ART. VI.-1. The Venetian Painters of the Renaissance. With an Index to their Works. By Bernhard Berenson. 1894.

London,

2. The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance. With an Index to their Works. By Bernhard Berenson. London, 1896. 3. Lorenzo Lotto, an Essay in constructive Art-Criticism. By Bernhard Berenson. London, 1895.

4. Antonio Allegri da Correggio: his Life, his Friends, and his Time. By Corrado Ricci, Director of the Royal Gallery, Parma. From the Italian, by Florence Simmonds. London, 1896.

THE

HE charge of insularity which was commonly brought against Englishmen in former days is now happily less frequently made. The spread of general culture and the increased facilities of travel have alike tended to dispel the prejudices which too long blinded our eyes to the claims of foreign scholars, and to the progress made by men of other nationalities in every branch of learning. Perhaps even more is due to the example of two or three distinguished individuals whose genial temper and wide sympathies have helped to break down the barriers that divide us from our neighbours across the seas. Such, for instance, was Sir Henry Layard, whose own knowledge of Italian painting and friendship with living connoisseurs were productive of important results in the literature of art. Such, above all, was the late Lord Leighton. No man was ever more absolutely free from insularity than this accomplished master, whose personality lent lustre to his high office; whose knowledge of Greek and Italian, of French and German art, was displayed in the admirable discourses which he delivered to the Academy students; and who found himself as much at home among the most intellectual circles of Paris and Rome, as with the gondoliers of Venice and the contadini of the Apennines.

And yet, when all this has been said, it must be confessed that, as a nation, we are still very slow to recognise the achievements of foreign scholars or to profit by their discoveries. How else can we account for the singular fact, that a writer of Mr. Pater's distinction, a man so remarkable for his attainments and culture, should have remained a stranger to the writings of Morelli and his followers, and in his eloquent essay on Raphael should have absolutely ignored the results of their researches ? The same lamentable blindness or apathy, the same reluctance to correct the errors of past generations, is evident in the official Catalogue of the National Gallery, where pictures are still

ascribed

ascribed to Sandro Botticelli and Giovanni Bellini, to Giorgione and to Raphael, although competent authorities have long ago recognised them to be the work of other hands.

Under these circumstances, it is the more gratifying to find how rapid has been the progress lately made in this country by the new and scientific method of art-criticism. The name of Signor Morelli, the founder of the new system, needs no introduction to our readers. It was in these pages that the important results of his investigations were first made known to Englishmen, and that, only five years ago, a worthy tribute was paid to the memory of the great patriot and critic who had just passed away. But some account of the work which his followers are doing may not be without interest to the large number of who devote their attention to the serious study of art.

persons

The new science is still young, but it has already outlived the first stage of ridicule and opposition, and is every day giving some fresh proof of its vitality. Morelli is generally recognised as the Darwin of this new branch of evolutionary science, and the knowledge of his writings is held indispensable to the systematic study of Italian painting. In France and Germany, in Italy, and even in America, his followers are engaged in applying his methods to individual masters, and are working out his theories in a variety of different directions. On every side old mistakes are rectified and new facts collected, and a store of valuable information is being garnered up for future

use.

An excellent English translation of two volumes of Morelli's works has been published by Miss Constance Jocelyn Ffoulkes, whose own knowledge of Italian art and personal acquaintance with the great critic fitted her in an especial manner for the task. The warm welcome which these books have received lead us to hope that they may be soon followed by the third and last volume, which was published after Morelli's death by his faithful friend Dr. Frizzoni, and is in many respects the most important of the series. Meanwhile the frequent contributions made by Dr. Richter, Mr. Claud Phillips, and other well-known writers, to periodical literature, have helped to correct many long-standing errors, and have brought the results of scientific criticism within the reach of general readers. In a small pamphlet on Italian Pictures at Hampton Court, written by Mary Logan and published by the Kyrle Society at the modest sum of twopence, we have not only an admirable account of the paintings in that rich collection, but a concise and useful summary of recent conclusions as to the authorship of many disputed pictures. But the most important works on the subject which have appeared during the

last

last few years, are three books from the pen of Mr. Bernhard Berenson, the ablest and certainly the most daring of all Morelli's followers. In spite of a style which is often repellent from its apparent affectation, the acuteness of his insight, the zeal and enthusiasm with which he pursues his researches, have already placed this young writer in the foremost rank of living critics, and lead us to anticipate still greater results in the future. In some instances, the experience of riper years may tend to modify his opinions; but in the majority of cases, we are inclined to think, time will justify the truth and accuracy of his conclusions.

The first two books on our list form part of a series in which Mr. Berenson proposes to deal successively with the four great schools of Italian painting, and, in his own words, aims at presenting the significant facts connected with each separate school, in such a way that the reader may be able not only to grasp its historical development, but also to enjoy it æsthetically and with discrimination.' The practical value of the work is greatly increased by the list of the paintings of each school which is to be found at the end of each volume, together with an index of the churches, museums, and public or private galleries where they are to be seen at the present The author himself has seen and attentively examined all the works which he mentions ; and while his catalogue makes no claim to absolute completeness, it is certainly far more thorough and trustworthy than any other in existence. Students and travellers who intend to visit Italy will thus find themselves provided with a cheap and portable guide that cannot fail to be of the utmost value, and with the help of which they will be in a position to correct the mistakes of popular handbooks or official catalogues. They will learn to discriminate between false and true Giorgiones, between the works of Botticelli and those of his imitators. They will recognise the varieties of style that mark the different followers of Bellini, and will be able to explain the reasons we have for knowing that Raphael was the pupil of Timoteo Viti, and that Correggio belongs to the school of Ferrara.

In its first treatise, Mr. Berenson describes Venetian painting as the most complete expression of the Italian Renaissance. That growing delight in life, with its love of beauty and joy, which was one chief element of the new spirit, was felt more powerfully in Venice than anywhere else in Italy. For many generations the Venetians had enjoyed a larger share of internal peace than any of their neighbours, and the conditions of their lives, the prosperity and splendour of their outward existence,

all

all helped to develope the passion for beauty. And this new view of the world, this sense that mere living was a large part of life, found its fullest and clearest utterance in the glowing colours of Venetian painting.

The Church had first of all educated her children to understand art as a language; but when the thoughts of men became less fixed on the unseen and more occupied with this present and visible world, painting began to express these purely human aspirations. The State became the patron of art, and men like the Bellini and Vivarini were employed to adorn the Ducal Palace with representations of the stately pageants which satisfied both the Venetian's pride in his city and his inborn love of splendour and gaiety. The Confraternities or Schools, as they were called, followed the example of the State, and decorated their halls with pictures illustrating the lives of their patrons, St. Ursula or St. George, St. Stephen or St. Mark. The next step was to paint pictures for private houses; and since works of smaller dimensions were required for this purpose, the demand for easel pictures soon became general. These paintings were no longer exclusively religious; or if Madonnas and Saints were still the artist's theme, they were treated no longer with sole regard to the sacred story, but for the sake of the lovely landscape, for the effects of light and colour, and for the sweetness of human relations.' And as romantic scenery and exquisite views of sea and shore were first introduced in the background of altar-pieces, so the portrait, which our author calls the most wonderful product of the Renaissance and of the painter's craft,' crept in under the mantle of the patron saint. The donor was introduced kneeling at the Virgin's feet, the warrior was seen adoring the Child-Christ, with his page at his side holding his horse's bridle. Venice was the first Italian State which made a point of preserving the portraits of her rulers; and all through the sixteenth century, portraits became more and more popular and increased in number year by year.

If Venetian art as a whole is the fullest expression of the Renaissance, there can be no doubt that in Giorgione's works we see its highest and most perfect form. The follower of Bellini and Carpaccio, combining, as he did, the refined feeling and poetry of the one, and the brightness and human feeling of the other, with a freedom and romance that were all his own, the young master of Castelfranco worked a sudden and silent revolution in the realm of art.

'Stirred with the enthusiasms of his own generation, as people who had lived through other phases of feeling could not be, Giorgione painted pictures so perfectly in touch with the ripened spirit of the

Renaissance,

Renaissance, that they met with the success which those things only find that at the same moment wake us to the full sense of a need and satisfy it. His life was short, and very few of his works—not a score in all-have escaped destruction. But these suffice to give us a glimpse into that brief moment when the Renaissance found its most genuine expression in painting. . . It would be really hard to say more about Giorgione than this, that his pictures are the perfect reflex of the Renaissance at its height. His works, as well as those of his contemporaries and followers, still continue to be appreciated most by people whose attitude and spirit has most in common with the Renaissance, or by those who look upon Italian art not merely as art, but as the product of this period.'

In perfection of form and beauty of line, in the joyous freshness of his outlook upon the world, Giorgione came nearer to the Greeks than any artist of his age, but with this sunny gladness there is in all his creations a deep feeling, a note of yearning which the Greeks never knew. All that is fairest in nature, all that is brave and heroic in manhood or pure and tender in woman, finds a place in his art. He loved to paint the sheen of polished armour and the sparkle of the sunshine in clear pools of water, the gleam that rests for a moment on the grass and is gone; in a word, whatever heightens our enjoyment of the passing hour, and makes the pulses beat with a quickened sense of life. He sets the myths of ancient days-Apollo in pursuit of Daphne, or Evander showing Æneas the site of Rome -in idyllic landscapes, and takes us to the meadows of Arcady, where shepherds pipe melodious lays in cool woodland shades, and happy lovers meet on the banks of running waters. Whatever his subject may be, he invests it with the same charm and treats it in the same original manner. Even where he conforms to some traditional type of composition, we are conscious of the change that has passed over the painter's dream. The noble and pathetic Christ bearing the Cross in Casa Loschi at Vicenza, and the Madonna who reigns enthroned above the altar of his native city, with the Eastern carpet at her feet and the belt of quivering light on the distant sea, make us realize the presence of a new power in art. By their side, even Gian Bellini's types have a stiff and archaic air. The Sleeping Venus which Morelli discovered in the Dresden Gallery has never been equalled in purity and refinement, while the music of the painter's soul found perfect expression in the beautiful Shepherd of Hampton Court, the only genuine work by Giorgione in England, which Mr. Berenson has appropriately chosen as the frontispiece of his book.

The demand for Giorgionesque subjects that sprung up after

the