[Illustration: Art Repro Co.
Madonna & Child with two Saints.
From the painting by Giorgione at Castelfranco.]
GIORGIONE
BY
HERBERT COOK, M.A., F.S.A.
BARRISTER-AT-LAW
1904
"Born half-way between the mountains and the sea--that young George
of Castelfranco--of the Brave Castle: Stout George they called him,
George of Georges, so goodly a boy he was--Giorgione."
(RUSKIN: _Modern Painters_, vol. V. pt. IX. ch. IX.)
_First Published, November 1900 Second Edition, revised, with new
Appendix, February 1904._
PREFACE
Unlike most famous artists of the past, Giorgione has not yet found a
modern biographer. The whole trend of recent criticism has, in his case,
been to destroy not to fulfil. Yet signs are not wanting that the
disintegrating process is at an end, and that we have reached the point
where reconstruction may be attempted. The discovery of documents and
the recovery of lost pictures in the last few years have increased the
available material for a more comprehensive study of the artist, and the
time has come when the divergent results arrived at by independent
modern inquirers may be systematically arranged, and a reconciliation of
apparently conflicting views attempted on a psychological basis.
Crowe and Cavalcaselle were the first to examine the subject critically.
They separated--so far as was then possible (1871)--the real from the
traditional Giorgione, and their account of his life and works must
still rank as the nearest equivalent to a modern biography. Morelli, who
followed in 1877, was in singular sympathy with his task, and has
written of his favourite master enthusiastically, yet with consummate
judgment. Among living authorities, Dr. Gronau, Herr Wickhoff, Signor
Venturi, and Mr. Bernhard Berenson have contributed effectively to the
elucidation of obscure or disputed points, and the latter writer has
probably come nearer than anyone to recognise the scope of Giorgione's
art, and grasp the man behind his work. The monograph by Signor Conti
and the chapter in Pater's _Renaissance_ may be read for their delicate
appreciations of the "Giorgionesque"; other contributions on the subject
will be found in the Bibliography.
It is absolutely necessary for those whose judgment depends upon a study
of the actual pictures to be constantly registering and adjusting their
impressions. I have personally seen and studied all the pictures I
believe to be by Giorgione, with the exception of those at St.
Petersburg; and many galleries and churches where they hang have been
visited repeatedly, and at considerable intervals of time. If in the
course of years my individual impressions (where they deviate from
hitherto recognised views) fail to stand the test of time, I shall be
the first to admit their inadequacy. If, on the other hand, they prove
sound, some of the mists which at present envelop the figure of
Giorgione will have been dispersed.
H.C.
_November 1900_
NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION
To this Edition an Appendix has been added, containing--(1) an article
by the Author on the age of Titian, which was published in the
_Nineteenth Century_ of January 1902; (2) the translation of a reply by
Dr. Georg Gronau, published in the _Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft_;
(3) a further reply by the Author, published in the same German
periodical.
The writer wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to the Editors of the
_Nineteenth Century_ and of the _Repertorium_ for permission to reprint
these articles.
A better photograph of the "Portrait of an Unknown Man" at Temple Newsam
has now been taken (p. 87), and sundry footnotes have been added to
bring the text up to date.
H. C.
ESHER, _January 1904_.
CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chapter I. GIORGIONE'S LIFE
II. GIORGIONE'S GENERALLY ACCEPTED WORKS
III. INTERMEDIATE SUMMARY
IV. ADDITIONAL PICTURES--PORTRAITS
V. ADDITIONAL PICTURES--OTHER SUBJECTS
VI. GIORGIONE'S ART, AND PLACE IN HISTORY
APPENDIX I--DOCUMENTS
APPENDIX II--THE AGE OF TITIAN
CATALOGUE OF WORKS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Madonna, with SS. Francis and Liberale. _Castelfranco_.
Adrastus and Hypsipyle. _Palazzo Giovanelli, Venice_
Aeneas, Evander, and Pallas. _Vienna Gallery_
The Judgment of Solomon. _Uffizi Gallery_
The Trial of Moses. _Uffizi Gallery_
Christ bearing the Cross. _Collection of Mrs. Gardner, Boston, U.S.A._
Knight of Malta. _Uffizi Gallery_
The Adoration of the Shepherds. _Vienna Gallery_
The Judgment of Solomon. _Collection of Mrs. Ralph Bankes, Kingston
Lacy_
Portrait of a Young Man. _Berlin Gallery_
Portrait of a Man. _Buda-Pesth Gallery_
Portrait of a Lady. _Borghese Gallery, Rome_
Apollo and Daphne. _Seminario, Venice_
Venus. _Dresden Gallery_
Judith. _Hermitage Gallery, St. Petersburg_
Pastoral Symphony. _Louvre, Paris_
The Three Ages. _Pitti Gallery_
Nymph and Satyr. _Pitti Gallery_
Madonna, with SS. Roch and Francis. _Prado, Madrid_
The Birth of Paris--Copy of a portion. _Buda-Pesth Gallery_
Shepherd Boy. _Hampton Court_
Portrait of a Man. (By Torbido) _Padua Gallery_
The Concert. _Pitti Gallery_
The Adoration of the Magi (or Epiphany). _National Gallery_
Christ bearing the Cross. _Collection of Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth._
(Sketch by Vandyck, after the original by Giorgione in S. Rocco, Venice)
Mythological Scenes. Two _Cassone_ pieces _Padua Gallery_
Portrait of "Ariosto". _Collection of the Earl of Darnley, Cobham Hall_
Portrait of Caterina Cornaro. _Collection of Signor Crespi, Milan_
Bust of Caterina Cornaro. _Pourtalès Collection, Berlin_
Portrait of "A Poet". _National Gallery_
Portrait of a Man. _Querini-Stampalia Gallery, Venice_
Portrait of a Man. _Collection of the Hon. Mrs. Meynell-Ingram, Temple
Newsam_.
Portrait of "Parma, the Physician". _Vienna Gallery_
Orpheus and Eurydice. _Bergamo Gallery_
The Golden Age (?). _National Gallery_
Venus and Adonis. _National Gallery_
Holy Family. _Collection of Mr. Robert Benson, London_
The "Gipsy" Madonna. _Vienna Gallery_
Madonna. _Collection of Mr. Robert Benson, London_
The Adulteress before Christ. _Glasgow Gallery_
Madonna and Saints. _Louvre, Paris_
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ANONIMO. "Notizia d'opere di disegno." Ed. Frizzoni. Bologna, 1884.
_Passim._
_Archivio Storico dell' Arte_ (now _L'Arte_), 1888, p. 47. (See also
_sub_ Venturi.)
_Art Journal_. 1895. p. 90. (Dr. Richter.)
BERENSON, B. "Venetian Painting at the New Gallery." 1895. (Privately
printed.) "Venetian Painters of the Renaissance." Third edition, 1897.
Putnam, London. _Gazette des Beaux Arts_, 1897, p. 279.
BURCKHARDT. "Cicerone." Sixth edition, 1893. (Dr. Bode.)
CONTI, A. "Giorgione, Studio." Florence, 1894.
CROWE AND CAVALCASELLE. "History of Painting in North Italy," vol. ii.
London, 1871. "Life of Titian." Two vols.
FRY, ROGER. "Giovanni Bellini." London, 1899.
GRONAU, DR. G. _Gazette des Beaux Arts_, 1894, p. 332. _Repertorium für
Kunstwissenschaft_, xviii. 4, p. 284. "Zorzon da Castelfranco. La sua
origine, la sua morte, e tomba." Venice, 1894. "Tizian." Berlin, 1900.
LAFENESTRE, G. "La vie et l'oeuvre de Titien." Paris, 1886.
LOGAN, MARY. "Guide to the Italian Pictures at Hampton Court." London,
1894.
_Magazine of Art_, 1890, pp. 91 and 138. (Sir W. Armstrong.) 1893.
April. (Mr. W.F. Dickes.)
MORELLI, GIOVANNI. "Italian Painters." Translated by C.J. Ffoulkes.
London, 1892. Vols. i. and ii. _passim_.
MÜNTZ, E. "La fin de la Renaissance." Paris.
New Gallery Catalogue of Exhibition of Venetian Art, 1895.
PATER, W. "The Renaissance." Chapter on the School of Giorgione. London,
1893.
PHILLIPS, CLAUDE. _Gazette des Beaux Arts_, 1884, p. 286. _Magazine of
Art_, July 1895. "The Picture Gallery of Charles I." (_Portfolio_,
January 1896). "The Earlier Work of Titian" (_Portfolio_, October 1897).
_North American Review_, October 1899.
_Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft_. Bd. xiv. p. 316. (Herr von
Seidlitz.) Bd. xix. Hft. 6. (Dr. Harck.)
RIDOLFI, C. "Le Maraviglie dell' arte della pittura." Venice, 1648.
Royal Academy. Catalogues of the Exhibitions of Old Masters.
VASARI. "Le Vite." Ed. Sansoni. Florence, 1879. Translation edited by
Blashfield and Hopkins, with Notes. London, 1897.
VENTURI, ADOLFO. _Archivio Storico dell' Arte_, vi. 409, 412. _L'Arte_,
1900, p. 24, etc. "La Galleria Crespi in Milano," 1900.
WICKHOFF, F. _Gazette des Beaux Arts_, 1893, p. 135. _Jahrbuch der
Preussischen Kunstsammlungen_, 1895. Heft i.
ZANETTI, A. "Varie Pitture," etc., with engravings of some fragments
from the Fondaco de' Tedeschi frescoes, 1760.
GIORGIONE
CHAPTER I
GIORGIONE'S LIFE
Apart from tradition, very few ascertained facts are known to us as to
Giorgione's life. The date of his birth is conjectural, there being but
Vasari's unsupported testimony that he died in his thirty-fourth year.
Now we know from unimpeachable sources that his death happened in
October-November 1510,[1] so that, assuming Vasari's statement to be
correct, Giorgione will have been born in 1477.[2]
The question of his birthplace and origin has been in great dispute.
Without going into the evidence at length, we may accept with some
degree of certainty the results at which recent German research has
arrived.[3] Dr. Gronau's conclusion is that Giorgione was the son (or
grandson) of a certain Giovanni, called Giorgione of Castelfranco, who
came originally from the village of Vedelago in the march of Treviso.
This Giovanni was living at Castelfranco, of which he was a citizen, in
1460, and there, probably, Giorgione his son (or grandson) was born some
seventeen years later.
The tradition that the artist was a natural son of one of the great
Barbarella family, and that in consequence he was called Barbarelli, is
now shown to be false. This cognomen is first found in 1648, in
Ridolfi's book, to which, in 1697, the picturesque addition was made
that his mother was a peasant girl of Vedelago.[4] None of the earlier
writers or contemporary documents ever allude to such an origin, or
speak of "Barbarelli," but always of "Zorzon de Castelfrancho," "Zorzi
da Castelfranco," and the like,[5]
We may take it as certain that Giorgione spent the whole of his short
life in Venice and the neighbourhood. Unlike Titian, whose busy career
was marked by constant journeyings and ever fresh incidents, the young
Castelfrancan passed a singularly calm and uneventful life. Untroubled,
apparently, by the storm and stress of the political world about him, he
devoted himself with a whole-hearted simplicity to the advancement of
his art. Like Leonardo, he early won fame for his skill in music, and
Vasari tells us the gifted young lute-player was a welcome guest in
distinguished circles. Although of humble origin, he must have possessed
a singular charm of manner, and a comeliness of person calculated to
find favour, particularly with the fair sex. He early found a
quasi-royal friend and patroness in Caterina Cornaro, ex-Queen of
Cyprus, whose portrait he painted, and whose recommendation, as I
believe, secured for him important commissions in the like field. But we
may leave Giorgione's art for fuller discussion in the following
chapters, and only note here two outside events which were not without
importance in the young artist's career.
The one was the visit paid by Leonardo to Venice in the year 1500.
Vasari tells us "Giorgione had seen certain works from the hand of
Leonardo, which were painted with extraordinary softness, and thrown
into powerful relief, as is said, by extreme darkness of the shadows, a
manner which pleased him so much that he ever after continued to imitate
it, and in oil painting approached very closely to the excellence of his
model."[6] This statement has been combated by Morelli, but although
historical evidence is wanting that the two men ever actually met, there
is nothing improbable in Vasari's account. Leonardo certainly came to
Venice for a short time in 1500, and it would be perfectly natural to
find the young Venetian, then in his twenty-fourth year, visiting the
great Florentine, long a master of repute, and from him, or from
"certain works of his," taking hints for his own practice.[7]
The second event of moment to which allusion may here be made was the
great conflagration in the year 1504, when the Exchange of the German
Merchants was burnt. This building, known as the Fondaco de' Tedeschi,
occupying one of the finest sites on the Grand Canal, was rebuilt by
order of the Signoria, and Giorgione received the commission to decorate
the façade with frescoes. The work was completed by 1508, and became the
most celebrated of all the artist's creations. The Fondaco still stands
to-day, but, alas! a crimson stain high up on the wall is all that
remains to us of these great frescoes, which were already in decay when
Vasari visited Venice in 1541.
Other work of the kind--all long since perished--Giorgione undertook
with success. The Soranzo Palace, the Palace of Andrea Loredano, the
Casa Flangini, and elsewhere, were frescoed with various devices, or
ornamented with monochrome friezes.
We know nothing of Giorgione's home life; he does not appear to have
married, or to have left descendants. Vasari speaks of "his many friends
whom he delighted by his admirable performance in music," and his death
caused "extreme grief to his many friends to whom he was endeared by his
excellent qualities." He enjoyed prosperity and good health, and was
called Giorgione "as well from the character of his person as for the
exaltation of his mind."[8]
He died of plague in the early winter of 1510, and was probably buried
with other victims on the island of Poveglia, off Venice, where the
lazar-house was situated.[9] The tradition that his bones were removed
in 1638 and buried at Castelfranco in the family vault of the Barbarelli
is devoid of foundation, and was invented to round off the story of his
supposed connection with the family.[10]
NOTES:
[1] See Appendix, where the documents are quoted in full.
[2] Vasari gives 1478 (1477 in his first edition) and 1511 as the years
of his birth and death. Crowe and Cavalcaselle, and Dr. Bode prefer to
say "before 1477," a supposition which would make his precocity less
phenomenal, and help to explain some chronological difficulties (see p.
66).
[3] _Zorzon da Castelfranco. La sua origine, la sua morte e tomba_, by
Dr. Georg Gronau. Venice, 1894.
[4] Vide _Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft_, xix. 2, p. 166. [Dr.
Gronau.]
[5] It would seem, therefore, desirable to efface the name of Barbarelli
from the catalogues. The National Gallery, for example, registers
Giorgione's work under this name.
[6] The translation given is that of Blashfield and Hopkins's edition.
Bell, 1897.
[7] M. Müntz adduces strong arguments in favour of this view (_La fin de
la Renaissance_, p. 600).
[8] The name "Giorgione" signifies "Big George." But it seems to have
been also his father's name.
[9] This visitation claimed no less than 20,000 victims.
[10] See Gronau, _op. cit_. Tradition has been exceptionally busy over
Giorgione's affairs. The story goes that he died of grief at being
betrayed by his friend and pupil, Morto da Feltre, who had robbed him of
his mistress. This is now proved false by the document quoted in the
Appendix.