painted, certainly seems to find corroboration in the features here given to Titian by Paolo Veronese. He certainly does not look eighty-seven years of age, as he should do if he had been born as early as 1476.

In the Catalogue sixteen pictures are assigned to Paolo Veronese. The _Portrait of a Lady and a Child playing with a Dog_ (No. 1199) is an early work. The _Disciples at Emmaus_ (No. 1196), which is signed “PAOLO VERONESE,” is another of the master’s imposing canvases, as also is the _Feast in the House of Simon the Pharisee_ (No. 1193), which was presented to Louis XIV. by the Venetian Republic in 1665, and was for many years hung at Versailles. This artist is also officially credited with the _Burning of Sodom_ (No. 1187), a _Holy Family, with St. George, St. Catherine, and a Male Donor_ (No. 1190), a _Holy Family, with St. Elizabeth and St. Mary Magdalene, and a Female Donor_ (No. 1191), a _Christ heeding Peter’s Wife’s Mother_ (No. 1191A), a _Christ fainting under the weight of the Cross_ (No. 1194), a _Calvary_ (No. 1195), and an _Esther fainting before Ahasuerus_ (No. 1189). The _Susan and the Elders_ (No. 1188) is a replica of a picture in the collection of the Duke of Devonshire. The _St. Mark crowning the Theological Virtues_ (No. 1197), and the _Jupiter hurling Thunderbolts on Criminals_ (No. 1198), were originally executed as ceiling paintings for the Doge’s Palace. The _Christ with the Terrestrial Globe_ (No. 1200) and the _Portrait of a Lady in Black_ (No. 1201) are only studio pictures.

Little artistic ability is shown in the empty abstractions, and at times meaningless productions, of many of the late sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth century Venetian artists. Felice Riccio (Il Brusasorci the Younger) (1540-1605) is given as the painter of a _Holy Family_ (No. 1463); Alessandro Turchi (Orbetto) (1582-1648) of three pictures (Nos. 1558-1560); Sebastiano Ricci (1659?-1734) of four compositions (Nos. 1458-1461); Antonio Pellegrino (1675-1741) of an _Allegory_ (No. 1413); Alessandro Varotari (1590-1650) of an utterly uninspired _Venus and Cupid_ (No. 1574); and Pietro della Vecchia (1605-1678) of a dull _Portrait of a Man_ (No. 1576).

A century later than the stupendous achievements of Tintoretto and Veronese the art of Venice had passed into decline, but a glimmer of the genius that had found expression in the gorgeously decorative art in Venice in the sixteenth century was yet to be reflected in the work of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1692-1769). His _Last Supper_ (No. 1547) was purchased for £400 in 1877, and his sketch for the _Triumph of Religion_ (No. 1549A) for £1200 in 1903. By him also is the _Banner_ (No. 1549), depicting on the one side _St. Martin saying Mass_, and on the other _The Madonna and Child_. An _Apparition of the Virgin to St. Jerome_ (No. 1548) is one of the less striking pictures in the La Caze collection.

Another decorative painter was Antonio Canale, generally known as Canaletto (1697-1768), who is well represented in the _View of the Church of Santa Maria della Salute and the Grand Canal_ (No. 1203). The Louvre appears to contain nothing by Bernardo Bellotto (1720-1780), who is sometimes referred to as Canaletto, and is seen to the best advantage at Dresden.

Canaletto’s pupil, Francesco Guardi (1712-1793), who was born of Austrian parentage, is the painter of seven Venetian scenes: _After wedding the Adriatic, the Doge embarks at the Lido on the “Bucentaur”_ (No. 1328); _The Doge proceeds to S. Maria della Salute to commemorate the Preservation of Venice from the Plague in 1630_ (No. 1329); _Fête du Jeudi Gras in the Piazzetta_ (No. 1330); _The Procession of Corpus Domini in the Piazza of S. Marco_ (No. 1331); _The Visit of the Doge to the Church of S. Zaccharia on Easter Day_ (No. 1332); _The Doge seated on his Throne in the Sala del Collegio_ (No. 1333); _Coronation of the Doge_ (No. 1334); and a _View of the Church of S. Maria della Salute_ (No. 1335). Guardi’s pupil, François Casanova (1739-1805), a painter of battle-pieces, worked in France; some of his pictures are hung in the French Rooms.

With Guardi we close the chapter of Venetian art which, owing to four centuries of high aspiration and magnificent achievement, came to an end later than the art of any other school of painting in Italy.

THE PADUAN SCHOOL

Far-reaching influences were to be exerted by classical Padua on the art of the neighbouring cities of Northern Italy. Padua was a city of great antiquity, and had been sufficiently powerful and prosperous even in Roman times to excite the cupidity of its enemies. Eventually the Goths and other barbarian hordes had destroyed its monuments of the Roman age; the spirit of antiquity, nevertheless, survived until Giotto came at the very beginning of the fourteenth century to decorate the walls of the Chapel of the Madonna dell’ Arena, which had been founded in 1303 by Enrico Scrovegno on the site of an ancient Roman arena. These very precious frescoes by Giotto, which fortunately are still preserved, revolutionised art, and the movement initiated by him quickened the art-life of this University city.

Half a century later, Altichiero Altichieri (fl. 1320-1385) developed his art under the influence of Giotto, and beautified the churches of Padua with frescoes, the figures in which he clothed in fanciful attire. An art movement was now on foot, and the influence of Altichieri, who was later to become the founder of the school of Verona, was to be revealed in the work of his follower Pisanello, the Veronese painter and medallist.

The long residence in Padua of Donatello (1386-1466), the great Florentine sculptor, and the erection of his famous equestrian statue of Gattamelata initiated in Padua the Renaissance movement, which soon took deep root in this ancient city. The example of Donatello in sculpture before long brought about the foundation of a local school of painting which was rapidly developed through the shrewd commonsense rather than the artistic achievements of Francesco Squarcione (1394-1474). It is noteworthy that Squarcione had travelled in the East, and had there formed a collection of antique works of plastic art which became the basis of his art-teaching.

One of the numerous pupils of Squarcione was Gregorio Schiavone (“The Slavonian”) (fl. 1440-1470), a native of Dalmatia, who in the studio of his Paduan master met Andrea Mantegna. The Louvre authorities with some hesitancy attribute to Schiavone a _Madonna and Child_ (No. 1523). Although it is hardly by him, it exhibits some of the characteristics of Schiavone, who was fond of decorating his pictures with festoons of flowers and fruit in much the same way that his Venetian contemporary, Carlo Crivelli, delighted to adorn his large panel pictures.

ANDREA MANTEGNA

Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506) was adopted at the age of ten by Squarcione, and so naturally became his pupil. No better training could have been chosen for the boy, who had a natural taste for the classics, proof of which is further afforded by the Latin inscriptions on his pictures. Andrea seems to have quickly realised the connection between the traditions of Paduan antiquities and the classical models of ancient Greece which his adoptive father Squarcione had brought home with him from his travels. Andrea in time became deeply impressed with the methods of Jacopo Bellini, whose daughter Niccolosia he married in 1453, to the great displeasure of Squarcione. Another powerful influence on Mantegna may be traced to the bronzes which Donatello executed for the Church of Sant’ Antonio of Padua in that city.

After painting the frescoes in the Church of the Eremitani at Padua, Andrea in 1457 executed a large and striking altarpiece for the Church of San Zeno in Verona. It was removed by Napoleon’s agents to France in 1797, but only the principal panel was returned to that church in 1815. The three predella panels were retained in France. The centre one of these, depicting the _Calvary_, is now in the Louvre (No. 1373); the other two, representing the _Agony in the Garden_ and the _Resurrection_, have long hung in the Museum at Tours. The severity of the statuesque figures and the certainty of the drawing seen in the _Calvary_ are characteristic of the early period of the master.

Mantegna now removed to Mantua, where he entered the service of Lodovico II., Marquis of Mantua, as his Court Painter, remaining there for the rest of his life. The _Madonna of Victory_ (No. 1374) was painted to commemorate the victory gained at the Pass of Fornovo on the Taro on July 6, 1495, by Giovanni Francesco III., Marquis of Mantua, over Charles VIII. of France. In the centre of the picture the Madonna and Child are enthroned. On the left kneels the Marquis, and on the right is St. Elizabeth, the patron saint of Gonzaga’s wife, Isabella d’Este, “at the sound of whose name all the Muses rise and do reverence.” St. Michael standing behind the Duke, and St. George behind St. Elizabeth, hold the robe of the Madonna, who is thus represented as taking under her protection the two principal figures. In the background on the left is St. Andrew, name-saint of the painter and one of the patrons of Mantua. On the right is St. Longinus with the spear with which he pierced the side of Christ. His relics were preserved in the Church of St. Andrea in Mantua. The garlands of flowers and festoons of fruit are a well-known device in Mantegna’s pictures.