The painting of Flanders will generally satisfy any devout person more
than the painting of Italy, which will never cause him to shed many
tears; this is not owing to the vigour and goodness of that painting,
but to the goodness of such devout person; women will like it,
especially very old ones or very young ones. It will please likewise
friars and nuns, and also some noble persons who have no ear for true
harmony. They paint in Flanders, only to deceive the external eye,
things that gladden you and of which you cannot speak ill, and saints
and prophets. Their painting is of stuffs--bricks and mortar, the grass
of the fields, the shadows of trees, and bridges and rivers, which they
call landscapes, and little figures here and there; and all this,
although it may appear good to some eyes, is in truth done without
reasonableness or art, without symmetry or proportion, without care in
selecting or rejecting, and finally, without any substance or verve; and
in spite of all this, painting in some other parts is worse than it is
in Flanders. Neither do I speak so badly of Flemish painting because it
is all bad, but because it tries to do so many things at once (each of
which alone would suffice for a great work), so that it does not do
anything really well.
Only works which are done in Italy can be called true painting, and
therefore we call good painting Italian; for if it were done so well in
another country, we should give it the name of that country or
province. As for the good painting of this country, there is nothing
more noble or devout; for with wise persons nothing causes devotion to
be remembered, or to arise, more than the difficulty of the perfection
which unites itself with and joins God; because good painting is nothing
else but a copy of the perfections of God and a reminder of His
painting. Finally, good painting is a music and a melody which intellect
only can appreciate, and with great difficulty. This painting is so rare
that few are capable of doing or attaining to it.
_Michael Angelo._