by Grant Allen
Number 118, Andrea del Sarto’s portrait of himself and his wife, whose face you will often recognise in other works from his pencil, is a beautiful picture.
Number 176, a hateful Domenichino of St. Mary Magdalen, is lachrymose and affected in the worst style of the Decadence.
Number 113, by Rosso, is the Three Fates, long attributed to Michael Angelo.
Number 110, by *Lorenzo Lotto, is the Three Ages of Man, three splendid portraits, admirable in their feeling and colouring.
Number 109 is a portrait of a lady by Paris Bordone. He has painted several stages of the same face elsewhere, I think.
The dark wall between the windows has a tolerable Rubens and various works of the Decadence.
The Sala di Marte contains, left of the door, Guercino’s St. Sebastian, and Cigoli’s Magdalen, chiefly interesting for comparison with earlier conceptions. Over the door, 97, is an Andrea del Sarto, another Annunciation, with St. Michael in attendance, holding his scales; not so pleasing as previous ones. Beyond the door, 92, is a Titian, the Young Man with the Glove; a very noble portrait. Above it is Allori’s Sacrifice of Abraham, after Sodoma.
Number 94 is Raphael’s Holy Family, known as the Madonna dell’Impannata. This is a Madonna with a young St. John the Baptist who closely resembles an infant Bacchus. St. Anne has beautiful draperies, and a fine strong face, well contrasted in line and colour with the fresh young skin of a girlish saint behind her. But the whole picture fails to please like his earlier works.
Number 91 is a ludicrous St. Peter weeping, by Carlo Dolci. His grief moves laughter.
Number 96, *Allori’s Judith with the head of Holofernes, — a proud, fine figure, — is one of the noblest and most successful works of the Decadence. Judith’s strong dark face is flushed with passion and with her strange night’s work. She looks a woman capable of such a deed — but not such stooping. Her brocade is painted with rare carefulness for its epoch.
Number 90 is a mannered Ecce Homo by Cigoli. Other mannered works of the same period I do not notice.
Above it, 89, is a pleasing Bonifazio (the second) of the Rest in the Flight into Egypt; also attributed to Paris Bordone.
Numbers 88 and 87, by Andrea del Sarto, represent the story of Joseph, and are confused and not very pleasing.
Above, 86, a Rubens, the Effects of War, is an allegorical picture closely resembling his Marie de’ Medici series, from the Luxembourg, now in the Louvre.
Number 85, another * *Rubens, is a portrait of himself and his brother, and Lipsius and Grotius, one of his finest portrait pieces. Note the admirable contrast between the faces, expressions, and gestures of the two jurists and philosophers on the one hand, and of the artists and diplomatists on the other. They represent respectively scholars and men of the world, thinkers and actors. Look long at the rich red sensuous lips and wistful faces of the artistic grand signiors, beside the firmer mouths, thoughtful eyes and brows, and scholarly hands of the two philosophers. These are likenesses that interpret the sitters. The bust of Seneca at the back, the Dutch tulips, the landscape, the fur, the curtain, the books, the dog, the table-cover, all are worth notice. Do not hurry away from this picture. It is deep — going right into the nature of the men.
Above it, 84, is a fine Bonifazio (or Palma Vecchio), full of the spirit of the later school of Venice.
On the right wall, 83, is a Tintoretto (or Titian), an excellent portrait of Luigi Cornaro.
Number 81 is an Andrea del Sarto, a Madonna and Child, with St. Elizabeth and the Baptist. This is one of his most exquisite and finely coloured works. His soft melting tints are nowhere better exemplified.
Above it, 80, is a Titian, a fine portrait of the anatomist Vesalius, not well preserved.
Number 82, *Van Dyck’s noble and characteristic portrait of Cardinal Bentivoglio, represents a gentleman to the finger ends, restrained, diplomatic.
Number 79 is the best of the replicas of Raphael’s portrait of Pope Julius II., though not now considered the original. A fine realisation of the stern and hard old man. Face, beard, hands, red cap, and folds of the white robe, all painted as well as Raphael could paint them. Another portrait that shows a man’s spirit.
Number 75, a Guido Carracci, is chiefly interesting as a late example of the subject of the Penitent Magdalen in the Desert lifted to behold the Beatific Vision. How altered!
On the window wall are several late pictures, worth notice, but not calling for explanation.
TITIAN. — MAGDALEN (DETAIL).
CHAPTER IX.
THE PITTI PALACE CONTINUED.
Enter next the Sala d’Apollo; right of the door, 67, is *Titian’s Magdalen. This is intended nominally as a representation of the Penitent in the Desert of Provence. But ’tis a far cry from the nameless Byzantine in the Belle Arti, or even from the haggard Donatello of the Baptistery. Titian simply paints a beautiful nude Venetian woman, with copious golden hair, covering her just enough to salve her modesty, but not to conceal her luscious and beautiful figure. The alabaster pot of ointment by her side serves merely to tell us this is meant for a Magdalen. Obviously, she has not been fasting. Regarded as a work of art, this is a fine picture of a fine model. Face, hair, and arms are exquisitely rendered. It belongs to the same family group in Titian’s work as the Flora, the Caterina Cornaro, and the Bella, — vivid realisations of an exuberant type of female beauty. Compare it also with the recumbent Venus in the Uffizi.
Above it, 66, Andrea del Sarto, by himself, is a fine portrait with a wistful expression. Still higher is a good Tintoretto.
Number 63 is a Murillo, a Madonna and Child. I am too much out of sympathy with this picture to venture upon making any comment upon it.
Number 60, * *Rembrandt’s Portrait of Himself, is a miracle of light and shade, where the glow on the face and on the corselet, as well as the hair and chain of office, are masterpieces of handicraft.
Number 58, an *Andrea del Sarto, is a fine Deposition, which may be instructively compared with the Fra Bartolommeo.
Number 57, a copy by Giulio Romano of Raphael’s Madonna della Lucertola at Madrid, is interesting for comparison with Raphael’s other Madonnas in this gallery. This wall also contains two or three other noteworthy pictures.
On the end wall, 55, a Baroccio, — a quaint little picture of a baby prince of Urbino, — is more interesting than are often the works of this insipid painter.
Above it, 54, is a *good portrait by Titian of Pietro Aretino, who does not look as bad as he was in reality; broadly painted with masterful decision. Note here also 52, by Pordenone, a fine example of the later Venetian manner. I pass over the Guercino, etc. Number 49, by Tiberio Tito, is a pretty baby, not without interest.
The right wall has several tolerable late pictures, of which 40, Allori’s Hospitality of St. Julian, possesses a certain value. For the legend, see Mrs. Jameson. Beneath it are three fine half-lengths.
Number 44 is a hard but tolerably good portrait of the school of Francia; number 43, *a charming portrait by Franciabigio; number 42, a delicate Magdalen by Perugino, in his later manner, probably an old copy.
Number 40, * *Raphael’s portrait of Pope Leo X., with two cardinals, is a work which should be compared with his Cardinal Inghirami and his Julius II. It represents Leo in his character of art-patron. The picture shows a high point of technical skill, but is far less interesting than Raphael’s earlier manner. The blending and harmonising of the reds is excellent. The fat epicure of a Pope is examining a manuscript with his celebrated magnifying glass. The cardinals are Giulio de’ Medici and Ludovico de’ Rossi. Giulio Romano partly executed it.
Number 38, Christ and the disciples at Emmaus, attributed to Palma Vecchio, is a most interesting example of the transitional period in Venetian art, with recollections of Bellini and foreshadowings, or more likely reminiscences, of Titian.
On the window wall are works of the Decadence.
The next room to be entered is the Sala di Venere. Left of the door, 20, *Albe
rt Dürer’s Adam with Eve opposite, is another interesting example of the rigid northern nude, which should be compared by photographs with those in the Uffizi. It marks advance, and is worthy of the great master, but is still sadly lacking in grace and ideality. It is perhaps a copy from the original at Madrid.
Over the door, 19, is Spagnoletto’s unpleasing Flaying of St. Bartholomew.
ALBERT DÜRER. — EVE.
Number 140, by Leonardo (or his school), is a portrait, which should be compared with Raphael’s Maddalena Doni, as well as with the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. Look closely at the hands. Note also the landscape background.
Number 17, Titian’s Madonna and Child, with St. Catherine and the youthful Baptist, is an admirable example of Titian’s treatment of these subjects.
Number 76 is a *fine murky Rembrandt of an old man: gloomily glorious; above it, 15, a good Salvator Rosa, for those who like him.
On the end wall are works of the Decadence; also, 14, a landscape by Rubens, haymaking. Number 15, Matteo Rosselli’s Triumph of David, is a good theatrical work of the late period. Number 11, Francesco Bassano’s St. Catherine rescued by the angel, is full of the late Venetian feeling. Compare it with the Titian in the same room. 9, *another landscape by Rubens, with small figures of Ulysses and Nausicaa.
On the right wall are good pictures by various late artists; above them, a sea piece by Salvator Rosa.
Over the door, 3, is a Tintoretto, Venus and Vulcan, with Cupid. Number 1, Dürer’s Eve, one of the finest embodiments of the northern nude, is admirable in its way, but still lacks the ideality of Italian treatment. Compare with the Adam opposite and with others in the Uffizi. Again, perhaps a copy.
On the window wall are several works of the Decadence, among which 23, Rustici’s Death of the Magdalen, is funny as representing a late baroque conception of the Penitent in the Desert visited by the angel.
Now return to the Sala dell’Iliade, the first you entered. The door on your right leads to the Stanza dell’Educazione di Giove, which contains chiefly works of the seventeenth century. The most interesting are portraits near the window by Bronzino. Number 270, Guido Reni’s too famous Cleopatra, is an affected and mannered picture.
ANDREA DEL SARTO. — YOUNG ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST.
Number 272, *Andrea del Sarto’s Young St. John the Baptist, once a fine work, full of later Renaissance spirit, is still admirable in its colouring (though spoilt by restorers), the red robe in the foreground being even now splendid, while the flesh-tints are ruined. Like the work on the same subject by Raphael in the Tribuna, it departs entirely from the earlier ascetic traditions, and represents the patron saint of Florence in the form of a beautiful semi-nude boy, finely proportioned and delicately nurtured. This is in point of fact a well-nourished noble youth, with nothing about him of the penitent or the ascetic. The camel’s-hair robe and the reed cross are mere vague pretences. The hand that holds the bowl is admirably modelled.
Number 258 is a good portrait by Tiberio Tinelli; 262, Henri II. of France, attributed to Clouet, but surely Flemish (?). Number 255 is a tolerable portrait by Van der Helst, not up to his usual level. Above them are good Holy Families, 256 and 254, by Fra Bartolommeo and Palma Vecchio (?). Number 252, by a scholar of Holbein, is a portrait of the Duc de Guise. Number 245, a fine, but rather uninteresting and badly used portrait, is attributed to Raphael, though of doubtful authenticity, and known as La Velata. It represents the same model who reappears in the Dresden Madonna, and in the Magdalen of the St. Cecilia at Bologna, without the radiance or the rapt eyes. Number *243 is a Velasquez, a good portrait of Philip IV. of Spain. Many other pictures in this room are deserving of notice, but none of them call for that sort of explanation which is the chief object of the present guide.
The small room to the left, the Stanza della Stufa, has unimportant frescoes of the Ages of Gold, Silver, Brass, and Iron, by Pietro da Cortona, and two bronze statues of Cain and Abel, after Dupré. The door to the right leads to the Bathroom, a florid little apartment, cold, cheerless, and sadly overdecorated.
Beyond it lies the Stanza d’Ulisse, with works mostly of the later age, few of which are important. On the entrance wall, right of the door, 300, is an unusually fine portrait of an old man by Salvator Rosa. 303 and 304 are also good pictures of their school.
On the end wall, 305, by Allori, shows the last stage of the Young St. John in the Desert. Number 307 is an Andrea del Sarto, the Madonna and Child, enthroned on clouds, with various saints, in his latest and least pleasing style, and spoilt by the restorer. In the foreground kneels St. John the Baptist, balanced by the Magdalen with her box of ointment. Behind these two stand, on the left, St. Lawrence and St. Job (Paul the Hermit? Hilarion?), and on the right, St. Sebastian and St. Roch. (The combination of plague-saints makes me think the nude saint is Job.) The picture has been sadly ill-used, and much of the colour in the drapery is quite unworthy of Andrea. The Madonna and Child, however, are well finished. Number 311, ascribed to Titian, is more probably by Dosso Dossi; a good portrait of a Duke of Ferrara, — a replica of one at Modena.
On the left wall, 1313, is a Tintoretto, Madonna and Child, marked by his peculiar smoky colouring and contrasted radiance. Number 318, by Lanfranchi, St. Margaret beholding a Vision, is theatrical and mannered. Number 321, a very unpleasing Ecce Homo by Carlo Dolci, foreshadows later cheap ecclesiastical decoration. Still more unpleasing is 325, Madonna and Child. Above, 324, is Van Dyck’s (or Rubens’s) portrait of the Duke of Buckingham, instinct with the man’s vain and ineffective character scarcely concealed by flattery of a patron.
Number 326 is Paris Bordone’s fine copy of Titian’s portrait of Pope Paul III. at Naples, — a harmony in red, very effectively rendered. The feeble old man with his half-open mouth and his sprawling hands sits alive before us. Note those hands well. The veins and sinews show through them in a most lifelike manner.
The Stanza di Prometeo contains several excellent works of the earlier period.
On the entrance wall, left of the door, 371, is a *good hard profile portrait, in the Lombard manner, of Beatrice d’Este, attributed to the Umbrian, Piero della Francesca. 376, *Lorenzo Costa, is a good portrait of a Duke of Bentivoglio. Over the door, 338, is a Madonna with St. James and St. Catherine, of the School of Bellini, an excellent example of the style leading up to Titian. 341 is a Pinturicchio, Adoration of the Magi, where faces, figures, head-dresses, and composition are all highly characteristic of this strongly marked and individualised Umbrian painter (best seen in the Library at Siena). 340 is a Madonna and Child, with two ill-marked female saints; of the School of Perugino, probably by the master himself. 343 is a * *Fra Filippo Lippi, beautiful round Madonna and Child, with the pomegranate. The face of Our Lady is that of Lucrezia Buti, whom the painter married. In the background are two other episodes; on the left, the Birth of the Virgin, with St. Anne in bed, and servants bringing in the usual objects; on the right, the Meeting of Joachim and Anna at the Golden Gate. The round-faced boy to the extreme right is highly characteristic of Fra Filippo’s manner; so is the infant Christ. This is one of his best panel pictures, the colour brighter and warmer in tone than usual. Number 339 is a good portrait by Tintoretto. Number 342 is an unknown fifteenth century Florentine Madonna and Child, with the infant St. John, accompanied by two angels. 346, a Zucchero, is interesting chiefly as a late and wholly altered Magdalen, nude save for her own hair, lifted from the mouth of the Sainte Baume by angels, to behold the Beatific Vision (incorrectly described in this and in many other cases as the Assumption of the Magdalen). To the right in the foreground may be seen the cave, with crucifix, skull, and other properties. Above it, 345, is an excellent Holy Family by Granacci, in one of his happier moments; higher still, a pleasing portrait by Sustermans of a Medici baby. Over the door, *347, is a picture of the school of Filippino Lippi, a Virgin adoring the Child, with the infant St. John the Baptist, and attendant angels, many of them with the familiar Medici features. In the background, marbl
e balustrade with lizard and good hard landscape. The picture looks very like a Filippino, and recalls the St. Bernard of the Badia.
On the end wall, 388, is a Filippino Lippi, the Death of Lucretia, the story told in three episodes; not very successful. Number 349 is a Holy Family, after Filippino Lippi. Above it, 348, is an example of the School of Botticelli, Madonna and Child, with infant St. John of Florence, and two attendant angels. One bears a sword, the other a lily; whence they probably represent St. Michael and St. Gabriel. The baby is ill-drawn and lifeless. St. John’s arms still betray the ascetic tendency. Beneath, 353, is Botticelli’s portrait called La Bella Simonetta, a literal and unflattering picture, hard and dry, and with little of Botticelli’s usual spirituality. It is well painted in its archaic way, but most honest spectators will confess it gives them little pleasure. The ascription to Botticelli is more than doubtful, and the face is not that of Giuliano de’ Medici’s famous mistress. Number 355, Luca Signorelli’s Holy Family, with St. Catherine, is well drawn and incisive, but deficient in colouring. Number 354, of the School of Lorenzo di Credi, Holy Family, is characteristic in composition, but lacking the delicate touch of the master. Number 357, Botticelli’s Madonna giving the Child to the infant St. John to kiss, is a typically Botticellian (experimental) deviation from the ordinary models. The boy Baptist is very charming; the infant Christ overfed and sleepy. Number 365, by Mariotto Albertinelli, is a Holy Family and angel, in his simpler early Florentine manner, with little trace of Fra Bartolommeo’s influence. Number 358, Ghirlandajo’s Adoration of the Magi, is a partial replica of his great picture in the Uffizi, with different background and many figures omitted. The workmanship is not so fine as that of the original. This wall contains other good Madonnas by Garofalo, Boateri, and a nameless Florentine of the school of Lippi.
On the left wall, 372, is a portrait attributed (most doubtfully) to Andrea del Castagno. Number 369 is an excellent Ecce Homo by Pollaiolo. Over the door, 373, is a fifteenth century Dominican Florentine altar-piece, attributed (not very probably) to Fra Angelico; centre, Madonna and Child; on the left, St. John the Baptist of Florence and St. Dominic; on the right, St. Peter Martyr with his bleeding head, and St. Thomas Aquinas with his open book and rays; in the cuspidi, little Annunciation; and behind, an episode of St. Dominic Preaching, and the martyrdom of St. Peter Martyr. 377, an Ecce Homo, by Fra Bartolommeo, is pleasing as colour, but deficient in sentiment. 379, Pontormo’s Adoration of the Magi, is only interesting for its almost Flemish grotesqueness of characterisation. It has a flavour of Teniers.
