and Raphael, in learning how to portray it, had found the way to the
heart. In mere grandeur of invention he was surpassed by Michael
Angelo. Titian excelled him in coloring, and Correggio in the
beautiful gradation of tone; but Raphael knew how to paint the soul;
in this he stood alone. This was the great secret of a power which
seemed to operate like magic. In his paintings there is something
which makes music on the chords of every heart; for they are the
expression of a mind attuned to nature, and find answering sympathies
in the universal soul.
While Michael Angelo was exalted with the Epic grandeur of his own
Dante, Raphael presented the most finished scenes of dramatic life,
and might be compared to the immortal Shakespeare--scenes of spiritual
beauty, of devotion, and of pastoral simplicity, yet uniting a classic
elegance which the poet does not possess. Buonarroti was the wonder of
Italy, and Raphael became its idol.
Julius was so much enchanted with his paintings in the halls of the
Vatican, that he ordered the frescos of former artists to be
destroyed. Among them were some of Perugino's, but Raphael would not
suffer these to be removed for his own; he viewed them as the relics
of a beloved and honored friend, and they were consecrated by tender
and grateful feelings.
Raphael collected from every part of the world medallions of intaglios
and antiques to assist him in his designs. He loved splendor and
conviviality, and gave offence thereby to the rigid and austere. It
was said that he had a prospect of changing the graceful beretta for a
cardinal's hat; but this idea might have arisen from the delay which
existed in his marriage with Cardinal Bibiano's niece, whose hand her
uncle had offered to him. Peremptorily to reject this proposal of the
cardinal without giving offence would have been impossible, and
Raphael was too gentle in his own feelings voluntarily to injure
another's; but he was not one to sacrifice his affections to ambition.
Whatever were the struggles of his heart, they were early terminated.
Amid the caresses of the great, the fond and devoted friendship of his
equals, the enthusiastic love of his pupils, the adulation of his
inferiors, while crowned with wealth, fame, and honor, and regarded as
the equal of the hitherto greatest artist in the world, he was
suddenly called away. He died on Good Friday, the day of his birth, at
the age of thirty-seven, 1520.
We are sometimes impressed with veneration when those who have even
drunk the cup of life almost to its dregs resign it with resignation
and Christian faith. But Raphael calmly and firmly resigned it when it
was full to the brim.
Leo X. and Cardinal Bibiano were by his bedside. The sublime picture
of the "Transfiguration," the last and greatest which he painted, was
placed opposite to him, by his own desire. How impressive must have
been the scene! His dying eye turned from the crucifix he held in his
hand to the glory of the beatified Saviour.
His contemporaries speak of him as affectionate, disinterested,
modest, and sincere; encouraging humble merit, and freely giving his
advice and assistance where it was needed and deserved.
TITIAN
By GIORGIO VASARI[2]
[Footnote 2: Giorgio Vasari, a contemporary of Titian, and
himself a painter of no mean rank, wrote a series of lives of
the Italian artists, from which the following is extracted.
There are several slight inaccuracies in his work Titian was
born, not in 1480, but in 1477, and died in 1576. He was in
coloring the greatest artist who ever lived.]
1477-1576
[Illustration: Titian.]
Titian was born in the year 1480, at Cadore, a small place distant
about five miles from the foot of the Alps; he belonged to the family
of the Vecelli, which is among the most noble of those parts. Giving
early proof of much intelligence, he was sent at the age of ten to an
uncle in Venice, an honorable citizen, who, seeing the boy to be much
inclined to painting, placed him with the excellent painter, Gian
Bellino, then very famous. Under his care, the youth soon proved
himself to be endowed by nature with all the gifts of judgment and
genius required for the art of painting. Now, Gian Bellino and the
other masters of that country, not having the habit of studying the
antique, were accustomed to copy only what they saw before them, and
that in a dry, hard, labored manner, which Titian also acquired; but
about the year 1507, Giorgione da Castel Franco, not being satisfied
with that mode of proceeding, began to give to his works an unwonted
softness and relief, painting them in a very beautiful manner; yet he
by no means neglected to draw from the life, or to copy nature with
his colors as closely as he could; and in doing the latter he shaded
with colder or warmer tints as the living object might demand, but
without first making a drawing; since he held that, to paint with the
colors only, without any drawing on paper, was the best mode of
proceeding, and most perfectly in accord with the true principles of
design.
Having seen the manner of Giorgione, Titian early resolved to abandon
that of Gian Bellino, although well grounded therein. He now,
therefore, devoted himself to this purpose, and in a short time so
closely imitated Giorgione that his pictures were sometimes taken for
those of that master, as will be related below. Increasing in age,
judgment, and facility of hand, our young artist executed numerous
works in fresco which cannot here be named individually, having been
dispersed in various places; let it suffice to say, that they were
such as to cause experienced men to anticipate the excellence to which
he afterward attained. At the time when Titian began to adopt the
manner of Giorgione, being then not more than eighteen, he took the
portrait of a gentleman of the Barberigo family, who was his friend,
and this was considered very beautiful, the coloring being true and
natural, and the hair so distinctly painted that each one could be
counted as might also the stitches in a satin doublet, painted in the
same work; it was so well and carefully done, that it would have been
taken for a picture by Giorgione, if Titian had not written his name
on the dark ground.
Giorgione meanwhile had executed the facade of the German Exchange,
when, by the intervention of Barberigo, Titian was appointed to paint
certain stories in the same building and over the Merceria. After
which he executed a picture with figures the size of life, which is
now in the Hall of Messer Andrea Loredano, who dwells near San
Marcuola; this work represents "Our Lady" in her flight into Egypt.
She is in the midst of a great wood, and the landscape of this picture
is well done; Titian having practised that branch of art, and keeping
certain Germans, who were excellent masters therein, for several
months together in his own house. Within the wood he depicted various
animals, all painted from the life, and so natural as to seem almost
alive. In the house of Messer Giovanni Danna, a Flemish gentleman and
merchant, who was his gossip, he painted a portrait which appears to
breathe, with an "Ecce Homo," comprising numerous figures which, by
Titian himself, as well as others, is considered to be a very good
work. The same artist executed a picture of "Our Lady," with other
figures the size of life, men and children being all taken from
nature, and portraits of persons belonging to the Danna family.
In the year 1507, when the Emperor Maximilian was making war on the
Venetians, Titian, as he relates himself, painted the "Angel Raphael,
with Tobit and a Dog," in the Church of San Marziliano. There is a
distant landscape in this picture, wherein San Giovanni Battista is
seen at prayer in a wood; he is looking up to heaven, and his face is
illumined by a light descending thence; some believe this picture to
have been done before that on the "Exchange of the Germans," mentioned
above, was commenced. Now, it chanced that certain gentlemen, not
knowing that Giorgione no longer worked at this facade, and that
Titian was doing it (nay, had already given that part over the
Merceria to public view), met the former, and began as friends to
rejoice with him, declaring that he was acquitting himself better on
the side of the Merceria than he had done on that of the "Grand
Canal;" which remark caused Giorgione so much vexation, that he would
scarcely permit himself to be seen until the whole work was completed,
and Titian had become generally known as the painter; nor did he
thenceforward hold any intercourse with the latter and they were no
longer friends.
In the year 1508, Titian published a wood-engraving of the "Triumph of
Faith;" it comprised a vast number of figures: our first Parents, the
Patriarchs, the Prophets, the Sybils, the Innocents, the Martyrs, the
Apostles, and Our Saviour Christ borne in triumph by the four
Evangelists, and the four Doctors, followed by the holy Confessors;
here Titian displayed much boldness, a fine manner, and improving
facility. I remember that Fra Bastiano del Piombo, speaking on this
subject, told me that if Titian had then gone to Rome, and seen the
works of Michael Angelo, with those of Raphael and the ancients, he
was convinced, the admirable facility of his coloring considered, that
he would have produced works of the most astonishing perfection;
seeing that, as he well deserved to be called the most perfect
imitator of Nature of our times, as regards coloring, he might thus
have rendered himself equal to the Urbinese or Buonarroto, as regarded
the great foundation of all, design. At a later period Titian repaired
to Vicenza, where he painted "The Judgment of Solomon," on the
Loggetta wherein the courts of justice are held; a very beautiful
work. Returning to Venice, he then depicted the facade of the Germain;
at Padua he painted certain frescos in the Church of Sant' Antonio,
the subjects taken from the life of that saint; and in the Church of
Santo Spirito he executed a small picture of San Marco seated in the
midst of other saints, whose faces are portraits painted in oil with
the utmost care; this picture has been taken for a work of Giorgione.
Now, the death of Giovan Bellino had caused a story in the hall of the
Great Council to remain unfinished; it was that which represents
Federigo Barbarossa kneeling before Pope Alessandro III., who plants
his foot on the emperor's neck. This was now finished by Titian, who
altered many parts of it, introducing portraits of his friends and
others. For this he received from the senate an office in the Exchange
of the Germans called the Senseria, which brought him in three hundred
crowns yearly, and which those Signori usually give to the most
eminent painter of their city, on condition that from time to time he
shall take the portrait of their doge, or prince when such shall be
created, at the price of eight crowns, which the doge himself pays,
the portrait being then preserved in the Palace of San Marco, as a
memorial of that doge.
After the completion of these works, our artist painted, for the
Church of San Rocco, a figure of Christ bearing his cross; the Saviour
has a rope round his neck, and is dragged forward by a Jew; many have
thought this a work of Giorgione. It has become an object of the
utmost devotion in Venice, and has received more crowns as offerings
than have been earned by Titian and Giorgione both, through the whole
course of their lives. Now, Titian had taken the portrait of Bembo,
then secretary to Pope Leo X., and was by him invited to Rome, that he
might see the city, with Raffaello da Urbino and other distinguished
persons; but the artist having delayed his journey until 1520, when
the pope and Raffaello were both dead, put it off for that time
altogether. For the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore he painted a
picture of "St. John the Baptist in the wilderness;" there is an angel
beside him that appears to be living; and a distant landscape, with
trees on the bank of a river, which are very graceful. He took
portraits of the Prince Grimani and Loredano, which were considered
admirable; and not long afterward he painted the portrait of King
Francis, who was then leaving Italy to return to France.
[Illustration: A Fete at the House of Titian.]
In 1530, when the Emperor Charles V. was in Bologna, Titian, by the
intervention of Pietro Aretino, was invited to that city by the
Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici, and there he made a magnificent portrait
of his majesty in full armor. This gave so much satisfaction that the
artist received a present of a thousand crowns for the same. Out of
these he had subsequently to give the half to Alfonso Lombardi, the
sculptor, who had made a model of that monarch to be executed in
marble.
Having returned to Venice, Titian there found that many gentlemen had
begun to favor Pordenone, commending exceedingly the works executed by
that artist in the ceiling of the Hall of the Pregai, and elsewhere.
They had also procured him the commission for a small picture in the
Church of San Giovanni Elemosynario, which they intended him to paint
in competition with one representing that saint in his episcopal
habits, which had previously been executed there by Titian. But
whatever care and pains Pordenone took, he could not equal nor even
approach the work of the former. Titian was then appointed to paint a
picture of the Annunciation for the Church of Santa Maria degli
Angeli, at Murano; but those who gave the commission for the work, not
wishing to pay so much as five hundred crowns, which Titian required
as its price, he sent it, by the advice of Pietro Aretino, as a gift
to Charles V., who being greatly delighted with the work, made him a
present of two thousand crowns. The place which the picture was to
have occupied at Murano was then filled by one from the hand of
Pordenone.
When the emperor, some time after this, returned with his army from
Hungary, and was again at Bologna, holding a conference with Clement
VII., he desired to have another portrait taken of him by Titian, who,
before he departed from the city, also painted that of the Cardinal
Ippolito de Medici in the Hungarian dress, with another of the same
prelate fully armed, which is somewhat smaller than the first; these
are both now in the Guardaroba of Duke Cosimo. He painted the
portraits of Alfonso, Marquis of Davalos, and of Pietro Aretino, at
the same period, and these things having made him known to Federigo
Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, he entered the service of the latter, and
accompanied him to his states. At Mantua our artist made a portrait of
the duke, which appears to breathe, and afterward executed that of his
brother, the cardinal. These being finished, he painted twelve
beautiful "Heads of the Twelve Caesars," to decorate one of the rooms
erected by Giulio Romano, and when they were done, Giulio painted a
"Story from the Lives of the Emperors" beneath each head.
The productions, but more especially the portraits, of Titian are so
numerous that it would be almost impossible to make the record of them
all. I will, therefore, speak of the principal only, and that without
order of time, seeing that it does not much signify to tell which was
painted earlier and which later. He took the portrait of Charles V.
several times, as we have said, and was finally invited by that
monarch to his court; there he painted him as he was in those last
years; and so much was that most invincible emperor pleased with the
manner of Titian, that once he had been portrayed by him, he would
never permit himself to be taken by any other person. Each time that
Titian painted the emperor he received a present of a thousand crowns
of gold, and the artist was made a cavalier, or knight, by his
majesty, with a revenue of two hundred crowns yearly, secured on the
treasury of Naples, and attached to his title.
When Titian painted Filippo, King of Spain, the son of Charles, he
received another annuity of two hundred crowns; so that these four
hundred, added to the three hundred from the German Exchange, make him
a fixed income of seven hundred crowns, which he possesses without the
necessity of exerting himself in any manner. Titian presented the
portraits of Charles V. and his son Filippo to the Duke Cosimo, who
has them now in his Guardaroba. He also took the portrait of
Ferdinand, King of the Romans, who was afterward emperor, with those
of his children, Maximilian, that is to say, now emperor, and his
brother; he likewise painted the Queen Maria; and at the command of
the Emperor Charles, he portrayed the Duke of Saxony, when the latter
was in prison. But what a waste of time is this! when there has
scarcely been a noble of high rank, scarcely a prince or lady of great
name, whose portrait has not been taken by Titian, who in that branch
of art is indeed an excellent painter.
All these works, with many others which I omit to avoid prolixity,
have been executed up to the present age of our artist, which is above
seventy-six years. Titian has been always healthy and happy; he has
been favored beyond the lot of most men, and has received from Heaven
only favors and blessings. In his house he has entertained whatever
princes, literati, or men of distinction have gone to or dwelt in
Venice; for, to say nothing of his excellence in art, he has always
distinguished himself by courtesy, hospitality, and rectitude.
Titian has had some rivals in Venice, but not of any great ability,
wherefore he has easily overcome them by the superiority of his art;
while he has also rendered himself acceptable to the gentlemen of the
city. He has gained a fair amount of wealth, his labors having always
been well paid; and it would have been well if he had worked for his
amusement alone during these latter years, that he might not have
diminished the reputation gained in his best days by works of inferior
merit, performed at a period of life when nature tends inevitably to
decline, and consequent imperfection.
In the year 1566, when Vasari, the writer of the present history, was
at Venice, he went to visit Titian, as one who was his friend, and
found him, although then very old, still with the pencils in his hand
and painting busily. Great pleasure had Vasari in beholding his works
and in conversing with the master.
It may be affirmed, then, that Titian, having adorned Venice, or
rather all Italy, and other parts of the world, with excellent
paintings, well merits to be loved and respected by artists, and in
many things to be admired and imitated also, as one who has produced,
and is producing, work of infinite merit; nay, such as must endure
while the memory of illustrious men shall remain.
ALBERT DUeRER[3]
[Footnote 3: Copyright, 1894, by Helmar Hess.]
By W. J. HOLLAND, Chancellor of the Western University of Pennsylvania
(1471-1528)
[Illustration: Albert Duerer.]
It has been given to some men to be not only great in the domain of
art by reason of that which they have themselves succeeded in
producing, but by reason of that which they have inspired other men to
produce. They have been not merely artists, but teachers, who by
precept and example have moulded the whole current and drift of
artistic thought in the ages and lands to which they have belonged.
Among these lofty spirits, who live through the centuries not only in
what their hands once fashioned, but still more in what they have
inspired others to do, undoubtedly one of the greatest is Albert
Duerer. Justly reckoned as the representative artist of Germany, he has
the peculiar honor of having raised the craft of the engraver to its
true position, as one of the fine arts. As a painter not unworthy to
be classified with Titian and Raphael, his contemporaries upon Italian
soil, he poured the wealth of his genius into woodcuts and
copperplates, and taught men the practically measureless capacity of
what before his day had been a rudimentary art.
Duerer was born in Nuremberg on May 21, 1471. The family was of
Hungarian origin, though the name is German, and is derived from
Thuerer, meaning a maker of doors. The ancestral calling of the family
probably was that of the carpenter. Albert Duerer, the father of the
great artist, was a goldsmith, and settled about 1460 in Nuremberg,
where he served as an assistant to Hieronymus Holper, a master
goldsmith, whose daughter, Barbara, he married in 1468. He was at the
time forty years of age, and she fifteen. As the result of the union
eighteen children were born into the world, of whom Albrecht was the
second. The lad, as he grew up, became a great favorite with his
father, who appeared to discern in him the promise of future ability.
The feeling of attachment was reciprocated in the most filial manner,
and there are extant two well-authenticated portraits of the father
from the facile brush of the son, one in the Uffizi at Florence, the
other in the possession of the Duke of Northumberland. It was the
original intention of the father of the artist that he should follow
the craft of the goldsmith, but after serving a period as an
apprentice in his father's shop, his strong predilection for the
calling of the painter manifested itself to such a degree that the
father reluctantly consented to allow the boy to follow his natural
bent, and placed him under the tutelage of Michael Wohlgemuth, the
principal painter of Nuremberg. Wohlgemuth was a representative artist
of his time, who followed his calling after a mechanical fashion,
having a large shop filled with apprentices who, under his direction
and with his assistance, busied themselves in turning out for a small
consideration altar-pieces and pictures of martyrdoms, which were in
vogue as necessary parts of decoration in churches. Numerous examples
of the work of Wohlgemuth and his contemporaries survive, attesting,
by the wealth of crudities and unintended caricatures with which they
abound, the comparatively low stage of development attained by the art
of the painter in Germany at that day. According to Duerer, the period
of his apprenticeship to Wohlgemuth was spent profitably, and resulted
in large acquisitions of technical skill. The period of his
preliminary training being ended, he set forth upon his "Wanderjahre,"
and travelled extensively. Just what points he visited cannot with
certainty be determined. It is ascertained beyond doubt that he
visited Colmar, where he was hospitably entertained by the family of
Martin Schongauer, the greatest painter of his time on German soil,
but who had died shortly before the visit of Duerer. He also visited
Strasburg, and it is thought by many that he extended his journeyings
as far as Venice. In 1494 he returned to Nuremberg, and in the month
of July was married to Agnes Frey, the daughter of a prosperous
merchant of the city. He was twenty-three years of age, and she
somewhat younger. They lived together happily, though no children were
born to them, and it has been proved that the reputation which has
been given her, of being little better than a common scold, who
imbittered his life by her termagancy, is the creation of the ill
temper of one of the testy friends of Duerer, Willibald Pirkheimer,
who, in the spirit of spitefulness, besmirched her character in a
letter which unfortunately survives to this day, and in which he
accuses her of having led her husband a mad and weary dance by her
temper. The reason for this ebullition on the part of Pirkheimer
appears to have been that, after Duerer's death, she refused to give
him a pair of antlers which had belonged to her husband, and which
Pirkheimer had set his heart upon having.
[Illustration: Albert Duerer's Wedding.]