_Lazzaro Bastiani_ (Venetian: about 1425-1512).
_See also_ (p. xx)
This picture was, until recently, ascribed to Carpaccio, of whom,
therefore, some account is here retained. It was once inscribed with
Carpaccio's name and the date 1479, but these, having been shown to be
false, were removed. The work is now attributed, in accordance with the
conclusions reached by Signor Molmenti and Dr. Ludwig[179] to Bastiani.
Lazzaro Bastiani was for many years the victim of one of
Vasari's confusions. Carpaccio, we are told by that authority,
"taught his art to two of his brothers, both of whom imitated
him closely; one of these was called Lazzaro, the other
Sebastiano." No such painters existed; but the name of Lazzaro
Bastiani is on record as that of a painter already at work in
1449. The presumption is, therefore, that he was not taught by,
but the master of, Carpaccio, by which latter painter there
is no dated work before 1490. Numerous records of later works
by Bastiani from 1449 onwards have been discovered; and there
is a public document of December 11, 1508, in which Bastiani
and Carpaccio were appointed to value the frescoes executed by
Giorgione on the Fondaco dei Tedeschi. Our picture, hitherto
supposed to be an early work of Carpaccio, should be compared
with the signed and dated (1484) work of Bastiani in the Duomo
of Murano, representing a Canon kneeling before the Virgin.
Other pictures by him are in the Academies of Vienna and Venice
respectively.
Various technical similarities between the work of Bastiani and
Carpaccio are pointed out by Sig. Molmenti and Dr. Ludwig, but
Bastiani's pictures lack the charm and gaiety of Carpaccio and
his chief claim to fame is that which the critics now award him
of having been the master of that great painter.
The works of Vittore Carpaccio (about 1450-1522) have of recent
years attracted great attention owing to the prominence given
to them by Ruskin in all his writings since 1870. Of "The
Presentation" in the Venetian Academy (dated 1510) he says:
"You may measure yourself, outside and in,--your religion,
your taste, your knowledge of art, your knowledge of men and
things,--by the quantity of admiration which honestly, after
due time given, you can feel for this picture. You are not
required to think the Madonna pretty, or to receive the same
religious delight from the conception of the scene which
you would rightly receive from Angelico, Filippo Lippi, or
Perugino. This is essentially Venetian,--prosaic, matter
of fact,--retaining its supreme common-sense through all
enthusiasm. Nor are you required to think this a first-rate
work in Venetian colour. This is the best picture in the
Academy, precisely because it is _not_ the best piece of
colour there;--because the great master has subdued his own
main passion, and restrained his colour-faculty, though the
best in Venice, that you might _not_ say the moment you came
before the picture, as you do of the Paris Bordone, '_What_ a
piece of colour!' Carpaccio does not want you to think of _his_
colour, but of _your_ Christ.... If you begin really to feel
the picture, observe that its supreme merit is in the exactly
just balance of all virtue;--detail perfect, yet inconspicuous;
composition intricate and severe, but concealed under apparent
simplicity; and painter's faculty of the supremest, used
nevertheless with entire subjection of it to intellectual
purpose." Other powers of Carpaccio are better seen in the St.
Ursula Series, also in the Venetian Academy, and since Ruskin's
day honourably hung. "They are," says Layard, "masterly works,
rich in all that gives value and grandeur to historical art.
The rather monotonous history which forms the groundwork of
many of them is throughout varied and elevated by a free
style of grouping and by happy moral allusions. The colours,
notwithstanding injudicious cleanings and restorations, still
shine with the purest light. The variety of expression,
always lifelike, in the many figures, their beautiful and
simple action, and the admirable dramatic representation of
the different incidents connected with the story, give these
pictures an inexpressible charm. The subject of the dream of
the young St. Ursula, in bed in her chamber, with her table and
an open book upon it and her vase of flowers, has a purity and
simplicity quite unique" (i. 320). These pictures were painted
1490-5. Of later date (1502-1511) is the series in the little
church of S. Giorgio degli Schiavoni. They are full of the
charm of picturesque reality, the wealth of rich and quaint
accessories, the playful fancy and penetrative imagination,
which characterise Carpaccio. Occasional works by him are to
be seen in various continental galleries (_e.g._ Milan and
Ferrara); but it is only in Venice that any adequate conception
of him can be formed. Of his life little is known. He was
born either in one of the Venetian islands, or in Istria. He
generally signed himself "Victor Carpathius." Vasari calls him
Scarpaccia; in old Venetian documents, he is Scarpaza. "He was
associated with Gentile Bellini in executing the historical
paintings for the Hall of the Great Council in the Ducal
Palace, and it has been thought possible that he accompanied
Gentile to Constantinople as an assistant. The minute knowledge
of Oriental customs and costumes which his works display
suggests that he had visited the East, and even those parts
of it which were then still under the sway of the Sultans of
Egypt" (Burton). Ruskin's criticisms, and descriptions of
his principal pictures, will be found in his _Guide to the
Academy at Venice, St. Mark's Rest_ (Supplements), and _Fors
Clavigera_, 1872, xx.; 1873, xxvi.; 1876, pp. 329, 340, 357,
381; 1877, p. 26; 1878, p. 182. An earlier reference is in the
Oxford _Lectures on Art_, § 73. Copies from some of Carpaccio's
"Schiavoni" pictures are in the Arundel Society's Collection.
Copies of the "Ursula" series and other pictures made for
Ruskin are in the St. George's Museum at Sheffield.
This is a votive picture commissioned by Giovanni Mocenigo (who
reigned over Venice 1477-1485), to be presented by him, according
to the custom with reigning doges, to the Ducal Palace. The scene
selected represents the doge kneeling before the Virgin and begging
her protection on the occasion of the plague of 1478. The gold vase on
the altar before the throne contains medicaments, for which, according
to the inscription below, a blessing is invoked: "Celestial Virgin,
preserve the City and Republic of Venice and the Venetian State, and
extend your protection to me if I deserve it." Behind the doge is his
patron saint St. John, on the opposite side is St. Christopher. The
setting thus chosen for the doge's picture is characteristic. "The
first step towards the ennobling of any face is the ridding it of its
vanity; to which aim there cannot be anything more contrary than that
principle of portraiture which prevails with us in these days, whose
end seems to be the expression of vanity throughout, in face and in
all circumstances of accompaniment; tending constantly to insolence
of attitude, and levity and haughtiness of expression, and worked out
further in mean accompaniments of worldly splendour and possession;
together with hints or proclamations of what the person has done or
supposes himself to have done, which, if known, it is gratuitous in the
portrait to exhibit, and, if unknown, it is insolent to proclaim.... To
which practices are to be opposed ... the mighty and simple modesty
of ... Venice, where we find the ... doges not set forth with thrones
and curtains of state, but kneeling, always crownless, and returning
thanks to God for his help; or as priests, interceding for the nation
in its affliction" (_Modern Painters_, vol. ii. pt. iii. sec. i. ch.
xiv. § 19). The picture was bought in 1865 from the Doge's descendant,
Aloise Count Mocenigo di Sant' Eustachio.