Those who wish to make a thorough, comprehensive, and systematic study
of the pictures of the great national collection contained in the
Louvre, which extend from the early years of the fourteenth century
down to almost the present day, will be well advised to deal with the
artists by the countries, schools, and periods to which they belong.
That is the scheme which we have followed here.
We do not hesitate to refer to painters, especially those of the
Italian schools, under the names by which they are generally known to
modern critics, as opposed to those under which they are officially
catalogued by the Louvre authorities. Thus, Raphael, Titian, and Giulio
Romano, and not Santi, Vecelli, and Pippi, are the names which we shall
use in this book. Special attention is drawn to the fact that the
official attributions of a certain number of the pictures, mainly of
the Italian schools, and notably several by Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci,
and Titian, are not accepted by us.
The authors of any critical book on a large national collection which
includes several hundred Italian paintings of varying importance
must of necessity be under heavy obligations to Mr. Berenson, whose
scholarly, scientific, and constructive criticism, following on that of
Morelli, has entirely revolutionised the study of Italian art.
It will be noticed that in many instances the dates used in these
pages do not coincide with those given in the official Catalogues and
repeated in a large number of text-books, while in a few cases it has
been thought desirable to draw the attention of the student to the
questionable accuracy of some of the titles and “pedigrees.”
The illustrations which have been selected represent, as far as
possible, the whole range of the art of each country and school
comprised within the limits of the fifteenth to the nineteenth
centuries. The Plates are arranged in the order in which reference is
made to them in the text, but it has been found impossible to place
them opposite the pages on which the critical remarks are given.
In the descriptions of the pictures the terms _right_ and _left_ are
used in reference to the right and left of the spectator, unless
the text obviously implies the contrary. Moreover, in the titles of
pictures containing the Madonna and several Saints, the names of the
Saints are given in the order they occupy in the composition regarded
from left to right. The titles we have used are descriptive rather than
mere translations of those contained in the official Catalogue. The
official numbers are those marked in large figures and placed at the
top of the frames; the numbers in small figures affixed to the bottom
left corner of some of the frames are obsolete.
The surface measures of the pictures are for convenience given in feet
and inches as well as in metres, the height preceding the width. The
technical conditions as to panel or canvas and tempera or oil are also
noted.