picture, says, “Had Leonardo desired to follow the practice of his
age in painting in distemper, the art at this time would have been in
possession of this treasure. But being always fond of attempting new
methods, he painted this masterpiece upon a peculiar ground, formed of
distilled oils, which was the reason that it gradually detached itself
from the wall,” &c. And a later authority, Kugler, thus writes: “The
determination of Leonardo to execute the work in oil-colours instead of
fresco, in order to have the power of finishing the minutest details in
so great an undertaking, appears to have been unfortunate.” Distemper
differs from fresco in that it is painted on a dry, and not a damp,
wall; but in both the vehicle used is of an aqueous, and not an oily,
nature.--[ED.]
[33] Deacon of the Church at Aquila, and afterwards attached to
the court of Charlemagne. Paul, who died about the year 799, was
distinguished as a poet and historian.--[ED.]
[34] Or San-Gemignano, a small town between Florence and
Siena.--[ED.]
[35] Giorgione studied under Giovanni Bellini, younger brother of
Gentile, and son of Jacopo. M. Lacroix does not even mention Giovanni
Bellini, though he is generally esteemed before his father and brother,
besides being the master of two of the greatest painters of the
Venetian school, Titian and Giorgione; who, however, soon cast aside
the antiquated style of their early instructor.--[ED.]
[36] The famous picture, an altar-piece, representing “Christ bearing
his Cross,” known by the name of _Lo Spasimo di Sicilia_, from its
having been painted for the convent of Santa Maria della Spasimo at
Palermo, in Sicily. It is now in the Museum of Madrid.--[ED.]
[37] We can find no authority to support this statement.--[ED.]
[38] Holbein died of the plague which prevailed in London in
1554.--[ED.]
[39] This name is generally written Jeannet, and, according to Wornum’s
“Epochs of Painting,” seems to have been applied indiscriminately
almost to the two painters, Jehannet or Jehan Clouet, father and
son. M. Lacroix appears also to include François under the same
general cognomen; which, indeed, appears to have been a species of
surname.--[ED.]
[40] _Buziack_ is the name by which this old wood-engraver is generally
known.--[ED.]
[41] The legend which accompanies this engraving is in old Italian;
it relates to the famous prophecy of Isaiah as to the birth of Christ
(Isaiah vii. 14).
[42] We presume this plate to be that commonly known among collectors
of prints as “Death’s Horse;” it represents a knight on horseback
followed by Death. The best impressions of this plate are prior to the
date 1513. It is also called “The Christian Knight,” and “The Knight,
Death, and the Devil.”--[ED.]
[43] That Marc Antonio studied painting under Raphael, as is here
implied, is more than doubtful, though he engraved a very large number
of his various compositions, and was highly esteemed by the great
master.--[ED.]
[44] Giovanni B. B. Ghisi; Giorgio and Adams, his two sons; and Diana,
his daughter.--[ED.]
[45] This engraver, generally known by the single name of
George, usually signed his plates with the surname Peins or
Pentz.--[ED.]
[46] He was born at Prague, although most of his works were executed in
England.--[TR.]
[47] Ambons--a kind of pulpit in the early Christian
churches.--[ED.]
[48] Strasbourg spire is 468 feet in height, the highest in the world.
Amiens, the next, a mere _flèche_, is 422 feet.--[TR.]
[49] M. Lacroix uses the word _Romane_ throughout, with reference
to this style of architecture: we have adopted _Norman_ as that
most commonly associated with it, and because it is a generic term
comprehending Romanesque, Lombardic, and even Byzantine.--[ED.]
[50] _Oculus_ (eye).--This word is not known in the vocabulary of
English architects; but it is evidently intended to signify a circular
window.--[ED.]
[51] Officers who had jurisdiction over, and were inspectors of, works
of masonry and carpentry.
[52] The word is derived from _vellus_, which merely signifies the skin
of any beast, not of a calf only.--[ED.]
[53] The word is derived from the Latin _uncialis_, and is applied to
letters of a round or hook-shaped form: such were used by the ancients
as numerals, or for words in abbreviated inscriptions.--[ED.]
[54] _Minuscule._--Less or little. The term is evidently here intended
to distinguish small letters from capitals.--[ED.]
[55] _Palimpsest_--a kind of parchment from which anything written
could easily be erased.--[ED.]
[56] Librarian probably; though _libraire_ means only a bookseller,
_bibliothécaire_ being the French for a librarian.--[TR.]
[57] _Translation_: “This is Monseigneur St. Louis’ Psalter, which
belonged to his mother.”
[58] _Antiphonaries_--books containing the responses, &c., used in
Catholic church-services.--[ED.]
[59] “Garni de deux fermaulx d’argent, dorez, armoiez d’azur à une
aigle d’or à deux testes, onglé de gueulles, auquel a ung tuyau
d’argent doré pour tourner les feuilles, à trois escussons desdites
armes, couvert d’une chemise de veluyau vermeil.”
[60] Probably this “pilgrimage” refers to some one of the great
European Councils or Diets held in the city during the Middle Ages, as
were Congresses in later times.--[ED.]
[61] _Sic_; but it should evidently be the fifteenth
century.--[ED.]
[62] _Anglicè_, Stephens, by which name this illustrious family of
scholars and printers is most popularly known in England. They were ten
in number, who flourished between 1512 and about 1660. Anthony, the
last distinguished representative of the family, died in poverty at the
Hôtel Dieu, Paris, in 1674, at the age of eighty-two.--[ED.]