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TUSCAN SCULPTURE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
A Collection of Sixteen Pictures Reproducing Works by Donatello,
the Della Robbia, Mino da Fiesole, and Others, with Introduction
and Interpretation
* * * * * *
RIVERSIDE ART SERIES
1. RAPHAEL
2. REMBRANDT
3. MICHELANGELO
4. MILLET
5. REYNOLDS
6. MURILLO
7. GREEK SCULPTURE
8. TITIAN
9. LANDSEER
10. CORREGGIO
11. TUSCAN SCULPTURE
12. VAN DYCK
Representative pictures by famous Artists, with interpretative text
and portrait of the painter. Edited by ESTELLE M. HURLL. Each volume,
crown 8vo, 75 cents, net; _School Edition_, linen, 50 cents, net;
paper, 35 cents, net.
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.
Boston and New York
* * * * * *
[Illustration: IL MARZOCCO (DONATELLO) National Museum, Florence]
The Riverside Art Series
TUSCAN SCULPTURE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
A Collection of Sixteen Pictures Reproducing Works by Donatello,
the Della Robbia, Mino da Fiesole, and Others, with Introduction
and Interpretation
by
ESTELLE M. HURLL
Boston and New York
Houghton, Mifflin and Company
The Riverside Press, Cambridge
1902
Copyright, 1902, by Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
Published March, 1902.
PREFACE
This little collection is intended as a companion volume to "Greek
Sculpture," a previous issue of the Riverside Art Series. The two sets
of pictures, studied side by side, illustrate clearly the difference
in the spirit animating the two art periods represented.
The Tuscan sculpture of the Renaissance was developed under a variety
of forms, of which as many as possible are included in the limits of
our book: the equestrian statue, the sepulchral monument, the ideal
statue of saint and hero, as well as various forms of decorative art
applied to the beautifying of churches and public buildings both
without and within.
ESTELLE M. HURLL.
NEW BEDFORD, MASS.
February, 1902.
CONTENTS AND LIST OF PICTURES
PAGE
IL MARZOCCO (THE HERALDIC LION OF FLORENCE)
. By Donatello Frontispiece
INTRODUCTION
I. ON SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF TUSCAN SCULPTURE
OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY vii
II. ON BOOKS OF REFERENCE xi
III. HISTORICAL DIRECTORY OF THE WORKS IN THIS COLLECTION xiii
IV. TABLE OF BIOGRAPHICAL DATA xvi
I. MUSICAL ANGELS. By Donatello 1
II. ST. PHILIP. By Nanni di Banco 7
III. ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. By Donatello 13
IV. THE INFANT JESUS AND ST. JOHN. By Mino da Fiesole 19
V. BOYS WITH CYMBALS. By Luca della Robbia 25
VI. TOMB OF ILARIA DEL CARRETTO (Detail). By Jacopo
della Quercia 31
VII. MADONNA AND CHILD (Detail of lunette). By Luca
della Robbia 37
VIII. THE MEETING OF ST. FRANCIS AND ST. DOMINICK. By
Andrea della Robbia 43
IX. ST. GEORGE. By Donatello 49
X. BAMBINO. By Andrea della Robbia 55
XI. THE ANNUNCIATION. By Andrea della Robbia 61
XII. THE ASCENSION. By Luca della Robbia 67
XIII. TOMB OF THE CARDINAL OF PORTUGAL. By Antonio
Rossellino 73
XIV. EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF GATTAMELATA. By Donatello 79
XV. SHRINE. By Mino da Fiesole 86
XVI. IL MARZOCCO (THE HERALDIC LION OF FLORENCE)
By Donatello (See Frontispiece) 91
PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY OF PROPER NAMES AND FOREIGN WORDS 95
NOTE: With one exception the pictures were made from photographs
by Alinari; the "Musical Angels" was made from a photograph
by Naya.
INTRODUCTION
I. ON SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF TUSCAN SCULPTURE
IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
"The Italian sculptors of the earlier half of the fifteenth century
are more than mere forerunners of the great masters of its close, and
often reach perfection within the narrow limits which they chose to
impose on their work. Their sculpture shares with the paintings of
Botticelli and the churches of Brunelleschi that profound
expressiveness, that intimate impress of an indwelling soul, which is
the peculiar fascination of the art of Italy in that century."
These words of Walter Pater define admirably the quality which, in
varying degree, runs through the work of men of such differing methods
as Donatello, the della Robbia, Mino da Fiesole, and Rossellino. It is
the quality of expressiveness as distinguished from that abstract or
generalized character which belongs to Greek sculpture. Greek
sculpture, it is true, taught some of these artists how to study
nature, but it did not satisfy Christian ideals. The subjects demanded
of the Tuscans were entirely foreign to Greek experience. The saints
and martyrs of the Christian era were at the opposite pole from the
gods and heroes of antiquity. Hence the aim of the new sculpture was
the manifestation of the soul, as that of the classic art had been
the glorification of the body.
Jacopo della Quercia was one of the oldest of the sculptors whose work
extended into the fifteenth century, being already twenty-five years
of age when that century began. Standing thus in the period of
transition between the old and the new, his work unites the influence
of mediaeval tradition with a distinctly new element. His bas-reliefs
on the portal of S. Petronio at Bologna are probably his most
characteristic work. The tomb of Ilaria del Carretto is in a class by
itself: "In composition, the gravest and most tranquil of his works,
and in conception, full ofbeauty and feeling."[1]
Donatello is undoubtedly the greatest name in Italian sculpture
previous to Michelangelo. The kinship between these two men was
felicitously expressed in Vasari's quotation from "the most learned
and very reverend" Don Vicenzo Borghini: "Either the spirit of Donato
worked in Buonarroti, or that of Buonarroti first acted in Donato."
Vitality, force, action, suggestiveness, character, such are the words
which spring to the lips in the presence of both masters.
The range of Donatello's art was phenomenal, from works of such
magnitude as the equestrian statue of Gattamelata, to the decorative
panels for the altar of S. Antonio at Padua. At times he was an
uncompromising realist, as in his statue of the bald old man, the
Zuccone, who figured as King David. Again he showed himself capable of
lofty idealism, as in the beautiful and heroic St. George. Which way
his own tastes leaned we may judge from his favorite asseveration,
"By my Zuccone." The point is that it mattered nothing to him whether
his model was beautiful or ugly, whether he wrought out an ideal of
his imagination or studied the character of an actual individual; his
first care was to make the figure live. In consequence his art has
what a critic has called "a robustness and a sanity" which have made
it "a wellspring of inspiration to lesser men."
The only subject practically left out of Donatello's work was woman.
Children afforded him all the material he needed for the more
decorative forms of his art. For the rest the problems which
interested him most were perhaps best worked out in the study of the
male figure.
A recent biographer of Donatello, Hope Rea, points out some
interesting characteristics of his technical workmanship. In every
work subsequent to his St. Mark, "the hair," she says, "is conspicuous
by its appearance of living growth." And again, explaining the
excellence of his drapery, she shows how he went beyond the ordinary
consideration of the general flow and line of the stuffs, to a study
of the sections of the folds. Hence drapery with him "is not only an
arrangement of lines for decorative effect, or a covering for the
figure, but it is a beauty in itself, filled with the living air."
Nanni di Banco is a name naturally associated with that of Donatello,
not only on account of the friendship between the two, but from the
fact that both worked on the church of Or San Michele. Nanni was one
of the smaller men whose work is overshadowed by the fame of a great
contemporary. His art has not sufficient distinction to give it a
prominent place; yet it is not without good qualities. Marcel Reymond
insists that the public has not yet appreciated the just merits of
this neglected sculptor. In his opinion the St. Philip was the
inspiration of Donatello's St. Mark, while Nanni's St. Eloi had an
influence upon St. George.
With Luca della Robbia began the "reign of the bas-relief," as Marcel
Reymond characterizes the period of fifty years between Donatello and
Michelangelo. Women and children were the special subjects of this
sculptor's art, and it is perhaps in the Madonna and Child that we see
his most characteristic touch. How well he could represent spirited
action, we see in some of the panels of the organ gallery. How
dignified was his sense of repose, is seen in the lunette of the
Ascension.
Much as he cared for expression,--"expression carried to its highest
intensity of degree," as Walter Pater put it,--he never found it
necessary to secure this expression at the cost of beauty. That he
studied nature at first hand his works are clear evidence, but that
did not preclude the choice of attractive subjects. His style is "so
sober and contained," writes a recent critic, "so delicate and yet so
healthy, so lovely and yet so free from prettiness, so full of
sentiment, and devoid of sentimentality, that it is hard to find words
for any critical characterization."[2] "Simplicity and nobility," the
words of Cavalucci and Molinier, is perhaps the best phrase in which
to sum up the art of Luca della Robbia.
In his nephew, Andrea della Robbia, the founder of the school had a
successor whose best work is worthy of the master's teaching. If he
lacked the simplicity and severity of the older man, he surpassed him
in depth of Christian sentiment. Sometimes, it is true, his tenderness
verges on weakness, his devoutness on pietism. If we are tempted to
charge him with monotony we must remember what pressure was brought
upon a man whose works attained such immense popularity. The bambini
of the Foundling Hospital and the Meeting of St. Francis and St.
Dominick show the high level to which his art could rise.
Antonio Rossellino and Mino da Fiesole may be classed together as
sculptors to whom decorative effect was of first importance; they
loved line and form for their intrinsic beauty. They delighted in
elaborate and well ordered compositions. Elegance of design, delicacy
and refinement in handling, are invariable qualities of their work.
Such qualities were especially to be desired in the making of those
sepulchral monuments which were so numerous in their period. Of the
many fine works of this class in Tuscany each of these two sculptors
contributed at least one of the best examples.
It is superfluous to point out that the sweetness of these sculptors
is perilously near the insipid, their grace too often formal. We are
brought to realize the true greatness of the men when we behold the
grave and tranquil beauty of the effigy of the Cardinal of Portugal,
or the vigorous characterization of the bust of Bishop Salutati.
It is John Addington Symonds who says the final word when he declares
that the charm of the works of such men as Mino and Rossellino "can
scarcely be defined except by similes." And these are the images which
this master of similes calls up to our mind as we contemplate their
works: "The innocence of childhood, the melody of a lute or a song
bird as distinguished from the music of an orchestra, the rathe tints
of early dawn, cheerful light on shallow streams, the serenity of a
simple and untainted nature that has never known the world."
[Footnote 1: Sidney Colvin.]
[Footnote 2: Notes on _Vasari's Lives_, edited by E. H.
and E. W. Blashfield and A. A. Hopkins.]
II. ON BOOKS OF REFERENCE.
There are but few works devoted exclusively to the subject of Italian
Renaissance sculpture. For many years American students seeking
information in this direction have relied chiefly upon the works of C.
C. Perkins: "Tuscan Sculptors" (2 vols.), London, 1864; "Italian
Sculptors" (in Northern, Southern and Eastern Italy), London, 1868;
and finally the volume which unites and revises the material of both
earlier works, "Historical Handbook of Italian Sculpture," New York,
1883.
The recent work of Marcel Reymond, "La Sculpture Florentine,"
Florence, 1898, has been heartily welcomed by students of all
nationalities. It consists of four volumes, all well illustrated,
devoted respectively to: (1) Les Predecesseurs de l'Ecole Florentineet
la Sculpture Florentine au XIV^e siecle [The Precursors of the
Florentine School and Florentine Sculpture of the 14th Century]. (2)
Premiere moitie du XV^e siecle [First half of the 15th century]. (3)
Seconde moitie du XV^e siecle [Second half of the 15th century]. (4)
Le XVI^e siecle et les Successeurs de l'Ecole Florentine [The 16th
Century and the Successors of the Florentine School]. As it has not
been translated into English this work is not so widely read by the
general public as it should be, but it is probably to be found in most
large libraries.
A newly published book, "Italian Sculpture of the Renaissance," by L.
J. Freeman, M. A., appears just as this volume goes to press. It is a
brief survey, critical and interpretative, of the principal works of
the most prominent Florentine sculptors of the period, with some
account of the characteristics of the early and later Renaissance
work. Some forty fine illustrations elucidate the study.
Of the general works on the history of art from which material on our
subject may be drawn, the most important is of course Vasari's
"Lives." In the recently revised English version, edited by E. H. and
E. W. Blashfield and A. A. Hopkins (New York, 1897), are some valuable
footnotes summing up the characteristics of the individual sculptors.
Of inestimable value for purposes of serious study are the volumes by
Eugene Muentz, "Histoire de l'Art pendant la Renaissance." The material
bearing on the sculptors illustrated in this present collection is
found in his volume devoted to "Les Primitifs" (Paris, 1889). Those to
whom the French text presents no difficulty will derive much benefit
from the study of this book, which may be consulted in the large
public libraries.
A book available to all, and of a delightfully popular nature, is the
volume on "The Fine Arts" in John Addington Symonds's series of The
Renaissance in Italy. This writer had a remarkable gift for putting
much suggestive comment into a compact and readable form.
General histories of sculpture allotting a proportionate space to the
consideration of the Italian sculptors of the Renaissance are, by Lucy
Baxter, "Sculpture, Renaissance and Modern" (New York, 1891); Luebke,
"History of Sculpture," translated from the German by F. E. Bunnett
(London, 1878); Allan Marquand and A. L. Frothingham, "Textbook of the
History of Sculpture" (New York, 1896).
A special study of the work of Donatello is made by Hope Rea in a
volume of the series of Handbooks of the Great Masters in Painting and
Sculpture. A complete list of the sculptor's works is given. Luca
della Robbia is the subject of two important French works: by
Cavalucci and Molinier, "Les Della Robbia" (Paris, 1884); by Marcel
Reymond, "Les Della Robbia" (Florence, 1897). There is a chapter on
Luca della Robbia in Walter Pater's "Studies in the History of the
Renaissance" (1890), and another in Mrs. Van Rensselaer's "Six
Portraits" (Boston, 1889).
Mrs. Oliphant has written pleasantly both of Donatello and of Luca
della Robbia in "The Makers of Florence."
III. HISTORICAL DIRECTORY OF THE WORKS IN THIS COLLECTION.
Frontispiece. _Il Marzocco_ (the heraldic lion of Florence).
(Donatello.) Made of pietra serena and originally placed on the
_ringhiera_ of the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. Now in the National
Museum (Bargello) of that city, while a bronze copy occupies its place
in front of the palace.
1. _Musical Angels._ (Donatello.) Bronze bas-reliefs from the high
altar of S. Antonio, Padua. Ordered in 1448. Completed in 1450. Marcel
Reymond holds that the execution of these reliefs was committed to
assistants. In 1576 a new altar was ordered, and Donatello's bronzes
were dispersed. In 1895 a reconstruction of Donatello's altar was
made, setting the parts in place according to what is supposed to have
been the original design.
2. _St. Philip._ (Nanni di Banco.) Marble statue in niche on outside
of Or San Michele, Florence. The date is uncertain; Marcel Reymond
considers it one of Nanni's oldest works, placing it before 1408.
3. _St. John the Baptist._ (Donatello.) Bas-relief in pietra serena in
the National Museum (Bargello), Florence. No date is assigned.
4. _The Infant Jesus and St. John._ (Mino da Fiesole.) Detail of
marble altarpiece in alto relievo in cathedral of Fiesole, being a
part of the monument of Bishop Salutati. Ordered in 1462.
5. _Boys with Cymbals._ (Lucca della Robbia.) One of the marble
bas-reliefs ornamenting the organ gallery for the Florence cathedral.
Organ gallery begun in 1431, finished 1440. Removed from cathedral in
1688. Reliefs put in Uffizi Gallery 1882, and then in the Bargello.
Thence taken to the museum of the Duomo, where they are now to be
seen, set up in place on the reconstructed gallery.
6. _Tomb of Ilaria del Carretto (Detail)._ (Jacopo della Quercia.)
Marble tomb in the cathedral of Lucca. Milanese dates it 1413, but
Ridolfi's description of the Lucca cathedral places Jacopo's work
there in 1406 or 1407, and Muentz thinks this date conclusive.
7. _Madonna and Child (Detail)._ (Luca della Robbia.) Glazed terra
cotta lunette over the door of a building (now a shop) in the Via
dell' Agnolo, Florence. Considered by Marcel Reymond the most
difficult of Luca's work to date. According to Dr. Bode, executed
before 1431; according to Allan Marquand, between 1430 and 1440;
according to Marcel Reymond, towards 1450.
8. _Meeting of St. Francis and St. Dominick._ (Andrea della Robbia.)
Glazed terra cotta lunette in the Loggia of San Paolo, Florence.
Classified by Marcel Reymond under Andrea's third manner, because
distinguished by perfect knowledge of artistic principles.
9. _St. George._ (Donatello.) Marble statue originally designed for a
niche on the church of Or San Michele, Florence. Executed in 1416 at
the order of the Guild of Armorers. In 1887 it was removed to the
National Museum, Florence, to preserve it from injury by exposure to
the weather. A bronze copy was substituted for it on the church.
10. _Bambino._ (Andrea della Robbia.) One of a series of glazed terra
cotta medallions on the facade of the Foundling Hospital, Florence.
Judged by its relation to the art of Luca della Robbia, this is among
the early works of Andrea. From certain data in the history of the
hospital, Cavalucci reckons that it was executed about the year 1463.
11. _The Annunciation._ (Andrea della Robbia.) Altarpiece at La Verna.
Marcel Reymond says that from the beauty of style and the advanced
knowledge of technique exhibited here, this work must belong to
Andrea's maturity, that is, in the neighborhood of his fortieth year.
It is classified by Reymond in Andrea's "first manner."
12. _The Ascension._ (Luca della Robbia.) Enamelled terra cotta
lunette, decorating tympanum of door of sacristy in the cathedral at
Florence. The first work in this material by Luca of which we have the
date, 1446.
13. _Tomb of the Cardinal of Portugal (Detail)._ (Antonio Rossellino.)
Tomb in colored marble in the church of San Miniato, Florence. Ordered
in 1461.
14. _Equestrian statue of Gattamelata._ (Donatello.) In the Piazza del
Santo, Padua. Commission given 1444. Work begun 1446. Statue set up,
1453. Erected at the expense of Gattamelata's son, Gio. Antonio.
15. _Shrine._ (Mino da Fiesole.) A marble tabernacle, decorated in
mezzo-relievo and originally made for the nuns of the convent of the
Murate. Removed in 1815 to S. Croce, Florence. No date is assigned to
it.
IV. TABLE OF BIOGRAPHICAL DATA.
_Jacopo di Pietro d'Angelo_, of La Quercia Gossa, a castello once near
Siena and since destroyed. Born 1371; died 1438. Variously stated
to have been a scholar of Maestro Goro and of Luca di Giovanni.
Milanese believes that these claims are groundless, and that
Jacopo was a pupil of his own father, who was a goldsmith. Best
known for his marble reliefs ornamenting the portal of S.
Petronio, Bologna.
_Nanni di Banco._ Son of Antonio di Banco, who was at work in the
Florence Cathedral in 1406. He is known to have been considerably
older than Donatello, and Marcel Reymond suggests the date 1374
as the probable year of his birth. Died 1421.
_Donatello._ The familiar name applied to Donato di Niccolo di Betti
Bardi. Born in Florence, 1386; died in Florence, 1466. His visit
to Rome in company with Brunelleschi has been called the most
important of the initial steps in the revival of antiquity in art.
The friendship and patronage of Cosmo de' Medici brought the
artist many commissions.
_Luca di Simone di Marco della Robbia._ Born in Florence, 1399 or
1400; died 1482.
_Andrea della Robbia_, nephew of Luca. Born 1435; died 1525.
_Antonio Rossellino._ One of the five sons of Matteo di Domenico
Gambarelli, all being artists. Born in Settignano in 1427; died
about 1499.
_Mino di Giovanni di Mino_, usually called _Mino da Fiesole_. Born in
1431 in Poppi, in the Casentino, a district between the sources of
the Arno and Tiber, north of Arezzo. Died in 1484. He was a friend
of Desiderio da Settignano, but probably not one of his pupils.
I
MUSICAL ANGELS
BY DONATELLO
In the western part of Italy, lying a little north of the centre, is
the district known as Tuscany. Here, in the valley of the Arno, is the
city of Florence, glorious with her storied palaces and churches.
Around her are clustered Pistoja and Lucca, Pisa and Leghorn, Siena
and Arezzo, all notable towns in Italian history. Here, too, is
Carrara, with its stores of beautiful marble.
It was from this little district of Tuscany that the sculptors came
forth who have helped to make Italy famous as the birthplace of modern
art. The development of Tuscan sculpture covered a period of some
three centuries, beginning with the Pisan Niccolo, who worked between
the years 1220 and 1270, and culminating with the great Florentine
Michelangelo, who died in 1564. We shall study in this little
collection a few works of the fifteenth century.
It was the time called by historians the Renaissance, which means
literally "the new birth." The world was awakening from the long sleep
of the Middle Ages, and Italy was the first to be aroused. Certain
adventurous spirits began to ponder the possibility of a new continent
beyond the sea. There was a great revival of learning, accompanied by
a passionate love of the beautiful. Schools of art were established
throughout the length of Italy.
In other volumes of this series we have learned how the churches,
palaces, and public buildings were filled with paintings.[3] We shall
now see that sculpture also contributed much to the adornment of the
cities. Statues, busts, and bas-reliefs, in marble, bronze, and
terra-cotta, ornamented many buildings both without and within.
Our illustration shows two panels from the series of twelve bronze
reliefs on the front of a church altar. Two little boy angels are
making music with their pipes. The companion panels are also filled
with musical angels, some singing and others playing on various
instruments.
The New Testament begins and ends with the music of angels. The birth
of Jesus is heralded by a multitude of the heavenly host singing
"Glory to God in the highest." The golden city of St. John's vision is
filled with "the voice of harpers, harping with their harps," in the
new song before the throne of God. Thence has arisen the beautiful
custom of artists to represent angels as musicians.
The child angels of our picture have tiny pointed wings as a sign of
their heavenly origin. Certainly we cannot imagine such buoyant little
creatures treading the earth like mortals. One stands on tip-toe like
a bird poised for flight. The other skips through the air with joyous
motion. The head of one is encircled by a halo, the emblem of purity.
The other wears a fillet of flowers over his curls. Each carries two
little pipes, the simplest of musical instruments.
[Illustration: MUSICAL ANGELS (DONATELLO) Church of San Antonio,
Padua]
It was long ago in the childhood of the race that some shepherd,
plucking a reed from the bank of a stream, first found that the hollow
stem had a voice of its own. The pipe thereafter became a favorite
instrument among primitive people. We read in the Old Testament
Scriptures that the ancient Hebrews used it in the celebration of
their festivities. At the Greek festivals also the pipers had a place
in the procession of musicians.
Our angel pipers are blowing lustily with puffing cheeks--
"Such sweet
Soft notes as yet musician's cunning
Never gave the enraptured air."
They are genuine musicians, not children playing with the pipes as
with toys. They move to the rhythm of their piping, their lifted faces
expressing their delight. Their thin garments cling to their figures,
and the loose ends flutter about them.
Every line of the modelling is beautiful, the poise of the figures
full of rhythmic grace. The angel at the left stands in profile, with
face slightly turned away from the spectator. The right hand figure
skips directly out of his panel, swinging lithely about towards the
left, as he moves. The outlines of both figures describe long fine
curves, with which the edges of the drapery run parallel. In the
drawing of the right hand angel we may trace delicate patterns of
interlacing ovals.
Some portions of the work seem to be modelled in very high relief. The
limbs, we are told, are in low relief, supported on a metal back, an
inch or so thick, by which they are thrown out to a proper distance
from the background.
The altar to which our panels belong is in the church of S. Antonio,
Padua, and was executed by the Florentine sculptor, Donatello, in
1450. The entire scheme of decoration is very elaborate. On the front
is a row of musical angels, in which the panels here reproduced occupy
opposite ends. Above these are five reliefs of larger size; and still
higher are seven life-size statues of saints. The whole is surmounted
by a crucifix. Even the back of the altar is ornamented with reliefs,
and the work is an example of the spirit of the age, which thought
nothing too rich or beautiful for the purposes of worship.
[Footnote 3: See _Raphael_, _Michelangelo_, _Titian_, and
_Correggio_.]
II
ST. PHILIP
BY NANNI DI BANCO
St. Philip was one of the first group of disciples whom Jesus called
to his service. He was a native of Bethsaida in Galilee, but we do not
know what occupation he pursued there. There is a tradition that he
was a chariot driver, and in any case he was certainly a laboring man
like all of the twelve. Having attached himself to Jesus he began at
once to work in his cause. He persuaded Nathanael to come and see the
Master, and thereby won a new adherent.[4]
Philip was not spiritually minded, like John, nor impetuous, like
Peter, but in his own way he wanted to know the truth. Perhaps he was
a little slower than others to grasp religious teaching. It may be
that he was franker than many in confessing that he did not
understand.
He and Thomas were somewhat alike in this respect, and once, when
Jesus was talking of departing to the Heavenly Father, both
interrupted him with questions. Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father
and it sufficeth us." "Have I been so long time with you and yet hast
thou not known me?" replied Jesus. "He that hath seen me hath seen the
Father."[5]
Apparently Philip learned his lesson well, for we read in traditional
history of his faithful missionary services in later life. He was
twenty years in Scythia preaching the gospel. Then he went to
Hieropolis in Phrygia, where the people worshipped a serpent. The
apostle drove the serpent away, but the pagan priests sought his life
in revenge. He was bound to a cross and stoned to death, praying even
in his agony for his enemies.[6]
The statue of St. Philip in our illustration shows him as a somewhat
commonplace-looking man with heavy features. It accords with the usual
account of him that his face should not be particularly intellectual.
His attitude is full of dignity, and denotes a well-balanced
character. The large well-knit hands are those of an artisan. He is of
about middle age, as the artists usually represent him. A plain man of
good common sense and sterling worth--this was Philip both in fact and
in the statue.
In pictures and statues the apostles nearly always carry the symbols
of their identity. St. Philip's emblem is the cross, but it is here
dispensed with, and we have only the Latin inscription to show us who
he is.
[Illustration: ST. PHILIP (NANNI DI BANCO) _Church of Or San Michele,
Florence_]
The statue stands in a niche, and is one of a series ornamenting the
outside of the church of Or San Michele in Florence. In building this
church all the merchants and artisans of the city contributed to
support the work. Each trade was at that time represented by a guild
or association whose members united to advance their common business
interests.[7] These various guilds furnished the statues for the
niches, each supplying the figure of its own patron saint. St. Philip
was the gift of the Guild of Hosiers, and was executed by the sculptor
Nanni di Banco.
Donatello had at first been approached by the guild, but considering
his price exorbitant they gave the order to Nanni, who promised to
accept any terms they decided upon. When the statue was done, however,
the sculptor demanded a sum larger than the price of Donatello. The
latter was now called upon to act as referee, and he set a still
higher price upon the work. The Hosiers were indignant. "Why," they
asked, "had Donatello rated Nanni's work at a higher price than his
own, which would have undoubtedly been better?" "Because," replied the
great sculptor, laughing, "being less skilful than I, he has worked
harder, and therefore deserves more pay." A compromise was effected,
and the statue set in place.
That Donatello could indeed have made a better statue we shall
presently see when we study his St. George, designed for the same
church. St. Philip lacks distinction, and it has not the animation
which the greater sculptor knew how to impart to his work.
Nevertheless it has certain artistic qualities which make it worthy of
Donatello's championship.
The lines of the drapery are well studied. Apparently Nanni had
learned something in this respect from the Greek sculpture. Where
draperies are simple and hang in long unbroken lines, the effect is
impressive and dignified. When they are voluminous and broken, they
lose in dignity. Good art is always simple and has no meaningless
lines.
We are interested in examining the niche in which the statue is set.
It is Gothic in design, and with its pointed top and side pinnacles
recalls the cathedral windows in northern Europe. An architectural
frame of this sort is often called a tabernacle, being in fact a
miniature church in form. In the triangular space at the top is a
bas-relief figure in half length which seems to represent Christ. The
base is ornamented with an arabesque or scroll design, flanked at each
end by the arms of the Hosiers' Guild. The side pillars have rich
Corinthian capitals. Just inside are twisted pillars of curious
workmanship.
Our illustration also shows a portion of the wall against which the
niche is placed. We see that the church is built of stone, set in
square blocks. On each side of the niche is a metal ring through which
torches were thrust.
[Footnote 4: St. John, chapter i., verses 43-51.]
[Footnote 5: St. John, chapter xiv., verses 1-11.]
[Footnote 6: Mrs. Jameson's _Sacred and Legendary Art_, p. 235.]
[Footnote 7: The Florentine guilds of this period may be compared with
those of the seventeenth century in Holland. See the chapter on the
"Syndics of the Cloth Guild" in the volume on Rembrandt in the
Riverside Art Series.]
III
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
BY DONATELLO
In the hill country of Judaea lived the priest Zacharias and his wife,
Elisabeth, who were the parents of St. John the Baptist. They were
pious people, "walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the
Lord, blameless." One day, as Zacharias was ministering in his office
in the temple, an angel brought him the glad tidings that he was to
have a son. "Thou shalt call his name John," said the vision, "and
thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his
birth."
A great career was promised for the coming child. He was to be a
preacher filled with spiritual power. Like the old prophet Elias, he
was to turn the hearts of the people to God, and to prepare the way
for the Christ. As a sign that the angel's words were true, Zacharias
was stricken dumb until his son was born. Then "his tongue was loosed,
and he spake and praised God."
The neighbors marvelled at the mystery of John's birth, and they saw
that "the hand of the Lord was with him." "And the child grew and
waxed strong in spirit," until he came to manhood.[8] Then was
fulfilled the angel's prophecy concerning him. He became a great
preacher, and multitudes flocked to hear him.
John's manner of life was like that of a hermit. He dwelt in the
wilderness about the river Jordan, wearing a garment of camel's hair
bound about his loins with a leathern girdle. His food was locusts and
wild honey. He gathered his audiences in the open air and baptised his
disciples in the river.
Though stern in his teachings he became for a time very popular. Yet
he always spoke of his own work with great humility. "There cometh one
mightier than I after me," he said.[9] This was Jesus, who, on
presenting himself for baptism, was greeted by John as the "Lamb of
God." The prophet's mission was now accomplished. He was soon after
thrown into prison and beheaded, at the order of King Herod, whose
sins he had openly rebuked.
The story of the Baptist's life brings readily before the imagination
the strange figure of the man.[10] It is not so easy to fancy how he
might have looked as a boy. The bas-relief of our illustration shows
us what form the idea took in the mind of the sculptor Donatello.
[Illustration: ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST (DONATELLO) _National Museum,
Florence_]
The little fellow seems tall and slender for his years, as if he had
stretched his limbs by running much in the open air. The face is
somewhat serious, but perfectly childish. The lips are parted in a
half smile. He has a good forehead, and is an independent thinker. He
impresses us as a straightforward character, a boy to like and trust.
It would be too much to say that he shows the making of a great man.
It is enough that he is an honest, healthy boy with a mind of his own.
He is hardly pretty, but he is very interesting. The hair is his most
charming feature, waving in little tendrils over the head. He is not
plump enough for his figure to show fine curves. On the contrary, the
modelling is on rather severe lines, as if in keeping with the
character.
Certain well understood signs show who he is. The circle about his
head is the halo, the symbol of a sacred character. The skin garment
fastened at the shoulder reminds us of the strange clothing John wore
in the desert. The tall cross is the emblem of the prophet, as a
forerunner of the crucified one.
Donatello's art covered a wide range of subjects, but in none was he
more at home than in representing children. He has been called "the
poet of child-life." There are interesting points of comparison
between the example before us and the Musical Angels of the altar at
Padua. St. John the Baptist is evidently a real little boy,
transferred to the stone just as he was. The piping angels, on the
other hand, are child ideals, without counterpart
in real life. St. John's large ear, with its irregularly bent rim, and
his straight upper lip, are features such as an artist must certainly
have copied, not invented. The angel faces, on the other hand, are
moulded in the perfect curves which originate in the imagination of
the artist. Donatello was, above all things else, a close student of
human nature. Sometimes, indeed, he chose very unattractive models,
and reproduced them so faithfully that the realism is almost painful.
His artistic eye was always open to new impressions. Perhaps, one day
as he walked through the streets of Florence, he noticed among the
children playing there this little fellow of the long neck and pensive
face. "Ecco," said he, to himself, "il Giovannino."[11] The child's
face and bearing had a quaint seriousness precisely suited to the
character.
It is wonderful how the sculptor's art has made the little boy seem
actually alive in the bas-relief. The hair is executed with the skill
peculiar to Donatello, and seems to grow from the head. Such studies
from real life--_genre_ studies, as they are called--were lessons
which prepared the artist for higher works of idealism. The little St.
John may have been the original material for some of the angel
figures.
[Footnote 8: The circumstances of John's birth are related in the
first chapter of St. Luke, from which the quotations are drawn.]
[Footnote 9: St. Mark, chapter i., verse 7.]
[Footnote 10: See the pictures of St. John the Baptist in the volumes
on _Titian_ and _Correggio_ in the Riverside Art Series.]
[Footnote 11: "There is the little John."]
IV
THE INFANT JESUS AND ST. JOHN
BY MINO DA FIESOLE
Jesus and St. John the Baptist were of nearly the same age, and there
was a peculiar tie between them. Their mothers, Mary and Elizabeth,
were cousins, and before the boys were born the two women had confided
in each other their hopes for the future of their children. Angelic
messengers had predicted a remarkable destiny for both boys. Jesus was
to rule over an everlasting kingdom, and John was to be his prophet
preparing the way for him. These were secrets which the outside world
could not have understood, and Mary paid a visit to her kinswoman that
they might talk of them together.
As John's home was in the hill country and Jesus was born in the town
of Bethlehem, we do not know how soon the boys met. It might be
supposed that Mary and Elizabeth would be eager to bring them
together. While the mothers took council on the training of their
sons, the children would be at play.
The little ones were, we believe, brought up quite simply, with no
sense that they were different from other children. Jesus was a
natural leader. We remember how he surprised his mother at the age of
twelve by asserting his own judgment.[12] Among his playfellows he
must have shown much earlier that he was the one to take the first
place. John was doubtless taught by his mother to defer to his little
cousin. He was not lacking in spirit himself, but he could sometimes
be very humble. In his manhood he spoke of Jesus as one whose shoe's
latchet he was not worthy to unloose.[13]
It is pleasant to picture the two children together in our fancy, and
we do not wonder that artists have liked the subject.[14] Our
illustration shows us the theme wrought in marble. The child Jesus
sits on the steps, and the little St. John approaching kneels in
adoration. We see at once the religious meaning of the artist: the
relation between the two in after life is foreshadowed in this
imaginary incident. Each child carries the symbol of his character. A
halo behind the head of Jesus signifies his divine origin. He holds on
his knee a globe surmounted by a cross, in token that he who was
crucified shall be the ruler of the world. In the symbol of the globe
the old artists anticipated the later discoveries of science as to the
form of the earth. Some of the ancient philosophers had taught that
the earth is a sphere, and through the writings of Aristotle the
belief was spread among the scholars of the Middle Ages.[15] That the
idea made its way into art is perhaps because the sphere is the most
perfect and beautiful form, and hence the fitting symbol of God's
created work.[16]
[Illustration: THE INFANT JESUS AND ST. JOHN (MINO DA FIESOLE)
_Cathedral, Fiesole_]
St. John carries the cross, which is his usual emblem as a prophet of
Christ. It is tall and slender because it was supposed to be made of
reeds. The reference is to Jesus's words concerning John when asking
the people if they had sought the prophet merely as "a reed shaken by
the wind."
The infant Jesus is a vigorous child, straight and perfectly formed.
The little St. John is an older and taller boy, wearing a tunic. The
younger child is delighted to have a playfellow. There is an eager
smile on his face, and he puts out his right hand as if he longed to
take the curious plaything St. John carries. Both children are plump,
with well-shaped heads, but there is nothing precocious-looking about
either. They are indeed uncommonly pretty, but for the rest are like
other children, eying each other somewhat shyly in the early stages of
acquaintance. It will not be long before they are the best of friends.
The figures in our illustration form a part of a marble altar-piece by
Mino da Fiesole. The whole composition consists of three niches
approached by steps. In the central compartment kneels the mother
Mary, adoring with folded hands the child, who sits below her. We see
in our picture only the lower part of her dress behind the Christ
child. In the side niches are figures of saints, the little St. John
kneeling in front of the one on the Madonna's right.
Mino da Fiesole has been called "The Raphael of sculpture," and his
work in this altar-piece illustrates the fitness of comparing him with
the great painter. Especially do the figures of the two children here
remind us of the child ideals of Raphael. At the time when this work
was executed (1462) painters and sculptors had just begun to represent
the Christ child undraped. The earlier artists had always shown the
little figure clad in a tunic. We shall presently see how this old
custom was still followed in bas-reliefs of the Madonna and Child by
Luca della Robbia and Rossellino. The more progressive artists were
unwilling to conceal the beauty of the child's figure by any sort of
dress. By the beginning of the sixteenth century the old way had
entirely given place to the new.[17]
In our picture we see that a Latin inscription on the base of the
lowest step contains the name of Leonardo Salutati, bishop of Fiesole.
[18] It was by the order of this bishop that the altar was executed,
as was also the tomb opposite it in the cathedral of Fiesole.
[Footnote 12: St. Luke, chapter ii., verse 49.]
[Footnote 13: St. Luke, chapter iii., verse 16.]
[Footnote 14: See Chapter IX., on the "Children of the Shell," in the
volume on _Murillo_ in the Riverside Art Series.]
[Footnote 15: This is on the authority of a French writer, A.
Jourdain, quoted by William H. Tillinghast in an essay on the
"Geographical Knowledge of the Ancients," in the _Narrative and
Critical History of America_. In the same essay an anonymous poem of
the thirteenth century is quoted to show the prevalent belief in the
sphericity of the earth.]
[Footnote 16: In Didron's _Christian Iconography_, several interesting
illustrations from old miniatures, etc., show the globe in the hand of
the Creator. It is curious that this supposedly exhaustive authority
on church symbolism gives no account of the origin and history of this
emblem.]
[Footnote 17: See Madonna pictures by Raphael, Titian, Correggio, and
Michelangelo in other volumes of the Riverside Art Series.]
[Footnote 18: _Eps_, with the curious mark above, stands for
_episcopus_.]
V
BOYS WITH CYMBALS
BY LUCA DELLA ROBBIA
The bas-relief of our illustration is one of a series of marble panels
designed to ornament the singing-gallery of a church. The children
moving forward with song and cymbal remind us of the bands of singers
and musicians who took part in religious processions of ancient times.
We read of such processions among both the Greeks[19] and the Hebrews.
[20]
The custom of singing was adopted by the Christian church from its
foundation,[21] and gradually the musical part of the service was
developed into a fine art. There was a famous system of choral
chanting under Pope Gregory I.,[22] and in the eleventh century part
singing was introduced. At length the organ came into use, and by the
fifteenth century it had become an important part of the church
furnishings.
It was early in this century when the wardens of the cathedral at
Florence had an organ constructed on what the old writer Vasari called
"a very grand scale." In connection with this an organ loft, such as
the Italians call a _cantoria_, was needed to accommodate the singers.
The Florentine sculptor, Luca della Robbia, received the order for
this work, and was occupied with it some nine years (1431-1440).
The cantoria is entirely of marble, built like a balcony, with the
upper part or balustrade supported on five consoles or brackets. Four
square bas-reliefs, separated by pilasters, ornament the front of the
balustrade, and four more fill the corresponding spaces below,
separated by the consoles. The artist took as the motive of his
decorative scheme the one hundred and fiftieth psalm. This hymn of
praise furnished his imagination with a series of pictures
illustrating many kinds of music. The entire psalm is quoted in the
Latin version on the gallery, the inscriptions running in narrow bands
across the top and bottom and between the two rows of panels. These
are the verses in the familiar English version of King James, grouped
in the three sections into which they are divided:--
"Praise God in his sanctuary:
praise him in the firmament of his power.
Praise him for his mighty acts:
praise him according to his excellent greatness.
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet:
praise him with the psaltery and harp.
Praise him with the timbrel
and dance:
praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
Praise him upon the loud cymbals:
praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
Let everything that hath breath
praise the Lord."
[Illustration: BOYS WITH CYMBALS (LUCA DELLA ROBBIA) _The Duomo,
Florence_]
The eight illustrations of the gallery omit nothing mentioned by the
psalmist. Here are the trumpets, the harp, the psaltery, and the
timbrel. Here is the choric dance, followed by players on organs and
stringed instruments; after these come the loud cymbals or
tambourines, and finally the "high sounding cymbals" of our
illustration.
The players are a half dozen children, some dressed in tunics, and
others wearing scarf-like garments which leave their limbs free. Two
are crowned with flowers in the Greek fashion, and others have a
fillet or band bound about the hair. The leader walks with his head
thrown back, his mouth wide open, singing with all his might,
oblivious of everything but his music. He holds the cymbals high,
striking them together in the rhythm of his song. His companion is a
jolly little fellow, not at all concerned in the music, but laughing
at something which attracts his attention in the distance.