of St. George. In Part VIII, the speaker who defends Guido reads a
description of a man moved by too much grief, and says it fits Guido’s
case just as exactly as Maratta’s portraits are like the life. The
prosecutor, in Part IX, compares himself in his descriptions of the
family of Pompilia, to a painter, carefully planning to paint a ‘Holy
Family’. In this connection he names Carlo Maratta, Luca Giordano,
Angelo, Raphael, Pietro da Cortona, and Ferri. Four or five other
comparisons are found in _The Ring and the Book_, but in general, they
are very similar to the ones given above, and little would be gained by
enumerating all of them.
About forty lines of _Fifine at the Fair_ are concerned with an
extended comparison of a man’s treatment of his wife with his attitude
toward an authentic Raphael which he has bought. In each case he makes
much over the new treasure when it has first come into his possession,
then seems neglectful, but in case of any danger, thinks first of his
real object of affection, forgetting such light fancies as other women
and Doré picture books. The comparison is further extended by likening
the soul in its choice of another soul to finding satisfaction in
art--poetry, music, and painting. The Italian artists, Bazzi, Raphael,
and Michael Angelo, are named as examples in this connection.
_Red Cotton Night-Cap Country_ contains a very Browningesque
description of a soul, and pleads:
“Aspire, break bounds! I say,
Endeavor to be good and better still,
And best! Success is nought, endeavor’s all.”
* * * * *
... “there the incomplete,
More than completion, matches the immense,--
Then Michael Angelo against the world.”
_With Charles Avison_, _Cenciaja_, and _With Christopher Smart_ contain
comparisons similar to those noted above.
Eleven poems in all deal with Italian painters or painting as the
principal theme. They are: _Pictor Ignotus_, _Old Pictures in
Florence_, _The Guardian Angel_, _Fra Lippo Lippi_, _Andrea del Sarto_,
_One Word More_, _A Face_, _Pacchiarotto_, _Filippo Baldinucci_, _With
Francis Furini_, and _Beatrice Signorini_. Eight of these center around
the work, personality, or history of a single artist. Of the eight,
_Pictor Ignotus_, _Andrea del Sarto_, _Fra Lippo Lippi_, and _With
Francis Furini_, are serious poetic efforts, having as the theme a
painter’s endeavor, and dealing in each case with some shortcoming or
lack of acknowledged success. Each of the first three, as poetry, is
excellent in conception and execution. _With Francis Furini_, however,
is rather didactic and heavy, lacking in lyricism and beauty.
The failure of Pictor Ignotus was due to his high conception of art--so
high that he could not bear to submit pictures of real worth to the
world. With his extremely sensitive disposition he could not endure the
thought of ignorant criticism by people who had no comprehension of the
aim or purpose of the artist. Lippi failed to gain approbation because
he would not sacrifice his conception of painting things as God made
them to the misguided saintliness of the monks. Furini, according to
Browning’s estimate, failed in part, because of his attitude toward the
nude. Andrea del Sarto, the greatest failure in all Browning, possessed
a masterly technique, but failed through his weakness of character.
Of the later art poems, published after 1855, _With Francis Furini_ is
the most serious effort. It contains an extended defense of the nude in
art, the substance of which is summed up in the following quotations:
“No gift but in the very plentitude
Of its perfection, goes maimed, misconstrued,
By wickedness or weakness: still some few
Have grace to see thy purpose, strength to mar
Thy work with no admixture of their own.”
* * * * *
... “Show beauty’s May, ere June
Undo the bud’s blush, leave a rose to cull
--No poppy neither! Yet less perfect-pure,
Divinely precious with life’s dew besprent.
Show saintliness that’s simply innocent
Of guessing sinnership exists.”
Among the less serious works, _Pacchiarotto_ tells the story of a
reformer-painter, suffering at the hands of the people who opposed him.
With a decidedly humorous treatment, rollicking verse, and impossible
rhymes, Browning carried on the poem to its conclusion of a fling at
the critics of his own verse. _Filippo Baldinucci_ simply retells a
rather amusing story, quite distinct from any serious consideration
of the painter as an artist, with an added conclusion which Browning
imagined for himself. In like manner, _Beatrice Signorini_ consists
of a poetized version of some very personal history, which Browning
took from Baldinucci. The husband of Beatrice, who was the painter
Romanelli, fell in love with Artemisia Genteleschi, and having painted
her portrait, showed it to his wife. She immediately destroyed it,
Romanelli approved her spirit, and ever after loved her more.
VI. CONFORMITY TO HISTORY.--A few instances of departure from
historical facts are found in the poems on painting, though it is
really remarkable that they were not less accurate, written as they
were at a time when the history of painting had been so slightly
investigated. Such errors as existed are usually the result of mistakes
in the sources Browning followed, though these were the best in their
day, rather than from carelessness on his part.
Some very recent investigators assert that Browning unduly exaggerated
the character of Andrea’s wife, in _Andrea del Sarto_. However, no less
an authority than W. M. Rossetti insists that he was essentially true
to the facts in representing her. Others insist that he was somewhat
unfair in the general impression which he gives of Andrea. At least he
has not changed the facts materially in this particular case; and if
any liberty has been taken, from a poetic standpoint it is well taken.
There are several slight errors in _Fra Lippo Lippi_. For example,
Guidi (Masaccio) is now known to have been the master, not the pupil of
Lippi, and the picture in Sant’ Ambrogio was probably not the expiation
of a prank.
The few changes in the facts, however, are comparatively slight,
all told. Allowing for mistaken authorities whom Browning followed,
variations are much more trivial than might be expected. By the old
well-worn charity cloak of poetic license it is customary to allow for
considerable idealization. But Browning, the artist of things as they
really exist, held to the truth as he saw it, even in his treatment
of art. This he did in spite of the fact that his purpose was not to
give art history, but to present personality as it existed in relation
to art. With his deep insight into human nature, as well as art
history, he took the characters which he found in the world of art, the
good or bad, and gave them to us as examples of the striving, often
unsuccessful soul.
CHAPTER VII
GENERAL COMPARISONS: BROWNING AND THE FINE ARTS OF ITALY.
I. POETIC FUNCTION AND METHOD.--About fifteen poems from Browning
deal with the arts or artists of Italy as primary subject matter. The
remainder of the entire number of forty-nine which refer to art at all,
treat it as a secondary consideration. Taking the subject art as a
whole, as Browning introduces it in poetry, it appears in the following
forms: (1) main theme; (2) comparison of two or more artists working
in the same art; (3) comparison of artists in one art with those in
another, as painters with musicians, or with poets; (4) illustrative
material when the main theme of the poem has no immediate bearing on
art. _Abt Vogler_, in music, or _Fra Lippo Lippi_, in painting, are
examples of the first. _Andrea del Sarto_, besides exemplifying the
first form, contains numerous comparisons of its main character with
other painters. _With Charles Avison_ has a musician as a theme, and he
is compared with other artists, for example, Michael Angelo. _Fifine at
the Fair_, whose main theme has no connection with art, names Raphael,
Bazzi, and Angelo as illustrative material. Numerous instances of
incidental art references, used in such ways as these, attest the fact
that Browning had a large art consciousness, gained from past interest
in the different fields, and of sufficient activity to cause almost
constant references to the fine arts.
Where Wordsworth would have chosen English natural scenery for purposes
of illustration, and Shelley nature in Italy, Browning chose art.
Fifteen poems with nature as the main theme, besides numerous others
with references to nature, would not seem unusual; but a group of
fifteen poems, all moderately long, based on the fine arts, besides a
very large number of comparisons to the arts in other poems, seems an
exceptional product for a nineteenth century English poet.
Browning’s art monologue is of two kinds--the monologue of the artist
who is the chief character in the poem, and the monologue of the poet
addressing the artist directly. Nor are these forms confined entirely
to Italian art poems. _My Last Duchess_, _The Bishop orders his Tomb_,
_Pictor Ignotus_, _Fra Lippo Lippi_, _Andrea del Sarto_, _Abt Vogler_,
are all in dramatic monologue, with either an artist or one interested
in art, as the speaker. _A Toccata of Galuppi’s_, _Master Hughes
of Saxe-Gotha_, and _Old Pictures in Florence_, represent the poet
addressing the artist. _Filippo Baldinucci_ is presented in the first
person, in monologue form. In _The Guardian Angel_ the poet directly
addressed the angel of the picture. _One Word More_ and _A Face_, in
which the art element is strong, are written in the first person, the
former addressed directly to Mrs. Browning with the poet speaking, and
the second addressed to no particular person. This review establishes
the fact that the monologue is Browning’s favorite form for poems about
art, since the list just quoted includes all important poems of that
kind. In every case he made some personality prominent, and in all
serious poems on art, that personality is either speaking or spoken to,
the very finest poems being of the former type.
II. AMOUNT OF MATERIAL USED FROM EACH OF THE FINE ARTS.--In the
foregoing discussion of the five branches of Italian art in
Browning,--sculpture, music, poetry, architecture, and painting--the
order has been determined largely by a quantitative standard. In the
Appendix are systematic lists showing the number of poems and the exact
references in connection with each art. No extensive comparison of
the different arts regarding frequency of introduction, therefore, is
needed here; but a few generalizations concerning some of the reasons
for the variation in emphasis seem not amiss.
Architecture is the art of a concrete bodily form, absolutely
separated from any representation of humanity, unless one looks beyond
it to the architect, or to the people for whom it is constructed.
In contradistinction to the other fine arts discussed here, it is
characterized by usefulness. While it should, and does, in its highest
forms, surmount mere utility, and give an impression of harmony,
beauty, and grandeur, it never directly portrays the finest feelings
of which humanity is capable and never inspires one directly with
a feeling of achievement or struggle in character. Utility is the
chief interest guiding Browning’s treatment of architecture--not
architectural utility, but the service to the poet in fixing the
setting of his poems. Such service is clear in nearly every instance
in all of the twenty-five poems in which some Italian building is
mentioned, and in the case of nearly all the fifty-eight edifices
named. The description of St. Peter’s in _Christmas-Eve and Easter-Day_
is practically the only exception, and there, as has already been
stated, the poet passed from the grandeur of the structure itself to
the builders. Lack of personality in architecture is, then, the reason
for its very slight introduction as an actual art in Browning’s verse.
Passing on from architecture to sculpture one finds that we have
another art of concrete bodily form, with the added power of portraying
the human form, face, and to a very slight degree, the soul. While the
number of sculptors named is very small, then, Browning’s appreciation
of this art surpasses his appreciation of architecture. Examples of
this are _Old Pictures in Florence_, in which sculpture is treated at
considerable length, by comparing its merits with the aspirations of
the early painters, and _Pippa Passes_, in which Jules, the sculptor,
is a prominent figure. _The Bishop orders his Tomb_ deals almost
entirely with sculpture. Still sculpture was not Browning’s favorite
art by any means. Bodily perfection he admired; but he wished to go
beyond it to the soul in dramatic situations, to its struggle and
endeavor. And for these values the powers of sculpture are limited. To
portray successfully any very great struggle or intense feeling of the
soul is beyond its nature.
A cause for the large amount of Italian poetry in the writings of
Browning has already been suggested, in part.[179] But one must further
consider the fact that he did not continue to deal with poets and
their writings as subject matter. After the first eight years of his
career, he ceased to deal with the causes connected with the failure of
poets. Fundamentally, all arts are agencies of expression through the
representation of nature and humanity. With the breadth of vision which
Browning possessed concerning the possibilities of expression in all
the arts, there was none of the five in which he did not, at some time
or other, wish to express himself. In the beginning of his career,
when he was formulating his ideas of a poet, he expressed his ideas of
that art by writing about other poets. But with ideas and forms for his
own art once fully established, the art became self-expressive. He no
longer needed to write about other poets; for the poet in himself had
found his own purpose and method.
It has already been suggested that Browning’s appreciation of music,
as he expressed it in his poems, was qualitative, rather than
quantitative, so far as Italian music is concerned. This art rivals
poetry in expressing the highest yearnings and ideals of which the
soul is capable, and is, therefore, in a very high degree, though in
abstract form, the art of personality. And this art Browning expressed
most perfectly, as to the aims and ideals of its artists, when he
chose to do so. But with all his own feeling for music and with such
ability as he expressed in performance, it, like poetry, was largely
self-expressive for him. That is he played, instead of writing poetry
about music. Browning’s evident preference for other music than that
of the modern composers of Italy explains the lack of space accorded
to them. Yet in spite of this preference the best of his musical poems
were built about Italians--obscure ones though they may be.
Browning did no work in actual study of the technique of painting. The
nearest he came to it was at the time of his thirteen days application
to drawing.[180] Yet painting is in a very large degree expressive of
the soul--its anguish, sorrow, failure, joy, ecstasy, or endeavor.
Drawn to it by his interest in personality, Browning made it contribute
largely to his poems. The Italian painting with which he dealt had
little to do with landscape or other phases of nature. It portrayed
persons; and stimulated by the pictures which he saw, or by records
of personality in the biography of artists, he incorporated many
references to painting in his poems, dealing more largely with it than
with any other art. Since, too, Italy was the home of painting, his
environment was very conducive to a development of his tendency to make
painting an important element in his poems.
Browning, as poet and man, was able to forgive any sort of failure
if the person whom he was judging had only made a thorough effort to
accomplish something. He carried this doctrine so far as to make a
lack of effort the cause of his censure of the Duke and the Lady in
_The Statue and the Bust_, even though the fulfillment of their plan
would have been a sin. This love for endeavor, which always accompanies
his attitude toward any personality, along with his enthusiasm for
personality itself explains his selection and emphasis in his treatment
of the arts. Painting he decidedly preferred above sculpture for
other reasons than its greater ability in portraying the soul. This
preference is stated in _Old Pictures in Florence_, and is based on the
fact that Greek art had run, and “reached the Goal.” Its effort, then,
was over:
“They are perfect--how else? they shall never change:
We are faulty--why not? we have time in store.
The Artificer’s hand is not arrested
With us ...”
* * * * *
“’Tis a life-long toil till our lump be leaven--
The better! What’s come to perfection perishes.”
These quotations from _Old Pictures in Florence_, in which the poet, by
using the first person in his references to the early masters of Italy
places himself in their group and refers to Greek art in the third
person, are indications of the spirit of the poem and of Browning’s
entire attitude toward endeavor in art.
To summarize, then: few persons have as great an interest in expressing
themselves through all the arts as did Robert Browning. Architecture
and sculpture he appreciated least; therefore he expressed least
concerning their spirit and feeling. Music was a fundamental part of
his life; but he was able to embody his feelings about it in music
itself, not merely in poetry about it. Yet because of his perfect
understanding of it, he has embodied its spirit in a few choice poems,
making permanent, by his treatment of its evanescent quality, the
ideas that could not be left to the world by his playing. Painting he
deeply appreciated from childhood; but beyond a few amateur efforts
for diversion, he could not express his appreciation of it by means
of that art itself. Consequently, in an unusually large number of his
poems, he gave us his view of that art, his portraits of its followers,
historical or imaginary.
III. PERSONALITY AND THE ARTS.--Through his presentation of artists,
Browning has given the world many different types of character.
Prominent among them are the following: The non-altruistic,
impractical poet--Sordello; the sensualist--Bocafoli; the superficial
character--Plara; the regretful but optimistic idealist--Abt Vogler;
the coarse realist, who yet possessed a really fine appreciation of
God’s world--Fra Lippo Lippi; the weak, ambitionless man--Andrea
del Sarto; the keenly sensitive mind--Pictor Ignotus; and the
reformer--Pacchiarotto.
Art is also connected with Browning’s character portrayal in a
secondary sort of way, of which _The Ring and the Book_ furnishes
excellent illustrations. In that poem people are characterized by
their likeness to some work of art--_e. g._, Pompilia is compared to
Raphael’s Madonna; or by their fondness for some particular work of
art--_e. g._, the Pope chuckling over the _Merry Tales_.
While Browning mentioned the great masters in many different poems, it
is noticeable that he never used one of them as the main subject of a
poem. There are Andrea, Lippo, and Furini, but there is no Angelo and
no Raphael. This is due to the one element of interest on Browning’s
part that has already been emphasized in this chapter and previous
ones--personality. Browning was interested in the artist he selected,
not merely as an artist, not as a distinguished figure, but as a human
being, whose attempts, partial failure, or development, the poet wished
us to study with him.
Very often the characters whom Browning chose to present either in
connection with the arts or otherwise, were such as we do not approve
of--but neither did Browning approve of them. His theory of art was no
mere aesthetic one of art for art’s sake, no mere dogma of didacticism.
It was rather, art for the sake of human nature, of personality. Of all
the characters he has drawn for us, the one whose expression of art
best gives Browning’s own sentiments is Fra Lippo Lippi, the painter
and realist, enthusiastic for
“The beauty and the wonder and the power,
The shapes of things, their colors, lights, and shades,
Changes, surprises--and God made it all!
* * * * *
“But why not do as well as say,--paint these
Just as they are, careless what comes of it?”
Numerous instances might be cited as a proof of this--Guido, the Duke,
the Bishop, and many others. All his human beings, then, Browning chose
because their personality appealed to him, as a study, rather than
because they compelled his admiration, whether he selected them from
the world of art or elsewhere.
IV. BROWNING AS THE POET OF HUMANITY.--By consideration of Browning’s
general attitude towards the arts, of his fondness for the struggle of
the human soul as a poetic theme, and by a discussion of his relative
emphasis on each art and the method in which he chose to treat it,
the fact has been established that Browning was primarily the poet of
the human soul, and a poet of the arts as seen through the medium of
personality.
When he was once asked if he liked nature, he replied, “Yes but I
love men and women better.” The arts--architecture, music, poetry,
sculpture, and painting--he loved also; but he loved them most because
they recorded human experience, and best when they most fully expressed
the struggles of the soul, and thus became the direct embodiment of
personality.
APPENDIX
I. POEMS CONTAINING REFERENCE TO ITALIAN ART.
1. Pauline, 1833.
2. Paracelsus, 1835.
3. Sordello, 1840.
4. Pippa Passes, 1841.
5. My Last Duchess, 1842.
6. In a Gondola, 1842.
7. Waring, 1842.
8. The Boy and the Angel, 1845.
9. Time’s Revenges, 1845.
10. The Bishop orders his Tomb at St. Praxed’s Church, 1845.
11. Pictor Ignotus, 1845.
12. The Italian in England, 1845.
13. Luria, 1846.
14. A Soul’s Tragedy, 1846.
15. Christmas-Eve and Easter-Day, 1850.
16. Up at a Villa, 1855.
17. A Toccata of Galuppi’s, 1855.
18. Old Pictures in Florence, 1855.
19. By the Fireside, 1855.
20. Any Wife to Any Husband, 1855.
21. In Three Days, 1855.
22. The Guardian Angel, 1855.
23. Master Hugues of Saxe-Gotha, 1855.
24. The Statue and the Bust, 1855.
25. How it Strikes a Contemporary, 1855.
26. Fra Lippo Lippi, 1855.
27. Andrea del Sarto, 1855.
28. Bishop Blougram’s Apology, 1855.
29. One Word More, 1855.
30. James Lee’s Wife, 1864.
31. Abt Vogler, 1864.
32. Youth and Art, 1864.
33. A Face, 1864.
34. Apparent Failure, 1864.
35. The Ring and the Book, 1868-9.
36. Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, 1871.
37. Fifine at the Fair, 1872.
38. Red Cotton Night-Cap Country, 1873.
39. The Inn Album, 1875.
40. Pacchiarotto, 1876.
41. Cenciaja, 1876.
42. Filippo Baldinucci, 1876.
43. Pietro of Abano, 1880.
44. Christina and Monaldeschi, 1883.
45. With Christopher Smart, 1887.
46. With Francis Furini, 1887.
47. With Charles Avison, 1887.
48. Ponte dell’ Angelo, Venice, 1889.
49. Beatrice Signorini, 1889.
II. TABULATION OF REFERENCES TO INDIVIDUAL ARTS.
SCULPTURE
I. _Sordello._
1. Niccolo Pisano (1206-1278). By his study of nature
and the ancients, gave the death-blow to
Byzantinism and heralded the Renaissance.
2. Giovanni Pisano (c. 1250-1330). His many pupils
carried the continuation of his father’s principles
throughout northern Italy.
II. _Pippa Passes._
1. Canova (1757-1822). A refined, classical, but
somewhat artificial reviver of Italian sculpture in
the modern era.
a. The Psiche-fanciulla--Psycheas a young girl
with a butterfly, in the Possagno Gallery.
b. Pietà--a statue of the Virgin with the dead
Christ in her arms, in Possagno Church.
2. Jules. An imaginary young sculptor, studying
Italian models.
a. Almaign Kaiser.
b. Hippolyta.
c. Psyche.
d. Tydeus.
III. _My Last Duchess._
1. Claus of Innsbruck. An imaginary Renaissance
sculptor.
a. Neptune taming a sea-horse.
IV. _The Bishop orders his Tomb at St. Praxed’s Church._
1. Tomb of the Bishop.
2. Globe in the Church of Il Gesu.
V. _Christmas-Eve and Easter-Day._
1. Early Christian attitude toward art.
VI. _Old Pictures in Florence._
1. Niccolo Pisano.
2. Ghiberti (1378-1455). A Florentine sculptor, also
important for perspective in painting, whose ideal
combined religious feeling with classical beauty.
VII. _The Statue and the Bust._
1. Giovanni da Bologna (John of Douay) (c. 1524-1608).
An Italian Renaissance sculptor who combines
technical knowledge with fine poetic feeling.
a. Statue of Duke Ferdinand, by Giovanni.
b. A bust of the Lady.
VIII. _The Ring and the Book._
(I.) 1. Baccio’s marble (by Baccio Bandinelli)--statue of
John of the Black Bands, father of Cosimo de’
Medici.
2. Bernini’s Triton.
(III.) 3. Bernini’s Triton.
(VI.) 4. Pasquin’s statue.
(VII.) 5. Marble lion in San Lorenzo.
6. Virgin at Pompilia’s street corner.
(XI.) 7. Bocca-dell’-Verità--the fabled test for the verity
of witnesses, a mask of stone in the portico of the
Church Santa Maria in Cosmedin.
MUSIC
I. _The Englishman in Italy._
1. Bellini (1801-1835). An Italian opera composer.
II. _A Toccata of Galuppi’s._
1. Galuppi (1706-1785). A composer of melodious
rather than original operas, whose workmanship was
superior to that of his contemporaries in harmony
and orchestration.
III. _Master Hugues of Saxe-Gotha._
1. Master Hugues of Saxe-Gotha. An imaginary
composer.
2. Palestrina (1526-1594). Famous for saving music to
the church by submitting some that met with
approval when ecclesiastical authorities were about
to forbid its use.
IV. _Bishop Blougram’s Apology._
1. Verdi (1813-1901). One of the greatest modern
Italian composers, best known by _Il Trovatore_,
_Rigoletto_, and _La Traviata_.
2. Rossini (1782-1868). A composer whose success
antedates that of Verdi; best known by his opera
_William Tell_.
V. _Abt Vogler._
1. Abt or Abbe Vogler (1749-1814). An organist and
composer of Bavarian birth, some of whose study and
public work were done in Italy. Though he invented
a new system of musical theory, his ideas were
empirical.
VI. _Youth and Art._
1. Grisi (1811-1869). An Italian opera singer.
VII. _The Ring and the Book._
(I.) 1. Corelli (1653-1713). A violin player and composer
who, though he employed only a limited part of his
instrument’s compass, made an epoch in chamber
music and influenced Bach.
(IV.) 2. Magnificat--Catholic music.
3. Nunc Dimittis.
(VI.) 4. Ave.
5. Angelus.
(VII.) 6. Ave Maria.
(X.) 7. Sanctus et Benedictus.
(XII.) 8. Pater.
9. Ave.
10. Salve Regina Cœli.
VIII. _Red Cotton Night-Cap Country._
1. Guarnerius (1687-1745). Joseph del Gesu, one of the
most famous violin makers, who worked for boldness
of outline and massive construction, securing in
consequence, a robust tone.
2. Antonius Stradivarius (1644-1737). His final model,
with its soft varnish, now irrecoverable, brought
violin making to its highest perfection.
3. Corelli.
4. Paganini (1784-1840). A violin player who achieved
such brilliant success that his name still stands
for all that is wonderful in execution on that
instrument.
IX. _Parleyings with Charles Avison._
1. Buononcini (1672-1750). The author of a musical
treatise; his chief claim to fame being the fact
that he influenced Handel and Scarlotti.
2. Geminiani (c. 1680-1762). A violinist of
considerable ability, but as a composer, dry and
deficient in melody.
POETRY
I. _Paracelsus._
1. Aprile. An imaginary poet.
II. _Sordello._
1. Sordello (13th. century). The most famous of the
Mantuan troubadours.
2. Nina. A contemporary of Sordello.
3. Alcamo. A contemporary of Sordello.
4. Plara. An imaginary poet.
5. Bocafoli. An imaginary poet.
6. Eglamor. An imaginary poet.
7. Dante. (1265-1321).
III. _Time’s Revenges._
1. Dante.
IV. _A Soul’s Tragedy._
1. Stiatta. An imaginary poet.
V. _Up at a Villa._
1. Dante.
2. Petrarch (1304-1374).
3. Boccaccio (1313-1375).
VI. _Old Pictures in Florence._
1. Dante.
VII. _One Word More._
1. Dante--The _Inferno_.
VIII. _Apparent Failure._
1. Petrarch.
IX. _The Ring and the Book._
(III). 1. _Hundred Merry Tales._ (Boccaccio).
(V). 2. Boccaccio.
3. Sacchetti (1335-1400). A poet and novelist who left
many unpublished sonnetti, canzoni, ballate, and
madrigale, and whose novelle throw light on the
manners of his age.
(VI). 4. A Marinesque Adoniad.
5. Marino (1569-1625). A poet of disreputable life,
leader of the Secentisimo period, whose aim was to
excite wonder by novelties and to cloak poverty of
subject under form.
6. Dante.
7. Pietro Aretino (1492-1556). Author of satirical
sonnets, burlesques, comedies; and a man of
profligate life.
(X). 8. Aretino.
(XI). 9. _Merry Tales_ (Boccaccio).
10. Aretino.
(XII). 11. Petrarch.
12. Tommaseo (1803-1874). A modern Italian poet,
author of the inscription to Mrs. Browning placed
by the city of Florence on the walls of Casa Guidi.
X. _The Inn Album._
1. Dante--The _Inferno_.
ARCHITECTURE
I. _Sordello._
1. Goito. An imaginary 13th century castle, used to
influence the life of Sordello by its beauty and
solitude.
2. St. Mark’s. A great landmark of Italian
architecture, in construction from the ninth to the
fifteenth century, and the most splendid
polychromatic building in Europe.
3. Piombi. Torture cells under the Ducal Palace at
Venice.
4. San Pietro (Martire). A Veronese Gothic church of
1350.
5. St. Francis. A Lombard Gothic church at Bassano.
6. Castle Angelo. A huge Roman fortress constructed in
the time of Hadrian.
7. San Miniato. A Florentine church built in Central
Romanesque style.
8. Sant’ Eufemia. A 13th century Veronese church, now
modernized internally.
II. _Pippa Passes._
1. St. Mark’s--Venice.
2. Possagno Church. Designed by Canova in 1819, as a
place for statues of religious subjects.
3. Fenice--or Phoenix. The best modern theatre of
Venice, built in 1836.
4. Academy of Fine Arts. A Renaissance building in
Venice.
Asolo Group.
5. Duomo of Asolo.
6. Pippa’s Tower. Later the studio of Browning’s son.
7. Church.
8. Castle of Kate--of which the banqueting hall is now
a theatre.
9. Turret.
10. Palace.
11. Mill--now a lace school.
III. _In a Gondola._
1. Pulci Palace--Venice.
IV. _The Boy and the Angel._
1. St. Peter’s. In process of construction during the
16th and 17th centuries; the building that best
typifies the importance of the church during the
middle ages. Built on the Greek cross plan, it is
surmounted by the dome of Michael Angelo, the most
nobly beautiful of architectural creations.
V. _The Italian in England._
1. Duomo at Padua. A 16th century building of
admirable proportions.
VI. _The Bishop orders his Tomb at St. Praxed’s Church._
1. Santa Prassede--or St. Praxed’s. A church in Rome,
founded on the former site of a refuge for
persecuted Christians. It is notable for the beauty
of its stone work and mosaics, one of its rich
chapels being called Orto del Paradiso. The
building is old but was restored in the 15th
century.
2. Il Gesu. An ornate 16th century church in Rome,
representing the retrograde movement in
architecture.
VII. _Luria._
1. Duomo. The Florentine cathedral, famous for its
dome of 1420, its beautiful sculptured exterior and
its cold brown interior.
2. Towers of Florence--San Romano, Sant’ Evola, San
Miniato, Santa Scala, and Sant’ Empoli.
VIII. _Christmas-Eve and Easter-Day._
1. St. Peter’s--Rome.
IX. _A Toccata of Galuppi’s._
1. St. Mark’s--Venice.
X. _The Guardian Angel._
1. Chapel at Fano.
XI. _Old Pictures in Florence._
1. Giotto (1267-1337). Architect, and the humanizer of
painting, as well as the builder of the Campanile.
2. Campanile. The bell tower of the Florentine Duomo,
built by Giotto in 1332; an architectural triumph
in beauty and splendor.
3. Santo Spirito. A 14th century Florentine church.
4. Duomo--Florence.
5. Ognissanti--Florence.
XII. _By the Fireside._
1. Chapel near Bagni di Lucca.
XIII. _The Statue and the Bust._
1. Antinori Palace. An example of Renaissance secular
architecture, built about 1481, in Florence.
2. Riccardi Palace. A Florentine castle, the earliest
and finest example of secular Renaissance
architecture.
XIV. _Fra Lippo Lippi._
1. Santa Maria del Carmine. A 15th century church and
convent in Florence, containing frescoes by
Masaccio and Filippino Lippi.
2. Palace of the Medici--Florence.
3. St. Lawrence--or San Lorenzo. A Florentine
Renaissance church, rebuilt about 1425.
4. St. Ambrose. A Florentine edifice, the reputed
scene of a transubstantiation miracle in 1746.
XV. _Bishop Blougram’s Apology._
1. Vatican. The papal palace at Rome, most of which as
it exists now, was built no earlier than the
fifteenth century.
XVI. _Andrea del Sarto._
1. Chapel and the Convent--Florence.
XVII. _One Word More._
1. San Miniato--Florence.
XVIII. _Abt Vogler._
1. St. Peter’s.
XIX. _The Ring and the Book._
(I). 1. San Lorenzo. The original building by Brunelleschi
in 1425 or perhaps 1420, was entrusted to Michael
Angelo for the facade. Florence.
2. Riccardi Palace--Florence.
3. San Felice Church. A little grey-walled Florentine
church, mostly in a very ancient Romanesque style,
which could be seen from the windows of Casa Guidi.
4. Fiano Palace. An example of secular architecture
in Rome, built about 1300.
5. Ruspoli Palace. Built by the Rucellai family in
1586; has one of the finest white marble stair
cases in Rome.
(II). 6. San Lorenzo--Rome. Founded by Sixtus III in 440 and
modernized in 1506; has a Crucifixion by Guido
Reni, above the high altar.
7. Ruspoli Palace--Rome.
(III). 8. Saint Anna’s. A monastery in Rome.
9. San Lorenzo--Rome.
(IV). 10. San Lorenzo--Rome.
11. Vatican--Rome.
(V). 12. Tordinona--Rome.
13. New Prisons--Rome.
14. San Lorenzo--Rome.
(VI). 15. Pieve, or Santa Maria della Pieve. A great church
in Arezzo, built in the capricious, extravagant
style of the 13th century.
16. San Lorenzo--Rome.
17. Duomo--Arezzo.
(VII.) 18. San Lorenzo--Rome.
19. San Giovanni. A Tuscan church built in Rome at the
expense of the Florentines.
20. Pieve--Arezzo.
(VIII). 21. Sistine Chapel. Chapel of the Vatican, at Rome; a
most extreme example of figure painting in
decoration, but justified by the excellence of the
work. The ceiling is Michael Angelo’s, and on the
altar wall is his “Last Judgment.”
(X). 22. Vatican--Rome.
23. Pieve--Arezzo.
24. Monastery of the Convertites--Rome. Founded in
1584, for the spiritual care of the sick at Rome.
(XI). 25. Certosa. A beautifully situated, very richly built
monastery of the Carthusians in Val d’ Ema, four
miles from Florence, built in the 14th century
Gothic style.
26. Vallombrosa Convent. Situated near Florence;
founded about 1650, by a repentant profligate.
27. Palace in Via Larga. Secular Florentine
architecture.
28. San Lorenzo--Rome.
29. Vatican--Rome.
(XII). 30. New Prisons--Rome.
31. San Lorenzo--Rome.
32. Monastery of the Convertites--Rome.
XX. _Fifine at the Fair._
1. St. Mark’s--Venice.
XXI. _Pacchiarotto._
1. San Bernardino. A Renaissance church at Siena, with
an Oratory, containing work of Beccafumi, Pacchia,
and Pacchiarotto.
2. Duomo at Siena. An unfinished cathedral, the most
purely Gothic of all of those of Italy, of
unrivalled solemnity and splendor.
XXII. _Filippo Baldinucci._
1. San Frediano. A modern Florentine church.
XXIII. _Pietro of Abano._
1. Lateran. Formerly the Papal residence, though the
present structure, of 1586, was never used for that
purpose and is now a museum of classical sculpture
and early Christian remains.
XXIV. _With Francis Furini._
1. San Sano, or Ansano. A Florentine parish church.
XXV. _Ponte del Angelo, Venice._
1. House along the Bridge, of no importance
architecturally, but connected with an old legend
which is the subject of the poem.
PAINTING
I. _Pauline._
1. Andromeda. By Polidoro da Caravaggio--the picture
of Perseus freeing her from the sea monster.
II. _Sordello._
1. Guido of Siena (c. 1250--). The disputed artist of
a Virgin and Child, the date of which may be either
1221 or 1281. If it be the former, some of
Cimabue’s claims are disturbed by Guido’s earlier
work.
2. Guido Reni (1575-1642). A prime master in the
Bolognese school, faithful to its eclectic
principles and working with considerable artistic
feeling, but still with a certain “core of the
commonplace.”
3. Andromeda. By Caravaggio.
III. _Pippa Passes._
1. Annibale Carracci (burlesque--“Hannibal Scratchy”)
(1560-1609). With his brother and his uncle founded
the Bolognese school, which was eclectic and
comprised the good points of all the great masters.
2. Correggio (1494-1534). The head of the Lombard
School at Parma, a painter of graceful naturalness
and sweetness and of great technical power in
chiaroscuro.
3. Titian (1477-1576). A Venetian painter who lacked
inventiveness but was the greatest of colorists.
a. Annunciation--in the Cathedral at Treviso,
painted by Titian in 1519.
IV. _My Last Duchess._
1. Fra Pandolf. An imaginary artist.
V. _In a Gondola._
1. Schidone (c. 1570-1615). A portrait painter of the
Lombard school.
a. Eager Duke. An imaginary picture.
2. Luca Giordano (1632-1705). Called Luke-work-fast
because of his father’s miserly urging; a painter
of superficiality and facility.
a. Prim Saint. An imaginary picture.
3. Giorgione (Castelfranco) (1477-1510). A Venetian
painter who did for his school what Leonardo da
Vinci had done for Florence twenty years earlier.
a. Magdalen--imaginary.
4. Titian.
a. Ser (a picture).
VI. _Waring._
1. Polidoro da Caravaggio.
VII. _Pictor Ignotus._
1. Pictor Ignotus--an imaginary painter of Italy.
VIII. _Christmas-Eve and Easter-Day._
1. Michael Angelo and discussion of painting.
IX. _Old Pictures in Florence._
1. Michael Angelo (1475-1564). A Florentine master in
painting, sculpture, and architecture. No other
single person ever so dominated art as he, with his
Italian “terribilita”, or stormy energy of
conception, and his great dramatic power.
2. Raphael (1483-1520). A master of combined
draughtsmanship, coloring, and graceful
composition; popular and unexcelled in versatility.
3. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). The earliest of the
great masters of the High Renaissance, and the
first to completely master anatomy and technique.
4. Cavaliere Dello (c. 1404-c. 1464). An unimportant
Florentine painter of frescoes.
5. Stefano (1324?-1357?). Called the “Ape of Nature”
because he followed her closely in an age of
unrealistic painting.
6. Cimabue (1240-c. 1302). The first painter of
importance in the revival of that art, the one who
formed its first principles, though he owed
something to the Pisan sculptors.
7. Ghirlandajo (1449-1494). Good in his general
attainment but lacking in originality, and
remembered for one famous pupil--Michael Angelo.
8. Sandro (Botticelli) (1444-1510). A Florentine
painter, imbued with a strain of fantasy,
mysticism, and allegory.
9. Lippino (1460-1505). The son of Fra Lippo Lippi, a
painter of considerable skill, the first to
introduce detail in antique costumes.
10. Fra Angelico (1387-1455). A holy, self-denying
painter of faces that showed a “sexless
religiosity.”
11. Lorenzo Monaco (1370-1425). A Florentine monk and
painter of much religious sentiment.
12. Pollajolo (1429-1498). An important painter whose
works show brutality, but who was a close student
of muscular anatomy.
13. Baldovinetti (1427-1499). A Florentine; one of a
group of scientific realists and naturalists.
14. Margheritone (c. 1236-1289). An early Tuscan
painter whose work shows the stiffness and crude
color of the Byzantine artists.
15. Carlo Dolci (1616-1686). An unimportant Florentine
painter of careful workmanship and religious
sentimentality.
16. Giotto (1267?-1337). A painter and architect, the
real humanizer of painting.
17. Andrea Orgagna (1308-1368). A Florentine painter
and artist in other lines as well.
18. Taddeo Gaddi (c. 1300-1366). Painter and architect.
X. _In Three Days._
1. General reference to early art.
XI. _The Guardian Angel._
1. Guercino (1591-1666). The “squint-eyed”; a
Bolognese painter.
a. Angel at Fano.
XII. _Any Wife to Any Husband._
1. Titian’s Venus.
XIII. _How it Strikes a Contemporary._
1. Titian.
XIV. _Fra Lippo Lippi._
1. Lippi (1406-1469). A realist of good coloring and
technique, a painter of enjoyable pictures showing
power of observation.
a. Jerome.
b. St. Lawrence.
c. Coronation of the Virgin--in St. Ambrose.
2. Angelico.
3. Monaco.
4. Guidi Masaccio (1402-1429). A Florentine; the
master of Lippi, the first to make considerable
advancement in atmospheric perspective and to paint
architectural background in proportion to the human
figures.
5. Giotto.
XV. _Andrea del Sarto._
1. Andrea (1487-1513). A Florentine, the “faultless
painter,” who lacked elevation and ideality in his
works.
2. Raphael.
3. Vasari (1511-1571). A Florentine artist, student of
Michael Angelo, imitative and feeble as a painter,
but interesting as an art historian.
4. Michael Angelo.
5. Leonardo da Vinci.
XVI. _Bishop Blougram’s Apology._
1. Correggio.
a. Jerome.
2. Giulio Romano (1429-1546). A rather ornate artist,
the executor of some work on the Vatican.
3. Raphael.
4. Michael Slaying the Dragon--by Raphael.
XVII. _One Word More._
1. Raphael.
a. Sistine Madonna.
b. Madonna Foligno.
c. Madonna of the Grand Duke.
d. Madonna of the Lilies.
2. Guido Reni.
3. Lippi.
4. Andrea.
XVIII. _James Lee’s Wife._
1. Leonardo da Vinci.
XIX. _A Face._
1. Correggio.
2. General reference to the early art of Tuscany.
XX. _The Ring and the Book._
(I). 1. Luigi Ademollo (1764-1849). A Florentine painter of
historical and fresco works, whose works show
superficial skill.
2. Joconde, or Mona Lisa, by Da Vinci--the woman of
the mysterious smile, recently returned to the
Louvre.
(II). 3. Guido Reni.
a. Crucifixion, in San Lorenzo at Rome.
(III). 4. Carlo Maratta (1625-1713). A painter at Rome, an
imitator of Raphael and the Carracci.
(IV). 5. Raphael.
6. Correggio.
a. Leda.
(V). 7. Pietro da Cortona (1596-1669). Mainly a scenic and
fresco painter, the estimate of whom has declined
since his own time.
8. Ciro Ferri (1634-1689). A pupil of Pietro, so
imitative of his master that the work of the two
cannot be distinguished.
(VI). 9. Raphael.
(VII). 10. St. George Slaying the Dragon--by Vasari.
(VIII). 11. Carlo Maratta.
(IX). 12. Maratta.
13. Luca Giordano.
14. Michael Angelo.
15. Raphael.
16. Pietro da Cortona.
17. Ciro Ferri.
(X). 18. St. Michael.
(XI). 19. Albani (1587-1660). A Bolognese who also worked at
Rome; a painter of minute elaboration and finish,
and one of the first to devote himself to cabinet
painting.
20. Picture in Vallombrosa Convent.
21. Raphael--any picture.
22. Titian.
23. Fra Angelico.
24. Michael Angelo.
(XII). 25. Michael Angelo.
XXI. _Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau._
1. Raphael.
2. Salvator Rosa (1615-1673). A Neapolitan painter of
battle scenes and landscapes, with a tendency
toward the picturesque and romantic.
XXII. _Fifine at the Fair._
1. Raphael.
2. Bazzi (1477-1594). An Italian Renaissance painter
who was greatly influenced by Leonardo da Vinci,
and in turn, had great influence on the Sienese
school.
3. Michael Angelo.
XXIII. _Red Cotton Night-Cap Country._
1. Michael Angelo.
2. Correggio.
a. Leda.
XXIV. _Pacchiarotto and How He Worked in Distemper._
1. Pacchiarotto (1474-?). A Sienese painter, reformer,
and conspirator.
2. Pacchia (b. 1477). A Sienese painter contemporary
to Pacchiarotto, and also a reformer and
conspirator.
3. Fungaio (c. 1460-c. 1516). One of the last of the
old school. His works have rigidity and awkward
stiffness.
4. Bazzi.
5. Beccafumi (1486-1551). A Sienese painter who weakly
imitated Angelo and attempted to rival Sodoma.
6. Giotto.
XXV. _Filippo Baldinucci._
1. Buti. The painter’s name under which Baldinucci, in
his history of art, records the events forming the
subject of Browning’s poem.
2. Titian.
a. Leda.
3. Baldinucci (1624-1696). A Florentine art historian
who attempted to prove the theory that all art was
derived from his native city.
XXVI. _Cenciaja._
1. Titian.
XXVII. _Christina and Monaldeschi._
1. Primaticcio (1504-1570). An Italian painter of the
Bolognese school, who did the first important
stucco and fresco work in France.
XXVIII. _Mary Wollstonecraft and Fuseli._
1. Fuseli. (1741-1825). An English painter of
exaggerated style, who attempted to be Italianate
and changed his name to harmonize with the attempt.
XXIX. _Parleyings with Christopher Smart._
1. Michael Angelo.
2. Raphael.
XXX. _Parleyings with Francis Furini._
1. Furini (1600-1649). A Florentine artist and an
excellent painter of the nude, who later became a
parish priest and wished his undraped pictures
destroyed.
2. Michael Angelo.
3. Baldinucci.
4. Da Vinci.
INDEX
_Abt Vogler_, 14, 15, 23, 25, 26, 36, 48, 49, 53, 58, 64
Academy of Fine Arts, Venice, 62
Ademollo, Luigi, 71
_Agamemnon_, 14
Albani, 71
Alcamo (in _Sordello_), 29, 30, 31, 60
_Andrea del Sarto_, 27, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 53, 64, 70
“Andromeda,” Caravaggio’s, 41, 44, 66, 67
_Any Wife to Any Husband_, 44, 69
_Apparent Failure_, 60
Aprile (in _Paracelsus_), 29, 30, 31, 60
Aretino, Pietro, 29, 33, 61
_Aristophanes’ Apology_, 14
Augustus, a bust by Browning, 12
Baldovinetti, 69
Bandinelli, Baccio, 15, 21, 57
Bazzi, Giovanni Antonio, 45, 48, 72
_Beatrice Signorini_, 41, 44, 45, 46
Beccafumi, 66, 72
Beethoven, 10
Bellini, Vincenzo, 23, 24, 25, 27, 58
Bernini, 15, 57
_Bishop Blougram’s Apology_, 26, 27, 36, 44, 58, 64, 70
_Bishop orders his Tomb, The_, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 36, 38, 49, 50, 57,
62
Bocafoli (in _Sordello_), 29, 30, 31, 53, 60
Boccaccio, 29, 32, 33, 60, 61
“Bocca-dell’-Verita,” 15, 21, 58
Botticelli, 68
_Boy and the Angel, The_, 36, 62
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, 10, 11, 12, 13, 26, 34, 41, 42, 43, 49,
61
Browning, Wiedemann, 10, 11
Buononcini, Giovanni Battista, 23, 25, 59
Buti, 73
Byron, Lord, 23, 38
_By the Fireside_, 9, 36, 63
Campanile, The, Florence, 35, 36, 43, 63
Canova, 12, 15, 18, 22, 56, 57, 62
Caravaggio, 41, 44, 66, 67, 68
Carracci, Annibale, 12, 67
Castle Angelo, 61
Catholic Hymns, 23-24, 59
_Cenciaja_, 45, 73
Chapel near Bagni di Lucca, 63;
at Fano, 63;
at Florence, 64
_Charles Avison, Parleyings with_, 25, 26, 45, 48, 59
_Christina and Monaldeschi_, 73
_Christmas-Eve and Easter-Day_, 9, 16, 17, 20, 22, 36, 38, 50, 57, 63,
68
_Christopher Smart, Parleyings with_, 45, 73
Churches, Italian:
Il Gesu, 57, 63;
Ognissanti, 63;
Pieve at Arezzo, 37, 65;
Possagno, 57, 62;
St. Francis, 61;
St. Mark’s, 36, 61, 62, 63, 66;
St. Peter’s, 36, 38, 39, 50, 62, 63, 64;
S. Ambrogio, 47, 64, 70;
S. Bernardino, 66;
S. Empoli, 63;
S. Eufemia, 62;
S. Evola, 63;
S. Felice, 64;
S. Frediano, 66;
S. Giovanni, 65;
S. Lorenzo, 36, 58, 64, 65, 66, 71;
S. Miniato, 61, 63, 64;
S. Maria della Scala, 63;
S. Maria del Carmine, 64;
S. Maria in Cosmedin, 58;
S. Pietro Martire, 61;
S. Pressede (St. Praxed’s), 19, 38, 62;
S. Romano, 63;
S. Sano, 66;
S. Spirito, 63
Cimabue, 40, 42, 66, 68
Claus of Innsbruck (in _My Last Duchess_), 15, 19, 57
Convent, at Florence, 64; Vallombrosa, 65, 72
Corelli, Arcangelo, 23, 25, 59
Correggio, 12, 40, 44, 67, 70, 71, 72;
his “Jerome”, 70, 72;
“Leda”, 71, 72
“Crucifixion”, Guido’s, 37, 71
Dante, 29, 32, 33, 34, 60, 61
“David”, Domenichino’s, 12
Da Vinci, Leonardo, 12, 40, 44, 67, 68, 70, 71, 72, 73;
“Mona Lisa”, 71
_Decameron_, The, 33, 60, 61
Dello di Niccolo Delli, 40, 68
_De Vulgario Eloquio_, 32
_Divine Comedy, The_, 32
Dolci, Carlo, 69
Domenichino, 12
Dore, Gustave, 45
Dramatic Monologue, Use of, 49
Dulwich Gallery, 10, 11
Duomo, The, at Arezzo, 65;
at Asolo, 62;
at Florence, 36, 63;
at Padua, 62;
at Siena, 66
Dvorak, Antonin, 25
“Eager Duke, The”, (in _In a Gondola_), 67
Eastlake, Sir Charles, 13
Eglamor (in _Sordello_), 29, 30, 60
_Elegy on Newstead Abbey_, Byron’s, 38
_Englishman in Italy, The_, 24, 58
_Epistle of Karshish, An_, 14
_Face, A_, 45, 49, 71
Fauveau, Mme. de, 11
Fenice Theatre, Venice, 62
Ferdinand, Statue of Duke, 15, 20, 57
_Ferishtah’s Fancies_, 14
Ferri, Ciro, 45, 71
_Fifine at the Fair_, 45, 48, 66, 72
_Filippo Baldinucci_, 44, 45, 46, 49, 66, 73
Fisher, Mr., 11
_Flight of the Duchess, The_, 9
Fountain of the Tritons, 15, 21, 57
Fra Angelico, 69, 70, 72
_Fra Lippo Lippi_, 14, 15, 36, 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 53, 64, 68,
69, 70
_Francis Furini, Parleyings with_, 45, 46, 53, 66, 73
Fungaio, 72
Fuseli, 73
Gaddi, Taddeo, 35, 69
Galuppi, Baldassaro, 23, 27, 58
Geminiani, Francesco, 23, 25, 59
Ghiberti, Lorenzo, 15, 57
Ghirlandajo, 42, 43, 68
Gibson, John, 11
Giorgione, 67
Giordano, Luca, 45, 67, 71
_Giorno di Regno, Un_, Verdi’s, 27
Giottino, 42
Giotto, 35, 39, 42, 63, 69, 70, 72
Giovanni da Bologna (John of Douay), 15, 57
Goito Castle, 20, 38, 61
_Gold Hair_, 14
Grisi, Giulia, 23, 25, 27, 59
_Guardian Angel, The_, 42, 43, 45, 49, 63, 69
Guarnerius (Joseph del Jesu), 23, 25, 59
Guercino, 12, 43, 69
Guido of Siena, 66
Handel, George Frederick, 25, 59
Haworth, Miss, 11, 12, 22
_Herakles_, 14
Horne, R. H., 13, 42
Hosmer, Harriet, 11
_How it Strikes a Contemporary_, 29, 69
_In a Gondola_, 36, 62, 67
_Inn Album, The_, 61
_Inside of the King’s College Chapel_ (Wordsworth), 38
_In the Cathedral at Cologne_ (Wordsworth), 38
_In Three Days_, 44, 69
_Italian in England, The_, 36, 62
_James Lee’s Wife_, 44, 71
Jameson, Mrs., 12, 42
“John of the Black Bands,” statue of, 15, 57
Jules (in _Pippa Passes_), 15, 18, 44, 50, 57
Keats, 9
Kenyon, Frederick G., 10, 37, 43
Kirkup, Mr., 11, 42
Kugler, Franz, _Handbook of the History of Art_, 13
_Lady and the Painter, The_, 20
Lateran, The, 66
Leighton, Frederick, 11, 28, 36
Lippi, Filippino, 40, 64, 68
Liszt, Franz, 25
_Luria_, 14, 36, 63
Madonna, Raphael’s, 44, 53
Magdalen (_In a Gondola_), 67
Maratta, Carlo, 44, 45, 71
Margheritone, 69
Marino, 29, 61
_Mary Wollstonescraft and Fuseli_, 73
Masaccio, Guidi, 47, 64, 70
_Master Hugues of Saxe-Gotha_, 23, 25, 26, 49, 58
_Memorabilia_, 32, 34
_Men and Women_, 12
_Merry Tales_, Sacchetti’s, 33
Michael Angelo, 27, 40, 43, 45, 48, 53, 62, 64, 65, 68, 70, 71, 72, 73
Michael, Raphael’s, 44, 70
Monaco, Lorenzo, 69, 70
Monastery, Certosa, 65;
of the Convertites, 65, 66;
of St. Anna, 65
_My Last Duchess_, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 49, 57, 67
Neptune, (statue in _My Last Duchess_), 19, 57
Nina (in _Sordello_), 29, 30, 31, 60
_Old Abbeys_ (Wordsworth), 38
_Old Pictures in Florence_, 15, 16, 17, 22, 35, 36, 39, 40, 42, 43,
45, 49, 50, 52, 57, 60, 63, 68
_One Word More_, 29, 32, 36, 42, 45, 49, 60, 64, 70
Orgagna, 69
Orr’s, Mrs., _Life of Browning_, 10, 11, 41
Pacchia, 66, 72
_Pacchiarotto_, 36, 45, 46, 53, 66, 72
Paganini, Niccolo, 23, 25, 27, 59
Page, William, 11
Palace, Antinori, 63;
Ducal, Venice, 61;
Fiano, 64;
Medici, 64;
Pulci, 62;
Riccardi, 64;
Ruspoli, 64, 65;
Via Larga, 65
Palestrina, 23, 58
Pandolf, Fra (in _My Last Duchess_), 67
_Paracelsus_, 29, 30, 31, 42, 60
Pasquin’s statue, 15, 21, 58
_Pauline_, 9, 29, 30, 32, 34, 41, 44, 66
Petrarch, 29, 32, 60, 61
_Pheidippides_, 14
_Pictor Ignotus_, 42, 45, 46, 49, 53, 68
“Pieta”, Canova’s, 15, 57
Pietro d’ Abano, 66
Pietro da Cortona, 45, 71
_Pippa Passes_, 9, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 36, 42, 44, 50, 56, 62, 67
Pisano, Giovanni, 15, 16, 17, 56, 68
Pisano, Niccolo, 15, 16, 17, 56, 57, 68
Plara (in _Sordello_), 29, 30, 31, 53, 60
Pollajola, Antonio, 40, 69
_Ponte dell’ Angelo, Venice_, 66
Powers, Hiram, 11, 28
Primaticcio, 73
“Prim Saint” (in _In a Gondola_), 67
_Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau_, 72
“Psiche-fanciulla”, Canova’s, 15, 57
Psyche, a bust by Browning, 12
Raphael, 27, 40, 43, 44, 45, 48, 53, 68, 70, 71, 72, 73
_Red Cotton Night-Cap Country_, 25, 45, 59, 72
Reni, Guido, 12, 43, 65, 67, 69, 70, 71
_Ring and the Book, The_, 12, 14, 16, 20, 21, 22, 24, 33, 36, 37, 38,
40, 44, 45, 53, 57, 58, 59, 60, 64, 65, 71
Romanelli, 46, 47
Romano, Giulio, 44, 70
Rossetti, W. M., 47
Rossini, 23, 25, 27, 28, 58
Sacchetti, Franco, 29, 33, 34, 53, 60
St. George, Vasari’s, 71
Salvator Rosa, 72
_Saul_, 23
Schidone, 67
Ser (a picture), 67
Ser Giovanni, 65
Shelley, 9, 30, 32, 34, 48
_Sonnet on Chillon_, Byron’s, 38
_Sordello_, 12, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36, 37, 38,
42, 44, 53, 56, 60, 61, 66
_Soul’s Tragedy, A_, 18, 29, 60
_Statue and the Bust, The_, 16, 17, 20, 22, 36, 38, 52, 57, 63
Stefano, 40, 68
Stiatta (in _A Soul’s Tragedy_), 29, 60
Story, W. W., 11, 12, 28
Stradivarius, Antonius, 23, 25, 59
_Strafford_, 29
Tasso, Torquato, 29
Technical Art Terms, Browning’s use of, 21, 26
_Time’s Revenges_, 32, 60
Titian, 40, 44, 67, 72, 73;
“Annunciation,” 67;
“Venus,” 44, 69
_Toccata of Galuppi’s, A_, 23, 25, 26, 36, 49, 58, 63
Tommaseo, Niccolo, 29, 34, 61
Tordinona, 65
Towers of Florence, 63
_Trovatore, Il_, Verdi’s, 26, 58
_Two Poets of Croisic_, The, 14
_Up at a Villa_, 32, 60
Vallombrosa Convent, 65, 72
Vasari, Giorgio, 13, 42, 44, 70
Vatican, The, 36, 64, 65, 70;
Sistine Chapel, 65
Verdi, Giuseppe, 23, 25, 26, 27, 58
_Vita Nuova, La_, 32
Wagner, Richard, 25
_Waring_, 44, 68
Wilde, Mr., 11
Wordsworth, 9, 38, 48
_Youth and Art_, 25, 59
FOOTNOTES:
[163] Mrs. Sutherland Orr’s _Life of Browning_, revised by Frederick G.
Kenyon.
[164] Mrs. Orr: _op. cit._
[165] For the sources and nature of this interest, see below, Chapter
II and p. 50.
[166] Bavarian by birth, Abt Vogler was ordained a priest at Rome, and
played in that city for years. His significance in musical history
seems associated with Italy rather than Bavaria.
[167] See _An Epistle of Karshish_; _Ferishtah’s Fancies_.
[168] See _Pheidippides_; _Aristophanes’ Apology_; _Herakles_;
_Agamemnon_.
[169] See _Gold Hair, A Story of Pornic_; _The Two Poets of Croisic_.
[170] See the next page.
[171] See below, pp. 44, 46.
[172] See above, p. 12.
[173] See _Ring and the Book_, I.
[174] Line 382.
[175] Letter by Mrs. Browning, December, 1847.
[176] See above, p. 10.
[177] _Op. cit._
[178] August, 1848.
[179] See Chapter IV, p. 30 and _passim_.
[180] See above, p. 12.
BULLETIN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
HUMANISTIC STUDIES
_Vol. I_ _January 1, 1915_ _No. 4_
THE SEMANTICS OF
-MENTUM, -BULUM, AND -CULUM
BY
EDMUND D. CRESSMAN, Ph. D.
_Assistant Professor of Latin in the University of Kansas_
LAWRENCE, JANUARY, 1915
PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY
PREFACE
This treatise is printed in substantially the same form in which it
was presented to the faculty of Yale University as a doctor’s thesis.
The subject was suggested by Professor E. P. Morris, and the study was
carried on under his direction. To him, and to Professor Hanns Oertel,
who made helpful suggestions, the author is under obligation not only
for the method employed but also for the general theory underlying the
whole study.
The writer also wishes to thank Professor S. L. Whitcomb, the editor of
this series, for valuable help in preparing the work for publication.
E. D. C.
Lawrence, Kansas,
Jan. 1, 1915.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
Introductory 7
CHAPTER II
Influence of Stem-Meaning 10
I. -Mentum.
A. Concrete -mentum Words on Verb Stems.
1. Nouns denoting result of action, with general application 10
2. Nouns denoting result of action, with restricted
application 11
3. Nouns denoting instrument, with general application 12
4. Nouns denoting instrument, with both general and figurative
application 13
5. Nouns denoting instrument, with specialized application 14
6. Nouns denoting instrument, with both specialized and
figurative application 15
7. Nouns not classified 16
B. Concrete -mentum Words on Noun and Adjective Stems 17
C. Abstract -mentum Words on Verb Stems.
1. Nouns denoting result of action 18
2. Nouns denoting instrument 20
3. Nouns denoting action 22
D. Abstract -mentum Words on Noun Stems 23
II. -Bulum.
1. Nouns denoting instrument 24
2. Nouns denoting place 25
3. Nouns denoting person 26
III. -Culum.
A. Concrete -culum Words.
1. Nouns denoting instrument 27
2. Nouns denoting place 29
3. Nouns denoting object of action 30
B. Abstract -culum Words, All Denoting Action 30
CHAPTER III
Influence of Context 32
CHAPTER IV
Overlapping of Suffixes 43
A. Parallels of -mentum and Accessory Suffixes 44
B. Parallels of -bulum and Accessory Suffixes 49
C. Parallels of -culum and Accessory Suffixes 50
CHAPTER V
Suffixes and the Theory of Adaptation 52
Index of Words 55
The Semantics of -mentum, -bulum, and -culum
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
The primary object of this study will be to show, first, the range
of semantic variability discernible in a set of noun-formative
suffixes and the reason for it; and second, by a comparison of these
suffixes with other suffixes used on the same stem, to illustrate
the comparatively fluid semantic condition of formative suffixes in
general. The semantic value will be determined by an examination of the
meaning of the whole noun and its relation to the surrounding context.
The suffixes chosen for investigation were _-mentum_, _-bulum_, and
_-culum_. They form neuters and are joined mainly to verb stems. In
all grammars they are grouped together as forming nouns signifying the
instrument or means of action, sometimes result of action, sometimes
place, rarely the action itself. Such general statements are true and
perhaps adequate for the purpose of stating a brief grammatical rule;
but it will be seen from the following pages that these suffixes are
capable of much greater variations.
The material for investigation was collected from the literature
extending to the Augustan period, and consisted of approximately four
thousand examples, many of which were of course duplicates, so that
comparatively only a small percentage of them were really valuable.
In order that the material might not seem too slight for drawing
conclusions as to later periods, useful examples were also gathered
from the literature of the Empire, by means of the lexicons and
indexes; but the evidence contributed by the latter was in large part
only cumulative, not revealing any other influences upon meaning than
those found in the earlier period. In Chapter IV the difference in
frequency of use of nouns in different periods will be discussed in
detail.
Inscriptions were not taken as sources of material on account of the
isolated positions in which words usually occur. Such fragmentary
evidence would not contribute much where the meaning of a word, which
depends so much on its immediate context, is to be examined.
For purposes of clearness, it will be well to explain here in just what
sense the term “meaning” will be used. Linguistic history shows that
“words are constantly gaining in precision. Through the associations
set up in the process of expression, the meaning of a word is being
constantly deepened and enriched. The connotation is, in general,
increasing and the denotation, that is, the range of application, is
narrowing.”[181]
There is of course something fundamental in every word that
distinguishes it from other words; but this does not exhaust the whole
meaning of most words. Only when used in a sentence, with other words,
in a context, does a word acquire its full and precise meaning. By
stripping a word of the connotation and denotation which it shows in
many contexts, there is left, as it were, a common denominator; and it
is as a result of this logical operation that we assign a meaning to a
detached and isolated word.
Caution must also be exercised in speaking of the “meaning” of
suffixes. Isolated suffixes have a meaning even less than words do.
It is incorrect to say that _-mentum_, or _-bulum_, or _-culum_ means
instrument; the nouns made with them may have this meaning, but the
suffixes are perhaps colorless in themselves. This is true of suffixes
used to form other parts of speech as well as nouns; _e. g._, a suffix
forming an adjective signifying material or appurtenance cannot be
said to _mean_ “made of,” “belonging to,” or “full of,” although its
equivalence to such expressions can be shown when in each occurrence
of the adjective the relation of the stem of the adjective to the
governing noun is taken into consideration.
The etymology of the three suffixes will be explained in Chapter IV.
The investigation of my material revealed at least two fairly definite
influences at work on any single meaning of a word: (1) Stem-meaning;
(2) Context; while (3) a very important factor in illustrating the
variability and non-stability of the suffixes is seen in comparing
them with other suffixes on the same stem, noting their similarity or
difference, and finding if possible the reason for it. A chapter will
be devoted to each one of these main topics. Sometimes all three of
these factors exert their influence on a word, more often one or both
of the first two make the meaning clear. The first, or stem-meaning,
regularly gives a general meaning to the word, while the context
gives a special or more precise meaning. As far as possible only one
influence will be discussed in each chapter, but as the determination
of the meaning of a word is so complex a process, a slight overlapping
will be unavoidable in some instances.
CHAPTER II
INFLUENCE OF STEM-MEANING
The examination of the words with a view to finding the influence of
stem-meaning is not directly concerned with semantic variability: that
will be illustrated in the next chapter. For purposes of classification
in this chapter, only the prevailing meaning of each word is
considered. For doubtful etymologies, Walde (_Lat. Etym. Wörterbuch_)
is taken as guide.
I -MENTUM
The great majority of the stems with which this suffix is used are verb
stems, but there are a few noun stems and two adjective stems. For
convenience, the whole number may be divided into two large classes:
one consisting of those that denote concrete things, and the other,
of those that denote abstract things. An absolute division here is
impossible and for the present purpose unimportant, and any criterion
must be somewhat arbitrary. I have called everything concrete which has
physical form, and everything else, including actions, abstract. Many
concrete words, especially those capable of general application, are
often used in a transferred or figurative sense, and thus have also an
abstract meaning.
A. CONCRETE -MENTUM WORDS ON VERB STEMS.
1. NOUNS DENOTING RESULT OF ACTION, WITH GENERAL APPLICATION.--Of the
concrete words, there are a few, like fragmentum, caementum, ramentum,
which clearly do not express the instrument of an action, nor the
action itself, nor the place, but the result of an action. Some, like
fragmentum and stramentum, are formed on verbs whose action can be
directed toward several kinds of materials or objects. This class of
nouns then has general application, and their precise meaning must be
obtained from the context. This influence will be pointed out in the
next chapter.
As far as the verb stem (frango) is concerned, the examples show only
that fragmentum means “a piece broken off” or “fragment”: tribunum
adoriuntur fragmentis saeptorum, Sest. 79; cum puerum fragmentis panis
adlexisset, Plin. 9, 8, 8; ut glaebum aut fragmentum lapidis dicimus,
N. D. II, 82; non modo fragmenta tegularum sed etiam ambusta tigna ad
armatos pervenire, Liv. 34, 39, 11.
In the first two examples, the fragmenta, being in the ablative, are
plainly the instrument of the action of the main verb, but without
the dependent genitives we should not know what sort of “pieces”
or “fragments” were used. In the last two examples the meaning of
“particle” is suggested by “glaebum” and “tigna”. The dependent
genitives here also give precision.
Many things may be strewn or scattered, so stramentum gets from
its verb stem (sterno) the general meaning of something strewn or
scattered: noctem in stramentis pernoctare, Truc. 278; casae quae
stramentis tecta erant, B. G. 5, 43; fasces stramentorum ac virgultorum
incendunt, B. G. 8, 15.
Ramentum (rado) is “something scraped or rubbed off,” “bits or small
pieces:” et ramenta simul ferri furere intus ahenis in scaphiis, Lucr.
6, 1043; ramenta ligni decocta in vino prosunt, Plin. 24, 2, 2; patri
omne [aurum] cum ramento reddidi, Bacc. 680.
Delectamentum (delecto) might at first sight be taken to be the means
by which one is delighted. That such is not necessarily so may be seen
from the examples: qui me pro ridiculo ac delectamento putat, Heaut.
952; inania sunt ista delectamenta puerorum, captare plausus, vehi per
urbem, Pis. 25, 60. In both these examples the source of delight and
the delight itself are too close in meaning to warrant the drawing of
any distinction.
2. NOUNS DENOTING RESULT OF ACTION, WITH RESTRICTED APPLICATION.--The
preceding four words, as has been said, are of general application,
because their verb stems have a general meaning. There are five nouns
expressing result of action which have a narrower and more restricted
sense than their verb stems would require.
Caementum (caedo) means not everything that is cut off, but a piece of
rough stone: in eam insulam materiem, calcem, caementa, arma convexit,
Mil. 27, 74; caementum de silice frangatur, Vitr. 8, 7, 14. The
influence of caedo here is slight; only the context shows the meaning
of “stone.”
Sarmentum (sarpo) is not everything that is plucked, but twigs or
fagots: ligna et sarmenta circumdare, ignemque subicere coeperunt,
Verr. II, 1, 27; sarmentis virgultisque collectis, quibus fossas
compleant, ad castra pergunt, B. G. 3, 18; ne vitis sarmentis
silvescat, C. 15. In the last example the noun is used of objects not
at all necessarily affected by the verb stem sarpere.
Pavimentum (pavio) is a floor, or pavement (something beaten down): ubi
structum erit, pavito fricatoque oleo, uti pavimentum bonum siet, Cato,
R. R. 18; mero tingete pavimentum, Hor. C. 2, 14, 26. In Bell. Alex.
1, it means a roof: aedificia tecta sunt rudere aut pavimentis. The
predominating element in the meaning of the word is that it denotes the
result of the action expressed in pavire.
Sicilimentum (sicilio) in the single instance of its occurrence plainly
means what is cut with a sickle: faenum cordum, sicilamenta de prato,
ea arida condito, Cato, R. R. 5.
Testamentum (testor) is not necessarily the _means_ of bearing witness
nor of making a will--a particular significance which this verb stem
sometimes has,--but is the document itself: antequam tabulas testamenti
aperuit, Ad Her. I, 24; quare sit in lege aut in testamento scriptum,
Inv. II, 137; una fui, testamentum simul obsignavi, Mil. 18, 48.
Lutamentum (lutare) in the single occurrence we have of it evidently
means, by inference from the passage in which it is found, a mud wall,
or a piece of work bedaubed with mud: neque lutamenta scindent se,
Cato, R. R. 128.
The contribution of stem-meaning, in this class of _-mentum_ words
to the meanings of the words themselves is quite apparent. Whatever
else they suggest, the verb stems all suggest the result of the action
expressed by them; and this result of action is expressed by the
_-mentum_ word.
3. NOUNS DENOTING INSTRUMENT, WITH GENERAL APPLICATION.--A second, and
the largest class of concrete _-mentum_ words clearly express in a
general way the instrument of the action. Here, too, some of the words
keep a general meaning which they get from the verb stem, while others
receive a special meaning. The verb stems themselves admit more or less
of a general or special meaning.
Ammentum (apo?) is a means of fastening, a strap, or thong: epistola
ad ammentum tragulae deligata, B. G. 5. 48; umor iaculorum ammenta
emollierat, Liv. 37, 41. Both these examples show it to be a strap
fastened to a javelin.
Armamenta (always plural) are utensils for almost any purpose. It is
difficult to say whether the word is formed on the verb stem armo, or
is an extended form of the noun arma; the former is entirely possible,
while the equivalence of meaning in the two nouns supports the latter
supposition. At any rate the meaning is “equipment”, “that with
which one is armed”: hic tormenta, armamenta, arma, omnis apparatus
belli est, Liv. 26, 43; cum omnibus Gallicis navibus spes in velis
armamentisque consisteret, B. G. 3, 14; armamenta vinearum, Plin. 17,
21, 35. The most frequent use is that seen in the second example, where
it means the rigging of a ship, in this instance, however, excluding
the sails.
Medicamentum (medicor) is a remedy, a means of healing or curing: Si eo
medicamento sanus factus erit, Off. 3, 24; multis medicamentis propter
dolorem artuum delibutus, Brut. 60.
Operimentum (operio) is a cover, or means of covering: nuces gemino
protectae operimento, Plin. 15, 22, 24; detracto oculorum operimento,
Plin, 8, 42, 64. That the meaning “covering” is general, may be seen
by comparing the second example with N. D. 2, 52, 147: palpebrae, quae
sunt tegumenta oculorum. In the latter instance the “covering” is the
eyebrow, in the former, some external object, probably wearing apparel.