This famous canvas shows a weakness of drawing and a “want of force
that mars what is meant for grace.” Costa’s _Mythological Scene_ (No.
1262) is not now exhibited, but in it, as in the majority of his works,
the figures have no real existence. The heads are usually “screwed
on—not always at the proper angle—to crosspoles hung about with
clothes.” His landscapes, however, “without being in any sense serious
studies, are among the loveliest painted in his day.”
Costa’s shortcomings were to dominate to the end the school of
Bologna, which was essentially, almost from its incipience, one of
Decadence. He became the first direct master of Francesco Francia
(1450-1517), the typical Renaissance painter in Bologna who seems to
have taken to painting at the relatively advanced age of thirty-five.
Francia had matriculated in the Goldsmiths’ Guild in 1482 and was
Master of the Guild in 1483, the year of Costa’s arrival; but until he
came under the influence of Costa he had worked only as an engraver of
_paci_ in niello-work, a die-sinker, and a medallist. They soon went
into partnership, the upper storey of their joint workshop being used
for the painting of pictures, while metal-work was executed below.
Francia is not seen to the best advantage in the Louvre. His _Christ
on the Cross_ (No. 1436) is somewhat unusual in treatment, as a nude
figure of St. Job, a plague saint, is painted in the foreground. This
large picture bears the characteristic signature