THE MADONNA IN A HOME ENVIRONMENT.
A subject so sacred as the Madonna was long held in too great
reverence to permit of any common or realistic treatment. The pastoral
setting brought the mother and her babe into somewhat closer and more
human relations than had before been deemed possible; but art was slow
to presume any further upon this familiarity. The Madonna as a
domestic subject, represented in the interior of her home, was
hesitatingly adopted, and has been so rarely treated, even down to our
own times, as to form but a small group of pictures in the great body
of art.
[Illustration: SCHONGAUER.--HOLY FAMILY.]
The Northern painters naturally led the way. Peculiarly home-loving
in their tastes, their ideal woman is the _hausfrau_, and it was with
them no lowering of the Madonna's dignity to represent her in this
capacity. A picture in the style of Quentin Massys hangs in the Munich
Gallery, and shows a Flemish bedroom of the fifteenth century. At the
left stands the bed, and on the right burns the fire, with a kettle
hanging over it. The Virgin sits alone with her babe at her breast.
More frequently a domestic scene of this sort includes other figures
belonging to the Holy Family. A typical German example is the picture
by Schongauer in the Belvedere Gallery at Vienna. The Virgin is seated
in homely surroundings, intent upon a bunch of grapes which she holds
in her hands, and which she has taken from a basket standing on the
floor beside her. Long, waving hair falls over her shoulders; a snowy
kerchief is folded primly in the neck of her dress; she is the
impersonation of virgin modesty. Her baby boy stands on her lap,
nestling against his mother; his eyes fixed on the fruit, his eager
little face glowing with pleasure. Beyond are seen the cattle, which
Joseph is feeding. He pauses at the door, a bundle of hay in his arms,
to look in with fond pride at his young wife and her child.
Schongauer's work belongs to the latter part of the fifteenth century,
and there was nothing similar to it in Italy at the same period. It is
true that Madonnas in domestic settings have been attributed to
contemporaneous Italians, but they were probably by some Flemish hand.
[Illustration: RAPHAEL.--MADONNA DELL' IMPANNATA.]
Giulio Romano, a pupil of Raphael, was perhaps the first of the
Italians to give any domestic touch to the subject of the Madonna and
child. His Madonna della Catina of the Dresden Gallery is well known.
It is so called from the basin in which the Christ-child stands while
the little St. John pours in water from a pitcher for the bath.
Another picture by the same artist shows the Madonna seated with her
child in the interior of a bedchamber. This was one of the
"discoveries" of the late Senator Giovanni Morelli, the critic, and is
in a private collection in Dresden.
To Giulio Romano also, according to recent criticism, is due the
domestic Madonna known as the "Impannata," and usually attributed to
Raphael. It is probable that both artists had a hand in it, the master
in the arrangement of the composition, the pupil in its execution. A
bed at one side is concealed by a green curtain. In the rear is the
cloth-covered window which gives the picture its name. Elizabeth and
Mary Magdalene have brought home the child, who springs to his
mother's arms, smiling back brightly at his friends. One other Madonna
from Raphael's brush (the Orleans) has an interior setting, but the
domestic environment here is undoubtedly the work of some Flemish
painter of later date.
By the seventeenth century, the Holy Family in a home environment can
be found somewhat more often in various localities. By the French
painter Mignard there is a well-known picture in the Louvre called La
Vierge à la Grappe. By F. Barocci of Urbino there is an example in the
National Gallery known as the Madonna del Gatto, in which the child
holds a bird out of the reach of a cat. A similar _motif_, certainly
not a pleasant one, is seen in Murillo's Holy Family of the Bird, in
Madrid. By Salimbeni, in the Pitti, is a Holy Family in an interior,
showing the boy Jesus and his cousin St. John playing with puppies.
Rembrandt's domestic Madonna pictures, equally homely as to
environment, are by no means scenes of hilarity, but rather of frugal
contentment. Two similar works bear the title of Le Ménage du
Menuisier--the Carpenter's Home. In both, the scene is the interior of
a common room devoted to work and household purposes. Joseph is seen
in the rear at his bench, while the central figures are the mother and
child.
In the Louvre picture, the Virgin's mother is present, caressing her
grandchild, who is held at his mother's breast. The composition at St.
Petersburg (Hermitage Gallery) is simpler, and shows the Virgin
contemplating her babe as he lies asleep in the cradle. Another
well-known picture by Rembrandt is in the Munich Gallery, where again
we have signs of the carpenter's toil, but where the laborer has
stopped for a moment to peep at the babe, who has gone off to
dreamland at his mother's breast and now sleeps sweetly in her lap.
Let those who think such pictures too homely for a sacred theme
compare them with the simplicity of the Gospels.
PART II.
MADONNAS CLASSED ACCORDING TO THEIR SIGNIFICANCE AS TYPES OF
MOTHERHOOD.
CHAPTER VI.
THE MADONNA OF LOVE.
(THE MATER AMABILIS.)
Undoubtedly the most popular of all Madonna subjects--certainly the
most easily understood--is the Mater Amabilis. The mother's mood may
be read at a glance: she is showing in one of a thousand tender ways
her motherly affection for her child. She clasps him in her arms,
holding him to her breast, pressing her face to his, kissing him,
caressing him, or playing with him. Love is written in every line of
her face; love is the key-note of the picture.
The style of composition best adapted to such a theme is manifestly
the simplest. The more formal types of the enthroned and glorified
Madonnas are the least suitable for the display of maternal affection,
while the portrait Madonna, and the Madonna in landscape or domestic
scenes, are readily conceived as the Mater Amabilis. Nevertheless,
these distinctions have not by any means been rigidly regarded in art.
This is manifest in some of the illustrations in Part I., as the
Enthroned Madonna, by Quentin Massys, where the mother kisses her
child, and Angelico's Madonna in Glory, where she holds him to her
cheek.
Gathering our examples from so many methods of composition, we are in
the midst of a multitude of pictures which no man can number, and
which set forth every conceivable phase of motherliness.
Let us make Raphael our starting-point. From the same master whose
influence led him to the study of external nature, he learned also
the study of human nature. To the interpretation of mother-love he
brought all the fresh ardor of youth, and a sunny temperament which
saw only joy in the face of Nature. One after another of the series of
his Florentine pictures gives us a new glimpse of the loving relation
between mother and child.
The Belle Jardinière gazes into her boy's face in fond absorption. The
Tempi Madonna holds him to her heart, pressing her lips to his soft
cheek. In the Orleans and Colonna pictures she smiles indulgently into
his eyes as he lies across her lap, plucking at the bosom of her
dress. Other pictures show the two eagerly reading together from the
Book of Wisdom (The Conestabile and Ansidei Madonnas).
The painter's later work evinces a growing maturity of thought. In the
Holy Family of Francis I., how strong and tender is the mother's
attitude, as she stoops to lift her child from his cradle; in the
Chair Madonna, how protecting is the capacious embrace with which she
gathers him to herself in brooding love. No technical artistic
education is necessary for the appreciation of such pictures. All who
have known a mother's love look and understand, and look again and are
satisfied.
Correggio touches the heart in much the same way; he, too, saw the
world through rose-colored glasses. His interpretation of life is full
of buoyant enjoyment. Beside the tranquil joy of Raphael's ideals, his
figures express a tumultuous gladness, an overflowing gayety. This is
the more curious because of the singular melancholy which is
attributed to him. The outer circumstances of his life moved in a
quiet groove which was almost humdrum. He passed his days in
comparative obscurity at Parma, far from the great art influences of
his time. But isolation seemed the better to develop his rare
individuality. He was the architect of his own fortunes, and wrought
out independently a style peculiar to himself. His most famous Madonna
pictures are large compositions, crowded with figures of extravagant
attitudes and expression. The fame of these more pretentious works
rests not so much upon their inner significance as upon their splendid
technique. They are unsurpassed for masterly handling of color, and
for triumphs of chiaroscuro.
There are better qualities of sentiment in the smaller pictures, where
the mother is alone with her child. It is here that we find something
worthy to compare with Raphael. There are several of these, produced
in rapid succession during the period when the artist was engaged upon
the frescoes of S. Giovanni (Parma), and soon after marriage had
opened his heart to sweet, domestic influences.
The first was the Uffizi picture, so widely known and loved. The
mother has gathered up her mantle so that it covers her head and drops
at one side on a step, forming a soft, blue cushion for the babe. Here
the little darling lies, looking up into his mother's face. Kneeling
on the step below, she bends over him, with her hands playfully
outstretched, in a transport of maternal affection.
Following this came the picture now in the National Gallery, called
the Madonna della Cesta, from the basket that lies on the ground. It
is a domestic scene in the outer air: the mother is dressing her babe,
and smilingly arrests his hand, which, on a sudden impulse, he has
stretched towards some coveted object. The same face is almost exactly
repeated in the Madonna of the Hermitage Gallery (St. Petersburg),
who offers her breast to her boy, at that moment turning about to
receive some fruit presented by a child angel. There are two
duplicates of this picture in other galleries.
The Zingarella (the Gypsy) is so called from the gypsy turban worn by
the Madonna. The mother, supposed to be painted from the artist's
wife, sits with the child asleep on her lap. With motherly tenderness
she bends so closely over him that her forehead touches his little
head. It is unfortunate that this beautiful work is not better known.
It is in the Naples Gallery.
A comparison of these pictures discloses a remarkable variety in
action and grouping. On the other hand, the Madonnas are quite similar
in general type. With the exception of the Zingarella, who is the most
motherly, they are all in a playful mood. The same playfulness, but
of a more sweet and motherly kind, lights the face of the Madonna
della Scala. The composition is somewhat in the portrait style,
showing the mother in half length, seated under a sort of canopy. The
babe clings closely to her neck, turning about at the spectator with a
glance half shy and half mischievous. His coyness awakens a smile of
tender amusement in the gentle, young face above him.
The picture has an interesting history. It was originally painted in
fresco over the eastern gate of Parma, where Vasari saw and admired
it. In after years, the wall which it decorated was incorporated into
a small new church, of which it formed the rear wall. To accommodate
the high level of the Madonna, the building was somewhat elevated,
and, being entered by a flight of steps, was known as S. Maria della
Scala (of the staircase). The name attached itself to the picture
even after the church was destroyed (in 1812), and the fresco
removed to the town gallery. The marks of defacement which it bears
are due to the votive offerings which were formerly fastened upon
it,--among them, a silver crown worn by the Madonna as late as the
eighteenth century. Though such scars injure its artistic beauty, they
add not a little to the romantic interest which invests it.
[Illustration: CORREGGIO.--MADONNA DELLA SCALA.]
Beside such names as Raphael and Correggio, history furnishes but one
other worthy of comparison for the portrayal of the Mater Amabilis--it
is Titian. His Madonna is by no means uniformly motherly. There are
times when we look in vain for any softening of her aristocratic
features; when her stately dignity seems quite incompatible with
demonstrativeness.[4] But when love melts her heart how gracious is
her unbending, how winning her smile! Once she goes so far as to play
in the fields with her little boy, quieting a rabbit with one hand for
him to admire. (La Vierge au Lapin, Louvre.) In other pictures she
holds him lying across her lap, smiling thoughtfully upon him. Such an
one is the Madonna with Sts. Ulfo and Brigida, in the Madrid Gallery.
The child is taking the flowers St. Brigida offers him, and his mother
looks down with the pleased expression of fond pride. Again, when her
babe holds his two little hands full of the roses his cousin St. John
has brought him, she smiles gently at the eagerness of the two
children. (Uffizi Gallery.)
[Footnote 4: See the Madonna of the Cherries in the Belvedere at
Vienna, and the Madonna and Saints in the Dresden Gallery.]
[Illustration: TITIAN.--MADONNA AND SAINTS.
(DETAIL.)]
Another similar composition reveals a still sweeter intimacy between
mother and son. The babe stretches out his hand coaxingly towards his
mother's breast, but she draws her veil about her, gently denying
his appeal. A more beautiful mother, or a more bewitching babe, it
were hard to find. Three fine half-length figures of saints complete
this composition, each of great interest and individuality, but not
necessary to the unity of action--the Madonna alone making a complete
picture. There are two copies of this work, one in the Belvedere at
Vienna, and one in the Louvre at Paris.
The _motif_ of this picture is not unique in art, as will have been
remarked in passing. The first duty of maternity, and one of its
purest joys, is to sustain the newborn life at the mother's breast. A
coarse interpretation of the subject desecrates a holy shrine, while a
delicate rendering, such as Raphael's or Titian's, invests it with a
new beauty. Other pictures of this class should be mentioned in the
same connection. There is one in the Hermitage Gallery at St.
Petersburg, attributed by late critics to the little-known painter,
Bernardino de' Conti. The Madonna's face, her hair drawn smoothly over
her temples, has a beautiful matronliness. Still another is the
Madonna of the Green Cushion, by Solario, in the Louvre. Here the babe
lies on a cushion before his mother, who bends over him ecstatically,
her fair young face aglow with maternal love as she sees his
contentment.
We have noticed that in one of Corregio's pictures the babe lies
asleep on his mother's lap. It is interesting to trace this pretty
_motif_ through other works of art. No phase of motherhood is more
touching than the watchful care which guards the child while he
sleeps; nor is infancy ever more appealing than in peaceful and
innocent slumber. Mrs. Browning understood this well, when she wrote
her beautiful poem interpreting the thoughts of "the Virgin Mary to
the Child Jesus." Hopes and fears, joy and pity, are alternately
stirred in the heart of the watcher, as she bends over the tiny face,
scanning every change that flits across it. Each verse suggests a
subject for a picture.
We should naturally expect that Raphael would not overlook so
beautiful a theme as the mother watching her sleeping child. Nor are
we disappointed. The Madonna of the Diadem, in the Louvre, belongs to
this class of pictures. Like the pastoral Madonnas of the Florentine
period, it includes the figure of the little St. John, to whom, in
this instance, the proud mother is showing her babe, daintily lifting
the veil which covers his face.
The seventeenth century produced many pictures of this class; among
them, a beautiful work by Guido Reni, in Rome, deserves mention,
being executed with greater care than was usual with him. Sassoferrato
and Carlo Dolce frequently painted the subject. Their Madonnas often
seem affected, not to say sentimental, after the simpler and nobler
types of the earlier period. But nowhere is their peculiar sweetness
more appropriate than beside a sleeping babe. The Corsini picture by
Carlo Dolce is an exquisite nursery scene. Its popularity depends
more, perhaps, upon the babe than the mother. Like Lady Isobel's child
in another poem of motherhood by Mrs. Browning, he sleeps--
"Fast, warm, as if its mother's smile,
Laden with love's dewy weight,
And red as rose of Harpocrate,
Dropt upon its eyelids, pressed
Lashes to cheek in a sealèd rest."
In Northern Madonna art, the Mater Amabilis is the preëminent subject.
This fact is due partly to the German theological tendency to
subordinate the mother to her divine Son, but more especially to the
characteristic domesticity of Teutonic peoples. From Van Eyck and
Schongauer, through Dürer and Holbein, down to Rembrandt and Rubens,
we trace this strongly marked predilection in every style of
composition, regardless of proprieties. Van Eyck does not hesitate to
occupy his richly dressed enthroned Madonna at Frankfort with giving
her breast to her babe, and Dürer portrays the same maternal duties in
the Virgin on the Crescent Moon. Holbein's Meyer Madonna, splendid
with her jewelled crown, is not less motherly than Schongauer's young
Virgin sitting in a rude stable.
Rembrandt in humble Dutch interiors, Rubens in numerous Holy Families
modelled upon the Flemish life about him always conceive of the
Virgin Mother as delighting in her maternal cares. As has been said of
Dürer's Madonna,--and the description applies equally well to many
others in the North,--"She suckles her son with a calm feeling of
happiness; she gazes upon him with admiration as he lies upon her lap;
she caresses him and presses him to her bosom without a thought
whether it is becoming to her, or whether she is being admired."
[Illustration: DÜRER.--MADONNA AND CHILD.]
This entire absence of posing on the part of the German Virgin is one
of the most admirable elements in this art. This characteristic is
perfectly illustrated in Dürer's portrait Madonna of the Belvedere
Gallery, at Vienna. This is an excellent specimen of the master, who,
alone of the Germans, is considered the peer of his great Italian
contemporaries. Frankly admired both by Titian and Raphael, he has in
common with them the supreme gift of seeing and reproducing natural
human affections. His work, however, is as thoroughly German as theirs
is Italian. The Madonna of this picture has the round, maidenly face
of the typical German ideal. A transparent veil droops over the
flowing hair, covered by a blue drapery above. The mother holds her
child high in her arms, bending her face over him. The babe is a
beautiful little fellow, full of vivacity. He holds up a pear
gleefully, to meet his mother's smile. The picture is painted with
great delicacy of finish.
The Mater Amabilis is the subject _par excellence_ of modern Madonna
art. Carrying on its surface so much beauty and significance, it is
naturally attractive to all figure painters. While other Madonna
subjects are too often beyond the comprehension of either the artist
or his patron, this falls within the range of both. The shop windows
are full of pretty pictures of this kind, in all styles of treatment.
There are the portrait Madonnas by Gabriel Max, already mentioned, and
pastoral Madonnas by Bouguereau, by Carl Müller, by N. Barabino, and
by Dagnan-Bouveret. Others carry the subject into the more formal
compositions of the enthroned and enskied Madonnas, being, as we have
seen, not without illustrious predecessors among the old masters. Of
these we have Guay's Mater Amabilis, where the mother leans from her
throne to support her child, playing on the step below with his
cousin, St. John; and Mary L. Macomber's picture, where the enthroned
Madonna folds her babe in her protecting arms, as if to shield him
from impending evil.
[Illustration: BODENHAUSEN.--MADONNA AND CHILD.]
By Bodenhausen we have the extremely popular Mater Amabilis in Gloria,
where a girlish young mother, her long hair streaming about her,
stands in upper air, poised above the great ball of the earth, holding
her sweet babe to her heart.
Pictures like these constantly reiterate the story of a mother's
love--an old, old story, which begins again with every new birth.
CHAPTER VII.
THE MADONNA IN ADORATION.
(THE MADRE PIA.)
The first tender joys of a mother's love are strangely mingled with
awe. Her babe is a precious gift of God, which she receives into
trembling hands. A new sense of responsibility presses upon her with
almost overwhelming force. Hers is the highest honor given unto woman;
she accepts it with solemn joy, deeming herself all too unworthy.
This spirit of humility has been idealized in art, in the form of
Madonna known as the Madre Pia. It represents the Virgin Mary adoring
her son. Sometimes she kneels before him, sometimes she sits with
clasped hands, holding him in her lap. Whatever the variation in
attitude, the thought is the same: it is an expression of that higher,
finer aspect of motherhood which regards infancy as an object not only
of love, but of reverent humility. It is a recognition of the great
mystery of life which invests even the helpless babe with a dignity
commanding respect.
A picture with so serious an intention can never be widely understood.
The meaning is too subtile for the casual observer. An outgrowth of
mediæval pietism, it was superseded by more popular subjects, and has
never since been revived. The subject had its origin as an idealized
nativity, set in pastoral surroundings which suggest the Bethlehem
manger. Theologically it represented the Virgin as the first
worshipper of her divine Son. But though the sacred mystery of Mary's
experience sets her forever apart as "blessed among women," she is the
type of true motherhood in all generations.
The Madonna in Adoration is, properly speaking, a fifteenth century
subject. It belongs primarily to that most mystic of all schools of
art, the Umbrian, centering in the town of Perugia. Nowhere else was
painting so distinctly an adjunct of religious services, chiefly
designed to aid the worshipper in prayer and contemplation.
As an exponent of the typical qualities of the Perugian school stands
the artist who is known by its name, Perugino. His favorite subject is
the Madre Pia, and his best picture of the kind is the Madonna of the
National Gallery. Having once seen her here, the traveller recognizes
her again and again in other galleries, in the many replicas of this
charming composition. The Madonna kneels in the foreground, adoring
with folded hands the child, who is supported in a sitting posture on
the ground, by a guardian angel. The Virgin's face is full of fervent
and exalted emotion.
Perugino had no direct imitator of his Madre Pia, but his Bolognese
admirer Francia treated the subject in a way that readily suggests the
source of his inspiration. His Madonna of the Rose Garden in Munich
instantly recalls Perugino. The artist has, however, chosen a novel
_motif_ in representing the moment when the Virgin is just sinking on
her knees, as if overcome by emotion.
Between the Umbrian school and the Florentine, a reciprocal influence
was exerted. If the latter taught the former many secrets of
composition and technical execution, the Umbrians in turn imparted
something of their mysticism to their more matter-of-fact neighbors.
While the Umbrian school of the fifteenth century was occupied with
the Madre Pia, Florence also was devoted to the same subject.
Sculpture led the race, and in the front ranks was Luca della Robbia,
founder of the school which bears his family name.
Beginning as a worker in marble, his inventive genius presently
wrought out a style of sculpture peculiarly his own. This was the
enamelled terra-cotta bas-relief showing pure white figures against a
background of pale blue. They were made chiefly in circular
medallions, lunettes, and tabernacles, and were scattered throughout
the churches and homes of Tuscany.
Associated with Luca in his work was his nephew Andrea, who, in turn,
had three sculptor sons, Giovanni, Girolamo, and Luca II. So great was
the demand for their ware that the Della Robbia studios became a
veritable manufactory from which hundreds of pieces went forth. Of
these, a goodly number represent the Madonna in Adoration. While it is
difficult to trace every one of these with absolute correctness to its
individual author, the majority seem to be by Andrea, who, as it would
appear, had a special fondness for the subject. It must be
acknowledged that the nephew is inferior to his uncle in his ideal of
the Virgin, less original than Luca in his conceptions, and less noble
in his results. His work, notwithstanding, has many charming
qualities, which are specially appropriate to the character of the
particular subject under consideration. There is, indeed, a peculiar
value in low relief, for purposes of idealization. It has an effect of
spiritualizing the material, and giving the figures an ethereal
appearance. Andrea profited by this advantage, and, in addition,
showed great delicacy of judgment in subduing curves and retaining
simplicity in his lines.
We may see all this in the popular tabernacle which he designed, and
of which there are at least five, and probably more, copies. The
Madonna kneels prayerfully before her babe, who lies on the ground by
some lily stalks. In the sky above are two cherubim and hands holding
a crown. There is a girlish grace in the kneeling figure, and a rare
sweetness in the face, entirely free from sentimentality. A severe
simplicity of drapery, and the absence of all unnecessary accessories,
are points of excellence worth noting. The composition was sometimes
varied by the introduction of different figures in the sky, other
cherubim, or the head of the Almighty, with the Dove. Only second in
popularity to this was Andrea's circular medallion of the Nativity,
with the Virgin and St. John in adoration. There are two copies of
this in the Florentine Academy, one in the Louvre, and one in Berlin.
The effect of crowding so many figures into a small compass is not so
pleasing as the classical simplicity of the former composition.
[Illustration: ANDREA DELLA ROBBIA.--MADONNA IN
ADORATION.]
Contemporary with the Della Robbias was another Florentine family of
artists equally numerous. Of the five Rossellini, Antonio is of
greatest interest to us, as a sculptor who had some qualities in
common with the famous porcelain workers. Like them, he had a special
gift for the Madonna in Adoration. We can see this subject in his best
style of treatment, in the beautiful Nativity in San Miniato, "which
may be regarded as one of the most charming productions of the best
period of Tuscan art."[5] The tourist will consider it a rich reward
for his climb to the quaint old church on the ramparts overhanging the
Arno. If perchance his wanderings lead him, on another occasion, to
the hill rising on the opposite side, he will find, in the Cathedral
of Fiesole, a fitting companion in the altar-piece by Mino da Fiesole.
This is a decidedly unique rendering of the Madre Pia. The Virgin
kneels in a niche, facing the spectator, adoring the Christ-child, who
sits on the steps below her, turning to the little Baptist, who kneels
at one side on a still lower step.
[Footnote 5: C.C. Perkins, in Tuscan Sculptors.]
[Illustration: LORENZO DI CREDI.--NATIVITY.]
Passing from the sculpture of Florence to its painting, it is fitting
that we mention first of all the friend and fellow-pupil of the
Umbrian Perugino, Lorenzo di Credi. The two had much in common.
Trained together in the workshop of the sculptor Verrocchio, in those
days of intense religious stress, they both became followers of the
prophet-prior of San Marco, Savonarola. Their religious earnestness
naturally found expression in the beautiful subject of the Madre Pia.
The Florentine artist, though not less devout than his friend,
introduces into his work an element of joy, characteristic of his
surroundings, and more attractive than the somewhat melancholy types
of Umbria. His Adoration, in the Uffizi, is an admirable example of
his best work. Following the fashion made popular by the Della
Robbias, the artist chose for his composition the round picture, or
_tondo_. By this elimination of unnecessary corners, the attention
centres in the beautiful figure of the Virgin, which occupies a large
portion of the circle. In exquisite keeping with the modest loveliness
of her face, a delicate, transparent veil is knotted over her smooth
hair, and falls over the round curves of her neck. In expression and
attitude she is the perfect impersonation of the spirit of humility,
joyfully submissive to her high calling, reverently acknowledging her
unworthiness.
This picture may be taken as a typical example of the subject in
Florentine painting. Lorenzo himself repeated the composition many
times, and numerous other works could be mentioned, strikingly similar
in treatment, by Ghirlandajo, in the Florence Academy; by Signorelli,
in the National Gallery; by Albertinelli, in the Pitti; by Filippo
Lippi, in the Berlin Gallery; by Filippino Lippi, in the Pitti; and so
on through the list.
In many cases the subject seems to have been chosen, not so much from
any devotional spirit on the part of the painter, as from force of
imitation of the prevailing Florentine fashion. This is especially
true in the case of Filippo Lippi, who does not bear the best of
reputations. Although a brother in the Carmelite monastery, his love
of worldly pleasures often led him astray, if we are to believe the
gossip of the old annalists. We may allow much for the exaggerations
of scandal, but still be forced to admit that his candid realism is
plain evidence of a closer study of nature than of theology.
Browning has given us a fine analysis of his character in the poem
bearing his name, "Fra Lippo Lippi." The artist monk, caught in the
streets of the city on his return from some midnight revel, explains
his constant quarrel with the rules of art laid down by ecclesiastical
authorities. They insist that his business is "to the souls of men,"
and that it is "quite from the mark of painting" to make "faces, arms,
legs, and bodies like the true." On his part, he claims that it will
not help the interpretation of soul, by painting body ill. An intense
lover of every beautiful line and color in God's world, he believes
that these things are given us to be thankful for, not to pass over or
despise. Obliged to devote himself to a class of subjects with which
he had little sympathy, he compromised with his critics by adopting
the traditional forms of composition, and treating them after the
manner of _genre_ painters, in types drawn from the ordinary life
about him. The kneeling Madre Pia he painted three times: two of the
pictures are in the Florence Academy, and the third and best is in the
Berlin Gallery.
[Illustration: FILIPPO LIPPI.--MADONNA IN ADORATION.]
In the Madonna of the Uffizi, he broke away somewhat from tradition,
and rendered quite a new version of the subject. The Virgin is seated
with folded hands, adoring her child, who is held up before her by two
boy angels. His type of childhood is by no means pretty, though
altogether natural. The Virgin cannot be called either intellectual or
spiritual, but "where," as a noted critic has asked, "can we find a
face more winsome and appealing?" Certainly she is a lovely woman, and
"If you get simple beauty and naught else,
That's somewhat: and you'll find the soul you have missed
Within yourself, when you return him thanks."
The idea of the seated Madre Pia, comparatively rare in Florentine
art, is quite frequent in northern Italy. Sometimes the setting is a
landscape, in the foreground of which the Madonna sits adoring the
babe lying on her lap. Examples are by Basaiti (Paduan), in the
National Gallery, and by a painter of Titian's school, in Berlin. Much
more common is the enthroned Madonna in Adoration, and for this we
may turn to the pictures of the Vivarini, Bartolommeo and Luigi, or
Alvise. These men were of Muranese origin, and in the very beginning
of Venetian art-history were at the head of their profession, until
finally eclipsed by the rival family of the Bellini. Among their
works, we find by each one at least three pictures of the type
described. As the most worthy of description, we may select the
altar-piece by Luigi, in the Church of the Redentore. As it is one of
the most popular Madonnas in Venice, no collection is complete without
it. A green curtain forms the background, against which the plain
marble throne-chair is brought into relief. The Virgin sits wrapt in
her own thoughts, an impersonation of tranquil dignity. A heavy wimple
falls low over her forehead, entirely concealing her hair, and with
its severe simplicity accentuating the chaste beauty of her face.
Two fascinating little cherubs sit on a parapet in front, playing on
lutes; and, lulled by their gentle music, the sweet babe sleeps on,
serenely unconscious of it all.
[Illustration: LUIGI VIVARINI.--MADONNA AND CHILD.]
Before such pictures as this, gleaming in the dim light of quiet
chapels, many a heart, before unbelieving, may learn a new reverence
for the mysterious sanctity of motherhood.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE MADONNA AS WITNESS.
In proportion to a mother's ideals and ambitions for her child does
her love take on a higher and purer aspect. The noblest mother is the
most unselfish; she regards her child as a sacred charge, only
temporarily committed to her keeping. Her care is to nurture and train
him for his part in life; this is the object of her constant endeavor.
Thus she comes to look upon him as hers and yet not hers. In one sense
he is her very own; in another, he belongs to the universal life which
he is to serve. There is no conflict between the two ideas; they are
the obverse sides of one great truth. Both must be recognized for a
complete understanding of life. What is true of all motherhood finds
a supreme illustration in the character of the Virgin Mary. She
understood from the first that her son had a great mission to fulfil,
that his work had somewhat to do with a mighty kingdom. Never for a
moment did she lose sight of these things as she "pondered them in her
heart." Her highest joy was to present him to the world for the
fulfilment of his calling.
As a subject of art, this phase of the Madonna's character requires a
mode of treatment quite unlike that of the Mater Amabilis or the Madre
Pia. The attitude and expression of the Virgin are appropriate to her
office as the Christ-bearer. Both mother and child, no longer
absorbed in each other, direct their glance towards the people to whom
he is given for a witness. (Isaiah 55:4.) These may be the spectators
looking at the picture, or the saints and votaries filling the
composition. The mother's lap is the throne for the child, from which,
standing or sitting, he gives his royal blessing.
It will be readily understood that so lofty a theme can not be common
in art. In our own day, it has, with the Madre Pia, passed almost
entirely out of the range of art subjects; modern painters do not try
such heights. Franz Defregger is alone in having made an honest and
earnest effort, not without success, to express his conception of the
theme. To his Enthroned Madonna at Dölsach, and his less well-known
Madonna in Glory, let us pay this passing word of honor.
To approach our subject in the most systematic way, we will go back to
the beginnings of Madonna art. Mrs. Jameson tells us that the group of
Virgin and Son was, in its first intention, a _theological symbol_,
and not a _representation_. It was a device set up in the orthodox
churches as a definite formalization of a creed. The first Madonnas
showed none of the aspects of ordinary motherhood in attitude,
gesture, or expression. The theological element in the picture was the
first consideration. We may take as a representative case the Virgin
Nike-peja (of Victory), supposed to be the same which Eudocia, wife of
the Emperor Theodosius II., discovered in her travels in Palestine,
and sent to Constantinople, whence it was finally brought to St.
Mark's, Venice. The Virgin--a half-length figure--holds the child in
front of her, like a doll, as if exhibiting him to the gaze of the
worshippers before the altar over which the picture hung. Both faces
look directly out at the spectator, with grave and stiff solemnity.
The progress of painting, and the growing love of beauty, at length
wrought a change. The time came when art saw the possibility of
uniting, with the religious conception of previous centuries, a more
natural ideal of motherhood. Thus, while the Madonna continues to be
preëminently a witness of her son's greatness, it is not at the
sacrifice of motherly tenderness.
In Venetian art-history, Giovanni Bellini stands at the period when
the old was just merging into the new. We have already seen how
greatly he and his contemporaries differed from the painters of a
later time. Taking advantage of all the progressive methods of the
day, they did not relinquish the religious spirit of their
predecessors, hence their work embodies the best elements of the old
and new. As we examine the Bellini Madonnas, one after another, we
can not fail to notice how delicately they interpret the relation of
the mother to her child.
Loving and gracious as she is, she is not the Mater Amabilis: she is
too preoccupied, though not too cold for caresses. Neither is she the
Madre Pia, though by no means lacking in humility. Her thoughts are of
the future, rather than of the present. True to a mother's instinct,
she encircles her child with a protecting arm, but her face is turned,
not to his, but to the world. Both are looking steadfastly forward to
the great work before them. Their eyes have the far-seeing look of
those absorbed in noble dreams. Their faces are full of sweet
earnestness, not of the ascetic sort, but joyful, with a calm,
tranquil gladness.
This description applies almost equally well to a half-dozen or more
of Bellini's Madonnas, in various styles of composition. For the sake
of definiteness, we may specify the Madonna between St. Paul and St.
George in the Venice Academy. The Virgin is in half-length, against a
scarlet curtain, supporting the child, who stands on the coping of a
balcony. In technical qualities alone, the picture is a notable one
for precision of drawing, breadth of light and shade, and brilliant
color. In Christian sentiment it is among the rare treasures of
Italian art. The National Gallery and the Brera contain others which
are very similar in style and conception.
The three enthroned Madonnas which have already been noticed are not
less remarkable for religious significance. There is a peculiar
freshness and vivacity in the San Giobbe picture. Both Virgin and
child are alert and eager, welcoming the future with smiling and
youthful enthusiasm. The Frari Madonna is of a more subdued type,
but is not less true to her ideal. The Virgin of San Zaccaria is more
thoughtful and reflective, but she holds her child up bravely, that he
may give his blessing to mankind.
[Illustration: GIOVANNI BELLINI.--MADONNA BETWEEN ST.
GEORGE AND ST. PAUL. (DETAIL.)]
It will have been noticed that the throne is an especially appropriate
setting for the Madonna as Witness. It is one of the functions of
royalty that the queen should show the prince to his people. We
therefore turn naturally to this class of pictures for examples. To
those of Bellini just cited we may add, from the others mentioned in
the second chapter, the Madonnas by Cima, by Palma, and by Montagna in
Venetian Art; and by Luini and by Botticelli in the Lombard and
Florentine schools respectively. Luini's picture is one which readily
touches the heart. The Virgin unites the sweetness of fresh, young
motherhood with womanly dignity of character. Her smile has nothing
of mystery in it; it is simply sweet and winning. The Christ-child is
a lovely boy, steadying himself against his mother's breast, and yet
with an air of self-reliance. The two understand each other well.
[Illustration: LUINI.--MADONNA WITH ST. BARBARA AND ST.
ANTHONY.]
One could hardly imagine two more dissimilar spirits than Luini and
Botticelli. To Luini's Virgin, the consciousness of her son's
greatness is a proud honor, accepted seriously, but gladly. To
Botticelli, on the other hand, it brings a profound melancholy. This
is so marked that at first sight almost every one is repelled by
Botticelli, and yields only after long familiarity to the mysterious
fascination of the sad-eyed Madonna, who holds her babe almost
listlessly, as her head droops with the weight of her sorrow. Her
expression is the same whatever her attitude, when she presses her
babe to her bosom as the Mater Amabilis (in the Borghese Gallery at
Rome, in the Dresden Gallery, and Louvre), or when, as witness to her
son's destiny, she holds him forth to be seen of men. It is in this
last capacity that her mood is most intelligible. She seems oppressed
rather than humbled by her honors; reluctant, rather than glad to
assume them; yet, with proud dignity, determined to do her part,
though her heart break in the doing. Her nature is too deep to accept
the joy without counting the cost, and her vision looks beyond
Bethlehem to Calvary. This is well illustrated in the picture of the
Berlin Gallery.[6] The queen mother rises with the prince to receive
the homage of humanity. The boy, old beyond his years, gravely raises
his right hand to bless his people, the other still clinging, with
infantile grace, to the dress of his mother. Lovely, rose-crowned
angels hold court on either side, bearing lighted tapers in jars of
roses.
[Footnote 6: The Berlin Gallery contains two Enthroned Madonnas
attributed to Botticelli. The description here, and on page 40 makes
it clear that the reference is to the picture numbered 102. This does
not appear in Berenson's list of Botticelli's works, but is treated as
authentic by Crowe and Cavalcaselle.]
The Madonna of the Pomegranate is another work by Botticelli which
belongs in this class of pictures. It is a _tondo_ in the Uffizi,
showing the figures in half length. The Virgin, encircled by angels,
holds the child half reclining on her lap. Her face is inexpressibly
sad, and the child shares her mood, as he raises his little hand to
bless the spectator. Two angels bear the Virgin's flowers, roses and
lilies; two others hold books. They bend towards the queen as the
petals of a rose bend towards the centre, with the serious grace
peculiar to Botticelli.
[Illustration: BOTTICELLI.--MADONNA OF THE
POMEGRANATE .]
In connection with the peculiar type of melancholy exhibited on the
face of Botticelli's Madonna, it will be of interest to refer to the
work of Francia. The two artists were, in some points, kindred
spirits; both felt the burden of life's mystery and sorrow. Francia,
as we have seen, imbibed from the works of Perugino something of the
spirit of mysticism common to the Umbrian school. But while there is a
certain resemblance between his Madonna and Perugino's, the former has
less of sentimentality than the latter, and more real melancholy. Like
Botticelli's Virgin, she acts her part half-heartedly, as if the sword
had already begun to pierce her heart. Francia's favorite Madonna
subjects were of the higher order, the Madre Pia and the Madonna as
Witness. In treating the latter, his Christ-child is always in keeping
with the mother, a grave little fellow who gives the blessing with
almost touching dignity. Enthroned Madonnas illustrating the theme are
those of the Hermitage at St. Petersburg, of the Belvedere at Vienna,
and the famous Bentivoglio Madonna in S. Jacopo Maggiore at Bologna.
The last-named is one of the works which enable us to understand
Raphael's high praise of the Bolognese master. It is a noble
composition, full of strong religious feeling.
[Illustration: MURILLO.--MADONNA AND CHILD.]
It is a long leap from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries,
taking us from a period of genuine religious fervor in art, into an
age of artificial imitation. In the midst of the decadence of old
ideals and the birth of art methods entirely new, arose one who seemed
to be the reincarnation of the old spirit in a form peculiar to his
age and race. This was Murillo, the peasant-painter of Spain, than
whom was never artist more pious, not even excepting the angelic
brother of San Marco. He alone in the seventeenth century kept
alive the pure flame of religious fervor, which had burned within the
devout Italians of the early school. Through all his pictures of the
Virgin and child we can see that the Madonna as the Christ-bearer is
the ideal he always has in view. He falls short of it, not through any
lack of earnestness, but because his type of womanhood is incapable of
expressing such lofty idealism. His virgins are modelled upon the
simple Andalusian maidens, sweet, timid, dark-eyed creatures. Their
faces glow with gentle affection as they look wistfully out of the
picture, or raise their eyes to heaven, as if dimly discerning the
heights which they have never reached.
The Pitti Madonna is one of this sweet company, and perhaps the
loveliest of them all. Both she and her beautiful boy are full of
gentle earnestness, and if they are too simple-minded to realize what
is in store for them, they are none the less ready to do the Father's
will.
One more picture remains for us to consider as an illustration of the
Madonna as Witness. Had we mentioned it first, nothing further could
have been said on the subject. The Sistine Madonna is the greatest
ever produced, from every point of view. We have already noted the
superiority of its artistic composition over all other enskied
Madonnas, and are the more ready to appreciate its higher merits; for
its strongest hold upon our admiration is in its moral and religious
significance. Its theme is the transfiguration of loving and
consecrated motherhood. Mother and child, united in love, move towards
the glorious consummation of the heavenly kingdom.
[Illustration: RAPHAEL.--SISTINE MADONNA.]
It has been said that Raphael made no preparatory studies for this
Madonna, but, in a larger sense, he spent his life in preparation
for it. He had begun by imitating the mystic sweetness of Perugino's
types, drawn by an intuitive delicacy of perception to this spiritual
idealism, while yet too inexperienced to express any originality.
Then, by an inevitable reaction, he threw himself into the creation of
a purely naturalistic Madonna, and carried the Mater Amabilis to its
utmost perfection. Having mastered all the secrets of woman's beauty,
he returned once more to the higher realm of idealism to send forth
his matured conception of the Madonna as the Christ-bearer.
The Sistine Madonna is above all words of praise; all extravagance of
expression is silenced before her simplicity. Hers is the beauty of
symmetrically developed womanhood; the perfect poise of her figure is
not more marked than the perfect poise of her character. Not one
false note, not one exaggerated emphasis, jars upon the harmony of
body, soul, and spirit. Confident, but entirely unassuming; serious,
but without sadness; joyous, but not to mirthfulness; eager, but
without haste; she moves steadily forward with steps timed to the
rhythmic music of the spheres. The child is no burden, but a part of
her very being. The two are one in love, thought, and purpose. Sharing
the secret of his sacred calling, the mother bears her son forth to
meet his glorious destiny.
Art can pay no higher tribute to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, than to
show her in this phase of her motherhood. We sympathize with her
maternal tenderness, lavishing fond caresses upon her child. We go
still deeper into her experience when we see her bowed in sweet
humility before the cares and duties she is called upon to assume.
But we are admitted to the most cherished aspirations of her soul,
when we see her oblivious of self, carrying her child forth to the
service of humanity. It is thus that she becomes one of his "witnesses
unto the people;" it is thus that "all generations shall call her
blessed."
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
MRS. ANNA JAMESON: The Legends of the Madonna. Boston, 1896.
CROWE AND CAVALCASELLE: History of Painting in Italy. London,
1864. History of Painting in North Italy. London, 1871. Titian: His
Life and Times. London, 1877.
KUGLER: Handbook of the Italian Schools, revised by A.H.
Layard. London, 1887. Handbook of the German, Flemish, and Dutch
Schools, revised by J.A. Crowe. London, 1889.
MORELLI: Critical Studies of the Italian Painters. Translated
by Constance Jocelyn Ffoulkes. London, 1892.
J.A. SYMONDS: Renaissance in Italy: The Fine Arts. New York,
1888.
WALTER H. PATER: Studies in the History of the Renaissance.
London, 1873.
BERNHARD BERENSON: The Venetian Painters of the Renaissance.
New York, 1894. The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance. New York,
1896.
KARL KÁROLY: A Guide to the Paintings of Florence. London and
New York, 1893. A Guide to the Paintings of Venice. London and New
York, 1895.
C.C. PERKINS: Tuscan Sculptors. London, 1864.
CAVALUCCI ET MOLINIER: Les Della Robbia: leur vie et leur
oeuvre. Paris, 1884.
EUGENE MÜNTZ: Raphael. Translated by Walter Armstrong.
London, 1882.
INDEX OF ARTISTS.
Albertinelli, Madonna in the Pitti, 172.
Angelico, Fra, Madonna della Stella, 66-69, 132.
Barabino, N., Mater Amabilis, 154.
Barocci, F., Madonna del Gatto, 126.
Bartolommeo, Madonna in the Capella Giovanato, 30;
Madonnas in the Florence Academy, 31;
Enthroned Madonna in the Pitti, 42, 47.
Basaiti, Madonna in the National Gallery, 177.
Bellini, Giovanni, Madonna of San Giobbe, 50, 188;
Frari Madonna, 50, 191;
Madonna of San Zaccaria, 50-53, 191;
Madonna between St. Paul and St. George, 188;
Madonna in the National Gallery, 188;
Madonna in the Brera, 188.
Bellini, Jacopo, Madonna in the Venice Academy, 25.
Bodenhausen, Madonna, 90, 154.
Bonifazio Veronese, Seven pictures of the Santa Conversazione, 115.
Botticelli, Enthroned Madonna at Berlin, 40, 191, 195, 196;
Madonna in the Borghese, 195;
Madonna in the Dresden Gallery, 195;
Madonna in the Louvre, 195;
Madonna of the Pomegranate, 196;
Madonna of the Inkhorn, 59.
Bouguereau, Enthroned Madonna, 64;
Madonna of the Angels, 90;
Mater Amabilis, 154.
Byzantine Madonna in the Ara Coeli, 25;
in S. Maria in Cosmedino, 25;
in St. Mark's, 25, 185;
at Padua, 25.
Cano, Alonzo, Madonna of Bethlehem, 32.
Caroto, Gianfrancesco, Madonna in Sant' Anastasia, 80;
Madonna in San Giorgio, 80;
Madonna in San Fermo Maggiore, 80.
Cavazzola, see Morando.
Cima, Enthroned Madonna in the Venice Academy, 49, 191.
Cimabue, Ruccellai Madonna, 38-39.
Conti, Bernardino de', Madonna in the Hermitage Gallery, 146.
Correggio, Madonnas in Dresden, 45;
Madonna of St. Sebastian, 70;
Madonna in the Uffizi, 106, 136;
La Zingarella, 106, 137, 146;
Madonna della Cesta, 136;
Madonna della Scala, 138, 141.
Credi, Lorenzo di, Nativity in the Uffizi, 171.
Crivelli, Carlo, Use of Crown by, 59.
Dagnan-Bouveret, Mater Amabilis, 154.
Defregger, Franz, Madonna at Dölsach, 184;
Madonna in Glory, 90, 184.
Dolce, Carlo, Madonna, 148.
Dürer, Woodcut, 60;
Madonna in "garden inclosed," 115;
Madonna in the Belvedere, 150-153;
Virgin on the Crescent Moon, 89, 149.
Eyck, Van, Madonna in Frankfort, 60, 149.
Fiesole, Mino da, Altar-piece at Fiesole, 168.
Francia, Madonna of the Rose Garden, 115, 161;
Enthroned Madonna in the Hermitage, 200;
Enthroned Madonna in the Belvedere, 200;
Bentivoglio Madonna, 200.
Ghirlandajo, Enthroned Madonna in the Uffizi, 40;
Madonna in the Florence Academy, 172.
Giorgione, Madonna of Castel-Franco, 54;
Madonna in Madrid, 54.
Guay, Mater Amabilis, 154.
Holbein, Meyer Madonna, 60, 149.
Ittenbach, Enthroned Madonna, 64.
Leonardo da Vinci, see Vinci.
Libri, Girolamo dai, Madonna in San Giorgio Maggiore, Verona, 48;
Madonna of St. Andrew and St. Peter, 81.
Lippi, Filippino, Madonna in the Pitti, 115-116, 172.
Lippi, Filippo, Madonna in the Berlin Gallery, 172, 174;
Madonnas in the Florence Academy, 174;
Madonna in the Uffizi, 174-177.
Lotto, Madonna of S. Bartolommeo, 48;
Santa Conversazione, 115.
Luini, Madonna between St. Anthony and St. Barbara, 45, 191-192;
Pastoral Madonna, 104-105.
Macomber, Mary L., Madonna, 154.
Mantegna, Madonna of Victory, 41, 48.
Mariotto, Bernardino di, Madonna, 47.
Massys, Quentin, Enthroned Madonna in the Berlin Gallery, 63, 132;
Madonna in the Munich Gallery, 121.
Max, Gabriel, Madonnas, 35, 154.
Memling, Madonna at Bruges, 60.
Mignard, La Vierge à la Grappe, 126.
Montagna, Madonna in the Brera, 40, 191.
Morando, Madonna in Glory in Verona Gallery, 81.
Moretto, Madonna of S. Clemente, 48;
Madonna of St. John the Evangelist, 77;
Madonna of San Giorgio Maggiore, 77;
Madonna in the Berlin Gallery, 78-79.
Müller, Carl, Mater Amabilis, 154.
Murano, Giovanni da, Use of Crown by, 59.
Murillo, Madonna of the Napkin, 32;
Holy Family of the Bird, 126;
Madonna in the Pitti, 203-204.
Palma, Enthroned Madonna at Vicenza, 49, 191;
Santa Conversazione at Naples, 111;
Santa Conversazione at Dresden, 111;
Santa Conversazione at Munich, 111;
Santa Conversazione at Vienna, 111, 112.
Perugino, Enthroned Madonna in the Vatican, 45;
Madonna in the National Gallery, 160.
Pinturicchio, Madonna in St. Andrea, Perugia, 46.
Raphael, Ansidei Madonna, 46, 133;
Madonna of St. Anthony, 47;
Baldacchino Madonna, 47;
Madonna of the Casa Alba, 99;
the Chair Madonna, 134;
the Colonna Madonna, 133;
the Conestabile Madonna, 133;
Madonna of the Diadem, 147;
Foligno Madonna, 82-85;
Granduca Madonna, 29;
Madonna of the Goldfinch, 93, 97, 98;
Holy Family of Francis I., 133;
Holy Family of the Lamb, 100, 105;
Madonna dell' Impannata, 125;
Belle Jardinière, 93, 97, 98;
Madonna in the Meadow, 93, 97, 98, 99, 104;
Orleans Madonna, 126, 133;
Sistine Madonna, 85, 204, 208;
Tempi Madonna, 30, 133.
Rembrandt, Le Ménage du Menuisier in the Louvre, 127;
in St. Petersburg, 127;
Madonna in the Munich Gallery, 127-128.
Reni, Guido, Madonna, 147.
Robbia, Andrea della, Popular tabernacle, 164;
Nativity, 167.
Robbia, Giovanni, Son of Andrea, 162.
Robbia, Girolamo della, Son of Andrea, 162.
Robbia, Luca della, Founder of his school, 162.
Robbia, Luca della, II., Son of Andrea, 162.
Romano, Giulio, Madonna della Catina, 125;
his work on the Madonna dell' Impannata, 125;
Madonna in a Bedchamber, 125.
Rossellino, Antonio, Nativity in San Miniato, 167.
Rubens, Holy Families, 149.
Salimbeni, Holy Family, 126.
Sarto, Andrea del, Madonna di San Francesco, 42;
Madonna in the Berlin Gallery, 69.
Sassoferrato, Madonna in Vatican Gallery, 89;
Madonna with Sleeping Child, 148.
Savoldo, Madonna in the Brera, 79.
Schongauer, Madonna in Munich, 60;
Holy Family, 121-123.
Siena, Guido da, Madonna, 38.
Signorelli, Nativity in the National Gallery, 172.
Sodoma, Madonna in the Brera, 104 (note).
Solario, Madonna of the Green Cushion, 146.
Lo Spagna, Madonna once attributed to, 73.
Spanish School, Madonna in the Dresden Gallery, 89.
Tintoretto, Madonna in the Berlin Gallery, 89.
Titian, Vierge au Lapin, 115 (note), 142;
Madonna of the Cherries, 141 (note);
Madonnas and Saints at Dresden, 141 (note);
Madonna with Sts. Ulfo and Brigida, 142;
Madonna with Roses, 142;
Madonna and Saints, 145;
Pesaro Madonna, 56.
Titian, School of, Madonna in Berlin, 177.
Umbrian School, Madonna by, in the National Gallery, 73-74.
Veronese, Madonna in the Venice Academy, 56.
Vinci, Leonardo da, Madonna of the Rocks, 100-104.
Vivarini, Bartolommeo, Madonnas, 178.
Vivarini, Luigi, Madonna in the Church of the Redentore, 178.
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