PANEL PAINTINGS
It is difficult to arrange Pintoricchio's pictures into distinct groups.
He wandered backwards and forwards between Rome and Umbria for so many
years, and his art, during the whole time, though showing variations,
never undergoes any radical change or development. He arrived early at a
point which satisfied his employers, and there he remained. He did not
attempt to try experiments, or to unravel new problems. He was almost
always engrossed by great undertakings, and had little time to think of
anything beyond getting them creditably executed in a given time.
"La préoccupation d'être original n'empêchait pas de dormir, encore
moins de travailler, les artistes d'alors. Leur personalité ne
s'élaborait que sur le tard, quand ils réussissent sans le chercher
beaucoup à le faire éclore."[32]
[32] Broussolle, _Pélerinages ombriens_.
This constant employment on fresco accounts for the small number of
panel paintings he has left, nor do we hear of more than one or two,
other than those which have come down to us. I have already noticed the
"St. Christopher" and the "Madonna" in the Gallery at Valencia. His
finest work in _tempera_ is the great polyptych or ancona, painted in
1498 for the monks of Santa Maria dei Fossi, and which is an
extraordinarily dainty piece of work. The heavily-gilt framework is
divided into compartments. In the central one the Madonna is enthroned,
the Child sits upon a little cushion on her knee, half-draped in a
striped and brocaded mantle. With one hand He offers the mystic
pomegranate to His mother, with the other grasps a jewelled cross, held
by the little St. John Baptist, who, with his cloak clasped upon the
breast, sandals on his feet, his eyes uplifted in devotion, strides
forward, with the air of one starting on a pilgrimage. This attractive
little figure is borrowed from the Bernardino Mariotto, with whom
Pintoricchio was so often confused. The Virgin's eyes are cast down, and
both her face and that of the Child are rather expressionless.
The upper part of the framework is filled by a Pietà, which nearly
equals the middle panel in size and importance. The half-length of the
dead Christ is draped with a striped cloth, above the open tomb. It is
reminiscent of Perugino's beautiful Pietà in the same Gallery. The hands
have the backs turned outwards, displaying the palms instead of the
backs, as the northern painters usually represent them. The arms are
supported by angels, who are adapted from the over-door by Fiorenzo in
the Sala del Censo. The pathetic figure of the Saviour is the most
satisfactory rendering of the nude that Pintoricchio produced. The
muscles are carefully modelled, the flesh is firmly painted, and the
touch of the angels convincing, the group is full of repose, sad
dignity, and refinement. The Angel and Virgin of the "Annunciation" on
either side are a reduced _replica_ of those in the Borgia Apartments
and at Spello. Though painted in _tempera_, this work is extremely full
and vivid in colour, almost resembling oils, and is executed throughout
with minute delicacy.
[Illustration:
_Alinari photo_] [_Picture Gallery, Perugia_
THE MADONNA AND CHILD, WITH ST. JOHN
(From the Large Ancona)]
The contract is dated February 14, from the house of Diamantis Alphani
de Alphanis. "Messer Bernardino de Benedecto of Perugia--il
Pintoricchio, for himself and his heirs, promises and agrees with
Brother Jerome of Francesco, Venice, Sindico and Procurator of the Frate
Capitulo and Convent of Santa Maria dei Fossi, de Porta San Pietro, to
paint an altar-piece over the high altar of the said church with the
here inscribed figures. The picture divided into parts: in the major
part the image of our most glorious Lady with the Child. On the right
side of our Lady, the figure of the glorious San Agostino in pontifical
habit, and in the left place, San Girolamo in cardinal's habit. Above
the middle shall be a Pietà, and on either side the Angel and Our Lady
of the Annunciation. Above, and in front, the transmission of the Holy
Spirit to the Annunciation. In the predella of this picture shall be
painted eighteen figures. In the first place, on one side, San Baldo,
San Bernardino, in canonicals. In a row the Pope and five cardinals in
state, with five brothers at their feet. All ornamented--to taste--with
gold and colours, at the charge of Messer Bernardino, who also promises,
in the background of these pictures, to paint a landscape, etc."
Though the contract was drawn up, the master, strong in the sense of
his value to the Papal Court, postponed its execution to his own
convenience. With his fame at its height, he was called upon in all
directions. The Council of Orvieto saw the moment was come for securing
the finishing of the fresco for which they had been waiting for four
years. On his way back from Perugia, Pintoricchio once more took up his
work in their cathedral, under a fresh contract to add the two doctors
to the two evangelists. There thus to-day remain traces of a St. Mark
and a St. Gregory on the right hand of the choir, and traces of one or
two angels so restored as to have lost all character, but for which the
work of the Umbrian master has doubtless served as foundation. The sum
he agreed to take in payment in March was fifty ducats, and the convent
books record November 1496 as the date of the last payment.
In the obscure little town of San Severino in the Marches, we find
another altar-piece which was probably produced about the same time. No
record of its acquisition is to be found in the archives of the
cathedral, though an accurate account is kept of commissions executed
about this period by Bernardino Mariotto, and others. It is remarkable
that, considering Pintoricchio's fame in his lifetime, such a possession
as an altar-piece from his hand should have remained unchronicled. It
seems most likely that it was produced at Perugia, and found its way
later to its present position in the sacristy. However this may be, we
must rejoice over this unmistakable and charming example of his art,
well preserved and not very much retouched. It is the least known of
all his pictures; it has only recently been photographed, and, from the
position of San Severino, far off the beaten track, is not easily
visited.
[Illustration:
_Private photo_] [_Duomo, San Severino_
THE MADONNA AND CHILD, WITH ANGELS AND A DONOR]
The "Madonna della Pace" wears a blue mantle lined with a rich shade of
green, and a rose-red dress. She bends over the Child, who, clad in
white with a grey and gold drapery, stands on a little cushion on her
knee. He holds a transparent glass ball in His left hand, and with the
other blesses the donor, who kneels on the right, dressed in a scarlet
robe. An angel with hands crossed on the breast bends towards the Child,
while another stands with folded hands behind the Mother. Behind is a
spring landscape, a town, and the usual rocky archway with a cavalcade
passing under it.
The face of the Madonna in this painting is indescribably soft, young,
and tender (even a good photograph does not do it justice). The face and
figure of the Child are full of expression; the angels are exquisite
types, reminding us of Lorenzo di Credi. The Cardinal-donor is a man in
the prime of life, with a firmly-drawn face, brown complexion, and
strongly-marked features. The face is rendered with great care, the vein
in the temple, every mark and wrinkle, the neck of one past youth, are
observed, and as a portrait the head compares well with the painter's
best efforts. The colour of the panel is gay yet tender. The faces have
an exquisite transparency, with melting shadows. The face of the angel
in the background is entirely in luminous shade. The little landscape is
delicately finished. The fine, decisive drawing, and the feeling, simple
and unstrained, show Pintoricchio at his best. In retouching, the face
of the donor has been thrown out against a dark ground, which somewhat
impairs the effect.
The "Madonna" in the Museum at Naples is a full-length figure standing
on the clouds, surrounded by a mandorla of cherubs, flanked by six
angels playing musical instruments, who recall those in the Buffalini
Chapel. The group below of the apostles, St. Thomas kneeling in front,
clasping the sacred girdle, is strongly reminiscent of Perugino, as in
the background, where the favourite features of Fiorenzo have for once
been abandoned.
The "Head of a Boy" at Dresden must, I think, be an early work, when
Perugino's manner was felt in all its freshness. Though the hair is hard
and wiry, and not worthy of the rest, the _morbidezza_ and elastic
plumpness of youthful flesh are given by very subtle modelling, and the
moody, young face is treated with most delicate tonality. The landscape
and receding distance and tall slender trees are in Perugino's style.
The "Madonna and Child," in the National Gallery, I take to be a very
early work. It is dry and thin, with a hard black line outlining the
flesh, a peculiarity of which Pintoricchio is not often guilty. The
landscape is hard and dull in treatment, and the expression of both
Mother and Child is formal and precise. The figures and the Virgin's
hands are stiff. It cannot stand comparison with the beautiful group in
the Borgia Hall of Arts and Sciences, and hardly with the much more
freely handled "St. Catherine of Alexandria, with a Donor," which hangs
beside it. This last, probably painted during the early part of his
stay at Siena, judging by the glimpses of scenery and the likeness of
the St. Catherine to the maid in the fresco of the Baptistery, is good
in colour, painted with a fuller brush and more viscous medium.
Away from the sumptuous surroundings of the capital, back among the
plains and mountains of Umbria and Tuscany, he returns to a simpler
manner. The little altar-pieces at Spello are suitable to small parish
churches. They have something homely in their character. The "Madonna"
in the little panel in Santa Maria Maggiore has a gentle, rustic
countenance, and no embroidery on her mantle. The Child is quite
undraped. The Madonna in the larger panel is very beautiful, and is more
akin in face and the whole treatment to the figures personating the Arts
and Sciences in the Vatican, but has none of the painter's usual
richness of ornament. In San Andrea, the neighbouring church of the
ex-Minorites, hangs the large altar-piece which Pintoricchio was
painting in 1508 when Gentile Baglioni summoned him to return to Siena.
The Madonna is raised on a throne which recalls the niches in which the
Arts in the Borgia Apartments and the sibyls in the Baglioni Chapel are
placed. The Child stands on her knee, clasping her neck. St. Andrew,
with his cross, stands by St. Louis of Toulouse; opposite are St.
Francis and St. Laurence grasping his gridiron; a little St. John sits
on the step on the middle. On a carelessly-drawn wooden stool in the
foreground lies the letter of Cardinal Baglioni, legibly copied; other
small objects lie about--a knife and scissors, an ivory seal, a bottle
of ink and a pencase--on the step by St. John. It is the only "Santa
Conversazione" Pintoricchio ever painted. The figures are weak and
unstructural, and we recognise the repetition of old types in the saints
and angels. The little St. John is bright and attractive. The idea of
his figure is borrowed from Mariotto, who, though poor in colouring and
draftsmanship, was original in finding _motifs_, and supplied Raphael
with many, as well as his immediate contemporaries.
The "Coronation" in the Vatican was painted about 1505 for the nuns of
La Fratta (Umbertide). Only the upper part is believed to be by the
master's hand. Among the most beautiful of the Madonna paintings is the
"Assumption," executed during the later years at Siena for the monks of
Monte Oliveto, and now at San Gemignano. The Madonna in this is an
exquisite creation. She sits on high, surrounded by cherubs, with a
lovely smiling landscape behind her, and is in Fiorenzo's style. Her
face is sweet and expressive, and the colour of the whole is soft, with
rosy pinks and delicate greens of spring. Below kneels a Pope with his
tiara on the ground, and a bishop in a white robe clasping his pastoral
staff. The foreground is dark and rich, and contrasts with the clear and
lovely tones beyond.
Another thoroughly satisfactory work is the little panel painted for the
nuns of Campansi, and now in the Accademia at Siena. It is a small
_tondo_, in the painter's most naïve and charming manner. Joseph and
Mary sit side by side, in a flowery meadow. He holds a barrel of wine
and a loaf. She has a book on her knee, but is turning to speak to the
two children--St. John in his little camel-hair garment, and the
Christ-Child dressed in a white dress falling to the feet. The two
children are represented arm-in-arm, carrying books and a pitcher, and
are wandering away from the side of their elders. So poetic and innocent
is their aspect, they recall the old legend of the little St. Teresa and
her brother going out into the world to seek martyrdom. The figure of
the Divine Child, with long fair hair falling round the face, and
exquisitely drawn baby hands and feet, is one of the sweetest
imaginable. Mary's head is uncovered--a very rare variation with
Pintoricchio. The folds of the draperies are unusually large and simple.
The composition, the delicate restraint of gesture, combined with
natural feeling, are very striking in this delightful little painting.
Dr. Steinmann reminds us that Raphael may have seen it when he visited
Siena, and it may be remotely responsible for his Madonna groups, seated
in the fields, the idyllic feeling of which it certainly foreshadows.
[Illustration:
_Hanfstängl photo_] [_National Gallery, London_
THE MADONNA AND CHILD]
In the "Reliquary" at Berlin, the figures of the saints are too short.
The heads are of a type which had become rather hackneyed, but the
angels are lightly and crisply drawn, and it is a solid little work. The
other panel at Berlin, a "Madonna and Child," is not ascribed without
dispute to Pintoricchio. Neither the face of the Mother nor the figure
of the Child recall his manner, and while it is most unusual for him to
paint the Virgin's head without the shading veil, the hair here is
dressed in the Italian fashion of the time, as nowhere else in his
works. The Child's feet and the Mother's hands, however, essentially
remind us of Pintoricchio; the draperies have his lines, and the
gouged-out folds we find in some of his later panels, and we see the
peculiar, dainty touch of fingers, holding Child and globe as if they
were eggshells.
The "Madonna and Saints" of the Louvre, which Mr. Berenson assigns to
Pintoricchio, Dr. Steinmann believes to be by the same painter who
helped him with the "Descent of the Spirit" in the Vatican. The heads
certainly differ widely from Pintoricchio's type, but if we apply
Morelli's test, the very peculiar left hand is reproduced line for line,
in the Penelope of the Petrucci fresco. Notwithstanding, it is difficult
to believe this to be a genuine work of the master. The little panel in
the Pitti (the "Adoration of the Magi") is much too feeble to be
anything but an imitation, and the Virgin and Child are entirely unlike
his type. The others of his works which are not questioned are a
"Madonna and Cherubs" at Buda-Pesth; "St. Michael," Leipzig; a "Madonna
and a Crucifix" at Milan; "St. Augustine and two Saints" at Perugia. Mr.
Berenson gives him a "God the Father" at Santa Maria degli Angeli, near
Assisi, and (doubtfully), the "Portrait of a Boy" at Oxford.
[Illustration:
_Hanfstängl photo_] [_Berlin Gallery_
ST. AUGUSTINE, ST. BENEDICT, AND ST. BERNARD
(From the Reliquary)]
His last known work is the very beautiful little panel in the Palazzo
Borromeo at Milan. This was painted at Siena in the last year of his
life, and is full of force and colour, glowing like a jewel. The
background has an interesting effect of distant sunset behind trees and
mountains; all the notice is concentrated on the red-robed figure and
white cross of the Christ. The greens of the ground and the
lengthening shadows give a more than usual depth and harmony. The group
behind is confused and less well-drawn, but the peasant leading the way
is evidently a study from life. On the arabesque in which the painting
is set is a cartel inscribed with name and date.
[Illustration:
_Private photo_] [_Picture Gallery, Siena_
THE CHRIST-CHILD AND ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
(From the Holy Family)]
* * * * *
Although Pintoricchio's art was so much admired during his lifetime, it
is difficult to show that it exercised much after-influence. Fascinating
as it is in some ways, it represents the last survival of a dying
school. The world to which he belonged, the taste which delighted in his
creations, disappeared with him, and was replaced by an age of conscious
modernism which was eager to sweep aside all that seemed archaic in the
immediate past. The thirst for knowledge and for scientific research was
waxing intense, and the craze for the display of knowledge with its
hidden seeds of decay soon followed. Among his pupils, Matteo Balducci,
who we know from Vasari worked with him in Rome, has left several
pictures at Siena. These are all Umbrian in treatment, and show the
influence of Pintoricchio, but they lack his delicate drawing; the forms
are long and weak, and the colour dim and washy. Pietro di Domenico, a
Sienese, has panels in imitation of him; but the most notable example of
his influence is to be found in that series of the "Story of Griselda,"
in the National Gallery, painted by an unknown artist, who, as Miss
Cruttwell points out, was also influenced by Signorelli, and in whom
sense of form and feeling for originality are more developed than in
other followers of the Umbrian master. Gerino da Pistoia is mentioned
by Vasari as a friend of Pintoricchio, who worked much with him and
Perugino, and an altar-piece by him at Pistoia has traces of both
masters. Crowe and Cavalcaselle see his co-operation in the "Last
Supper" in Sant' Onofrio in Florence, and account thus for the signs it
shows of Pintoricchio's influence. Giovanni Bertucci of Faenza is
another Umbrian whose pictures have often been attributed to
Pintoricchio. The Mother and Child in the "Glorification" by him in the
National Gallery are not unlike our master's in Sant' Andrea at Spello.
We can trace many suggestions afforded to Raphael. The "Dispute" in the
Borgia Apartments in all probability bent Raphael's mind to the
conception of the "Disputa" in the Stanze, and inspired the idea of his
beautiful classic and sacred medallions set in decorative framework, and
of the enthroned figures of Music, Theology, and the rest; and the use
made by Pintoricchio of architectural interiors may have first inspired
the supreme setting of the "School of Athens."
[Illustration:
_Marcozzi photo_] [_Palazzo Borromeo, Milan_
CHRIST BEARING THE CROSS]
Down to recent years Pintoricchio was quite overlooked or treated with
contempt, and for the purely scientific school he has still little
merit. He certainly is not able to inspire that sort of interest that we
feel in painters who worked, looking backward to see what had been done,
and forward to discover what yet remained to do. We do not strive with
him and triumph with him over defeated difficulties. He was a craftsman,
as were all artists worthy of the name at that day, and his work is
always painstaking and adequate, with nothing sloppy or careless in
its execution; but painting as a craft, with its secrets and its
possibilities, was not his first object, so that, without being able to
divide his work into any distinct periods, we find that his earlier
life, when he was still learning, was on the whole the time when he was
most successful in the artistic sense; and in such frescoes as the
"Journey of Moses" and the "Life of San Bernardino" he gives promise of
an excellence which is not afterwards adequately realised. He was an
illustrator, and as such, perhaps, never touched the highest side of
painting. We find in him the natural tendency of a decorator who
undertakes large commissions as a matter of business, to repeat forms
and situations; yet, with every temptation to mechanical treatment and
repetition, it is the true artist in Pintoricchio which saves him from
becoming monotonous. To the very last, as in the "Return of Ulysses," or
the "Holy Family" at Siena, his invention and fancy are alert, varying
every accessory, displaying a freshness and an enjoyment in his
creations which are irresistibly attractive. In all his illustration the
lyric faculty is his. He follows the lives, the history, the fashions of
his time with minute persistence, but always with some charm added to
prosaic actuality. He is to painting what the ballad-singer is to
poetry: slight, garrulous, naïve, infectious, he has a haunting melody
of his own, and through his eyes we watch the widening of one aspect of
that golden day.
Ruskin speaks of the value to us of the impression made by a scene upon
the mind of the artist; it is the impression stamped by the strange and
enchanting grace of that world of the Renaissance upon one man, and
handed on by him with spontaneity and undoubting delight, which is so
precious to us in his work.
CATALOGUE OF THE WORKS OF
PINTORICCHIO
ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THE GALLERIES IN WHICH THEY ARE CONTAINED
NOTE
Where numbers are given thus [No. 6], they are the numbers of the
Catalogue of the Gallery. These cannot, of course, be guaranteed, as
alterations are not infrequently made in the arrangement of the
pictures.
No pictures have been included, other than those which the author
accepts, save in two well-known cases on pages 160 and 161.
CATALOGUE OF WORKS
Except when in fresco, the paintings are all in tempera on wood.
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
BUDA-PESTH.
MADONNA AND CHILD AND ANGEL. [No. 62.] 1 ft. 9 in. × 1 ft. 6 in.
BRITISH ISLES
LONDON, THE NATIONAL GALLERY.
ST. CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA. [No. 693.] On wood, 1 ft. 9 in. × 1 ft.
3 in.
A monk kneeling in adoration. Landscape background.
_Bequeathed by Lieut.-Gen. Sir W. Moore in 1862._
THE MADONNA AND CHILD. [No. 703.] In tempera, on poplar, 1 ft. 10
in. × 1 ft. 3 in.
The Infant stands on a carpeted parapet in front of its
Mother, only half of whose figure is seen: a rocky landscape
in the background.
_Formerly in the Wallerstein Collection._ Presented in 1863
by Her Majesty the Queen, in fulfilment of the wishes of His
Royal Highness the Prince Consort.
THE RETURN OF ULYSSES TO PENELOPE. [No. 911.] A fresco, transferred
to canvas, 4 ft. 1 in. × 4 ft. 9 in.
Penelope is seated at her loom; on the floor at her right is
a damsel winding thread on shuttles from a ball of yarn
which a cat is playing with. Four suitors in gay costume
have entered the room; in the background Ulysses himself is
seen in the doorway, just entering; his bow and quiver of
arrows are hanging up above the head of Penelope.
From the open window is seen the ship of Ulysses, with the
hero bound to the mast; sirens are disporting themselves in
the sea; the palace of Circe is on an island near, with
swine and other animals in its vicinity.
Painted about 1509. _Formerly in the Pandolfo Petrucci
Palace at Siena; transferred from the wall for M. Joly de
Bammeville, in 1844, by Pellegrino Succi. Subsequently in
Mr. Barker's Collection, at whose sale it was purchased in
1874._
OXFORD, TAYLORIAN MUSEUM.
PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MAN (?). [No. 22.]
FRANCE
PARIS, THE LOUVRE, MUSÉE NAPOLEON III.
MADONNA WITH ST. GREGORY AND ST. JOHN BAPTIST. [No. 1417.] 1 ft. 11
in. × 1 ft. 4 in. (?)
GERMANY
BERLIN GALLERY.
MADONNA AND CHILD. (?)
BERLIN, PYRKER COLLECTION.
RELIQUARY, ST. AUGUSTINE AND TWO SAINTS. [No. 132A.] 1 ft. 5 in.
× 9 in.
DRESDEN, THE GALLERY.
PORTRAIT OF A BOY, WITH A LANDSCAPE BACKGROUND. [No. 41.] 1 ft. 8
in. × 1 ft. 2 in.
LEIPZIG, THE GALLERY.
ST. MICHAEL (?). [No. 480.]
ITALY
ASSISI, CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA DEGLI ANGELI (CHAPEL OF ST. BONAVENTURA).
GOD THE FATHER.
MILAN, THE PALAZZO BORROMEO, SALA CIMBALLO.
CHRIST BEARING THE CROSS. [No. 36.] 1513.
See page 148.
MILAN, PRINCE PIO DI SAVOIA.
MADONNA. 1497.
MILAN, MARCHESE VISCONTI-VENOSTA.
A SMALL PAINTED CRUCIFIX.
NAPLES, THE PICTURE GALLERY.
THE MADONNA IN GLORY.
PERUGIA, THE GALLERY, SALA XI.
POLYPTYCH. [No. 10.] 1498.
The Madonna and Child with St. John. Pietà. Christ with two
Angels. Angel of the Annunciation. Virgin. St. Augustine.
St. Jerome.
_Predella._--St. Mark. St. Luke. Scene in the life of St.
Augustine. St. Matthew. St. John. St. Jerome in the Desert.
Painted for the high altar of the church of Santa Maria dei
Fossi. After the inroad of the French in 1810, was preserved
in small panels in the Academy.
See page 139.
ST. AUGUSTINE AND FOUR MEMBERS OF THE CONFRATERNITY, with their
escutcheons below. [No. 12.] 1500.
Presented by Cav. Silvestro Baldrini (_d._ 1870), President
of the Academy of Arts in Perugia.
ROME, THE BORGHESE GALLERY.
CHRIST ON THE CROSS, WITH ST. CHRISTOPHER AND ST. JEROME (?).
[No. 377.] 1 ft. 11 in. × 1 ft. 4 in.
ROME, CASTEL ST. ANGELO.
FRAGMENTS OF FRESCOES. 1497.
ROME, THE BORGIA APARTMENTS OF THE VATICAN.
FRESCOES. In great part by his own hand. All done from his
designs and under his superintendence. 1492-1495.
First Room--Hall of Mysteries.
Assumption. Annunciation. Nativity. Adoration of Magi.
Resurrection. Ascension. Coming of the Holy Ghost.
_Ceiling_--Evangelists and Fathers.
Second Room--Hall of Saints.
The Madonna and Child. Scenes from lives of St. Susanna, St.
Barbara, St. Antony Abbot, and St. Paul the Hermit. St.
Catherine disputing with the Philosophers. _Ceiling
Decoration_--Story of Osiris and Isis.
Third Room--Hall of Arts and Sciences.
Over door--Madonna and Child.
Geometry. Arithmetic. Music. Rhetoric. Grammar.
Fourth Room--Hall of Creeds.
The Prophets.
Fifth Room--Hall of Sibyls.
The Sibyls.
See page 93.
ROME, THE SIXTINE CHAPEL OF THE VATICAN.
JOURNEY OF MOSES, AND BAPTISM OF CHRIST. Frescoes. 1482-1483.
See page 41.
ROME, THE BELVEDERE, GALLERIA DELLE STATERE.
FRAGMENTS OF DECORATIVE FRESCOES.
ROME, THE COLONNA PALACE, GREAT HALL.
DECORATIVE FRESCOES IN SPANDRELS.
ROME, THE PALAZZO DEI PENITENZIERI.
FRAGMENTS OF FRESCOES.
ROME, CHURCH OF ARA C[OE]LI, BUFFALINI CHAPEL.
Frescoes of the LIFE AND DEATH OF ST. BERNARDINO.
See page 50.
ROME, SANTA MARIA DEL POPOLO.
Fourth Chapel, R. Frescoes--THE NATIVITY. Five Lunettes with
scenes from the LIFE OF ST. JEROME.
Choir--CEILING FRESCOES. 1505.
See page 59.
ROME, THE VATICAN GALLERY.
THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN. 11 ft. × 6 ft. 8 in. 1505.
Painted for the nuns of La Fratta (now Umbertide).
See page 146.
SAN GEMIGNANO, THE MUNICIPIO.
THE MADONNA IN GLORY, WITH SAINTS.
Painted for the monks of Monte Oliveto.
SAN SEVERINO, SACRISTY OF THE DUOMO.
THE MADONNA AND CHILD, WITH THE DONOR AND TWO ANGELS.
See page 142.
SAN SEVERINO, THE PINACOTECA, SALA IX.
THE NATIVITY. [No. 26.] 9 ft. 2 in. × 6 ft.
From the convent of Campansi in Siena.
MADONNA AND CHILD WITH AN ANGEL. [No. 28.] 2 ft. 1 in. ×
1 ft. 8 in.
From the convent of Santa Maria Maddalena.
[These are attributed by some writers to Pintoricchio, but
not accepted by the author.]
SIENA, THE ACCADEMIA, SALA XI.
HOLY FAMILY. [No. 45.] Tondo. Diameter, 2 ft. 9 in.
From the convent of Campansi.
See page 146.
SIENA, THE DUOMO, THE LIBRERIA.
Frescoes--Ten frescoes, illustrating LIFE OF PIUS II. 1503-1508.
Lunette over door--Fresco, THE CORONATION OF PIUS III.
SIENA, THE CAPPELLA DI SAN GIOVANNI.
Frescoes--THE BIRTH OF ST. JOHN.
PORTRAITS OF ALBERTO ARINGHIERI in youth and old age.
SIENA, THE DUOMO.
PAVEMENT--WISDOM AND FORTUNE. 1504.
See page 110.
SPELLO, THE CHURCH OF THE COLLEGIATA, SECOND ALTAR, R.
THE MADONNA AND CHILD.
SPELLO, THE BAGLIONI CHAPEL, CHURCH OF THE COLLEGIATA.
Frescoes--ANNUNCIATION. ADORATION OF MAGI. CHRIST AMONG THE
DOCTORS. 1501.
SPELLO, THE SACRISTY OF THE CHURCH OF THE COLLEGIATA.
THE MADONNA AND CHILD. 1501.
SPELLO, THE OLD SACRISTY OF THE CHURCH OF THE COLLEGIATA.
Fresco of AN ANGEL.
SPELLO, THE CHURCH OF SANT' ANDREA, R. TRANSEPT.
THE MADONNA AND CHILD ENTHRONED.
ST. LOUIS OF TOULOUSE, ST. ANDREW, ST. LAURENCE AND ST. FRANCIS
OF ASSISI, WITH ANGELS. 1508.
SPELLO, SAN GIROLAMO, CLOISTER CHAPEL.
ADORATION OF SHEPHERDS.
Fresco--Remains of a NATIVITY.
Behind the Altar--Fresco of THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN.
[This is attributed by many critics to Pintoricchio, but not
accepted by the author.]
SPOLETO, THE DUOMO, FIRST CHAPEL, R.
Ruined frescoes--THE MADONNA AND SAINTS. GOD THE
FATHER AND ANGELS. THE DEAD CHRIST.
See page 105.
SPAIN
VALENCIA.
THE MADONNA AND CHILD, WITH DONOR.
Sent to Xativà by Cardinal Borjà.
See page 87.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
1454 (_circa_). Date of birth.
1482. Goes to Rome.
1487. Paints the Palazzo di SS. Apostoli.
1492. June. Recommended to the Chapter at Orvieto, by one Messer
Cristoforo.
1492. Receives 50 ducats for work done at Orvieto.
1492. Protest from the Cathedral authorities on the too lavish
use of gold and ultramarine.
1492. November 17. In a legally drawn-up paper frees himself
from any responsibility for not fulfilling his contract
within the stipulated time.
1492. December. Begins work in the Borgia Apartments.
1492. December 14. Order placed on minutes of Orvieto Cathedral
for raising funds to buy more blue and gold for ceiling.
1493. March 29. Brief from Pope Alexander asking the Orvietans
to await Pintoricchio's return till the work in the Vatican
is finished.
1494. March 9. Brief from Pope Alexander to Orvietans asking
that Pintoricchio be allowed to return to finish work in the
Vatican.
1495. January 17. The Papal Court leaves the Vatican on the
entry into Italy of Charles VIII.
1495. June. The Pope flies to Orvieto and Perugia.
1495. Obtains a grant from the Pope of two pieces of land at
Chiugi, near Perugia, for an annual payment of thirty
baskets of grain.
1496. February 14. Signs a contract with the monks of Santa
Maria degli Angeli, to supply an altar-piece.
1496. March 15. Contracts with the Chapter at Orvieto to paint
two figures of doctors for 50 ducats.
1496. November 15. Last payment made for this fresco.
1497. July. The rooms in Castel Sant' Angelo being restored, he
went back to Rome and painted the frescoes there.
1497. July 28. Letter from the Cardinal di San Giorgio, in
answer to a petition from Pintoricchio, reducing the annual
tax on land to two pounds of wax for three years. 1497. Tax
again enforced by the authorities of Chiugi.
1497. First Sunday in August. Restitution made by the
authorities of the money extorted.
1498. May. The exemption from taxation extended from three years
to end of lease.
1498. In Perugia. Painted altar-piece for Santa Maria dei Fossi.
1498. October. A brief from Alexander VI. confirms possession of
the lands at Chiugi to him and his descendants, even though
he should omit the yearly payment of wax.
1500. October 14. Visits Cæsar Borgia's camp at Deruta. An order
from the Duke requests the Vice-Chancellor to get permission
for Pintoricchio to sink a cistern in his house in Perugia.
1501. April. Elected Decemvir of Perugia in place of Perugino.
1501. Contract in archives of Spello for work undertaken for
Troilo Baglioni.
1501-1502. May. Painting at Spello.
1502. June 29. Contract signed with Cardinal Piccolomini for
decorating the Library at Siena.
1503. Spring. Painting Library at Siena.
1503. October. Pope Pius III. dies.
1504. August 23. Paid 700 ducats for painting eight frescoes in
St. John's Chapel in the Cathedral at Siena.
1504. September 8. An altar-piece unveiled in the Piccolomini
Chapel in the church of San Francesco at Siena.
1504. Buys land to the value of 200 florins from Lucrezia
Paltoni, widow of the painter Neroccio.
1504. End of. Continues Library for six months.
1505. March 13. Is paid for the cartoon of Fortune for the
pavement of Siena Cathedral.
1505. June. Cardinal Andrea Piccolomini dies; work again
stopped.
1505. June. Leaves for Rome. Paints choir of Santa Maria del
Popolo.
1506. February. Back in Siena.
1506. Matriculates at the College of Painters, Perugia.
1506. March. Recommences work in Library.
1506. March 24. Acknowledges a debt of 100 ducats to Eusebio di
San Giorgio of Perugia.
1506. August 18. A further grant of land at Chiugi by Julius II.
1506. November 30. A son born in Siena, named Giulio Cesare.
1506. December 15. The magistracy of Siena approves the donation
of 20 _moggie_ of land.
1507. March. Appeal to the Council to remit all taxes upon it.
1507. March 26. A favourable answer from the Council, omitting
all but the gate-tax.
1508. April 24. Letter from Gentile Baglioni to him at Spello,
begging him to return to Siena.
1508. Autumn. Short visit to Rome.
1509. January 7. A son born at Siena: Camillo Giuliano.
1509. January 18. Receives of heirs of Pius III., 15½ ducats,
being the last payment for the Piccolomini frescoes.
1509. Siena. Painting for Pandolfo Petrucci.
1509. October 8. Sells to Pandolfo Petrucci and Paolo di
Vannoccio Biringucci, a house in the third ward of the city
of Siena, for 420 florins.
1509. Record of his inhabiting in the ward of San Vincenzo in
Siena.
1509. November 1. Makes first will.
1510. January 27. A daughter born in Siena: Faustina Girolama.
1511. September 20. Sells land at Chiugi to a lawyer named
Giulio Cesare, godfather to his son.
1511. November 21. Buys of Antonio Primaticci, of Siena, a piece
of land called the Cloister, at Pernina.
1513. May 7. Being _in corpore languens_, makes his last will.
1513. September 13. A codicil.
1513. October 14. A second codicil.
1513. December 11. Dies in Siena, and is buried in the church of
SS. Vincenzo and Anastasia, now the oratory of the ward of
the Ostrich.
1514. Sigismondo Tizio gives an account of his last illness and
death.
1516. Grania, his widow, sells to Sigismondo Chigi two-thirds of
sundry pieces of land.
1516. Grania petitions to sell part of the land forming the
portion of her daughter Faustina.
1518. May 22. Grania makes her will.
A daughter, Egidia (year not known), marries Girolamo di Paolo,
a soldier of the Piazza of Siena.
A daughter, Faustina, marries Filippo of Deruta.
1519. A daughter, Adriana, dies. Had married Guiseppe da
Giovanni of Perugia.
INDEX
_Adoration of the Magi, The_ (Borgia Apartments), 69, 70, 158
_Adoration of the Shepherds, The_ (Spello). See _Nativity_
Alberti, Leo Battista, 24
Alexander VI., Pope, 6, 17, 66;
portrait of, 71, _ill._ 70, 72;
shuts himself in Castel Sant' Angelo, 96, 97
Angelis, Abbé de, 15
_Annunciation, The_ (Borgia Apartments), 69, 70, 158, _ill._ 68;
(Spello), 101, 103, 161, _ill._ 104;
(Perugia), 141, 157
Aringhieri, Alberto, Pintoricchio's work for, 10, 109;
portraits of, 109, 110, 160, _ill._ 110
_Arithmetic_ (Borgia Apartments), 90, 158, _ill._ 90
_Ascension, The_ (Borgia Apartments), 69, 71, 158
_Assumption, The_ (Borgia Apartments), 69, 72, 92, 158, _ill._ 74;
(Naples), 16 _note_, 144, 157;
(San Gemignano), 146, 160
_Astrology_ (Borgia Apartments), 91
Baglioni, Cardinal, 17, 18, 145
Baglioni, Troilo, 100;
portrait of, 102
Balducci, Matteo, _Assumption, The_, in S. M. del Popolo attributed
to, 61;
pictures by, at Siena, 149
_Baptism of Christ, The_ (Sixtine Chapel), 29, 36, 43, 79, 159,
_ill._ 42
Barili, Antonio, 107
_Basel, Journey to the Council of_, 124, _ill._ 120;
(sketch for), 118, 119, 120
_Basel, Conference at_, 124;
(sketch for), 121
Behaim, Lorenzo, 98
Bellini, Gentile, Drawings attributed to, 79, 82
Bembo Romano, 134
Benedetto, father of Pintoricchio, 2
Berlin, Reliquary at, 147, 156, _ill._ 148
Bertucci, Giovanni, 150
Boccatis da Camerino, 25
Bonfigli, Benedetto, 4, 22, 25, 48, 69
Borgia, Device of the House of, 73, 74, 87
Borgia, Cæsar, 9, 64, 71, 84
Borgia, Francesco, 73
Borgia, Lucrezia, 80, 81
Borgia, Roderigo, 46, 59
Botticelli, Sandro, 37, 77
Bregno, Andrea, 67
Buffalini, Ludovico, 48;
portrait of, 51
Camerlengo, Cardinal, 8, 18
Carvajal, Cardinal, 63
Charles VIII., Invasion of Italy by, 96-99
_Christ bearing the Cross_ (Milan), 14, 148, 157, _ill._ 150
_Christ disputing with the Doctors_ (Spello), 101, 102, 161
_Christ, The Dead_ (Spoleto), 105, 162
Cibo, Cardinal Innocenzio, 59
_Coronation of the Virgin, The_ (S. M. del Popolo), 112;
(Vatican), 146, 159
Costa, Cardinal, 59
_Cross, Finding of the True_ (S. Croce in Gerusalemme), 62
_Crucifixion, The_ (Borghese Gallery), 26, 28, 158
_Descent of the Holy Spirit, The_ (Borgia Apartments), 69, 72, 158
_Dialectics_ (Borgia Apartments), 92
Djem, Prince, 83, 96, 97
Donatello, 119
Duccio, Agostino di, 25
Eusebio di San Giorgio, 115, 123, 133
Farnese, Giulia, 86
Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, his _Miracle of San Bernardino_, 25, 62,
_ill._ 24;
his influence on Pintoricchio, 4, 17, 22-29, 41, 61, 69,
72, 75, 86, 90, 102, 103, 112, 140, 146
Francesca, Piero della, influence of, 21;
his _Flagellation_, 24
_Frederick III. and Eleanora of Portugal, Meeting of_, 128, 129;
(sketch for), 120
_Frederick III. crowning Æneas Piccolomini as Poet-Laureate_, 126,
_ill._ 126;
(sketch for), 121
_Frederick III. sending Æneas Piccolomini to Pope Eugenius IV._,
127, _ill._ 128
Fungai, Bernardino, 72
Gatta, Bartolommeo della, 38
Genga, Girolamo, 113
Gentile da Fabriano, 20
_Geometry_ (Borgia Apartments), 90, 158
Gerino da Pistoia, 150
_God the Father_ (Assisi), 148, 157;
(Spoleto), 105, 162
Gozzoli, Benozzo, 21, 30
_Grammar_ (Borgia Apartments), 92, 158
Grotesque, The, first appearance of, in art, 68
_Holy Family, The_ (Siena), 146, 151, 160
Innocent VIII., Pope, 5, 55, 56, 83
Julius II., Pope, 13, 64
_Justice_ (Borgia Apartments), 92, 158
Leonardo, 119, 120
Leubin, Hans, 129
Lorenzo di Credi, 143
Lorenzo di Mariano, 107
_Madonna and Child_ (Valencia), 46, 139, 162;
(Borgia Apartments), 86, 158, _ill._ 88;
(Perugia), 139-142, 157, _ill._ 140;
(National Gallery), 144, 155, _ill._ 146;
(S. M. Maggiore, Spello), 145, 161;
(San Andrea, Spello), 145, 161;
(Berlin), 147, 156;
(Buda-Pesth), 148, 155;
(Milan), 148, 157
_Madonna and Saints_ (Spoleto), 105, 162;
(Louvre), 148, 156
_Madonna in Glory, The_ (Naples), 144, 157;
(San Gemignano), 146, 160
_Madonna della Pace_ (San Severino), 143, 160, _ill._ 142
Mantegna, his description of Prince Djem, 84;
painting of children at Padua by, 87
Mariotto, Bernardino, Pintoricchio confused with, 4, 112, 140,
142, 146
Masolino, 81
Matteo di Giovanni, 110
Melozzo da Forli, court painter to the Vatican, 36;
influence of on Pintoricchio, 53, 60, 71, 88
Morea, Christoforo, portrait of, 136
Morto da Feltre, 61
_Moses, The Journey of_ (Sixtine Chapel), 36, 38, 41, 42, 151,
159, _ill._ 42
_Music_ (Borgia Apartments), 90, 158, _ill._ 92
_Nativity, The_ (S. M. del Popolo), compared with Fiorenzo's
_Adoration of the Child_, 23, 61, 159;
(Borgia Apartments), 69, 70, 158;
(Spello, Baglioni Chapel), 101, 102, 161, _ill._ 102;
(San Girolamo, Spello), 104, 161
Niccolò da Foligno, 12
Nelli, Ottaviano, 21
Ormanni, Antonio, 107
Orvieto, Pintoricchio's work at, 5, 6, 7
_Osiris and Isis, The Story of_ (Borgia Apartments), 84
Pacchiarotto, 123
Paleologos, Andrea, 81, 83
Perino del Vaga, 66
Perugia, Polyptych at, 139-142, 157, _ill._ 140
Perugino, 13;
assisted by Pintoricchio, 17, 27, 36-40;
influence of on Pintoricchio, 42, 43, 44, 69, 72, 73, 91, 104,
120, 125, 144;
his painting of children, 87
Peruzzi, 94
Petrucci, Pandolfo, Pintoricchio's paintings for, 14, 113
Piccolomini, Æneas Sylvius, 106, 115;
scenes from the life of, 115, 123-138, _ill._ 120, 126, 128,
132, 134, 136
Piccolomini, Cardinal Andrea, 10, 111
Piccolomini, Cardinal Francesco, summons Pintoricchio to Siena,
9, 10, 106, 107;
death of, 108
Pietro d'Andrea, 94
Pietro di Domenico, 149
Pintoricchio, meagre history of his early life, 2;
his work in Rome, 4, 5;
at Orvieto, 5, 6, 7;
entrusted with the decoration of the Borgia Apartments, 6;
commutation of tax on his land, 7, 8;
his marriage, 8, 11;
in the service of Cæsar Borgia, 9;
elected a Decemvir of Perugia, 9;
called to Siena, 10;
his wife and children, 11, 16;
at Spello, 13;
last visit to Rome, 13;
his death, 14, 15;
reported neglect of his wife, 15;
portraits of himself, 16, 84, 104, _ill._ 104;
writing of his name, 18;
derivation of his art, 22;
influence of Fiorenzo di Lorenzo on, 23 _et seq._;
influence of Perugino on, 27;
character of his art, 30-34;
his technique, 34;
his frescoes in the Sixtine Chapel, 36;
his greatness as a landscape painter, 43;
his decoration of the Buffalini Chapel in Ara Cœli, 47;
his work for Giuliano and Domenico della Rovere, 55, 57;
his decorations in S. M. del Popolo, 59, 112;
other work in Rome by, 62;
his decoration of the Borgia Apartments, 64-96;
drawings of Turks by, 82, 83;
his study of the antique, 85;
his painting of children, 87;
his merits and failings, 94, 95;
his painting in the Castel Sant' Angelo, 98, 99;
his work at Spello, 100-105;
his frescoes at Spoleto, 105;
summoned to Siena by Francesco Piccolomini, 107, 108;
work in the Cathedral at Siena by, 109, 110;
his frescoes in the Library at Siena, 115-138;
evidence as to Raphael's assistance of, 116-123;
his panel paintings, 139;
his polyptych at Perugia, 139-142;
other paintings by, 142-148;
his influence, 149
Pius II., Pope, _see_ Piccolomini, Æneas Sylvius
Pius III., Pope, _see_ Piccolomini, Francesco
_Poet Crowned, The_, 126, _ill._ 126;
(sketch for), 121
Pollaiuolo, influence of on Pintoricchio, 24
_Portrait of a Boy_ (Dresden), 28, 156, _ill._ _Front._;
(Oxford), 148, 156
Raphael, 13;
friendship of with Pintoricchio, 17;
helped Pintoricchio with the frescoes in the Siena
Library, 116-123;
his _Three Graces_, 117;
his drawing of horses, 119;
the _Battle of the Standard_, 119, 120;
influenced by Pintoricchio, 150
_Resurrection, The_ (Borgia Apartments), 69, 70
_Rhetoric_ (Borgia Apartments), 89, 158
Rome,
Pintoricchio's work in, 4, 5, 158, 159;
in the Borgia Apartments, 6, 64-96;
in the Sixtine Chapel, 36-45;
in the Chapel of Ara Cœli, 39, 47-54;
in the Belvedere, 56;
in the Colonna Palace, 55;
in the Palazzo dei Penitenzieri, 57;
in Santa Maria del Popolo, 59, 60, 112;
in Castel Sant' Angelo, 98, 99
Rome, The _bambino_ of Ara Cœli at, 52
Rovere, Domenico della, 5, 57, 59
Rovere, Giovanni Basso della, 45, 59, 60
Rovere, Giuliano della, 37, 55, 72, 89, 90, 96
_St. Anthony, Visit of, to St. Paul the Hermit_ (Borgia Apartments),
76, 77, 158, _ill._ 76, 78
_St. Augustine_ (Perugia), 148, 157
San Bernardino, 2, 48;
frescoes of the life of, by Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, 25, _ill._ 24;
frescoes of the life of, by Pintoricchio, 50-53, 102, 151,
_ill._ 50, 54
_Santa Barbara, Scenes from the Life of_ (Borgia Apartments), 76, 80,
102, 158
_St. Catherine_ (National Gallery), 109, 144, 155
_St. Catherine, The Canonisation of_ (Siena, Library), 16, 123, 136
_St. Catherine, The Dispute of_ (Borgia Apartments), 16, 80, 125, 158,
_ill._ 80, 82
_St. Christopher_ (Borghese Gallery), 26, 27, 139, 158
San Gemignano, Madonna at, 146, 160
_St. Jerome, Scenes from the Life of_ (S. M. del Popolo), 61
_St. John, Birth of_, 109
_St. Louis of Toulouse_, 53
_St. Michael_ (Leipzig), 148, 156
_St. Sebastian_ (Borgia Apartments), 78, 79, 82, _ill._ 78
San Severino, Altar-piece at, 142, 160, _ill._ 142
Seitz, Signor Lodovico, 65
Sforza, Giovanni, 80, 84
Sibyls, Paintings of (Borgia Apartments), 93, 94, 158;
(Spello), 101, 113
Siena, Pintoricchio at, 10, 13;
frescoes in the Chapel of St. John, 109, 160;
pavement of the Cathedral, 110, 161, _ill._ 110;
frescoes in the Library at, 107, 108, 111, 115-138, 160;
drawings for, 118;
study by Raphael for, _ill._ 118;
_Holy Family_ at, 146, _ill._ 148
Signorelli, Luca, with Pintoricchio at Siena, 13, 14, 113;
sponsor to Pintoricchio's child, 17;
influence of, on Fiorenzo, 29;
and on Pintoricchio, 30, 77;
the _Journey of Moses_, formerly attributed to, 38
Sixtus, Pope, 37, 45, 59
Sodoma, possibly helped Pintoricchio with the Siena frescoes, 123
Spello, Cardinal of, 9
Spello, Pintoricchio's work at, 100-105, 161;
altar-pieces at, 145, 161
Spoleto, Frescoes at, 105, 162
_Susanna and the Elders_ (Borgia Apartments), 74, 158, _ill._ 74
Symonds, J. A., on Pintoricchio, 30
Turks, Drawings of, 82
_Ulysses, The Return of_, 14, 113, 151, 155, _ill._ 114
Umbrian Art, 19, 20;
influenced by its scenery, 25
Venetian Sketch-Book, previously attributed to Raphael, 38, 39;
_illustration from_, 40
Verrocchio, influence of, on Fiorenzo, 24;
his _Baptism_, 44;
influence of on Pintoricchio, 74;
his drawing of horses, 119
_Visitation, The_ (Borgia Apartments), 77
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Transcriber's Note:
Page 52
which saves from self-consciouness _changed to_
which saves from self-consciousness
Page 125
much more natural and easy atitude _changed to_
much more natural and easy attitude
Page 168
Funga, Bernardino, 72 _changed to_
Fungai, Bernardino, 72
Niccoló da Foligno, 12 _changed to_
Niccolò da Foligno, 12