Although a large number of really representative examples of the great
lyricist Giorgione (1477-1510) have not come down to us, he is to be
regarded as the greatest of the Venetian artists, and perhaps the most
romantic painter that Europe has ever known. He was, together with
his illustrious contemporary Titian, a pupil of Giovanni Bellini. His
_Pastoral Symphony_ (No. 1136, Plate X.) is one of the most beautiful
idyllic groups in the whole range of painting, and shows that Giorgione
could naively reveal the inner depths of thought and feeling and
depict “passionate souls in passionate bodies.” Early in the sixteenth
century the austere traditions of the Bellinesque era were passing
away. Giorgione now began to unseal the eyes of his contemporaries,
among whom Titian occupied an important place, to the “life-giving and
death-dealing waters of love,” making the landscape background of his
lyrical compositions respond to the mood of the incident illustrated.
The _Pastoral Symphony_ was acquired by Charles I. from the collection
of the Duke of Mantua; it then passed to Jabach, and subsequently to
Louis XIV. Although it has been slightly restored and has from time to
time been without any reason ascribed to Titian, Sebastiano del Piombo
and a large number of Venetian artists, it is to-day recognised on all
sides as an excellent example of Giorgione.
[Illustration:
PLATE X.—GIORGIONE
(1477?-1510)