EARLIEST WORKS
One of the most remarkable things in the history of Signorelli's work,
considering what a number of his paintings remain, is that only two of
them can be placed with any degree of certainty as having been executed
before his fortieth year. These two are the "Madonna" (No. 281), and
"The Flagellation" (No. 262), in the Brera Gallery, Milan. This last,
however--"The Flagellation"--indicates in what manner much of his
earlier time had been employed, for although betraying in parts a
certain youthful immaturity, yet the skilful drawing and thorough
comprehension of anatomy shown in the nudes, especially in the backs of
the two executioners, reveals already the practised hand of a master of
his craft.
[Illustration: [_Brera, Milan_
THE FLAGELLATION]
The best studies of the nude remaining to us by earlier painters, are
the figures in "The Death of Adam," by Pier dei Franceschi, in his
frescoes at Arezzo, the "Hercules overcoming Antaeus," and "The Battle of
the Nudes," by Antonio Pollaiuolo, in the Uffizi Gallery. It is
sufficient to compare with these the freer rendering of gesture, and the
greater accuracy of the anatomy in Signorelli's executioners, to see
what an advance he had already made upon any previous painting. (I
limit, of course, this assertion to painting only, for in sculpture
Donatello had years before given free gesture and perfect anatomy to his
statues.) It would be impossible to overrate the excellence and beauty
of drawing in the splendid swing of the bodies, the flexibility of the
limbs, the sinewy elasticity of the leg muscles, and above all, the
subtle suggestion of muscular movement under the loose skin of the
backs. There is here, even more than in his later painting, an
appreciation of the relative values of the muscles, and a consequent
breadth of modelling, which he lost somewhat, by over-accentuation, in
his subsequent treatment of the nude. The inequalities of the picture
betray wherein lay the painter's chief interest, for to this skilful
mastery of the difficulties of anatomy are opposed the rather childish
conception of the Pilate and the stiff action of all the clothed
figures. His apprenticeship to Pier dei Franceschi is here sufficiently
proved, not so much by any likeness of colour or of composition to "The
Flagellations," of that master, in Urbino and Borgo San Sepolero, as in
the firm, clear outlining of the nude figures, their solid modelling,
and in the broad massing of the shadows.
Even more apparent is the influence of Antonio Pollaiuolo, in the great
realism with which the subject is treated, and in such superficial
resemblances as the type of head of the executioner who binds the hands
of Christ, and the characteristic striped loin-cloths.
The Christ is one of Signorelli's most ignoble presentations of the
Saviour, and yet it seems as though he had tried to give graces which
should harmonise with a certain conception of the character--the hair,
for example, is the beautiful rippling hair of a woman, the bent head
and downcast eyes represent the gentleness of resignation, and the
attitude of the legs is intended to be graceful. But the effort to curb
his own natural instinct for pride and strength makes him strike a false
note, and his attempt to give the beauty of meekness has resulted only
in producing a mask of hypocritical inertia.
The picture was painted for the Church of Santa Maria del Mercato in
Fabriano, and this, as well as the fact of its being precisely the same
size, and with the same curved top, seems to argue that it formed
originally one picture with the Madonna, No. 281 of the same gallery,
whose _provenance_ is also from that church. Here the Virgin sits,[42]
clad in a gold garment and blue green-lined mantle, with the Child on
her knee, and floating round her dark-green cherubs' heads. She is the
powerful type of woman, from which in his Virgins Signorelli never
departed, but in this case with a rather cow-like expression, which gave
place later to a tender or noble dignity. The face of the Child has lost
its original character through repainting, but the cherubs' heads
surrounding the throne, have the overweighted, half-animal expression of
which I have already spoken as characteristic of his children.
Next in order, as far as can be judged by the internal evidence of the
painting, come the frescoes in the sacristy of the church of the Santa
Casa at Loreto. They were finished some time before 1484, and bear very
marked traces of Florentine impressions. Of these Vasari writes: "In
Santa Maria di Loreto, he painted in the sacristy in fresco, the four
Evangelists, the four Doctors, and other Saints, which are very
beautiful; and for this work he was liberally rewarded by Pope
Sixtus."[43] This is a mistake, for the patron of the church was
Cardinal Girolamo Basso della Rovere, and the presence of his
coat-of-arms in the centre of the cupola is evidence that the work was
executed at his expense.
In each of the eight compartments of this roof is painted a standing
angel, playing or tuning musical instruments--most graceful and
beautiful figures. Below are seated the four Evangelists and four
Fathers of the Church, against a gold background, who seem, in their
impressive grandeur to be prototypes of the prophets and sybils of
Michelangelo's Sistine frescoes. I do not agree with Vischer in seeing
the hand of Bartolommeo della Gatta in the angels. They show much of the
influence of Pollaiuolo, and seem to me to be Signorelli's unassisted
work. The face and gesture of one of them especially--the angel in the
flowered robe playing a lute--is almost a duplicate of the child on the
_gradino_ of the throne in the Perugia altar-piece. The bishop in the
compartment next this angel is repeated in the Volterra "Madonna and
Saints," and in that of the Florence Academy.
[Illustration: [_Santa Casa, Loreto_
APOSTLES]
In the divisions of the walls under the roof are painted the twelve
Apostles, grand and stately figures, standing two in each compartment,
divided by imitation pilasters, and forming a magnificent frieze round
the walls. The draperies are exceedingly broadly painted and this
breadth of treatment and the boldness of the design gives importance to
the figures. There being seven compartments to be filled, in two of them
Signorelli has introduced the figure of Christ, treated this time with
dignity, perhaps because here He is represented as the Master, and not
the "Man of Sorrows." In one He reproves S. Peter (?), who turns away
with conscience-stricken humility very nobly rendered; in the other He
shows the marks of the Passion to the incredulous Thomas. These two are
perhaps the finest of the series, and are, besides, dramatic in gesture
and expression. The composition of the last is, with evident intention,
borrowed from Verrocchio's group on the walls of Or San Michele,
Florence, but the likeness ends with the general lines of composition.
Vischer makes a strong point of this, as a proof of Verrocchio's
influence on Signorelli,[44] but to me it seems that feeling, types of
face, and especially the broad and simple treatment of the draperies are
entirely different.
[Illustration: [_Santa Casa, Loreto_
THE INCREDULITY OF S. THOMAS]
The most important of these frescoes, however, as best illustrating
Signorelli's own peculiar tendencies, is "The Conversion of Saul," in
the compartment over the door. He has realised the scene with emotion,
and rendered it with a most convincing dramatic power, giving the
suddenness of the fall of the principal figure, and the excitement and
panic-stricken terror of the soldiers, with wonderful truth and
animation. It is interesting to note the almost exact repetition of the
same figure in the two soldiers who hurry away to the left, but it is
not at all mechanical, and in no way detracts from the excellence of
the composition. Very Pollaiuolesque is the figure with raised shield in
the foreground to the right, and one feels the influence of Perugino in
the spacious empty distance of the background, from which the figures
are so well detached.
[Illustration: [_Santa Casa, Loreto_
THE CONVERSION OF SAUL]
As decoration these frescoes are exceedingly fine, the grand row of
figures, besides the stately strength of each separate group, being most
impressive in general effect. They have been much damaged. For many
years used as a sacristy, the greasy smoke of the incense had so
blackened the walls that the frescoes were nearly invisible. The skilful
cleaning of Signor Guiseppe Missaghi, at the instigation of Signor
Cavalcaselle, has restored to them much of their original beauty,
although the colour still remains somewhat obscured.
On the roof of the nave, in the church itself, are painted a series of
frescoes in _grisaille_, twenty-six Prophets and Fathers of the Church,
somewhat over life size, seated one in each medallion. They are solemn
and impressive figures like those in the sacristy, and painted on the
same broad lines, and remind one strongly of the two medallions, also in
_grisaille_, in the "Madonna," of the Uffizi Corridor. All of them have
severely suffered from repainting.
"The Adoration of the Magi," formerly in the Campana Gallery, Rome, now
No. 389 of the Louvre, seems to have been painted in 1482. Crowe and
Cavalcaselle[45] rightly consider its execution to be the work of
assistants, by reason of the rawness of colour and general coarseness of
the painting; yet in composition, and in many of the figures, there is
so much of the master's impressive dignity, that I feel compelled to
regard the drawing, in parts at least, as his own. The stately Madonna,
and the noble figure of the King on her right, whose draperies have the
same sweeping breadth as those in the National Gallery, "Circumcision,"
as well as the solid, well-seated figures of the mounted attendants,
seem to be Signorelli's own composing. The Child is also characteristic,
and resembles that in the _Tondo_ of the Pitti Gallery. The badly-drawn
horses, again, seem his, for it will be noticed all through his work
that he has never cared to thoroughly master their form, and paints them
always with curious mannerisms of too closely-placed nostrils, and human
eyebrows, which show how little attention he had given to their anatomy.
The first dated picture remaining is the altar-piece of the Perugia
Cathedral, painted in 1484, of which Vasari writes: "Also in Perugia he
painted many works; and among others in the Cathedral, for Messer Jacopo
Vannucci of Cortona, Bishop of the city, a picture in which is Our Lady,
Sant Onofrio, Sant Ercolano, S. John Baptist, S. Stephen,[46] and an
angel, most beautiful, who tunes a lute."[47] The inscription with the
date (given in the catalogue) are unfortunately hidden by the frame.
This is one of Signorelli's finest altar-pieces, the colour being
especially rich and harmonious, and it shows, even more than the Loreto
frescoes, the strength of Florentine influences. For example, very close
to Pollaiuolo is the figure of the angel tuning the lute, with its
striped scarf, and so also is the powerful head of S. Ercolano. The S.
Stephen is almost a reproduction of the bust of S. Lorenzo by Donatello
in the sacristy of the church of that saint in Florence, the aged S.
Onofrio again recalls his wooden statue of S. Jerome in Faenza, and
finally the motive of the cut flowers in glasses is borrowed from the
triptych of Hugo van der Goes in the Gallery of Santa Maria Nuova,
Florence. The ornamental accessories are singularly fine and careful in
finish, and it would seem as though Signorelli had been inspired in
this, not only by the great tryptych, but also by the followers of the
Paduan Squarcione. In the last chapter I have pointed out the extreme
realism with which the figures are treated, but this does not spoil the
impressive grandeur of the painting, gained by the broad style and the
stately simplicity of the composition. The Virgin sits firmly, with the
mantle resting in heavy folds across her knees; the S. Stephen is
overflowing with the vigorous life of youth; the splendidly-draped
bishop is a powerful and majestic figure; and there is real tenderness
and grace in the face of the angel, notwithstanding the want of symmetry
in the body and legs. The painting has suffered from restoration, but on
the whole is fairly well preserved, and may be seen to advantage in the
quiet of this well-lighted winter-chapel.
[Illustration: [_Cathedral, Perugia_
MADONNA AND SAINTS]
Crowe and Cavalcaselle place "The Circumcision," of the National
Gallery, formerly in Volterra, as about the same date as the
foregoing;[48] Vischer, presuming that it was painted at the same time
with the dated pictures of 1491 still remaining in Volterra, groups it
with them; but the similarity of colour and treatment lead me to accept
the former theory. The distance from Cortona to Volterra is not very
great, and the fact that he was painting there in 1491 does not preclude
the possibility of his having painted there six or seven years before,
even if it was executed on the spot, which was not by any means always
the case. At all events the picture has much in common with the Perugia
altar-piece, both in warmth of colour, simplicity of composition and
splendid breadth of execution. The painting of this "Circumcision" is
bold and resolute, the draperies sweep in broad folds round the figures.
The attitude of the standing woman to the right is grand, and the
earnest concentration of the faces on the ceremony, and the absence of
any connecting link between them and us, give dramatic reality to the
scene. Vasari writes of it: "At Volterra he painted in fresco"--(a
mistake--it is his usual oil medium)--"in the church of S. Francesco,
above the altar of the brotherhood, the Circumcision of our Lord, which
is considered marvellously beautiful; although the Child, having
suffered from the damp, was repainted by Sodoma much less beautiful than
it was before."[49] This unfortunate repainting, which has also
evidently included part of the Virgin's face, was more probably due to
the monks' dislike of Signorelli's type of child than to any damage by
weather, for it would be strange that a picture, otherwise so well
preserved, should be injured by damp nowhere but in the part most
protected by reason of its central position. To support this theory,
under the painting by Sodoma may be clearly seen (in the painting--not
in the photograph) the original legs of the Child of Signorelli, in a
totally different position, showing that Sodoma had made no attempt to
keep to the drawing. The monks, no doubt, preferred the more commonplace
infant of Sodoma, but we, while acknowledging that the children of
Signorelli are far from what they should be, may regret the loss, as did
Vasari, who adds this comment: "It would be better to retain the work of
excellent men, even though half spoiled, than to have it repainted by
one who knows less."
[Illustration: [_National Gallery, London_
THE CIRCUMCISION]
A very important group of paintings apparently of about this date, bear
the impress of the classic tastes of the Court of Lorenzo dei Medici,
for whom they seem to have been painted. It comprises the great picture
of "Pan," in the Berlin Gallery, the "Madonna," of the Uffizi Corridor,
and the Munich _Tondo_. I have been tempted to give them a much earlier
place, in the gap before the Perugia altar-piece, because they show so
much of the idealism and idyllic spirit, which seem properly to belong
to youth, but a careful comparison of them with that picture and the
Loreto frescoes, reveals a greater maturity of technique which makes so
early a placing not very probable. In all these three paintings there is
an appreciation of beauty for its own sake, and a true touch of the
Pantheistic spirit, combined with a melancholy grandeur, which is most
impressive.
The finest of the three, the great canvas of "Pan," now in the Berlin
Gallery, is the picture of which Vasari wrote: "He painted for Lorenzo
dei Medici, on canvas, some nude gods, which were much praised ... and
presented to the said Lorenzo."[50] Sometimes called the "School of
Pan," it is more poetically described in the German catalogue "Pan, as
God of Natural Life, and Master of Music, with his Attendants." It is
full of poetry, and of idyllic charm with all its stately solemnity. The
sad beauty of the god as he listens to the music of the pipes, the
golden sunlight on the moss-green grass, the quiet peace of the scene,
have an entrancing effect, and we are transported in spirit to the same
"melodious plot of beechen green and shadows numberless" where Pan holds
his court.
[Illustration: [_Gallery, Berlin_
PAN]
The bronze-coloured body of the god is magnificently modelled, with a
solidity unequalled even in the Orvieto frescoes. The style of
Pollaiuolo is noticeable, in the attitude of the youth lying at his
feet, particularly in the treatment of the legs. The figure of Echo is
repeated later in "The Crowning of the Elect," in Orvieto, though there
it has lost much of the idyllic charm of this wood-nymph. The grouping
of the figures is perhaps less happy than usual, but this time the bad
values of distance are no doubt due to the rough treatment the painting
has undergone. It has indeed had an eventful history. About thirty years
ago it was found by the late Signor Tricca, a noted restorer of
pictures, in the attics of the Palazzo Corsi, Florence. He hesitated at
first to recognise it certainly as the work of Signorelli, for all the
figures were covered from head to foot with draperies of obviously
eighteenth-century painting. On trial, however, he found that these were
easily removed, and as the nude figures were revealed, he at once
identified it as the picture of the nude gods, mentioned by Vasari. It
seems that it had passed into the possession of the Rinuccini family as
part of the dowry of one of the Medici, and on the marriage of one of
the ladies of the Rinuccini with a Marchese Corsi again formed part of
the bride's portion. Soon after its discovery and restoration the
Marchese Corsi died, and his brother Cardinal Corsi inherited the
property. Objecting to the picture on account of the nude figures, he
desired Signor Tricca to sell it, and it was then bought by Mr H. J.
Ross, who offered it to the English National Gallery. On the refusal of
the authorities to purchase it, it was acquired in 1873 by Dr Bode for
the Berlin Gallery, of which it is one of the greatest treasures.[51] It
has naturally suffered much from the process of cleaning away the later
draperies, and much of the under-painting is exposed, but enough remains
of its original beauty to rank it as the best of Signorelli's easel
pictures.
Undoubtedly of the same date is the "Madonna," No. 74 of the Uffizi
Gallery. This picture was, also, according to Vasari, painted as a
present for Lorenzo dei Medici, and was for many years in the villa of
Duke Cosimo at Castello. It has the same idyllic beauty in the
background as the "Pan," and is painted in the same half-pagan spirit.
The Virgin, it is true, sits awkwardly, and with a rather ungainly
gesture of hands and arms, there are faults of drawing in the feet, and
the Child is ugly and insignificant. But these are faults easy to
overlook in considering the grandeur of the landscape, the beauty of the
colour, and, above all, the magnificent modelling of the nude figures
in the background. The Virgin gains in importance by the nobility of
these athletes behind her, but it is clear that Signorelli's interest
lay less in the melancholy Mother and Child, than in these superb
Titans, in whom he seems to have personified the forces of Nature. How
great was the influence of this picture upon Michelangelo we need only
take a few steps into the Tribuna to see, in his _Tondo_ of the Holy
Family, No. 1139. The painting is set in a kind of frame in _grisaille_,
surmounted by a head of S. John the Baptist, and two seated Prophets in
medallions.
[Illustration: [_Uffizi, Florence_
MADONNA]
Somewhat inferior in execution, but painted in exactly the same spirit,
is the "Madonna," of the Munich Gallery, formerly in the Palazzo Ginori,
Florence.[52] Here, as in the last, the Virgin sits, filling the
foreground space, a stately figure, with fingers pressed together, as if
in prayer to the Child at her feet. The background is a classic
landscape, through which runs a stream of the beautiful limpid green
with which Signorelli always paints water, and by its side sits another
of the noble nude figures, untying his sandal. It may be intended for S.
John the Baptist, as the critics say, but I do not think that either
here or in the Uffizi painting, Signorelli had any intention of adhering
to traditional illustration. It seems rather as though the pictures were
symbolic--expressive of some comparison in his mind between
Christianity, as he perhaps conceived it for the moment, melancholy
and dejected, and the Greek Pantheism, vigorous and strong, and radiant
with the joy of life.
Another picture belonging to this beautiful group is the "Portrait of a
Man," in the Berlin Gallery, formerly in the Torrigiani Collection,
Florence. In the days before it was photographed it was considered to be
a portrait of Signorelli himself, and, as it represents a man with grey
hair, was naturally reckoned among his later works; but comparison with
the two portraits at Orvieto show that there is no real resemblance of
feature, while the technique and spirit of the painting claim a place
for it among this early series.
Here again occur the classic figures, but this time with less of the
idyllic feeling. On one side are hurrying Apollo and Daphne(?), on the
other, one athlete has overthrown another, and stands menacingly over
his prey, who tries with ineffectual gestures to beat him off--a very
Pollaiuolesque scene of violence. The colouring, with its clear reds of
the _biretta_ and the robe, is very successful. With this powerful
portrait closes this beautiful and interesting group of paintings, the
_provenance_ of all four of which, it will be observed, is from
Florence.
The two _Tondos_, of the Pitti and Corsini Galleries, Florence, must
have been painted at a date not far distant from those, for they have
much in common in certain forms, and particularly in the rich and
glowing scheme of colour.
The "Holy Family," of the Pitti Gallery, has been restored, and suffers
much from thick varnish and repainting, but nothing has spoilt the
harmony of the colours, nor the tender beauty of the Virgin, whose
features and expression are a repetition of those of Echo in the "Pan."
The Saint, who writes at the dictation of the Child, is painted with
earnestness, and the whole scene is treated with the utmost religious
feeling.
The "Madonna and Saints," of the Corsini Gallery, has the same warm glow
of colour, and was probably painted about the same time. The Virgin sits
with the Child on her left knee, clad in a red robe, round the neck of
which little Loves are embroidered in gold. Over it she wears a
dark-green mantle shot with gold--a form of decoration very usual with
Signorelli, especially about this time. She has the beautiful, pale,
honey-coloured hair which occurs so often in his works, almost the same
colour which was characteristic of Palma's Venetian ladies later. To the
left kneels S. Jerome, gazing up at her, and on the right is S. Bernard
holding a pen and book. The painting is in a good state of preservation.
[Illustration: [_Pitti, Florence_
MADONNA AND SAINTS]
The rather insignificant type of head of S. Joseph occurs again in
another "Holy Family," which belongs approximately to the same
period,--that of the Rospigliosi Gallery in Rome. As far as beauty and
tender grace go, this is the most successful of all his Madonnas. The
daring repetition of the same features with darker colouring in the S.
John behind her, I have already drawn attention to. The draperies are
painted with great freedom, and a fine sweep of broad fold. They are
shot, as in the Corsini _Tondo_, with gold in the high lights.
Insignificant as is the Child in all these Holy Families, there is at
the same time something pathetic and winning in the earnest, careworn
little face.
[Illustration: [_Rospigliosi Gallery, Rome_
HOLY FAMILY]
Very different is the type Signorelli has adopted for the Christ in the
Uffizi "Holy Family," No. 1291, which must be placed somewhere about
this time, or a very little later. Here He is represented with a certain
nobility of feature and gesture, although self-conscious and
unchildlike. The Greek profile of the Virgin is almost identical with
that of the above-mentioned Rospigliosi picture, while the powerful head
of S. Joseph carries us back to the figures in the "Circumcision." The
Virgin sits uneasily, ill-balanced, and with badly-modelled feet, but
the beauty of the face makes amends for these defects. It is a picture
full of noble qualities, both of feeling and technique, and it has
besides a special importance by reason of the difference of colour, so
much less heavy than usual. The flesh tints are very pale, and the
shadows a silvery grey, and the whole tone is much lighter than in any
of the preceding pictures. The composition is specially fine, the
attention being concentrated without effort on the central figure of the
Child, to which the other two serve as a kind of frame.
[Illustration: [Uffizi, Florence
HOLY FAMILY]
I cannot leave this series of early works, which includes so many
_Tondos_, without drawing attention to the excellence of Signorelli's
composition in this difficult form. The figures fill the space naturally
and without any artificial bending of the heads to fit the shape; there
is a sense of space, and ease of grouping, and the large sweeping lines
of the draperies follow most harmoniously the curves of the panel.
With the exception of the Perugia altar-piece, none of the
above-mentioned paintings are dated. Inferentially we arrive at the time
when the Loreto frescoes were completed, but there is little to help in
grouping the rest beyond the internal evidence they afford. I have
endeavoured to place them in the order they seem most naturally to take,
with reference to colour, form, and the early influences to be observed
in them, but the arrangement must necessarily be somewhat arbitrary.
Fortunately this difficulty grows less and less in dealing with the
later works, and the most important of them are generally dated.
FOOTNOTES:
[42] I shall, as far as space permits, describe those pictures of which
illustrations cannot be inserted. Where the illustration is given, it
becomes unnecessary.
[43] Vasari, iii. 691.
[44] Vischer, p. 79.
[45] Cavalcaselle e Crowe, viii. 507. Note 1.
[46] I have thought it best only to translate those names that are
familiar to us in English.
[47] Vasari, iii. 685.
[48] Cavalcaselle e Crowe, viii. 455.
[49] Vasari, iii. 685.
[50] Vasari, iii. 689.
[51] I am indebted for the above facts to Mr H. J. Ross of Poggio
Gherardo, Florence, the original purchaser of the picture.
[52] The photograph gives so little idea of the beauty of the original
that I have not reproduced it.