OLD WORLD MASTERS
IN NEW WORLD COLLECTIONS
[Illustration]
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK . BOSTON . CHICAGO . DALLAS
ATLANTA . SAN FRANCISCO
MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED
LONDON . BOMBAY . CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.
TORONTO
[Illustration:
_Collection of Mr. J. P. Morgan_
GIOVANNA TORNABUONI
--_Domenico Ghirlandaio_]
OLD WORLD
MASTERS IN NEW
WORLD COLLECTIONS
BY
ESTHER SINGLETON
New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1929
COPYRIGHT, 1929, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
SET UP AND ELECTROTYPED. PUBLISHED JANUARY, 1929.
SET UP AND ELECTROTYPED BY T. MOREY & SON
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BY BERWICK & SMITH CO.
_PREFACE_
It is noteworthy that the first book to be published in any country and
in any language treating of Old Masters in private Collections should
be devoted exclusively to treasures in America.
_Old World Masters in New World Collections_ may be called a
permanent loan exhibition of the greatest and most renowned examples of
Art in America, which cannot be seen anywhere but in this volume.
It is owing to the gracious response and courtesy of the most
distinguished American Collectors that I am able to present between
these covers a selection of a hundred and ten of the choicest paintings
in the country, representing portraits, religious and mythological
subjects, and _genre_ from the Thirteenth through the Eighteenth
Centuries.
One of the principal factors in the formation of many of these
magnificent Collections has been the outstanding influence of Sir
Joseph Duveen, Bart., under whose guidance the foremost American
Collections have been raised to a dominating position in the world of
art.
It is significant that among the paintings reproduced here, the greater
number have been brought to this country by Sir Joseph Duveen; and I am
happy to express my thanks to Sir Joseph for his enthusiastic interest
and encouragement to me throughout the entire preparation of this
volume.
A very interesting feature in this book is the distinguished ownership
of these paintings: Frederick the Great, for instance, owned Lancret’s
_La Camargo_, the celebrated French dancer; Queen Christina of Sweden,
Raphael’s _Agony in the Garden_; Madame de Pompadour, Chardin’s _La
Serinette_ and Boucher’s _Les Deux Confidentes_; Sir Joshua Reynolds,
Rembrandt’s _Standard-Bearer_; Sir Horace Walpole, Rembrandt’s _Simeon
and Mary_; and Charles Le Brun, Poussin’s _Jupiter and Calisto_. Fra
Filippo Lippi’s _Madonna della Stella_ came directly to the present
owner from the Monastery of the Carmine (Florence) for which it was
painted; Raphael’s _Niccolini Madonna_, from the Niccolini Palace;
Titian’s _Caterina Cornaro_, from the Riccardi Palace, Florence;
Bartolommeo Veneto’s _Maximilian Sforza_, from the Sforza Palace,
Milan; Rubens’s _Louis XIII, King of France_, from the ex-Emperor
of Germany’s Palace of Charlottenburg; and Van Dyck’s _Dædalus and
Icarus_, from the famous Collection of Earl Spencer at Althorp and was
consequently in the home of the Duchess of Devonshire, whose beautiful
eyes must have frequently looked upon it. Holbein’s _Prince Edward of
England_ was painted for King Henry VIII; and with the portrait of
Sir Thomas More, Holbein’s great reputation began. Of all Sir Joshua
Reynolds’s portraits _Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse_ is considered
the greatest; and Gainsborough’s _Blue Boy_ and the _Duchess of
Devonshire_ rank among the world’s most famous pictures. Surpassing the
_Blue Boy_ in beauty and charm (though not so famous) and depicting
withal a far lovelier personality, is Romney’s _John Walter Tempest_;
and Romney’s _Lady Derby_ and the _Hon. Mrs. Davenport_ will stand
forever among the loveliest presentations of charming womanhood. On
a par with these are _La Marquise de Villemomble_, by Drouais; _La
Marquise de la Fare_, by Fragonard; and _La Marquise de Baglion_ by
Nattier. Many critics call the last named work the greatest French
portrait of the Eighteenth Century.
We read with amazement of European Collectors and Collections of the
past: of the treasures owned by the wealthy Dukes of Burgundy; by
Lorenzo the Magnificent and by other members of the Medici family;
by the Sforzas, Gonzagas, d’Estes, and other Italian princes; by the
Fuggers, those wealthy bankers of Augsburg; by noble Austrian and
German barons; by the great merchant-princes and lords of England from
Queen Elizabeth’s day to the present; by Cardinal Richelieu, Cardinal
Mazarin and Cardinal de Rohan; and by the Rothschilds and other notable
bankers. Yet, in some respects--particularly in the high quality of
their Collections and the velocity with which these Collections have
been made--our American Collectors surpass them all. On this point Sir
Joseph Duveen remarks:
“The particular thing that makes American Collections so unique and
so priceless is that their pictures are all masterpieces. In Europe
you will find much larger Collections and these will have, like the
Bridgewater for instance, a large number of very mediocre paintings
and a few of supreme excellence--gems--magnificent! Many Collections
in England and also on the Continent go into hundreds with just a few
fine things. In America, on the contrary, every Collector wants the
best. He may have only thirty pictures, but they will all be fine.
Americans make Collections of masterpieces. _That_ is why they are
different. That is why Americans are a new race of Collectors. American
Collections are Collections of Masterpieces.”
_The Blue Boy_ purchased from the Duke of Westminster by Sir Joseph
Duveen for the late Mr. Henry E. Huntington at the then unheard of sum
of $800,000 set the imagination of the American public aflame. When
exhibited at the National Gallery, London, and afterwards at the Duveen
Galleries, New York, for charity in 1922, the whole world flocked to
see it. _The Blue Boy_ proved to be a “sensation.” Within a few months
Gainsborough’s masterpiece was followed by Sir Joshua Reynolds’s
_Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse_, also purchased from the Duke of
Westminster by Sir Joseph Duveen for the late Mr. Henry E. Huntington
for $500,000. _Mrs. Siddons_ was, in her turn, followed by eighteen
superb examples of Gainsborough, Romney, Reynolds, and Lawrence,
several of which appear in this book. It was, therefore, the English
School that started the ball rolling for a new type of Collector, who
sought gems of the first water only.
From this period onward great paintings of all Schools--Italian,
French, Dutch, Flemish, and Spanish, as well as English--have been
coming across the Atlantic in amazing numbers, and with eagerly
awaiting purchasers to greet them. The result is that America has
become a great Repository of Art, in which the entire country is
beginning to take a personal and justifiable pride.
On this question of Art-migration the noted critic and director of the
Berlin Museum, Dr. Wilhelm von Bode, wrote not long ago:
“Any one who a decade ago had even hinted at the possibility of
Gainsborough’s _Blue Boy_ making its way across the Atlantic to become
the central gem in the Huntington Collection would have been thought
mad. He might as well have suggested the uprooting of England’s
century old oaks, or the removal of the Rock of Gibraltar. And yet the
impossible has happened; and not only the famous _Blue Boy_ but many
another of the world’s masterpieces has travelled the same route.
“This is the greatest transplantation of art-works the world has known
since the Roman plundering of Grecian art and the rape of the churches
and museums of Europe whereby Napoleon enriched the Louvre.
“No power on earth can turn back the pages of history to the first
of August, 1914, on which day forces were set in motion that were to
result in a complete reversal of all hitherto existing political,
geographical, social, and economic values. No one could have foreseen
at the time that the world’s accumulated art-treasures would also be
affected by these sweeping changes.”
From the amazing wealth that has been so generously placed at my
disposition, I have been guided by one principle of selection,--that of
_Beauty_!
Art, according to my way of thinking, is something to be enjoyed,
something to delight the senses, and something to refresh the mind;
and I feel sure that many _connoisseurs_ will agree with me and
gladly welcome a book devoted to Old Masters in which not the slightest
suggestion of suffering enters. Therefore, in this book there are no
Crucifixions, Pietàs, martyrdoms, nor tragedies.
Nor in my definition of Beauty do I recognize any distortion of the
word that might include the cant phrase--the “beauty of ugliness.”
Beauty, when most subtle, is always obvious; and I agree heartily
with Bernard Berenson’s dictum: “And not what man knows but what man
_feels_ concerns Art. _All else is science._”
Fashions may come and fashions may go, but while these changing tides
ebb and flow the great manifestations and expressions of genius shine
with undimmed splendor as shine the stars of Heaven over a world racked
with dissension and controversy and troubled with many shell-shocked
minds. Shakespeare and Shelley and Keats and Tennyson will charm,
inspire, and uplift generations to come when yawping _vers libre_
has been thrown into the literary junk-heap; Beethoven and Chopin
and Wagner will delight, astound, and refresh sensitive spirits when
the scores of the Twentieth Century cacophonists will be unopened
and coated with dust; and Raphael, Botticelli, Watteau, Fragonard,
Chardin, Gainsborough, Reynolds, and Romney will fascinate, enthrall,
and enrapture lovers of the beautiful when works of jostled planes and
lurid color will have been hooted to extinction.
The Torch of Beauty burns brightly through all the confusion of tongues
and wild ragings of Twentieth Century iconoclasts. In this belief
and hope I have the support of the noted French critic, Robert de la
Sizeranne, who says:
“Art never dies, even when all that has maintained it and served as
the motive for its very existence--civilization, society, religious
belief, social authority--has fallen into irremediable decay. For it
has still another reason for existence, which is the powerful one of
_Beauty_. Humanity is not rich enough to dispense with a vision of
Beauty. The day comes when it will return to it gladly and acclaim it
as if it were a living being.”
Some idea of the value of the paintings shown in this book will be had
if I mention a few sums which were reached at the last sales, although
the figures have risen considerably since those sales. Here are, for
example, twelve paintings:
Gainsborough’s _Harvest Waggon_, $360,000; Lawrence’s _Pinkie_,
$377,000; Gainsborough’s _Blue Boy_, $800,000; Reynolds’s _Mrs.
Siddons_, $500,000; Raphael’s _Small Cowper Madonna_, $700,000;
Raphael’s _Niccolini Madonna_, $875,000; Frans Hals’s _Laughing
Mandolin Player_, $250,000; Botticelli’s _Giuliano de’ Medici_,
$240,000; Raphael’s _Agony in the Garden_, $500,000; Gainsborough’s
_The Mall_, $500,000; Romney’s _The Hon. Mrs. Davenport_, $304,700; and
Romney’s _Anne, Lady de la Pole_, $206,850.
Hence it will be seen that these twelve paintings represent
considerably more than $5,500,000.
With these figures in mind (and I have not attempted to estimate the
Memlings, Holbeins, Bellinis, Crivellis, Titians, Rembrandts, Van
Dycks, Fragonards, Nattiers, and others) it will be easily appreciated
that the value of the paintings shown in this book soars beyond
millions into the billion dollar class!
It gives me pleasure to offer my thanks to all the Collectors whose
pictures are represented and very particularly to Mrs. Herbert L.
Satterlee, Mr. J. P. Morgan, Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Taft, and Miss
Helen C. Frick who permitted me to have photographs especially taken of
the Duchess of Devonshire, and Lady Betty Delmé; Eliza Farren, Countess
of Derby; Maria Walpole, Duchess of Gloucester and “The Jessamy Bride”;
and Sir Thomas More.
I also wish to thank most cordially Mr. Felix Wildenstein for his
valuable advice and approbation and for important material sent to me
from Paris and to express my appreciation to Mr. C. R. Henschel of
Messrs. Knoedler & Co., and to Mrs. Paul Reinhardt of the Reinhardt
Galleries for their warm support and aid.
E. S.
NEW YORK,
November 8, 1928.
_CONTENTS_
CHAPTER PAGES
I. ITALIAN 3–153
Sienese
Florentine
Umbrian
North Italian
Venetian
II. FLEMISH 157–196
III. DUTCH 199–232
IV. GERMAN 235–253
V. SPANISH 257–272
VI. FRENCH, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 275–326
VII. ENGLISH, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 329–428
_ILLUSTRATIONS_
GIOVANNA TORNABUONI _Domenico Ghirlandaio_ Frontispiece
Mr. J. P. Morgan.
PAGE
ST. FRANCIS AND THE BEGGAR _Sassetta_ 7
Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
MADONNA AND CHILD WITH
SAINTS AND ANGELS _Matteo di Giovanni_ 11
Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
ADORATION OF THE MAGI _Benvenuto di Giovanni_ 13
Sir Joseph Duveen, Bart.
MADONNA AND CHILD _Giotto di Bordone_ 27
Mr. Henry Goldman.
THE ANNUNCIATION _Masolino_ 29
Mr. Henry Goldman.
GABRIEL, THE ANNOUNCING ANGEL _Fra Angelico_ 33
Mr. Edsel B. Ford.
THE VIRGIN RECEIVING THE DIVINE MESSAGE _Fra Angelico_ 35
Mr. Edsel B. Ford.
ST. COSIMAS AND ST. DAMIANUS _Fra Angelico_ 41
Mr. Albert Keller.
MADONNA DELLA STELLA _Fra Filippo Lippi_ 43
Mr. Carl W. Hamilton.
MADONNA AND CHILD _Alesso Baldovinetti_ 49
Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG LADY _Piero Pollaiuolo_ 53
Mr. Nils B. Hersloff.
GIULIANO DE’ MEDICI _Sandro Botticelli_ 57
Mr. and Mrs. Otto H. Kahn.
PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MAN _Sandro Botticelli_ 63
Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
MADONNA AND CHILD _Sandro Botticelli_ 65
Mr. Max Epstein.
GIOVANNA TORNABUONI _Domenico Ghirlandaio_ 67
Mr. J. P. Morgan.
FRANCESCO SASSETTI AND
HIS SON TEODORO _Domenico Ghirlandaio_ 71
Mr. Jules S. Bache.
MADONNA AND CHILD _Gentile da Fabriano_ 75
Mr. Henry Goldman.
MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ANGELS _Benedetto Bonfigli_ 79
Mr. and Mrs. Otto H. Kahn.
MADONNA AND CHILD _Perugino_ 81
Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
THE NICCOLINI MADONNA _Raphael_ 85
Sir Joseph Duveen, Bart.
THE SMALL COWPER MADONNA _Raphael_ 87
Mr. Joseph E. Widener.
AGONY IN THE GARDEN _Raphael_ 91
Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
PORTRAIT OF A LADY _Pisanello_ 101
Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS _Andrea Mantegna_ 105
Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
VIRGIN AND CHILD WITH THE
INFANT ST. JOHN AND ANGEL _Francia_ 109
Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
PORTRAIT OF A LADY _Luini_ 111
The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
TITIAN’S SCHOOLMASTER _Moroni_ 113
Mr. Joseph E. Widener.
MADONNA AND CHILD _Antonello da Messina_ 123
Mr. Clarence H. Mackay.
MADONNA AND CHILD _Crivelli_ 127
Mr. A. W. Erickson.
MADONNA AND CHILD _Crivelli_ 129
Mr. Philip Lehman.
THE VIRGIN AND CHILD WITH ST. LUCY,
ST. CATHERINE, ST. PETER AND
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST _Giovanni Bellini_ 131
Mr. Jules S. Bache.
THE VIRGIN AND CHILD _Giovanni Bellini_ 133
Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas F. Brady.
MADONNA AND CHILD _Giovanni Bellini_ 135
Mr. Philip Lehman.
FEAST OF THE GODS _Giovanni Bellini_ 139
Mr. Joseph E. Widener.
THE VIRGIN AND CHILD _Titian_ 141
Mr. Jules S. Bache.
CATERINA CORNARO, QUEEN OF CYPRUS _Titian_ 145
Mr. John Ringling.
GIORGIO CORNARO WITH FALCON _Titian_ 147
Mr. A. W. Erickson.
MAXIMILIAN SFORZA _Bartolommeo Veneto_ 149
Mr. Henry Goldman.
A SCENE ALONG THE ADRIATIC COAST _Francesco Guardi_ 153
Mrs. Charles B. Alexander.
PORTRAIT OF A LADY _Roger van der Weyden_ 167
The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
PORTRAIT OF A CARTHUSIAN MONK _Petrus Christus_ 171
Mr. Jules S. Bache.
MADONNA AND CHILD WITH ANGELS _Hans Memling_ 173
The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG GENTLEMAN _Hans Memling_ 175
Mrs. John N. Willys.
LOUIS XIII, KING OF FRANCE _Peter Paul Rubens_ 177
Sir Joseph Duveen, Bart.
RINALDO AND ARMIDA _Sir Anthony Van Dyck_ 183
Mr. Jacob Epstein.
DÆDALUS AND ICARUS _Sir Anthony Van Dyck_ 185
Mr. Frank P. Wood.
ROBERT RICH, EARL OF WARWICK _Sir Anthony Van Dyck_ 189
Mr. Jules S. Bache.
QUEEN HENRIETTA MARIA WITH
JEFFREY HUDSON AND A MONKEY _Sir Anthony Van Dyck_ 193
Mr. William Randolph Hearst.
THE STANDARD-BEARER _Rembrandt van Rijn_ 205
Mr. Jules S. Bache.
PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG OFFICER _Rembrandt van Rijn_ 209
Mr. A. W. Erickson.
AN OLD LADY SEATED IN AN ARMCHAIR _Rembrandt van Rijn_ 211
The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
SIMEON AND MARY PRESENTING THE
INFANT CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE. _Rembrandt van Rijn_ 213
Mr. Nils B. Hersloff.
PORTRAIT OF AN OFFICER _Frans Hals_ 221
Mr. Henry Goldman.
THE LAUGHING MANDOLIN PLAYER _Frans Hals_ 223
Mr. John R. Thompson.
A MUSIC PARTY _Pieter de Hoogh_ 225
Mrs. John N. Willys.
THE LACE-MAKER _Jan Vermeer_ 229
The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
PORTRAIT OF A MAN _Albrecht Dürer_ 239
The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
PRINCE EDWARD OF ENGLAND _Hans Holbein the Younger_ 241
The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
SIR THOMAS MORE _Hans Holbein the Younger_ 245
The late Mr. Henry Clay Frick.
DIRK BERCK OF COLOGNE _Hans Holbein the Younger_ 247
The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
JEAN DE DINTEVILLE _Hans Holbein the Younger_ 249
Mr. Henry Goldman.
CARDINAL ALBRECHT AS
SAINT HIERONYMUS _Lucas Cranach the Elder_ 253
Mr. John Ringling.
CARDINAL QUIROGA _El Greco_ 261
The late Mr. Henry Clay Frick.
THE VIRGIN APPEARING TO ST. DOMINIC _El Greco_ 263
Mr. J. Horace Harding.
MARIANNE OF AUSTRIA _Velasquez_ 265
Mr. Philip Lehman.
PHILIP IV OF SPAIN _Velasquez_ 267
The late Mr. Henry Clay Frick.
GENERAL NICOLAS GUYE _Goya_ 269
Mr. J. Horace Harding.
PEPITO COSTA Y BONELLA _Goya_ 271
Mrs. William Hayward.
JUPITER AND CALISTO _Nicolas Poussin_ 279
Mr. Carroll Tyson.
LA DANSE _Antoine Watteau_ 283
Mr. Charles A. Wimpfheimer.
MADAME BONIER DE LA MOSSON _Jean Marc Nattier_ 287
Mr. Edward J. Berwind.
LA MARQUISE DE BAGLION _Jean Marc Nattier_ 289
Mr. A. W. Erickson.
LA CAMARGO _Nicolas Lancret_ 293
The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
LE DUO _Nicolas Lancret_ 295
Mr. and Mrs. Emil J. Stehli.
UNE FÊTE CHAMPÊTRE _Jean Baptiste Joseph Pater_ 297
Mr. Jules S. Bache.
UNE FÊTE GALANTE _Jean Baptiste Joseph Pater_ 299
Mr. Edward J. Berwind.
LA SERINETTE _Jean Baptiste Siméon Chardin_ 301
The late Mr. Henry Clay Frick.
LES DEUX CONFIDENTES _François Boucher_ 305
Mrs. William R. Timken.
A YOUNG GIRL READING A LETTER _Jean Baptiste Greuze_ 307
Mr. John McCormack.
YOUNG GIRL _Jean Baptiste Greuze_ 309
Mr. William Randolph Hearst.
LA MARQUISE DE BESONS
TUNING A GUITAR _Jean Baptiste Greuze_ 311
Dr. and Mrs. Henry Barton Jacobs.
LA MARQUISE DE VILLEMOMBLE _François Hubert Drouais_ 313
Mr. Jules S. Bache.
MADEMOISELLE HELVETIUS _François Hubert Drouais_ 315
Mr. Mortimer L. Schiff.
L’INVOCATION À L’AMOUR _Jean Honoré Fragonard_ 317
Mr. Mortimer L. Schiff.
LE BILLET-DOUX _Jean Honoré Fragonard_ 319
Mr. Jules S. Bache.
LA MARQUISE DE LA FARE _Jean Honoré Fragonard_ 321
Mrs. James B. Haggin.
THE FOUNTAIN IN THE PARK _Hubert Robert_ 323
Dr. and Mrs. Henry Barton Jacobs.
MADAME LABILLE-GUIARD
AND TWO PUPILS _Madame Labille-Guiard_ 325
Mr. Edward J. Berwind.
LADY BETTY DELMÉ _Sir Joshua Reynolds_ 339
Mr. and Mrs. Herbert L. Satterlee.
THE STRAWBERRY GIRL _Sir Joshua Reynolds_ 343
Mrs. Francis F. Prentiss.
DIANA, VISCOUNTESS CROSBIE _Sir Joshua Reynolds_ 345
The late Mr. Henry E. Huntington.
MRS. SIDDONS AS THE TRAGIC MUSE _Sir Joshua Reynolds_ 349
The late Mr. Henry E. Huntington.
GEORGIANA, DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE _Sir Joshua Reynolds_ 355
The late Mr. Henry E. Huntington.
THE COTTAGE DOOR _Thomas Gainsborough_ 359
The late Mr. Henry E. Huntington.
THE MALL _Thomas Gainsborough_ 365
The late Mr. Henry Clay Frick.
MARIA WALPOLE, DUCHESS
OF GLOUCESTER _Thomas Gainsborough_ 367
Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Taft.
GEORGIANA, DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE _Thomas Gainsborough_ 373
Mr. and Mrs. Herbert L. Satterlee.
THE BLUE BOY _Thomas Gainsborough_ 379
The late Mr. Henry E. Huntington.
GENERAL PHILIP HONYWOOD _Thomas Gainsborough_ 387
Mr. John Ringling.
THE HARVEST WAGGON _Thomas Gainsborough_ 391
Sir Joseph Duveen, Bart.
JOHN WALTER TEMPEST _George Romney_ 393
Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Field.
THE HON. MRS. DAVENPORT _George Romney_ 399
The Hon. Andrew W. Mellon.
LADY DERBY _George Romney_ 401
Mr. Jules S. Bache.
EMMA, LADY HAMILTON _George Romney_ 405
The late Mr. Henry E. Huntington.
ANNE, LADY DE LA POLE _George Romney_ 409
The Hon. Alvan T. Fuller.
THE HON. MRS. GRANT OF KILGRASTON _Sir Henry Raeburn_ 413
Mr. C. Fisher.
QUINTON MCADAM _Sir Henry Raeburn_ 415
Mr. A. W. Erickson.
MARY HORNECK, “THE JESSAMY BRIDE” _John Hoppner_ 417
Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Taft.
ELIZA FARREN, COUNTESS OF DERBY _Sir Thomas Lawrence_ 421
Mr. J. P. Morgan.
PINKIE _Sir Thomas Lawrence_ 427
The late Mr. Henry E. Huntington.
ITALIAN
Sienese
Florentine
Umbrian
North Italian
Venetian
_SIENESE_
There are no beginnings of art in Italy. The old civilizations of
Etruria, Rome, and Byzantium never perished entirely; and upon their
surviving traditions “Christian Art” was built. Old pictorial ideas
and old decorative motives were absorbed, rearranged, and worked over
again and again in conjunction with theological dogma until in the
Thirteenth Century, largely owing to the beautiful character, ideals,
and influence of St. Francis, to the intellectual teachings of Dante,
and to the fervor aroused by the Crusades, “Christian Art” became a
living movement, which inspired, among other important things, the
creation of magnificent Cathedrals. When the architects, the carvers
of wood and stone, and the makers of the jewel-like windows had
finished their work, the best painters of the day were called on to
produce altar-pieces that would stimulate religious devotion, charm the
worshippers by beauty, and instruct the people (unaccustomed to books)
by representation of saintly lives and scriptural stories.
Italian Painting in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries thus
shows many of the old Byzantine traditions still lingering in the new
“Christian,” or “Gothic Art.”
Siena and Florence were the chief early Italian Schools. Siena was at
first the more important of the two and greatly influenced Florentine
and also French Painting. The leading early artists of Siena were
Guido da Siena, Duccio di Buoninsegna, Ugolino da Siena, Segna di
Bonaventura, Simone Martini, Lippo Memmi, Pietro Lorenzetti, Ambrogio
Lorenzetti, Lippo Vanni, Andrea Vanni, Bartolo di Fredi, Taddeo di
Bartolo, and Stefano di Giovanni (Sassetta).
The next group includes Domenico di Bartolo, Lorenzo Vecchietta,
Neroccio di Landi, Benvenuto di Giovanni, Girolamo di Benvenuto, and
Matteo di Giovanni.
“To understand and appreciate the painting of Siena one should think of
it as the culmination of the art of the Middle Ages rather than as a
promise of anything modern. Therein lies the difference which caused so
great a gulf between the art of Siena and that of contemporary Florence
only forty miles away. Sienese Art may be regarded as the most perfect
expression of the Byzantine ideal. It was hieratic and mystic. While
Giotto was forecasting the development of modern art by studying nature
and making his figures act like the real people whom he saw about
him, Duccio and Simone Martini were sounding the Byzantine creed that
the Christian saints were not _human_ but _divine_, not _vulgar_ but
_regal_, not _approachable_ but _aloof_. To the early Sienese, as to
the Byzantine, the Raphaelesque conception of the Madonna as the most
tender possible human mother would have been blasphemous bad taste.
“Although Sienese Art was founded on Byzantine and was in a sense the
culmination of Byzantine, it was, nevertheless, a Gothic art. In other
words it belonged to its period, but it selected certain elements of
Gothic style for emphasis.
“In Florence Giotto was inspired by the plasticity of Gothic Art and
its naturalism. In Siena Duccio and his followers developed the Gothic
living line; and, later, the emotionalism of Gothic spirit. Thus both
Florentines and Sienese were Gothic, but in a different way.
“Technically as well as spiritually, the Sienese approached the
artistic abstractions of China and Japan. The analogies between Sienese
and Oriental Art have been observed by practically every writer on
the Sienese School. They have been tacitly attributed however, to
accidental similarities in ideals and modes in Siena and the East.
As yet no one has been bold enough to suggest an influence derived
from actual contact with Eastern Art, but such contact is not beyond
the bounds of possibility. In the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries
overland communication with the Near East and with China was common and
secure. Merchants like the Polos, prelates like John of Monte Corsino,
Andrew of Perugia and Friar Odoric of Friuli readily found the way to
Cathay, as China was then called. Peking was made a Roman Catholic
diocese and Pegolotti of the Bardi banking-house in Florence was moved
to write a traveller’s itinerary, remarkably like a modern Baedeker,
giving the most minute instructions as to inns, food, servants, and
so forth, on the route from Constantinople to Peking. Moslems like
Ibn Batuta travelled as widely as Christians, and Oriental travellers
visited the Occident. Thus Bar Sauma, a Nestorian of Peking, visited
the Pope in 1287 and passed through Tuscany on his way to Paris and
Bordeaux two years after Duccio painted the _Rucellai Madonna_.
Not only the Near East and China, but India, was opened to the European
and we hear of the martyrdom of one Brother Peter of Siena at a place
near Bombay. It was not until the end of the Fourteenth and the
beginning of the Fifteenth Century that the conversion of the western
Tartars to Islam, the advance of the Seljuk Turks, and the overthrow of
the broad-minded hospitable Mongol dynasty in China closed the overland
trade-routes. During the next hundred and fifty years while the
sea-routes were being discovered Europe seems largely to have forgotten
the existence of the Orient. Wild as the theory may sound, therefore,
it is possible that actual contact with Oriental Art may account not
only for the occasional Mongolian types and bits of Oriental armor to
be observed in Sienese Art, but even for something of the spirit of the
style.”--_Mediæval and Renaissance Paintings_ (Fogg Art Museum,
Cambridge, 1927).
ST. FRANCIS AND THE BEGGAR.
_Sassetta_
(_1392–1450_).
_Collection of
Mr. Clarence H. Mackay._
On September 5, 1437, the Minorites of Siena ordered an altar-piece
for the Church of San Francesco at Borgo San Sepolcro from Stefano di
Giovanni, better known as Sassetta. The artist promised “to paint it
with fine gold, ultramarine, and other good colors, to employ all the
subtleties of his art, and to make it as beautiful as he could.” Also
he promised to complete it in four years. Sassetta, however, made a
wrong calculation; for the work occupied him seven, instead of four,
years. It was finished on June 5, 1444, and placed above the high
altar at Borgo San Sepolcro, where it remained until 1752, when the
panels were dispersed. From contemporary documents nine panels were
proved in recent years to have been among the decorations of this
famous altar-piece; and these panels were shown at the Retrospective
Exhibition of Sienese Art held in Siena in 1904.
Seven of these nine panels are now in the Collection of Mr. Clarence H.
Mackay: _St. Francis and the Poor Knight_; _St. Francis Renounces his
Heritage_; _St. Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio_; _St. Francis before
the Soldan_; _St. Francis before Pope Honorius III_; _St. Francis
Receiving the Stigmata_; and _The Burial of St. Francis_.
Another panel, _The Marriage of St. Francis to Poverty_, is in the
Chantilly Museum and the central panel of the altar-piece, representing
_The Glory of St. Francis_, is in the Collection of Mr. Bernard
Berenson.
The panel representing _St. Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio_ was long
in possession of the Comte de Martel at the Château de Beaumont, near
Blois, and the other six panels came from the Collection of the late M.
Georges Chalandon, Paris.
It was obvious that for a church dedicated to St. Francis the story of
his life should be told in paintings.
It is a little hard to realize that the frescoes by Giotto and his
companions depicting the _Life of St. Francis_ had been admired and
worshipped for a hundred odd years before Sassetta was called upon by
the Sienese Minorites to tell the story again. Sassetta produced an
entirely new version with regard to composition, color, and spiritual
interpretation.
[Illustration:
_Collection of Mr. Clarence H. Mackay_
ST. FRANCIS AND THE BEGGAR
--_Sassetta_]
There is much to attract an artist in the story of St. Francis, for
although his life is not one of much variety, it is full of striking
episodes, which afford splendid pictorial opportunities. St. Francis,
founder of the great Order of Friars Minor, or Franciscans, and called
“the Poor Man of Assisi,” was born in Assisi in 1182, and died there
in 1226. He was the son of a rich merchant, who, furious because his
son lavished money on the starving poor of the vicinity, demanded that
he should renounce his inheritance. This he did with a joyful spirit
in public and before the Bishop of Assisi, thereafter devoting himself
to the service of the poor. Disciples flocked to his little chapel,
called the Portiuncula; and when the New Order celebrated its General
Chapter in 1219, five thousand friars assembled there. The Order was
approved by Pope Innocent III and by his successor, Pope Honorius III.
Poverty was the leading characteristic of the Franciscans, or Begging
Friars; individually and collectively they refused to own anything
whatsoever.
St. Francis journeyed about doing good. His wanderings took him as far
as Egypt and Palestine; and it was in the year 1224, on the desolate
Mount Alvernia, that he received the Stigmata, or Impression on the
flesh of Our Lord’s Five Sacred Wounds, in memory of which the Church
instituted a special festival. St. Francis was canonized in 1228, two
years after his death.
_St. Francis and the Beggar_, shown here, tells two episodes of the
story. On the left and in the immediate foreground the young St.
Francis, having dismounted from his horse, whose head (very finely
drawn) appears above his shoulder, is in the act of giving his cloak to
a poor beggar; and the latter, very dramatically expresses his delight,
surprise, and gratitude. Beyond these figures a winding road, bordered
with cypress trees, leads to a handsome villa, presumably the home
of St. Francis, beyond which little hills appear on the horizon. The
sky, very expansive, is silvery above these hills and grows gradually
bluer and bluer until it reaches the top of the picture, or dome of
the sky, where a strange castle is seen with banners of the Holy Cross
floating from its battlements and turrets. This castle really belongs
to the second episode represented on the right, which shows St. Francis
sleeping in a little room. This heavenly castle is the vision he has in
his dreams. It would appear that the Angel, standing over St. Francis
and pointing to the mystical castle in the clouds, is inspiring this
mystical dream. It is interesting to note here that Giotto made at
Assisi two pictures of _St. Francis and the Beggar_ and _The Dream of
St. Francis_. Sassetta combined the two episodes into one picture.
“Even without documents,” says Berenson, “we should know that this
Borgo San Sepulcro polyptych was painted by a contemporary of Masolino,
Pisanello, Jacopo Bellini, and Antonio Vivarini. And that the master
was a Sienese we should know not only from his pure, flat color and
his devotion to line, but in other ways as well. At all events it is
he, Stefano Sassetta, who has left us the most adequate rendering of
the Franciscan soul that we possess in the entire range of painting.
“Sassetta was not only one of the few masters in Europe of imaginative
design, but the most important painter at Siena during the second
quarter of the Fifteenth Century, the channel through which Sienese
Trecento traditions passed and became transformed into those of the
Quattrocento, for nearly all the later painters of Siena were his
offspring.”
Stefano di Giovanni was born at Siena in 1392. He was a pupil of Paolo
di Giovanni Fei and was deeply influenced by the earlier Sienese
painters, Duccio, Simone Martini, and the Lorenzetti brothers. In 1427
he was asked to furnish a design for the font in the Siena Baptistery
and he painted the altar-piece of the _Madonna Enthroned with
Saints_ in the church, since known as the Osservanza, built for St.
Bernardine on the site of his hermitage. Sassetta’s work for the Borgo
San Sepulcro did much to popularize Sienese ideas in Umbria. Sassetta
made many paintings in Siena and at Cortona, where he was influenced by
Fra Angelico. In 1447 he was commissioned to complete the frescoes on
the Porta Romana at Siena, begun by Taddeo di Bartolo; and he died in
1450 from exposure while working on this gate. Fifteen years later the
frescoes were finished by Sano di Pietro, one of Sassetta’s many pupils
and followers.
For a long time Sassetta was forgotten; but of late years there has
been much interest in his works, which are of great pecuniary as well
as artistic value.
MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS AND ANGELS.
_Matteo di Giovanni_
(_1430?–1495_).
_Collection of
Mr. Clarence H. Mackay._
Among the most important pupils of the famous Sassetta was the painter
and sculptor, Lorenzo Vecchietta, who in turn was the principal master
of Matteo di Giovanni, the most celebrated Sienese painter of his time.
Therefore we have direct artistic ancestry for Matteo di Giovanni
through Vecchietta to Sassetta and to Duccio.
Matteo di Giovanni, also called Matteo da Siena, was the son of a
tradesman who came from Siena to Borgo San Sepulcro, where Matteo was
born about 1430. His first master is supposed to have been the Umbrian,
Piero della Francesca (or Pier dei Franceschi). Removing to Siena,
Matteo spent the rest of his days there. His life was uneventful,
for he gave all his time to painting. His domestic life must have
been somewhat exciting for he was twice married--the second time to a
countess--and he had a large family. Matteo was particularly famous for
his Madonnas, tender and wistful, with very decorative accessories.
The lovely _Madonna and Child with Saints and Angels_, represented
here, shows this decorative quality of Matteo in its highest
expression. The Sienese love for Oriental fabrics[1] appears in the
rich attire of the Virgin. Here is no peasant woman in simple robe and
mantle, but a lady of high degree, wearing a gown of handsome brocade
with the significant pattern of the pomegranate. A white veil, soft and
transparent, lightly covers her forehead and her mantle is gracefully
drawn up over her head to form a hood. The Holy Child rests comfortably
upon her left arm while her right hand, large and firm, gives Him
additional support. A light drapery passes around the body of the Holy
Child--the Sienese were Oriental enough in their discriminating taste
to avoid uninteresting nudity and they also knew how to manage both
heavy and light materials--who grasps the Virgin’s tunic with His right
hand and has placed his left hand over that of His mother. The golden
_nimbus_ of the Virgin is inscribed “_Ave (Maria) Gratia Plena_.”
[Illustration:
_Collection of Mr. Clarence H. Mackay_
MADONNA AND CHILD WITH SAINTS AND ANGELS
--_Matteo di Giovanni_]
St. Catherine of Siena stands on the right, also wearing a handsome
brocade gown and a white veil. She is holding a missal and a fragment
of her wheel of torture. On the left we see St. Anthony, in monk’s
habit, writing in a book. Behind this group two Angels are singing
loudly and joyfully. The background and all the _nimbi_ crowning
the heads of the figures are of gold, made the richer by burnished
ornamentation.
This picture, painted in tempera on a panel 29 × 20 inches, came from
the Collection of Lord Ashburnham, Ashburnham Place, Battle, Surrey,
England. Of it Berenson says: “It is not only his (Matteo di Giovanni)
most typical and his most characteristic, but also his most impressive
and beautiful work; it has every advantage of ivory flesh, golden
tone, and gorgeous brocade; and with all these decorative qualities it
possesses real humility.”
Among Matteo di Giovanni’s other important paintings are: the _Madonna
Enthroned_ (1470) in the Accademia; the _Madonna della Neve_ (1477) and
the _Coronation of St. Barbara_ in St. Domenico, Siena; the _Assumption
of the Virgin_ in the National Gallery, London; and _St. Jerome in his
Cell_, in the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
ADORATION OF THE MAGI.
_Benvenuto di Giovanni _Collection of
(1436–1518)._ Sir Joseph Duveen, Bart._
We have here a charming Sienese version of the ever-popular
subject--the _Adoration of the Magi_. Everything about this picture
is radiant, charming, and decorative. The groups in pyramidal form
with masses at the base, made rich and beautiful by means of the wise
lighting and graceful arrangement of draperies, balanced with lively
animals on the right and left, rise higher and higher with more and
more delicacy of treatment that suggests the technique of old ivory
carving or the miniature painting of Mediæval manuscripts, until the
peak is reached in the charming presentation of a lovely walled town
with spires lifted heavenward.
[Illustration:
_Collection of Sir Joseph Duveen, Bart._
ADORATION OF THE MAGI
--_Benvenuto di Giovanni_]
The picture is full of movement, life, joy, and expression. The Holy
Child is appreciative (which is an unusual feature) and the animals,
too, are taking an enthusiastic part in the ceremony.
The tender and gentle Virgin, seated on a stone bench directly in
front and wearing a red robe and a blue mantle, has the Holy Child
comfortably placed on her knee. On her left hand she is holding one
of the presents. The Holy Child, according to the Sienese fashion, is
draped and the linen folded around Him is embroidered in gold. His
expression is animated and very sweet and He is raising His little hand
in blessing. The eldest of the Magi,[2] Melchior with white hair (what
there is left of it) and white flowing beard, is kneeling before the
Holy Child and kissing His right foot, wearing a rich golden mantle
with a damask pattern in _raised_ gold relief, held by a jewelled
girdle. The second Magus, on the left, Balthasar, is clothed in a red
brocade mantle embroidered in gold. He has a dark complexion and is
removing his crown from his thick black hair and holds in his right
hand a piece of gold plate. The third King, Caspar, on the right, is
the most attractive figure in the picture,--a typical young prince
and dandy of the period dressed in a pale tunic, cut with point in
front showing a rich brocade undergarment, and plaited and slashed
and bordered according to the latest Fifteenth Century fashions. The
sleeves are slashed and ornamented with puffs and a rich girdle holds
the dagger with hilt of gold. Lilac trunk-hose, red shoes, and a golden
crown complete the costume. His face is delicate and charming and his
wavy hair is blonde. He, too, is bringing a piece of gold plate. This
radiant figure looks as if he might have stepped from the pages of the
_Romaunt of the Rose_. St. Joseph, behind Balthasar, leans his head
on his hand as if he were puzzled. Each one of these six important
figures has a flat golden _nimbus_. Behind St. Joseph, on the left,
the ox and the ass, by the intelligent gleam in their eyes, allow us
to believe in the legend that animals are endowed with the power of
speech on Christmas Eve. Over the roof of their open shed sparkles and
scintillates the Star of the East and under the Star we note a bush
laden with fruit,--a real Christmas tree! On the right, the group is
that of the retinue of the three Kings--people on foot, wide-eyed and
curious, and knights on horseback. A beautiful white horse arches his
head majestically and surveys the scene; behind him are a very superior
horse and a very superior camel, who gaze downward somewhat haughtily,
while a third horse looks backward at these companions to see what they
are thinking of it all!
As in many ancient paintings, the scene is enacted for us in two
episodes. If we look ardently we see the three Magi on their approach
to the shrine. We can identify Balthasar on the left; Caspar in the
centre; and Melchior on the left of Caspar, followed by their retinue
defiling through the gateway of the machicolated wall, behind which the
town, with its towers and turrets, domes and roofs, stands out clearly
and poetically from its golden horizon.
This painting, tempera on panel (70 × 53 inches), came from the
Collection of Sir William Neville Abdy, Bart., Dorking, Surrey, and was
exhibited in Paris at the Salle des Etats, Musée du Louvre, in 1885.
Benvenuto di Giovanni di Meo del Guata, also known as Benvenuto da
Siena, was, like Matteo di Giovanni, a pupil of Vecchietta. He was
born in Siena, September 13, 1436, the son of a mason. In 1453 he was
painting in the Baptistery in Siena. He painted in Siena all his life
and aided in designing the inlaid marble pavement in the Cathedral and
he also decorated the cupola. Benvenuto di Giovanni cared little about
the scientific experiments the contemporary Florentine painters were
essaying, content to paint in the decorative and charming traditional
Sienese manner, of flat and ornamental designs beautifully enriched
with gold. It is very interesting to compare this painting with the
pageants of Benozzo Gozzoli and Gentile da Fabriano. It holds its own,
thereby, for its high decorative quality and peculiar charm.
_FLORENTINE_
It is not strange when Sienese Painting was at its height that its
influence should have been felt in Florence, which is only about
forty miles distant. The fame of Cimabue (1240?–1301), the founder
of the Florentine School, indeed, rests chiefly on the _Madonna_
in the Rucellai Chapel of S. Maria Novella, which modern criticism
attributes to Duccio of Siena. Vasari was responsible for accrediting
the _Rucellai Madonna_ to Cimabue; and Vasari’s story that when
finished “it was carried in solemn procession with the sound of
trumpets and other festal demonstrations from Cimabue’s house to the
church, Cimabue being highly rewarded and honored for it,” reads like
an echo of the triumphal procession of Duccio’s great altar-piece--the
_Majestas_--from the house of that painter to the Cathedral of Siena.
Cimabue, whose name was Cenni dei Pepe, transitional from Byzantine to
Gothic, is particularly famed for being the discoverer and teacher of
Giotto.
Giotto di Bordone (1276–1336), sculptor and architect as well as
painter, is the dominating personality in Trecento Art, and the first
Gothic painter of Florence. Giotto’s influence lasted for a hundred
years or more (see page 25).
One of Giotto’s associates and followers was Bernardo Daddi, son of
Daddo di Simone, a Florentine. The date of his birth is supposed to
have been 1280. He died in 1348. About 1317 he was admitted to the
Arte de Medici e Speziale, the Guild of Doctors and Apothecaries, from
whom the painters obtained their pigments. According to the laws of
the period no painter could pursue his art unless he took his degree
in that confraternity. The early painters became independent of the
Guild of Doctors and Apothecaries after the Guild of St. Luke[3] was
formed--the special brotherhood of all painters, which spread to every
country and to every town--and there is a tradition that Daddi was one
of the founders of this Compagnia di San Luca, which would show that
this Florentine Guild of St. Luke was organized as early as 1348.
Daddi painted the fresco over the San Giorgio Gate of Florence about
1330 and he also painted the frescoes of the Martyrdom of St. Stephen
and St. Lawrence in Santa Croce. Daddi comes very close to Giotto
(1276–1336), in dates and in style, although he shows great sympathy
with the Sienese painters.
Giotto’s followers--the Giotteschi--worked from about 1330 to 1430
and include: Taddeo Gaddi, Andrea di Cione (better known as Orcagna),
Giovanni da Milano, Agnolo Gaddi, Cennino Cennini, Andrea di Firenze,
Antonio Veneziano, Spinello Aretino, and Lorenzo Monaco.
These painters prepared the way for greater changes by studying
perspective and the human form and by gradually introducing Classic
Architecture into their pictures in place of Gothic decoration.
In studying Fifteenth Century Art in Florence we are struck by the
great number of goldsmiths and other workers in metal who became
painters. There is a reason for this. The most important work in
Florence for twenty-two years was the making of the four bronze doors
for the Baptistery, the competition for which was won by Ghiberti in
1401. The undertaking was so vast that Ghiberti engaged, at one time or
another, nearly all the most talented artists and artisans of Florence.
Many painters and sculptors who acquired fame afterwards, such as
Masaccio and Donatello for instance, received their early training
under Ghiberti.
Of the last-mentioned painter Leonardo da Vinci wrote:
“After the days of Giotto, painting declined again, because everyone
imitated the pictures that were already in existence; and this went on
until Tommaso of Florence, nicknamed Masaccio, showed, by his perfect
works, how artists who would take any teacher but Nature--the mistress
of all masters--labor in vain.”
Tommaso Masaccio (1401–1429?) and Tommaso Masolino (1383–1447) worked
together in the Brancacci Chapel. Masaccio was the son of a notary in
the parish of Castel S. Giovanni in Val d’Arno, learned to draw and
paint, joined the Guild of St. Luke in 1424, and became Masolino’s
assistant for painting the frescoes in the new Chapel built by Felice
Brancacci in the Carmine. When Masolino went to Hungary, Masaccio
worked there alone.
Masaccio’s frescoes made an epoch in art, although the painter was
little appreciated in his day. He left his work suddenly and went to
Rome. Nothing more was ever heard of him. He is thought to have died
in Rome in 1429. Almost immediately Masaccio’s work began to be valued
and all the Florentines of the Fifteenth Century flocked to study these
Brancacci frescoes. Masolino (1383–1447) was appointed in 1423 to paint
frescoes in the new Brancacci Chapel in the Carmine and two years
later went to Hungary. Returning home after several years, he painted
frescoes in various cities (see page 28).
Gerardo, better known as “Starnina” (1354–1408), a pupil of Antonio
Veneziano, spent nine years in Spain and on his return to Florence,
achieved great fame by his frescoes in the Carmine. The name was taken
from that of his father, Jacopo Starna. It is said that “Starnina” was
the master of Masolino and Fra Angelico.
Fra Angelico (1387–1455), brings us to another transitional
period,--this time from the Gothic to the Renaissance. Fra Angelico, or
Fra Giovanni da Fiesole, the angelic and mystical painter and the most
beloved of all the early artists, spent his life painting frescoes and
altar-pieces for churches and cloisters. He was frequently called by
the Pope to Rome, where he died (see page 32).
To this period belong Andrea del Castagno (1390?–1457), a vigorous and
austere painter, and Paolo Uccello (1397–1475), named Paolo di Dono,
but called Uccello because he kept in his house and painted so many
birds. Uccello began life as a goldsmith and assistant to Ghiberti.