Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/468

Rh 446 SCHOOLS OF PAINTING and Dutch pictures, and a magnificent collection of drawings by old masters. The Budapest gallery (Eszterhazy collection) contains many fine Venetian and some Florentine pictures, with a large number of Flemish and Dutch works. St Peters- The Gallery of the Hermitage at St Petersburg is one of the burg. largest and most important in Europe; though weak in pictures of the early Italian schools, it contains fine examples of Luini, Raphael, Titian, Paul Veronese, and the Bolognese school, and is extraordi- narily rich in paintings by Murillo, Rembrandt, Rubens, Vandyck, and the later Flemish and Dutch schools generally. Belgium The many galleries of Belgium and Holland are mostly rich in and Hoi- the works of local schools. Antwerp possesses the masterpieces of land. Rubens and many fine examples of his pupil Vandyck. The church of St Bavon at Ghent contains the masterpiece of the Van Eycks, the main part of a large altarpiece in many panels with the Adora- tion of the Lamb as the central subject; this is only rivalled in point of size and beauty by the Fountain of Salvation painted by Jon van Eyck about 1432, and now in the museum of the Santis- sima Trinidad at Madrid. Among the many fine Flemish and Dutch pictures in the museum at The Hague is a half-length of an unknown lady by Holbein, which is one of the most beautiful portraits in the world (see fig. 27). Spain The gallery of Madrid is in some respects unrivalled both from its widely representative character at least as regards the later schools and from the number of exceptional masterpieces which it contains; it possesses, however, very few specimens of Italian art earlier than 1500. In the works of the later Italian masters it is very rich, possessing four important works by Raphael, the Madonna called La Pena (once at Hampton Court in the collection of Charles I. ), the Virgin of the Fish, the Virgin of the Rose, and Christ on His way to Calvary (Lo Spasimd). No other gallery con- tains so many fine specimens of Titian's paintings; it includes a scene of Bacchus at Naxos, with a nude sleeping figure of Ariadne in the foreground, the companion to the magnificent Ariadne in the English National Gallery, but surpassing it in beauty and per- fection of preservation. The third picture of the trio painted for the duke of Ferrara is also at Madrid; it is known as the Sacrifice to Fecundity, and consists of a large group of nude infants sporting or sleeping, a perfect miracle for its wealth of colour and unrivalled flesh painting. In addition to these wonderful pictures there are some splendid portraits by Titian, and many of his later works, showing a sad decadence in his old age. The gallery also contains many important works of Paul Veronese and others of the Venetian school, and a very fine collection of Flemish and Dutch pictures, including a number of noble portraits by Antonio Moro, Kubens, and Vandyck, together with some of Claude Lorrain's best land- scapes. In the Spanish schools the Madrid gallery is unrivalled; it contains a number of poor but interesting paintings by Juan de Juanes, the best collection of the works of Ribera (Spagnoletto), and the chief masterpieces of Velazquez. It is in Madrid alone that the greatness of Velazquez can be fully realized, just as the marvellous talents of Murillo are apparent only in Seville. Among the many wonderful paintings by Velazquez in this gallery the chief are the Crucifixion, the Tapestry Weavers (Las Hilanderas), the Surrender of Breda (Las Lanzas), the Drinking Peasants (Los Borrachos), the portrait group known as Las Menifias, and many magnificent por- traits. The gallery also contains a number of Zurbaran's works, and many by Murillo, none of which are among his finest paintings. The best picture by Murillo at Madrid is the scene of St Elizabeth of Hungary tending the Lepers, preserved in the Academia de San Fernando. Seville alone contains the real masterpieces of Murillo, a very unequal painter, who produced a large number of third-rate works, such as are to be seen in many of the chief galleries of Europe, but who at his best deserves to rank with the greatest painters of the world. It is impossible to describe the wonderful rich tone, the intense pathos, and the touching religious feeling of such pictures as the Crucified Christ embracing St Francis, or the appari- tion of the Infant Saviour to St Anthony of Padua, in the Seville gallery, and the larger composition of the latter scene in the cathedral. Other very noble works by Murillo exist in the monastic church of La Caridad. The Seville gallery also contains several of Zurbaran's chief pictures, and some by other painters of the Spanish school. The other chief gallery of Spain, that at Valencia, contains a number of weak but historically interesting pictures of early Spanish artists, feeble imitations of the style of Francia and other Italian painters. It possesses also many pictures by Ribalta and other later and unimportant masters of the Valencian school. Rome. The Vatican Gallery, though not large, contains a very large pro- portion of important pictures, such as a portrait group in fresco by Melozzo da Forli, the unfinished monochromatic painting of St Jerome by Da Vinci, the finest of Raphael's early works, the Coronation of the Virgin, the Madonna di Foligno, and the Trans- figuration. The Coronation of the Virgin by Pinturicchio is one of his best panel pictures, and a portrait of a Doge by Titian a master- piece of portraiture. The Last Communion of St Jerome by Do- menichino is his finest work. The chapel of San Lorenzo, painted by Fra Angelico (see FIESOLE), the Appartamenti Borgia by Pintu- ricchio, the stanze by Raphael, and the Sistine Chapel by Michel- angelo are described in the articles on these painters. The Capitol contains but few works of much merit; the chief are a very beauti- ful series of frescos of Apollo and the Muses in separate panels, life- size, by some painter of the school of Perugino, probably Lo Spagna; they are remarkable for grace of drawing and extreme delicacy of colour. The Rape of Europa, by Paul Veronese, is a fine replica of that in the doge's palace at Venice. The gallery also contains some of the chief works of Guercino and Guido and a very noble portrait by Velazquez. The Borghese Gallery is perhaps the most important private collection in the world. It is rich in Florentine pictures of the 15th century, and possesses the celebrated Entombment by Raphael. A small panel of St Stephen by Francia (signed) is of unusual beauty and interest, very highly finished and magnificent in colour; it seems to show the influence of Jan van Eyck; it is one of Francia's earliest works, and is very far superior to those of his later style. The great glory of the gallery is the (so-called) Sacred and Profane Love by Titian (see fag. 16), one of the most beautiful pictures in the world both for design and colour, and a marvel for its rich warm rendering of flesh; it appears to be a portrait of the same lady repeated twice, nude ana draped. It belongs to a somewhat earlier period than the bacchanal trio in Madrid and London. This gallery contains also one of Vandyck's finest portraits, that of Catherine de' Medici, and other excellent portraits of the Venetian school. The Danae by Correggio is an interesting example, very weak in drawing, but remarkable for the fine pearly tones of the flesh. The Corsini Gallery, now the property of the municipality of Rome, contains some good panels by Fra Angelico, but is mainly strong only in the later Bolognese paintings. It also possesses a rich collection of early Italian engravings. The Doria Gallery is large, but contains only a small proportion of valu- able pictures. Some paintings by Niccolo Rondinelli are of much interest; they show him to have been an able pupil and close imitator of Giovanni Bellini, to whom many paintings in various galleries are attributed which are really the work of pupils. A beautiful Madonna in the Doria Palace by Rondinelli has a cartcllino inscribed with Bellini's name. The chief treasures of this collection are the portraits of two Venetians attributed to Raphael, and that of Pope Innocent X. by Velazquez, the latter a marvel of dashing and almost too skilful execution. There is also a fine portrait of Andrea Doria by Sebastiano del Piombo, well modelled, but rather wanting in colour. The Sciarra-Colonna Palace contains a few good pictures, among them a very fine portrait of a violin-player by Raphael, and a graceful painting of Modesty and Vanity by Luini, attributed to Da Vinci, as is often the case with Luini's pictures. The Colonna, Barberini, and other private galleries of Rome contain but little that is noteworthy. The church of S. Maria sopra Minerva contains some splendid frescos by Lippo Lippi; some of Piutu- ricchio's chief frescos are in the churches of S. Maria del Popolo and S. Maria in Ara Cceli; and the monastery of S. Onofrio possesses a very lovely fresco of the Madonna and a kneeling Donor, attributed to Da Vinci, probably a pupil's work. The Florentine Accademia delle Belle Arti contains a most valu- Floren* able collection of early Florentine and other 15th-century pictures, including the finest panel picture by Gentile da Fabriano, the Adoration of the Magi, a rare example of Verrocchio, partly painted by his pupil Da Vinci, some magnificent examples of Botticelli, good specimens of Fra Angelico, Ghirlandaio, Signorelli, Lippo Lippi, Fra Bartolomeo, and a group of saints by Andrea del Sarto, one of his best works. The magnificent galleries in the Uffizi and Pitti Palaces contain an unrivalled collection of the great Florentine painters of all dates. In the Uffizi are several fine paintings by Raphael, the Madonna del Cardellino, a portrait of Julius II., and an exquisitely finished head of an unknown lady. Among the many fane examples by Titian is his portrait of a nude lady reclining (Danae), a most wonderful work. In the same room (La Tribuna) is the circular panel of the Madonna and St Joseph, an early work by Michelangelo, showing the influence of Signorelli. Many of Botticelli's finest works are in this gallery, and the Uffizi also possesses an almost unrivalled collection of drawings by Italian painters of all dates. The Pitti Palace contains some of the chief works of Raphael, the early Madonna del Gran Duca, and por- traits of Angelo Doni and his wife, the portraits of Cardinal Bibiena and Leo X. (in his later manner), the Madonna della Seggiola, and the miniature Vision of Ezekiel. The portrait of a nun, attributed to Da Vinci, but probably the work of a pupil, is a work of extra- ordinary finish and refinement. The Magdalen and the lady's portrait (La Bella) by Titian are among his best works. Both these collections contain some good Flemish and Dutch pictures. In the church of Santa Croce are the chief works of Giotto, in S. Maria Novella the best pictures of Orcagna and Ghirlandaio, and in the monastery of S. Marco the principal frescos of Fra Angelico. Some of the chief frescos of Spinello Aretino, much repainted, exist in the sacristy of S. Miniato, and the most important frescos of Andrea del Sarto are in the church of S. Annunziata. Smallei The small galleries at Perugia and Siena are of great interest for Italian their collections of rare works by painters of the local schools. The gallerie