Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/595

Rh ITALIAN.] SCULPTURE 569 lG> - Head of the colossal statue of David by Michelangelo at Florence. Florence, tistery gates ; DGatello, the master of delicate relief and dignified realism see fig. 17) ; Luca della Robbia, with his classic purity of style and sweetness of expression, came next in ordr. Unsensual beauty elevated by reli- gious spirit was trained in the highest degree by Mino da Fiesole, the two li.ssellini, Benedetto da Maiano, and other sculptors of Florere. Two of the noblest equestrian statues the world has prolbly ever seen are the Gattamelata statue at Padua by Doncello and the statue of Colleoni at Venice by Verrocchio antLeopardi (see fig. 18). A third, which was probably of equal eauty, was modelled in clay by Leonardo da Vinci, but it o longer exists. Finally came Michel- angelo, who raised the sculp- ture of the modern world to its highest pitch of magni- ficence, and at the same time sowed the seeds of its rapidly approaching de- cline; the head of his David (see fig. 19) is a work of unrivalled force and dig- nity. His rivals and imitators, Baccio Bandi nelli, Giacomo della Porta, Morolupo, Ammanati, Vincenzo de' Kossi, and others, copii and exaggerated his faults without possessing a touh of his gigantic genius. In other parts of Italy, suh as Pa via, the traditions of the 15th century lasted lager, though gradually fading. The statuary and reli-is which make the Certosa near Pavia one of the most prgeous buildings in the world are free from the influene of Michelangelo, which at Florence and Rome was ovcwhelming. Though much of the sculp- ture was begun i: the second half of the 15th century, the greater part TIS not executed till much later. The magnificent tomb >f the founder, Giovanni Galeazzo Vis- conti, was not comleted till about 1560, and is a gorgeous example of the stle of the Renaissance grown weak from excess of richnessand from loss of the simple purity of the art of the 15t century. Everywhere in this wonder- ful building the fait is the same ; and the growing love of luxury and dis}ay, which was the curse of the time, is reflected in the pustic decorations of the whole church. The old religious pint had died out and was succeeded by unbelief or by n affected revival of paganism. Monu- ments to ancient imans, such as those to the two Plinys on the facade of Gmo cathedral, or " heroa " to unsaintly mortals, such as 'iat erected at Rimini by Sigismondo Pandolfo in honor of Isotta, 1 grew up side by side with shrines and churces dedicated to the saints. We have seen how the youtf ul vigour of the Christian faith vivified for a time the dnbones of expiring classic art, and now the decay of this ime belief brought with it the destrtec- tion of all that wa most valuable in mediaeval sculpture. Sculpture like the>ther arts became the bond-slave of the rich and ceased t be the natural expression of a whole people. Though )r a long time in Italy great technical skill continued to xist, the vivifying spirit was dead, and at last a dull schlasticism or a riotous extravagance of design became threading characteristics. 1 See Yriarte, RimiiL au XVme Siecle, Paris, 1880 ; also the article RIMINI. The 16th century was one of transition to this state of Sixteenth degradation, but nevertheless produced many sculptors of century, great ability who were not wholly crushed by the declining taste of their time. John of Douay (1524-1608), usually known as Giovanni da Bologna, one of the ablest, lived and worked almost entirely in Italy. His bronze statue of Mercury flying upwards, in the Uffizi, one of his finest works, is full of life and movement. By him also is the Carrying off of a Sabine Woman in the Loggia de' Lanzi. His great fountain at Bologna, with two tiers of boys and mermaids, sur- mounted by a colossal statue of Neptune, a very noble work, is composed of archi- tectural features combined with sculpture, and is remark- able for beauty of proportion. He also cast the fine bronze equestrian statue of Cosimo de' Medici at Florence and the very richly decorated west door of Pisa cathedral, the latter much injured by the over-crowding of its orna- ments and the want of sculp- turesque dignity in the fig- ures ; it is a feeble copy of Ghiberti's noble production. One of Giovanni's best works, a group of two nude figures fighting, is now lost. A fine copy in lead existed till FlQ - 20. Group by Giovanni da Bo- recently in the front quad- Jogna formerly in Brasenose Col. i -n fi i lege, Oxford ; destroyed in 1881. rangle of Brasenose Col- lege, Oxford, of which it was the chief ornament (see fig. 20). In 1881 it was sold for old lead by the master and fellows of the college, and was immediately melted down by the plumber who bought it a quite irreparable loss, as the only other existing copy is very inferior; the destruction was an utterly inexcusable act of vandalism. The sculpture on the western fagade of the church at Loreto and the ela- borate bronze gates of the Santa Casa are works of great technical merit by Girolamo Lombardo and his sons, about the middle of the 16th cen- tury. Benvenuto Cellini (1500- 1569), though in the main a poor sculptor, produced one work of great beauty and dig- nity, the colossal bronze Per- seus at Florence (see fig. 21). His large bust of Cosimo de' Medici in the Bargello is mean and petty in style. A num- ber of very clever statues and groups in terra -cotta were FIG. 21. Bronze statue of Per- modelled by Antonio Begarelli seus and Medusa by Cellini, in of Modena (d. 1565)7 and ^ e ce Loggia de Lanzi at Flor ' were enthusiastically admired by Michelangelo ; the finest are a Pieta in S. Maria Pom- posa and a large Descent from the Cross in S. Francesco, XXI. 72