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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Giorgione, by Herbert Cook
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Giorgione
+
+Author: Herbert Cook
+
+Release Date: May 9, 2004 [EBook #12307]
+
+Language: English, with Italian and French
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GIORGIONE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Dave Morgan, Wilelmina Malliere and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Art Repro Co.
+
+Madonna & Child with two Saints.
+
+From the painting by Giorgione at Castelfranco.]
+
+
+
+
+GIORGIONE
+
+BY
+
+HERBERT COOK, M.A., F.S.A.
+
+BARRISTER-AT-LAW
+
+
+
+1904
+
+
+
+
+     "Born half-way between the mountains and the sea--that young George
+     of Castelfranco--of the Brave Castle: Stout George they called him,
+     George of Georges, so goodly a boy he was--Giorgione."
+
+     (RUSKIN: _Modern Painters_, vol. V. pt. IX. ch. IX.)
+
+_First Published, November 1900 Second Edition, revised, with new
+Appendix, February 1904._
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+Unlike most famous artists of the past, Giorgione has not yet found a
+modern biographer. The whole trend of recent criticism has, in his case,
+been to destroy not to fulfil. Yet signs are not wanting that the
+disintegrating process is at an end, and that we have reached the point
+where reconstruction may be attempted. The discovery of documents and
+the recovery of lost pictures in the last few years have increased the
+available material for a more comprehensive study of the artist, and the
+time has come when the divergent results arrived at by independent
+modern inquirers may be systematically arranged, and a reconciliation of
+apparently conflicting views attempted on a psychological basis.
+
+Crowe and Cavalcaselle were the first to examine the subject critically.
+They separated--so far as was then possible (1871)--the real from the
+traditional Giorgione, and their account of his life and works must
+still rank as the nearest equivalent to a modern biography. Morelli, who
+followed in 1877, was in singular sympathy with his task, and has
+written of his favourite master enthusiastically, yet with consummate
+judgment. Among living authorities, Dr. Gronau, Herr Wickhoff, Signor
+Venturi, and Mr. Bernhard Berenson have contributed effectively to the
+elucidation of obscure or disputed points, and the latter writer has
+probably come nearer than anyone to recognise the scope of Giorgione's
+art, and grasp the man behind his work. The monograph by Signor Conti
+and the chapter in Pater's _Renaissance_ may be read for their delicate
+appreciations of the "Giorgionesque"; other contributions on the subject
+will be found in the Bibliography.
+
+It is absolutely necessary for those whose judgment depends upon a study
+of the actual pictures to be constantly registering and adjusting their
+impressions. I have personally seen and studied all the pictures I
+believe to be by Giorgione, with the exception of those at St.
+Petersburg; and many galleries and churches where they hang have been
+visited repeatedly, and at considerable intervals of time. If in the
+course of years my individual impressions (where they deviate from
+hitherto recognised views) fail to stand the test of time, I shall be
+the first to admit their inadequacy. If, on the other hand, they prove
+sound, some of the mists which at present envelop the figure of
+Giorgione will have been dispersed.
+
+H.C.
+
+_November 1900_
+
+
+
+
+NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION
+
+To this Edition an Appendix has been added, containing--(1) an article
+by the Author on the age of Titian, which was published in the
+_Nineteenth Century_ of January 1902; (2) the translation of a reply by
+Dr. Georg Gronau, published in the _Repertorium fuer Kunstwissenschaft_;
+(3) a further reply by the Author, published in the same German
+periodical.
+
+The writer wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to the Editors of the
+_Nineteenth Century_ and of the _Repertorium_ for permission to reprint
+these articles.
+
+A better photograph of the "Portrait of an Unknown Man" at Temple Newsam
+has now been taken (p. 87), and sundry footnotes have been added to
+bring the text up to date.
+
+H. C.
+
+ESHER, _January 1904_.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHY
+
+
+Chapter    I. GIORGIONE'S LIFE
+
+          II. GIORGIONE'S GENERALLY ACCEPTED WORKS
+
+         III. INTERMEDIATE SUMMARY
+
+          IV. ADDITIONAL PICTURES--PORTRAITS
+
+           V. ADDITIONAL PICTURES--OTHER SUBJECTS
+
+          VI. GIORGIONE'S ART, AND PLACE IN HISTORY
+
+APPENDIX I--DOCUMENTS
+
+APPENDIX II--THE AGE OF TITIAN
+
+CATALOGUE OF WORKS
+
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+Madonna, with SS. Francis and Liberale. _Castelfranco_.
+
+Adrastus and Hypsipyle. _Palazzo Giovanelli, Venice_
+
+Aeneas, Evander, and Pallas. _Vienna Gallery_
+
+The Judgment of Solomon. _Uffizi Gallery_
+
+The Trial of Moses. _Uffizi Gallery_
+
+Christ bearing the Cross. _Collection of Mrs. Gardner, Boston, U.S.A._
+
+Knight of Malta. _Uffizi Gallery_
+
+The Adoration of the Shepherds. _Vienna Gallery_
+
+The Judgment of Solomon. _Collection of Mrs. Ralph Bankes, Kingston
+Lacy_
+
+Portrait of a Young Man. _Berlin Gallery_
+
+Portrait of a Man. _Buda-Pesth Gallery_
+
+Portrait of a Lady. _Borghese Gallery, Rome_
+
+Apollo and Daphne. _Seminario, Venice_
+
+Venus. _Dresden Gallery_
+
+Judith. _Hermitage Gallery, St. Petersburg_
+
+Pastoral Symphony. _Louvre, Paris_
+
+The Three Ages. _Pitti Gallery_
+
+Nymph and Satyr. _Pitti Gallery_
+
+Madonna, with SS. Roch and Francis. _Prado, Madrid_
+
+The Birth of Paris--Copy of a portion. _Buda-Pesth Gallery_
+
+Shepherd Boy. _Hampton Court_
+
+Portrait of a Man. (By Torbido) _Padua Gallery_
+
+The Concert. _Pitti Gallery_
+
+The Adoration of the Magi (or Epiphany). _National Gallery_
+
+Christ bearing the Cross. _Collection of Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth._
+(Sketch by Vandyck, after the original by Giorgione in S. Rocco, Venice)
+
+Mythological Scenes. Two _Cassone_ pieces _Padua Gallery_
+
+Portrait of "Ariosto". _Collection of the Earl of Darnley, Cobham Hall_
+
+Portrait of Caterina Cornaro. _Collection of Signor Crespi, Milan_
+
+Bust of Caterina Cornaro. _Pourtales Collection, Berlin_
+
+Portrait of "A Poet". _National Gallery_
+
+Portrait of a Man. _Querini-Stampalia Gallery, Venice_
+
+Portrait of a Man. _Collection of the Hon. Mrs. Meynell-Ingram, Temple
+Newsam_.
+
+Portrait of "Parma, the Physician". _Vienna Gallery_
+
+Orpheus and Eurydice. _Bergamo Gallery_
+
+The Golden Age (?). _National Gallery_
+
+Venus and Adonis. _National Gallery_
+
+Holy Family. _Collection of Mr. Robert Benson, London_
+
+The "Gipsy" Madonna. _Vienna Gallery_
+
+Madonna. _Collection of Mr. Robert Benson, London_
+
+The Adulteress before Christ. _Glasgow Gallery_
+
+Madonna and Saints. _Louvre, Paris_
+
+
+
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHY
+
+
+ANONIMO. "Notizia d'opere di disegno." Ed. Frizzoni. Bologna, 1884.
+_Passim._
+
+_Archivio Storico dell' Arte_ (now _L'Arte_), 1888, p. 47. (See also
+_sub_ Venturi.)
+
+_Art Journal_. 1895. p. 90. (Dr. Richter.)
+
+BERENSON, B. "Venetian Painting at the New Gallery." 1895. (Privately
+printed.) "Venetian Painters of the Renaissance." Third edition, 1897.
+Putnam, London. _Gazette des Beaux Arts_, 1897, p. 279.
+
+BURCKHARDT. "Cicerone." Sixth edition, 1893. (Dr. Bode.)
+
+CONTI, A. "Giorgione, Studio." Florence, 1894.
+
+CROWE AND CAVALCASELLE. "History of Painting in North Italy," vol. ii.
+London, 1871. "Life of Titian." Two vols.
+
+FRY, ROGER. "Giovanni Bellini." London, 1899.
+
+GRONAU, DR. G. _Gazette des Beaux Arts_, 1894, p. 332. _Repertorium fuer
+Kunstwissenschaft_, xviii. 4, p. 284. "Zorzon da Castelfranco. La sua
+origine, la sua morte, e tomba." Venice, 1894. "Tizian." Berlin, 1900.
+
+LAFENESTRE, G. "La vie et l'oeuvre de Titien." Paris, 1886.
+
+LOGAN, MARY. "Guide to the Italian Pictures at Hampton Court." London,
+1894.
+
+_Magazine of Art_, 1890, pp. 91 and 138. (Sir W. Armstrong.) 1893.
+April. (Mr. W.F. Dickes.)
+
+MORELLI, GIOVANNI. "Italian Painters." Translated by C.J. Ffoulkes.
+London, 1892. Vols. i. and ii. _passim_.
+
+MUeNTZ, E. "La fin de la Renaissance." Paris.
+
+New Gallery Catalogue of Exhibition of Venetian Art, 1895.
+
+PATER, W. "The Renaissance." Chapter on the School of Giorgione. London,
+1893.
+
+PHILLIPS, CLAUDE. _Gazette des Beaux Arts_, 1884, p. 286. _Magazine of
+Art_, July 1895. "The Picture Gallery of Charles I." (_Portfolio_,
+January 1896). "The Earlier Work of Titian" (_Portfolio_, October 1897).
+_North American Review_, October 1899.
+
+_Repertorium fuer Kunstwissenschaft_. Bd. xiv. p. 316. (Herr von
+Seidlitz.) Bd. xix. Hft. 6. (Dr. Harck.)
+
+RIDOLFI, C. "Le Maraviglie dell' arte della pittura." Venice, 1648.
+
+Royal Academy. Catalogues of the Exhibitions of Old Masters.
+
+VASARI. "Le Vite." Ed. Sansoni. Florence, 1879. Translation edited by
+Blashfield and Hopkins, with Notes. London, 1897.
+
+VENTURI, ADOLFO. _Archivio Storico dell' Arte_, vi. 409, 412. _L'Arte_,
+1900, p. 24, etc. "La Galleria Crespi in Milano," 1900.
+
+WICKHOFF, F. _Gazette des Beaux Arts_, 1893, p. 135. _Jahrbuch der
+Preussischen Kunstsammlungen_, 1895. Heft i.
+
+ZANETTI, A. "Varie Pitture," etc., with engravings of some fragments
+from the Fondaco de' Tedeschi frescoes, 1760.
+
+
+
+
+
+GIORGIONE
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+GIORGIONE'S LIFE
+
+
+Apart from tradition, very few ascertained facts are known to us as to
+Giorgione's life. The date of his birth is conjectural, there being but
+Vasari's unsupported testimony that he died in his thirty-fourth year.
+Now we know from unimpeachable sources that his death happened in
+October-November 1510,[1] so that, assuming Vasari's statement to be
+correct, Giorgione will have been born in 1477.[2]
+
+The question of his birthplace and origin has been in great dispute.
+Without going into the evidence at length, we may accept with some
+degree of certainty the results at which recent German research has
+arrived.[3] Dr. Gronau's conclusion is that Giorgione was the son (or
+grandson) of a certain Giovanni, called Giorgione of Castelfranco, who
+came originally from the village of Vedelago in the march of Treviso.
+This Giovanni was living at Castelfranco, of which he was a citizen, in
+1460, and there, probably, Giorgione his son (or grandson) was born some
+seventeen years later.
+
+The tradition that the artist was a natural son of one of the great
+Barbarella family, and that in consequence he was called Barbarelli, is
+now shown to be false. This cognomen is first found in 1648, in
+Ridolfi's book, to which, in 1697, the picturesque addition was made
+that his mother was a peasant girl of Vedelago.[4] None of the earlier
+writers or contemporary documents ever allude to such an origin, or
+speak of "Barbarelli," but always of "Zorzon de Castelfrancho," "Zorzi
+da Castelfranco," and the like,[5]
+
+We may take it as certain that Giorgione spent the whole of his short
+life in Venice and the neighbourhood. Unlike Titian, whose busy career
+was marked by constant journeyings and ever fresh incidents, the young
+Castelfrancan passed a singularly calm and uneventful life. Untroubled,
+apparently, by the storm and stress of the political world about him, he
+devoted himself with a whole-hearted simplicity to the advancement of
+his art. Like Leonardo, he early won fame for his skill in music, and
+Vasari tells us the gifted young lute-player was a welcome guest in
+distinguished circles. Although of humble origin, he must have possessed
+a singular charm of manner, and a comeliness of person calculated to
+find favour, particularly with the fair sex. He early found a
+quasi-royal friend and patroness in Caterina Cornaro, ex-Queen of
+Cyprus, whose portrait he painted, and whose recommendation, as I
+believe, secured for him important commissions in the like field. But we
+may leave Giorgione's art for fuller discussion in the following
+chapters, and only note here two outside events which were not without
+importance in the young artist's career.
+
+The one was the visit paid by Leonardo to Venice in the year 1500.
+Vasari tells us "Giorgione had seen certain works from the hand of
+Leonardo, which were painted with extraordinary softness, and thrown
+into powerful relief, as is said, by extreme darkness of the shadows, a
+manner which pleased him so much that he ever after continued to imitate
+it, and in oil painting approached very closely to the excellence of his
+model."[6] This statement has been combated by Morelli, but although
+historical evidence is wanting that the two men ever actually met, there
+is nothing improbable in Vasari's account. Leonardo certainly came to
+Venice for a short time in 1500, and it would be perfectly natural to
+find the young Venetian, then in his twenty-fourth year, visiting the
+great Florentine, long a master of repute, and from him, or from
+"certain works of his," taking hints for his own practice.[7]
+
+The second event of moment to which allusion may here be made was the
+great conflagration in the year 1504, when the Exchange of the German
+Merchants was burnt. This building, known as the Fondaco de' Tedeschi,
+occupying one of the finest sites on the Grand Canal, was rebuilt by
+order of the Signoria, and Giorgione received the commission to decorate
+the facade with frescoes. The work was completed by 1508, and became the
+most celebrated of all the artist's creations. The Fondaco still stands
+to-day, but, alas! a crimson stain high up on the wall is all that
+remains to us of these great frescoes, which were already in decay when
+Vasari visited Venice in 1541.
+
+Other work of the kind--all long since perished--Giorgione undertook
+with success. The Soranzo Palace, the Palace of Andrea Loredano, the
+Casa Flangini, and elsewhere, were frescoed with various devices, or
+ornamented with monochrome friezes.
+
+We know nothing of Giorgione's home life; he does not appear to have
+married, or to have left descendants. Vasari speaks of "his many friends
+whom he delighted by his admirable performance in music," and his death
+caused "extreme grief to his many friends to whom he was endeared by his
+excellent qualities." He enjoyed prosperity and good health, and was
+called Giorgione "as well from the character of his person as for the
+exaltation of his mind."[8]
+
+He died of plague in the early winter of 1510, and was probably buried
+with other victims on the island of Poveglia, off Venice, where the
+lazar-house was situated.[9] The tradition that his bones were removed
+in 1638 and buried at Castelfranco in the family vault of the Barbarelli
+is devoid of foundation, and was invented to round off the story of his
+supposed connection with the family.[10]
+
+NOTES:
+
+[1] See Appendix, where the documents are quoted in full.
+
+[2] Vasari gives 1478 (1477 in his first edition) and 1511 as the years
+of his birth and death. Crowe and Cavalcaselle, and Dr. Bode prefer to
+say "before 1477," a supposition which would make his precocity less
+phenomenal, and help to explain some chronological difficulties (see p.
+66).
+
+[3] _Zorzon da Castelfranco. La sua origine, la sua morte e tomba_, by
+Dr. Georg Gronau. Venice, 1894.
+
+[4] Vide _Repertorium fuer Kunstwissenschaft_, xix. 2, p. 166. [Dr.
+Gronau.]
+
+[5] It would seem, therefore, desirable to efface the name of Barbarelli
+from the catalogues. The National Gallery, for example, registers
+Giorgione's work under this name.
+
+[6] The translation given is that of Blashfield and Hopkins's edition.
+Bell, 1897.
+
+[7] M. Muentz adduces strong arguments in favour of this view (_La fin de
+la Renaissance_, p. 600).
+
+[8] The name "Giorgione" signifies "Big George." But it seems to have
+been also his father's name.
+
+[9] This visitation claimed no less than 20,000 victims.
+
+[10] See Gronau, _op. cit_. Tradition has been exceptionally busy over
+Giorgione's affairs. The story goes that he died of grief at being
+betrayed by his friend and pupil, Morto da Feltre, who had robbed him of
+his mistress. This is now proved false by the document quoted in the
+Appendix.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+GENERALLY ACCEPTED WORKS
+
+
+Such, then, very briefly, are the facts of Giorgione's life recorded by
+the older biographers, or known by contemporary documents. Now let us
+turn to his artistic remains, the _disjecta membra_, out of which we may
+reconstruct something of the man himself; for, to those who can
+interpret it aright, a man's work is his best autobiography.
+
+This is especially true in the case of an artist of Giorgione's
+temperament, for his expression is so peculiarly personal, so highly
+charged with individuality, that every product of mental activity
+becomes a revelation of the man himself. People like Giorgione must
+express themselves in certain ways, and these ways are therefore
+characteristic. Some people regard a work of art as something external;
+a great artist, they say, can vary his productions at will, he can paint
+in any style he chooses. But the exact contrary is the truth. The
+greater the artist, the less he can divest himself of his own
+personality; his work may vary in degree of excellence, but not in kind.
+The real reason, therefore, why it is impossible for certain pictures to
+be by Giorgione is, not that they are not _good_ enough for him, but
+that they are not _characteristic_. I insist on this point, because in
+the matter of genuineness the touchstone of authenticity is so often to
+be looked for in an answer to the question: Is this or that
+characteristic? The personal equation is the all-important factor to be
+recognised; it is the connecting link which often unites apparently
+diverse phenomena, and explains what would otherwise appear to be
+irreconcilable.
+
+There is an intimate relation then between the artist and his work, and,
+rightly interpreted, the latter can tell us much about the former.
+
+Let us turn to Giorgione's work. Here we are brought face to face with
+an initial difficulty, the great difficulty, in fact, which has stood so
+much in the way of a more comprehensive understanding of the master, I
+mean, that scarcely anything of his work is authenticated. Three
+pictures alone have never been called in question by contending critics;
+outside this inner ring is more or less debatable ground, and on this
+wider arena the battle has raged until scarcely a shred of the painter's
+work has emerged unscathed. The result has been to reduce the figure of
+Giorgione to a shadowy myth, whose very existence, at the present rate
+at which negative criticism progresses, will assuredly be called in
+question.
+
+If Bacon wrote Shakespeare, then Giorgione can be divided up between a
+dozen Venetian artists, who "painted Giorgione." Fortunately three
+pictures survive which refuse to be fitted in anywhere else except under
+"Giorgione." This is the irreducible minimum, [Greek: _o anankaiotatos_]
+Giorgione, with which we must start.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Of the three universally accepted pictures, first and foremost comes the
+Castelfranco altar-piece, according to Mr. Ruskin "one of the two most
+perfect pictures in existence; alone in the world as an imaginative
+representation of Christianity, with a monk and a soldier on either side
+... "[11] This great picture was painted before 1504, when the artist
+was only twenty-seven years of age,[12] a fact which clearly proves that
+his genius must have developed early. For not even a Giorgione can
+produce such a masterpiece without a long antecedent course of training
+and accomplishment. This is not the place to inquire into the nature and
+character of the works which lead up to this altar-piece, for a
+chronological survey ought to follow, not precede, an examination of all
+available material; it is important, nevertheless, to bear in mind that
+quite ten years had been passed in active work ere Giorgione produced
+this masterpiece.
+
+If no other evidence were forthcoming as to the sort of man the painter
+was, this one production of his would for ever stamp him as a person of
+exquisite feeling. There is a reserve, almost a reticence, in the way
+the subject is presented, which indicates a refined mind. An atmosphere
+of serenity pervades the scene, which conveys a sense of personal
+tranquillity and calm. The figures are absorbed in their own thoughts;
+they stand isolated apart, as though the painter wishes to intensify the
+mood of dreamy abstraction. Nothing disquieting disturbs the scene,
+which is one of profound reverie. All this points to Giorgione being a
+man of moods, as we say; a lyric poet, whose expression is highly
+charged with personal feeling, who appeals to the imagination rather
+than to the intellect. And so, as we might expect, landscape plays an
+important part in the composition; it heightens the pictorial effect,
+not merely by providing a picturesque background, but by enhancing the
+mood of serenity and solemn calm. Giorgione uses it as an instrument of
+expression, blending nature and human nature into happy unison. The
+effect of the early morning sun rising over the distant sea is of
+indescribable charm, and invests the scene with a poetic glamour which,
+as Morelli truly remarks, awakens devotional feelings. What must have
+been the effect when it was first painted! for even five modern
+restorations, under which the original work has been buried, have not
+succeeded in destroying the hallowing charm. To enjoy similar effects we
+must turn to the central Italian painters, to Perugino and Raphael;
+certainly in Venetian art of pre-Giorgionesque times the like cannot be
+found, and herein Giorgione is an innovator. Bellini, indeed, before him
+had studied nature and introduced landscape backgrounds into his
+pictures, but more for picturesqueness of setting than as an integral
+part of the whole; they are far less suggestive of the mood appropriate
+to the moment, less calculated to stir the imagination than to please
+the eye. Nowhere, in short, in Venetian art up to this date is a lyrical
+treatment of the conventional altar-piece so fully realised as in the
+Castelfranco Madonna.
+
+Technically, Giorgione proclaims himself no less an innovator. The
+composition is on the lines of a perfect equilateral triangle, a scheme
+which Bellini and the older Venetian artists never adopted.[13] So
+simple a scheme required naturally large and spacious treatment; flat
+surfaces would be in place, and the draperies cast in ample folds.
+Dignity of bearing, and majestic sweep of dress are appropriately
+introduced; the colour is rich and harmonious, the preponderance of
+various shades of green having a soothing effect on the eye. The golden
+glow which doubtless once suffused the whole, has, alas! disappeared
+under cruel restorations, and flatness of tone has inevitably resulted,
+but we may still admire the play of light on horizontal surfaces, and
+the chiaroscuro giving solidity and relief to the figures.
+
+An interesting link with Bellini is seen in the S. Francis, for the
+figure is borrowed from that master's altar-piece of S. Giobbe (now in
+the Venice Academy). Bellini's S. Francis had been painted seventeen or
+eighteen years before, and now we find Giorgione having recourse to the
+older master for a pictorial motive. But, as though to assert his
+independence, he has created in the S. Liberale a type of youthful
+beauty and manliness which in turn became the prototype of subsequent
+knightly figures. Palma Vecchio, Mareschalco, and Pennacchi all borrowed
+it for their own use, a proof that Giorgione's altar-piece acquired an
+early celebrity.[14]
+
+[Illustration: _Anderson photo. Giovanelli Palace, Venice_
+
+ADRASTUS AND HYPSIPYLE]
+
+Exquisite feeling is equally conspicuous in the other two works
+universally ascribed to Giorgione. These are the "Adrastus and
+Hypsipyle," in the collection of Prince Giovanelli, in Venice, and
+the "Aeneas, Evander, and Pallas," in the gallery at Vienna.[15]
+
+"The Giovanelli Figures," or "The Stormy Landscape, with the Soldier and
+the Gipsy," as the picture has been commonly called since the days of
+the Anonimo, who so described it in 1530, is totally unlike anything
+that Venetian art of the pre-Giorgionesque era has to show. The painted
+myth is a new departure, the creation of Giorgione's own brain, and as
+such, is treated in a wholly unconventional manner. His peculiarly
+poetical nature here finds full scope for display, his delicacy, his
+refinement, his sensitiveness to the beauties of the outside world, find
+fitting channels through which to express themselves. With what a spirit
+of romance Giorgione has invested his picture! So exquisitely personal
+is the mood, that the subject itself has taken his biographers nearly
+four centuries to decipher! For the artist, it must be noted, does not
+attempt to illustrate a passage of an ancient writer; very probably,
+nay, almost certainly, he had never read the _Thebaid_ of Statius,
+whence comes the story of Adrastus and Hypsipyle; the subject would have
+been suggested to him by some friend, a student of the Classics, and
+Giorgione thereupon dressed the old Greek myth in Venetian garb, just as
+Statius had done in the Latin.[16] The story is known to us only at
+second hand, and we are at liberty to choose Giorgione's version in
+preference to that of the Roman poet; each is an independent translation
+of a common original, and certainly Giorgione's is not the less
+poetical. He has created a painted lyric which is not an illustration
+of, but a parallel presentation to the written poem of Statius.
+
+Technically, the workmanship points to an earlier period than the
+Castelfranco Madonna, and there is an exuberance of fancy which points
+to a youthful origin. The figures are of slight and graceful build, the
+composition easy and unstudied, with a tendency to adopt a triangular
+arrangement in the grouping, the apex being formed by the storm scene,
+to which the eye thus naturally reverts. The figures and the landscape
+are brought into close relation by this subtle scheme, and the picture
+becomes, not figures with landscape background, but landscape with
+figures.
+
+The reproduction unduly exaggerates the contrasts of light and shade,
+and conveys little of the mellowness and richness of atmospheric effect
+which characterise the original. Unlike the brilliance of colouring in
+the Castelfranco picture, dark reds, browns, and greens here give a
+sombre tone which is accentuated by the dullness of surface due to old
+varnishes.
+
+[Illustration: _Hanfstaengl photo. Vienna Gallery_
+
+AENEAS, EVANDER, AND PALLAS]
+
+"The Three Philosophers," or "The Chaldean Sages," as the picture at
+Vienna has long been strangely named, shows the artist again treating a
+classical story in his own fantastic way. Virgil has enshrined in verse
+the legend of the arrival of the Trojan Aeneas in Italy,[17] and
+Giorgione depicts the moment when Evander, the aged seer-king, and his
+son Pallas point out to the wanderer the site of the future Capitol.
+Again we find the same poetical presentation, not representation, of a
+legendary subject, again the same feeling for the beauties of nature.
+How Giorgione has revelled in the glories of the setting sun, the long
+shadows of the evening twilight, the tall-stemmed trees, the moss-grown
+rock! The figures are but a pretext, we feel, for an idyllic scene,
+where the story is subordinated to the expression of sensuous charm.
+
+This work was seen by the Anonimo in 1525, in the house of Taddeo
+Contarini at Venice. It was then believed to have been completed by
+Sebastiano del Piombo, Giorgione's pupil. If so,--and there is no valid
+reason to doubt the statement,--Giorgione left unfinished a picture on
+which he was at work some years before his death, for the style clearly
+indicates that the artist had not yet reached the maturity of his later
+period. The figures still recall those of Bellini, the modelling is
+close and careful, the forms compact, and reminiscent of the
+quattrocento. It is noticeable that the type of the Pallas is identical
+with that of S. John Baptist in Sebastiano's early altar-piece in S.
+Giovanni Crisostomo at Venice, but it would be unwise to dramatise on
+the share (if any) which the pupil had in completing the work of his
+master. The credit of invention must indubitably rest with Giorgione,
+but the damage which the picture has sustained through neglect and
+repainting in years gone by, renders certainty of discrimination between
+the two hands a matter of impossibility.
+
+The colouring is rich and varied; the orange horizon, the distant blue
+hill, and the pale, clear evening light, with violet-tinted clouds, give
+a wonderful depth behind the dark tree-trunks. The effect of the
+delicate leaves and feathery trees at the edge of the rock, relieved
+against the pale sky, is superb. A spirit of solemnity broods over the
+scene, fit feeling at so eventful a moment in the history of the past.
+
+The composition, which looks so unstudied, is really arranged on the
+usual triangular basis. The group of figures on the right is balanced on
+the left by the great rock--the future Capitol--(which is thus brought
+prominently into notice), and the landscape background again forms the
+apex. The added depth and feeling for space shows how Giorgione had
+learnt to compose in three dimensions, the technical advance over the
+"Adrastus and Hypsipyle" indicating a period subsequent to that picture,
+though probably anterior to the Castelfranco altar-piece.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We have now taken the three universally accepted Giorgiones; how are we
+to proceed in our investigations? The simplest course will be to take
+the pictures acknowledged by those modern writers who have devoted most
+study to the question, and examine them in the light of the results to
+which we have attained. Those writers are Crowe and Cavalcaselle, who
+published their account of Giorgione in 1871, and Morelli, who wrote in
+1877. Now it is notorious that the results at which these critics
+arrived are often widely divergent, but a great deal too much has been
+made of the differences and not enough of the points of agreement.
+As a matter of fact, Morelli only questions three of the thirteen
+Giorgiones accepted definitely by Crowe and Cavalcaselle. Leaving these
+three aside for the moment, we may take the remaining ten (three of
+which we have already examined), and after deducting three others in
+English collections to which Morelli does not specifically refer, we are
+left with four more pictures on which these rival authorities are
+agreed.
+
+[Illustration: _Alinari photo. Uffizi Gallery, Florence_
+
+THE JUDGMENT OF SOLOMON]
+
+These are the two small works in the Uffizi, representing the "Judgment
+of Solomon" and the "Trial of Moses," the "Knight of Malta," also in the
+Uffizi, and the "Christ bearing the Cross," till lately in the Casa
+Loschi at Vicenza, and now belonging to Mrs. Gardner of Boston, U.S.A.
+
+The two small companion pictures in the Uffizi, The "Judgment of
+Solomon" and the "Trial of Moses," or "Ordeal by Fire," as it is also
+called, connect in style closely with the "Adrastus and Hypsipyle." They
+are conceived in the same romantic strain, and carried out with scarcely
+less brilliance and charm. The story, as in the previous pictures, is
+not insisted upon; the biblical episode and the rabbinical legend are
+treated in the same fantastic way as the classic myth. Giovanni Bellini
+had first introduced this lyric conception in his treatment of the
+mediaeval allegory, as we see it in his picture, also in the Uffizi,
+hanging near the Giorgiones; all three works were originally together in
+the Medici residence of Poggio Imperiale, and there can be little doubt
+are intimately related in origin to one another. Bellini's latest
+biographer, Mr. Roger Fry, places this Allegory about the years 1486-8,
+a date which points to a very early origin for the other two.[18] For
+it is extremely likely that the young Giorgione was inspired by his
+master's example, and that he may have produced his companion pieces as
+early as 1493. With this deduction Morelli is in accord: "In character
+they belong to the fifteenth century, and may have been painted by
+Giorgione in his sixteenth or eighteenth year."[19]
+
+Here, then, is a clue to the young artist's earliest predilections. He
+fastens eagerly upon that phase of Bellini's art to which his own poetic
+temperament most readily responds. But he goes a step further than his
+master. He takes his subjects not from mediaeval romances, but from the
+Bible or rabbinical writings, and actually interprets them also in this
+new and unorthodox way. So bold a departure from traditional usage
+proves the independence and originality of the young painter. These two
+little pictures thus become historically the first-fruits of the
+neo-pagan spirit which was gradually supplanting the older
+ecclesiastical thought, and Giorgione, once having cast conventionalism
+aside, readily turns to classical mythology to find subjects for the
+free play of fancy. The "Adrastus and Hypsipyle" thus follows naturally
+upon "The Judgment of Solomon" and "Trial of Moses," and the pages of
+Virgil, Ovid, Statius, and Valerius Flaccus--all treasure-houses of
+golden legend--yield subjects suggestive of romance. The titles of some
+of these _poesie_, as they were called, are preserved in the pages of
+Ridolfi.[20]
+
+[Illustration: _Alinari photo. Uffizi Gallery, Florence_
+
+THE TRIAL OF MOSES]
+
+The tall and slender figures, the attitudes, and the general
+_mise-en-scene_ vividly recall the earlier style of Carpaccio, who was
+at this very time composing his delightful fairy tales of the "Legend of
+S. Ursula."[21] Common to both painters is a gaiety and love of beauty
+and colour. There is also in both a freedom and ease, even a homeliness
+of conception, which distinguishes their work from the pageant pictures
+of Gentile Bellini, whose "Corpus Christi Procession" was produced two
+or three years later, in 1496.[21] But Giorgione's art is instinct with
+a lyrical fancy all his own, the story is subordinated to the mood of
+the moment, and he is much more concerned with the beauty of the scene
+than with its dramatic import.
+
+The repainted condition of "The Judgment of Solomon" has led some good
+judges to pronounce it a copy. It certainly lacks the delicacy that
+distinguishes its companion piece, but may we not--with Crowe and
+Cavalcaselle and Morelli--register it rather as a much defaced original?
+
+So far as we have at present examined Giorgione's pictures, the trend of
+thought they display has been mostly in the direction of secular
+subjects. The two early examples just described show that even where the
+subject is quasi-religious, the revolutionary spirit made itself felt;
+but it would be perfectly natural to find the young artist also
+following his master Giambellini in the painting of strictly sacred
+subjects. No better example could be found than the "Christ bearing the
+Cross," the small work which has recently left Italy for America. We are
+told by the Anonimo that there was in his day (1525) a picture by
+Bellini of this subject, and it is remarkable that four separate
+versions exist to-day which, without being copies of one another, are so
+closely related that the existence of a common original is a legitimate
+inference. That this was by Bellini is more than probable, for the
+different versions are clearly by different painters of his school. By
+far the finest is the example which Crowe and Cavalcaselle and Morelli
+unhesitatingly ascribe to the young Giorgione; this version is, however,
+considered by Signor Venturi inferior to the one now belonging to Count
+Lanskeronski in Vienna.[22] Others who, like the writer, have seen both
+works, agree with the older view, and regard the latter version, like
+the others at Berlin and Rovigo, as a contemporary repetition of
+Bellini's lost original.[23]
+
+[Illustration: _Anderson photo. Collection of Mrs. Gardner, Boston,
+U.S.A._
+
+CHRIST BEARING THE CROSS]
+
+Characteristic of Giorgione is the abstract thought, the dreaminess of
+look, the almost furtive glance. The minuteness of finish reminds us of
+Antonello, and the turn of the head suggests several of the latter's
+portraits. The delicacy with which the features are modelled, the
+high forehead, and the lighting of the face are points to be noted, as
+we shall find the same characteristics elsewhere.
+
+[Illustration: _Alinari photo_] _[Uffizi Gallery, Florence_
+
+THE KNIGHT OF MALTA]
+
+The "Knight of Malta," in the Uffizi, is a more mature work, and reveals
+Giorgione to us as a portrait painter of remarkable power. The
+conception is dignified, the expression resolute, yet tempered by that
+look of abstract thought which the painter reads into the faces of his
+sitters. The hair parted in the middle, and brought down low at the
+sides of the forehead, was peculiarly affected by the Venetian gentlemen
+of the day, and this style seems to have particularly pleased Giorgione,
+who introduces it in many other pictures besides portraits. The oval of
+the face, which is strongly lighted, is also characteristic. This work
+shows no direct connection with Bellini's portraiture, but far more with
+that which we are accustomed to associate with the names of Titian and
+Palma. It dates probably from the early part of the sixteenth century,
+at a time when Giorgione was breaking with the older tradition which had
+strictly limited portraiture to the representation of the head only, or
+at most to the bust. The hand is here introduced, though Giorgione feels
+still compelled to account for its presence by introducing a rosary of
+large beads. In later years, as we shall see, the expressiveness of the
+human hand _per se_ will be recognised; but Giorgione already feels its
+significance in portraiture, and there is not one of his portraits which
+does not show this.[24]
+
+The list of Giorgione's works now numbers seven; the next three to be
+discussed are those that Crowe and Cavalcaselle added on their own
+account, but about which Morelli expressed no opinion. Two are in
+English private collections, the third in the National Gallery. This is
+the small "Knight in Armour," said to be a study for the figure of S.
+Liberale in the Castelfranco altar-piece. The main difference is that in
+the latter the warrior wears his helmet, whilst in the National Gallery
+example he is bareheaded. By some this little figure is believed to be a
+copy, or repetition with variations, of Giorgione's original, but it
+must honestly be confessed that absolutely no proof is forthcoming in
+support of this view. The quality of this fragment is unquestionable,
+and its very divergence from the Castelfranco figure is in its favour.
+It would perhaps be unsafe to dogmatise in a case where the material is
+so slight, but until its genuineness can be disproved by indisputable
+evidence, the claim to authenticity put forward in the National Gallery
+catalogue, following Crowe and Cavalcaselle's view, must be allowed.
+
+[Illustration: _Hanfstaengl photo. Vienna Gallery_
+
+THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS]
+
+The two remaining pictures definitely placed by Crowe and Cavalcaselle
+among the authentic productions of Giorgione are the "Adoration of the
+Shepherds," belonging to Mr. Wentworth Beaumont, and the "Judgment of
+Solomon," in the possession of Mr. Ralph Bankes at Kingston Lacy,
+Dorsetshire. The former (of which an inferior replica with differences
+of landscape exists in the Vienna Gallery) is one of the most poetically
+conceived representations of this familiar subject which exists. The
+actual group of figures forms but an episode in a landscape of the most
+entrancing beauty, lighted by the rising sun, and wrapped in a soft
+atmospheric haze. The landscapes in the two little Uffizi pictures are
+immediately suggested, yet the quality of painting is here far superior,
+and is much closer in its rendering of atmospheric effects to the
+"Adrastus and Hypsipyle." The figures, on the other hand, are weak, very
+unequal in size, and feebly expressed, except the Madonna, who has
+charm. The lights and shadows are treated in a masterly way, and
+contrasts of gloom and sunlight enhance the solemnity of the scene. The
+general tone is rich and full of subdued colour.
+
+Now if the name of Giorgione be denied this "Nativity," to which of the
+followers of Bellini are we to assign it?--for the work is clearly of
+Bellinesque stamp. The name of Catena has been proposed, but is now no
+longer seriously supported.[25] If for no other reason, the colour
+scheme is sufficient to exclude this able artist, and, versatile as he
+undoubtedly was, it may be questioned whether he ever could have
+attained to the mellowness and glow which suffuse this picture. The
+latest view enunciated[26] is that "we are in the presence of a painter
+as yet anonymous, whom in German fashion we might provisionally name
+'The Master of the Beaumont "Adoration."'" Now this system of labelling
+certain groups of paintings showing common characteristics is all very
+well in cases where the art history of a particular school or period is
+wrapt in obscurity, and where few, if any, names have come down to us,
+but in the present instance it is singularly inappropriate. To begin
+with, this anonymous painter is the author, so it is believed, of only
+three works, this "Adoration," the "Epiphany," in the National Gallery,
+No. 1160, and a small "Holy Family," belonging to Mr. Robert Benson in
+London, for all three works are universally admitted to be by the same
+hand. Next, this anonymous painter must have been a singularly refined
+and poetical artist, a master of brilliant colour, and an accomplished
+chiaroscurist. Truly a _deus ex machina_! Next you have to find a
+vacancy for such a phenomenon in the already crowded lists of Bellini's
+pupils and followers, as if there were not more names than enough
+already to fully account for every Bellinesque production.[27] No, this
+is no question of compromise, of the dragging to light some hitherto
+unknown genius whose identity has long been merged in that of bigger
+men, but it is the recognition of the fact that the greater comprises
+the less. Admitting, as we may, that these three pictures are inferior
+in "depth, significance, cohesion, and poetry" (!) to the Castelfranco
+"Madonna," there is nothing to show that they are not characteristic of
+Giorgione, that they do not form part of a consistent whole. As a matter
+of fact, this "Adoration of the Shepherds" connects very well with the
+early _poesie_ already discussed. There is some opposition between the
+sacred theme and Giorgione's natural dislike to tell a mere story; but
+he has had to conform to traditional methods of representation, and the
+feeling of restraint is felt in the awkward drawing of the figures, and
+their uneven execution. That he felt dissatisfied with this portion of
+the work, the drawing at Windsor plainly shows, for the figures appear
+here in a different position, as if he had tried to recast his scheme.
+
+Some may object that the drawing of the shepherd is atrocious, and that
+the figures are of disproportionate sizes. Such failings, they say,
+cannot be laid to a great master's charge. This is an appeal to the old
+argument that it is not _good_ enough, whereas the true test lies in the
+question, Is it _characteristic_? Of Giorgione it certainly is a
+characteristic to treat each figure in a composition more or less by
+itself; he isolates them, and this conception is often emphasised by an
+outward disparity of size. The relative disproportion of the figures in
+the Castelfranco altar-piece, and of those of Aeneas and Evander in the
+Vienna picture can hardly be denied, yet no one has ever pleaded this as
+a bar to their authenticity. Instances of this want of cohesion, both in
+conception and execution, between the various figures in a scene could
+be multiplied in Giorgione's work, no more striking instance being found
+than in the great undertaking he left unfinished--the large "Judgment of
+Solomon," next to be discussed. Moreover, eccentricities of drawing are
+not uncommon in his work, as a reference to the "Adrastus and
+Hypsipyle," and later works, like the "Fete Champetre" (of the Louvre),
+will show.
+
+I have no hesitation, therefore, in recognising this "Adoration of the
+Shepherds" as a genuine work of Giorgione, and, moreover, it appears to
+be the masterpiece of that early period when Bellini's influence was
+still strong upon him.
+
+The Vienna replica, I believe, was also executed by Giorgione himself.
+Until recent times, when an all too rigorous criticism condemned it to
+be merely a piece of the "Venezianische Schule um 1500" (which is
+correct as far as it goes),[28] it bore Giorgione's name, and is so
+recorded in an inventory of the year 1659. It differs from the Beaumont
+version chiefly in its colouring, which is silvery and of delicate
+tones. It lacks the rich glow, and has little of that mysterious glamour
+which is so subtly attractive in the former. The landscape is also
+different. We must be on our guard, therefore, against the view that it
+is merely a copy; differences of detail, especially in the landscape,
+show that it is a parallel work, or a replica. Now I believe that these
+two versions of the "Nativity" are the two pictures of "La Notte," by
+Giorgione, to which we have allusion in a contemporary document.[29] The
+description, "Una Notte," obviously means what we term "A Nativity"
+(Correggio's "Heilige Nacht" at Dresden is a familiar instance of the
+same usage), and the difference in quality between the two versions is
+significantly mentioned. It seems that Isabella d'Este, the celebrated
+Marchioness of Mantua, had commissioned one of her agents in Venice to
+procure for her gallery a picture by Giorgione. The agent writes to his
+royal mistress and tells her (October 1510) that the artist is just
+dead, and that no such picture as she describes--viz. "Una Nocte"[A]--is
+to be found among his effects. However, he goes on, Giorgione did paint
+two such pictures, but these were not for sale, as they belonged to two
+private owners who would not part with them. One of these pictures was
+of better design and more highly finished than the other, the latter
+being, in his opinion, not perfect enough for the royal collection. He
+regrets accordingly that he is unable to obtain the picture which the
+Marchioness requires.
+
+If my conjecture be right, we have in the Beaumont and Vienna
+"Nativities" the only two pictures of Giorgione to which allusion is
+made in an absolutely contemporary document, and they thus become
+authenticated material with which to start a study of the master.
+
+The next picture, which Crowe and Cavalcaselle accept without question,
+is the large "Judgment of Solomon," belonging to Mr. Bankes at Kingston
+Lacy. The scene is a remarkable one, conceived in an absolutely unique
+way; Solomon is here posed as a Roman Praetor giving judgment in the
+Atrium, supported on each side by onlookers attired in fanciful costume
+of the Venetian period, or suggestive of classical models. It is the
+strangest possible medley of the Bellinesque and the antique, knit
+together by harmonious colouring and a clever grouping of figures in a
+triangular design. As an interpretation of a dramatic scene it is
+singularly ineffective, partly because it is unfinished, some of the
+elements of the tragedy being entirely wanting, partly because of an
+obvious stageyness in the action of the figures taking part in the
+scene. There is a want of dramatic unity in the whole; the figures are
+introduced in an accidental way, and their relative proportion is not
+accurately preserved; the executioner, for example, is head and
+shoulders larger than anyone else, whilst the two figures standing on
+the steps of Solomon's throne are in marked contrast. The one with the
+shield, on the left, is as monumental as one of Bramante's creations,
+the old gentleman with the beard, on the right, is mincing and has no
+shoulders. Solomon himself appears as a young man of dark complexion, in
+an attitude of self-contained determination; the way his hands rest on
+the sides of the throne is very expressive. His drapery is cast in
+curious folds of a zig-zag character, following the lines of the
+composition, whilst the dresses of the other personages fall in broad
+masses to the ground. The light and shade are cleverly handled, and the
+spaciousness of the scene is enhanced by the rows of columns and the
+apse of mosaics behind Solomon's head. The painter was clearly versed in
+the laws of perspective, and indicates depth inwards by placing the
+figures behind one another on a tesselated pavement or on the receding
+steps of the throne, giving at the same time a sense of atmospheric
+space between one figure and another. The colour scheme is delightful,
+full-toned orange and red alternating with pale blues, olive green, and
+delicate pink, the contrasts so subdued by a clever balance of light and
+shade as to harmonise the whole in a delicate silvery key.
+
+[Illustration: _Dixon photo. Collection of Mr. Ralph Bankes,
+Kingston-Lacey, England_
+
+THE JUDGMENT OF SOLOMON (Unfinished)]
+
+The unfinished figure of the executioner evidently caused the artist
+much trouble, for _pentimenti_ are frequent, and other outlines can be
+distinctly traced through the nude body. The effect of this clumsy
+figure is far from satisfactory; the limbs are not articulated
+distinctly; moreover, the balance of the whole composition is seriously
+threatened by the tragedy being enacted at the side instead of in the
+middle. The artist appears to have felt this difficulty so much that he
+stopped short at this point; at any rate, the living child remains
+unrepresented, nor is there any second child such as is required to
+illustrate the story. It looks as though the scheme was not carefully
+worked out before commencing, and that the artist found himself in
+difficulties at the last, when he had to introduce the dramatic motive,
+which apparently was not to his taste.
+
+Now, all this fits in exactly with what we know of Giorgione's
+temperament; lyrical by nature, he would shrink from handling a great
+dramatic scene, and if such a task were imposed upon him he would
+naturally treat three-fourths of the subject in his own fantastic way,
+and do his best to illustrate the action required in the remaining part.
+The result would be (what might be expected) forced or stagey, and the
+action rhetorical, and that is exactly what has happened in this
+"Judgment of Solomon."
+
+It is a natural inference that, supposing Giorgione to be the painter,
+he would never have selected such a subject of his own free will to be
+treated, as this is, on so large a scale. There may be, therefore,
+something in the suggestion which Crowe and Cavalcaselle make that this
+may be the large canvas ordered of Giorgione for the audience chamber
+of the Council, "for which purpose," they add, "the advances made to him
+in the summer of 1507 and in January 1508 show that the work he had
+undertaken was of the highest consequence."[30]
+
+Be this as it may, the picture was in Venice, in the Casa Grimani di
+Santo Ermagora,[31] in Ridolfi's day (1646), and that writer specially
+mentions the unfinished executioner. It passed later into the
+Marescalchi Gallery at Bologna, where it was seen by Lord Byron (1820),
+and purchased at his suggestion by his friend Mr. Bankes, in whose
+family it still remains.[32]
+
+It will be gathered from what I have written that Giorgione and no other
+is, in my opinion, the author of this remarkable work. Certain of the
+figures are reminiscent of those by him elsewhere--e.g. the old man with
+the beard is like the Evander in the Vienna picture, the young man next
+the executioner resembles the Adrastus in the Giovanelli figures, and
+the young man stooping forward next to Solomon recurs in the "Three
+Ages," in the Pitti, which Morelli considered to be by Giorgione. The
+most obvious resemblances, however, are to be found in the Glasgow
+"Adulteress before Christ," a work which several modern critics assign
+to Cariani, although Dr. Bode, Sir Walter Armstrong, and others,
+maintain it to be a real Giorgione. Consistently enough, those who
+believe in Cariani's authorship in the one case, assert it in the
+other,[33] and as consistently I hold that both are by Giorgione. It is
+conceivable that Cariani may have copied Giorgione's types and
+attitudes, but it is inconceivable to me that he can have so entirely
+assimilated Giorgione's temperament to which this "Judgment of Solomon"
+so eloquently witnesses. Moreover, let no one say that Cariani executed
+what Giorgione designed, for, in spite of its imperfect condition, the
+technique reveals a painter groping his way as he works, altering
+contours, and making corrections with his brush; in fact, it has all the
+spontaneity which characterises an original creation.
+
+The date of its execution may well have been 1507-8, perhaps even
+earlier; at any rate, we must not argue from its unfinished state that
+the painter's death prevented completion, for the style is not that of
+Giorgione's last works. Rather must we conclude that, like the "Aeneas
+and Evander," and several other pictures yet to be mentioned, Giorgione
+stopped short at his work, unwilling to labour at an uncongenial task
+(as, perhaps, in the present case), or from some feeling of
+dissatisfaction at the result, nay, even despair of ever realising his
+poetical conceptions.
+
+To this important trait in Giorgione's character further reference will
+be made when all the available material has been examined; suffice it
+for the moment that this "Judgment of Solomon" is to me a most _typical_
+example of the great artist's work, a revelation alike of his weaknesses
+as of his powers.
+
+Following our method of investigation we will next consider the
+pictures which Morelli accredits to Giorgione over and above the seven
+already discussed, wherein he concurs with Crowe and Cavalcaselle. These
+are twelve in number, and include some of the master's finest works,
+some of them unknown to the older authorities, or, at any rate,
+unrecorded by them. Here, therefore, the opinions of Crowe and
+Cavalcaselle are not of so much weight, so it will be necessary to see
+how far Morelli's views have been confirmed by later writers during the
+last twenty years.
+
+Three portraits figure in Morelli's list--one at Berlin, one at
+Buda-Pesth, and one in the Borghese Gallery at Rome.
+
+[Illustration: _Hanfstaengl photo. Berlin Gallery_
+
+PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MAN]
+
+First, as to the Berlin "Portrait of a Young Man," which, when Morelli
+wrote, belonged to Dr. Richter, and was afterwards acquired for the
+Berlin Gallery. "In it we have one of those rare portraits such as only
+Giorgione, and occasionally Titian, were capable of producing, highly
+suggestive, and exercising over the spectator an irresistible
+fascination."[34] Such are the great critic's enthusiastic words, and no
+one surely to-day would be found to gainsay them. We may note the
+characteristic treatment of the hair, the thoughtful look in the eyes,
+and the strong light on the face in contrast to the dark frame of hair,
+points which this portrait shares in common with the "Knight of Malta"
+in the Uffizi. Particularly to be noticed, however, is the parapet on
+which the fingers of one hand are visible, and the mysterious letters
+VV.[35] Allusion has already been made to the growing practice in
+Venetian art of introducing the hand as a significant feature in
+portrait painting, and here we get the earliest indications of this
+tendency in Giorgione; for this portrait certainly ante-dates the
+"Knight of Malta." It would seem to have been painted quite early in the
+last decade of the fifteenth century, when Bellini's art would still be
+the predominant influence over the young artist.
+
+It is but a step onward to the next portrait, that of a young man, in
+the Gallery at Buda-Pesth, but the supreme distinction which marks this
+wonderful head stamps it as a masterpiece of portraiture. Venetian art
+has nothing finer to show, whether for its interpretative qualities, or
+for the subtlety of its execution. Truly Giorgione has here foreshadowed
+Velasquez, whose silveriness of tone is curiously anticipated; yet the
+true Giorgionesque quality of magic is felt in a way that the impersonal
+Spaniard never realised. Only those who have seen the original can know
+of the wonderful atmospheric background, with sky, clouds, and hill-tops
+just visible. The reproduction, alas! gives no hint of all this. Nor can
+one appreciate the superb painting of the black quilted dress, with its
+gold braid, or of the shining black hair, confined in a brown net. The
+artist must have been in keen sympathy with this melancholy figure, for
+the expression is so intense that, as Morelli says, "he seems about to
+confide to us the secret of his life."[36]
+
+Several points claim our attention. First, the parapet has an almost
+illegible inscription, ANTONIVS. BROKARDVS. M[=ARI]I.F, presumably the
+young man's name. Further, we may notice the recurrence of the letter V
+on a black device, and there is a second curious black tablet, which,
+however, has nothing on it. Between the two is a circle with a device of
+three heads in one surrounded by a garland of flowers. No satisfactory
+explanation of these symbols can be offered, but if the second black
+tablet had originally another V, we might conclude that these letters
+were in some mysterious way connected with Giorgione, as they appear
+also on the Berlin portrait. I shall be able to show that another
+instance of this double V exists on yet another portrait by
+Giorgione.[37]
+
+Finally, the expressiveness of the human hand is here fully realised.
+This feature alone points to a later date than the "Knight of Malta,"
+and considerably after the still earlier Berlin portrait. The consummate
+mastery of technique, moreover, indicates that Giorgione has here
+reached full maturity, so that it would be safe to place this portrait
+about the year 1508.
+
+[Illustration: _Buda-Pesth Gallery_
+
+PORTRAIT OF A MAN]
+
+Signor Venturi ("La Galleria Crespi") ascribes this portrait to Licinio.
+This is one of those inexplicable perversions of judgment to which even
+the best critics are at times liable. In _L'Arte_, 1900, p. 24, the same
+writer mentions that a certain Antonio Broccardo, son of Marino, made
+his will in 1527, and that the same name occurs among those who
+frequented the University of Bologna in 1525. There is nothing to
+prevent Giorgione having painted this man's portrait when younger.
+
+[Illustration: _Anderson photo. Borghese Gallery, Rome_
+
+PORTRAIT OF A LADY]
+
+The third portrait in Morelli's list has not had the same friendly
+reception at the hands of later critics as the preceding two have had.
+This is the "Portrait of a Lady" in the Borghese Gallery at Rome, whose
+discovery by Morelli is so graphically described in a well-known
+passage.[38] And in truth it must be confessed that the authorship of
+this portrait is not at first sight quite so evident as in the other
+cases; nevertheless I am firmly convinced that Morelli saw further than
+his critics, and that his intuitive judgment was in this instance
+perfectly correct.[39] The simplicity of conception, the intensity of
+expression, the pose of the figure alike proclaim the master, whose
+characteristic touch is to be seen in the stone ledge, the fancy
+head-dress, the arrangement of hair, and the modelling of the features.
+The presence of the hands is characteristically explained by the
+handkerchief stretched tight between them, the action being expressive
+of suppressed excitement: "She stands at a window ... gazing out with a
+dreamy, yearning expression, as if seeking to descry one whom she
+awaits."
+
+Licinio, whose name has been proposed as the painter, did indeed follow
+out this particular vein of Giorgione's portraiture, so that "Style of
+Licinio" is not an altogether inapt attribution; but there is just that
+difference of quality between the one man's work and the other, which
+distinguishes any great man from his followers, whether in literature or
+in art. How near (and yet how far!) Licinio came to his great prototype
+is best seen in Lady Ashburton's "Portrait of a Young Man,"[40] but that
+he could have produced the Borghese "Lady" presupposes qualities he
+never possessed. "To Giorgione alone was it given to produce portraits
+of such astonishing simplicity, yet so deeply significant, and capable,
+by their mystic charm, of appealing to our imagination in the highest
+degree."[41]
+
+The actual condition of this portrait is highly unsatisfactory, and is
+adduced by some as a reason for condemning it. Yet the spirit of the
+master seems still to breathe through the ruin, and to justify Morelli's
+ascription, if not the enthusiastic language in which he writes.
+
+[Illustration: _Anderson photo. Seminario, Venice_
+
+APOLLO AND DAPHNE]
+
+With the fourth addition on Morelli's list we pass into a totally
+different sphere of art--the decoration of _cassoni_, and other pieces
+of furniture. We have seen Giorgione at work on legendary stories or
+classic myths, creating out of these materials pages of beauty and
+romance in the form of easel paintings, and now we have the same thing
+as applied art--that is, art used for purely decorative purposes. The
+"Apollo and Daphne" in the Seminario at Venice was probably a panel of a
+_cassone_; but although intended for so humble a place, it is instinct
+with rare poetic feeling and beauty. Unfortunately it is in such a bad
+state that little remains of the original work, and Giorgione's touch
+is scarcely to be recognised in the damaged parts. Nevertheless, his
+spirit breathes amidst the ruin, and modern critics have recognised the
+justice of Morelli's view, rather than that of Crowe and Cavalcaselle,
+who suggested Schiavone as the "author."[42] And, indeed, a comparison
+with the "Adrastus and Hypsipyle" is enough to show a common origin,
+although, as we might expect, the same consummate skill is scarcely to
+be found in the _cassone_ panel as in the easel picture. There is a rare
+daintiness, however, in these graceful figures, so essentially
+Giorgionesque in their fanciful presentation, the young Apollo, a
+lovely, fair-haired boy, pursuing a maiden with flowing tresses, whose
+identity with Daphne is only to be recognised by the laurel springing
+from her fingers. The story is but an episode in a sylvan scene, where
+other figures, in quaint costumes, seem to be leading an idyllic
+existence, untroubled by the cares of life, and utterly unconcerned at
+the strange event passing before their eyes.
+
+From the "Apollo and Daphne" it is an easy transition to the "Venus,"
+that great discovery which we owe to Morelli, and now universally
+recognised by modern critics. The one point on which Morelli did not,
+perhaps, lay sufficient stress, is the co-operation in this work of
+Titian with Giorgione, for here we have an additional proof that the
+latter left some of his work unfinished. It is a fair inference that
+Titian completed the Cupid (now removed), and that he had a hand in
+finishing the landscape; the Anonimo, indeed, states as much, and
+Ridolfi confirms it, and this view is officially adopted in the latest
+edition of the Dresden Catalogue. The style points to Giorgione's
+maturity, though scarcely to the last years of his life; for, in spite
+of the freedom and breadth of treatment in the landscape, there is a
+restraint in the figure, and a delicacy of form which points to a period
+preceding, rather than contemporary with, the Louvre "Concert" and
+kindred works, where the forms become fuller and rounder, and the
+feeling more exuberant.
+
+It would be mere repetition, after all that has been written on the
+Dresden "Venus," to enlarge on the qualities of refinement and grace
+which characterise the fair form of the sleeping goddess. One need but
+compare it with Titian's representations of the same subject, and still
+more with Palma's versions at Dresden and Cambridge, or with Cariani's
+"Venus" at Hampton Court, to see the classic purity of form, the ideal
+loveliness of Giorgione's goddess.[43] It is no mere accident that she
+alone is sleeping, whilst they solicit attention. Giorgione's conception
+is characteristic in that he endeavours to avoid any touch of realism
+abhorrent to his nature, which was far more sensitive than that of
+Palma, Cariani, or even Titian.
+
+[Illustration: _Hanfstaengl photo_. Dresden Gallery
+
+VENUS]
+
+The extraordinary beauty and subtlety of the master's "line" is
+admirably shown. He has deliberately forgone anatomical precision in
+order to accentuate artistic effect. The splendour of curve, the beauty
+of unbroken contour, the rhythm and balance of composition is attained
+at a cost of academic correctness; but the long-drawn horizontal lines
+heighten the sense of repose, and the eye is soothed by the sinuous
+undulations of landscape and figure. The artistic effect is further
+enhanced by the relief of exquisite flesh tones against the rich crimson
+drapery, and although the atmospheric glow has been sadly destroyed by
+abrasion and repainting, we may still feel something of the magic charm
+which Giorgione knew so well how to impart.
+
+This "Venus" is the prototype of all other Venetian versions; it is in
+painting what the "Aphrodite" of Praxiteles was in sculpture, a perfect
+creation of a master mind.
+
+Scarcely less wonderful than the "Venus," and even surpassing it in
+solemn grandeur of conception, is the "Judith" at St. Petersburg.
+Morelli himself had never seen the original, and includes it in his list
+with the reservation that it might be an old copy after Giorgione, and
+not the original. It would be presumptuous for anyone not familiar with
+the picture to decide the point, but I have no hesitation in following
+the judgment of two competent modern critics, both of whom have recently
+visited St. Petersburg, and both of whom have decided unhesitatingly in
+favour of its being an original by Giorgione. Dr. Harck has written
+enthusiastically of its beauty. "Once seen," he says, "it can never be
+forgotten; the same mystic charm, so characteristic of the other great
+works of Giorgione, pervades it; ... it bears on the face of it the
+stamp of a great master."[44] Even more decisive is the verdict of Mr.
+Claude Phillips.[45] "All doubts," he says, "vanish like sun-drawn mist
+in the presence of the work itself; the first glance carries with it
+conviction, swift and permanent. In no extant Giorgione is the golden
+glow so well preserved, in none does the mysterious glamour from which
+the world has never shaken itself free, assert itself in more
+irresistible fashion.... The colouring is not so much Giorgionesque as
+Giorgione's own--a widely different thing.... Wonderful touches which
+the imitative Giorgionesque painter would not have thought of are the
+girdle, a mauve-purple now, with a sharply emphasised golden fringe, and
+the sapphire-blue jewel in the brooch. Triumphs of execution, too, but
+not in the broad style of Venetian art in its fullest expansion, are the
+gleaming sword held in so dainty and feminine a fashion, and the flowers
+which enamel the ground at the feet of the Jewish heroine." This
+"Judith," after passing for many years under the names of Raphael and
+Moretto,[46] is now officially recognised as Giorgione's work, an
+identification first made by the late Herr Penther, the keeper of the
+Vienna Academy, whom Morelli quotes.
+
+The conception is wholly Giorgionesque, the mood one of calm
+contemplation, as this lovely figure stands lost in reverie, with eyes
+cast down, gazing on the head on which her foot is lightly laid. The
+head and sword proclaim her story, they are symbols of her mission, else
+she had been taken for an embodiment of feminine modesty and gentle
+submissiveness.[47]
+
+[Illustration: _Braun photo. Hermitage Gallery, St. Petersburg_
+
+JUDITH]
+
+Characteristic of the master is the introduction of the great
+tree-trunk, conveying a sense of grandeur and solemn mystery to the
+scene; characteristic, too, is the distant landscape, the splendid glow
+of which evokes special praise from the writers just mentioned. Again we
+find the parapet, or ledge, with its flat surface on which the play of
+light can be caught, and again the same curious folds, broken and
+crumpled, such as are seen on Solomon's robe in the Kingston Lacy
+picture, and somewhat less emphatically in the Castelfranco "Madonna."
+
+Consistent, moreover, with that weakness we have already noticed
+elsewhere, is the design of the leg and foot, the drawing of which is
+far from impeccable. That the execution in this respect is not equal to
+the supreme conception of the whole, is no valid reason for the belief
+that this "Judith" is only a copy of a lost original, a belief that
+could apparently only be held by those who have never stood before the
+picture itself.[48] But even in the reproduction this "Judith" stands
+confessed as the most impressive of all Giorgione's single figures, and
+it may well rank as the masterpiece of the earlier period immediately
+preceding the Castelfranco picture of about 1504, to which in style it
+closely approximates.
+
+The next picture on Morelli's list is the "Fete Champetre" of the
+Louvre, or, as it is often called, the "Concert." This lovely "Pastoral
+Symphony" (which appears to me a more suitable English title) is by no
+means universally regarded as a creation of Giorgione's hand and brain,
+and several modern critics have been at pains to show that Campagnola,
+or some other Venetian imitator of the great master, really produced
+it.[49] In this endeavour Crowe and Cavalcaselle led the way by
+suggesting the author was probably an imitator of Sebastiano del Piombo.
+But all this must surely seem to be heresy when we stand before the
+picture itself, thrilled by the gorgeousness of its colour, by the
+richness of the paradise" in which the air is balmy, and the landscape
+ever green; where life is a pastime, and music the only labour; where
+groves are interspersed with meadows and fountains; where nymphs sit
+playfully on the grass, or drink at cool springs."[50] Was ever such a
+gorgeous idyll? In the whole range of painted poetry can the like be
+found?
+
+[Illustration: _Braun photo. Louvre, Paris_
+
+A PASTORAL SYMPHONY]
+
+Yet let us be more precise in our analysis. Granted that the scene is
+one eminently adapted to Giorgione's poetic temperament, is the
+execution analogous to that which we have found in the preceding
+examples? No one will deny, I suppose, that there is a difference
+between the intensely refined forms of the Venus, or the earlier
+Hypsipyle, or the Daphne, and the coarser nudes in the Louvre picture.
+No one will deny a certain carelessness marks the delineation of form,
+no one will gainsay a frankly sensuous charm pervades the scene, a
+feeling which seems at first sight inconsistent with that reticence and
+modesty so conspicuous elsewhere. Yet I think all this is perfectly
+explicable on the basis of natural evolution. Exuberance of feeling is
+the logical outcome of a lifetime spent in an atmosphere of lyrical
+thought, and certainly Giorgione was not the sort of man to control
+those natural impulses, which grew stronger with advancing years. Both
+traditions of his death point in this direction; and, unless I am
+mistaken, the quality of his art, as well as its character, reflects
+this tendency. In his later years, 1508-10, he attains indeed a
+magnificence and splendour which dazzles the eye, but it is at the cost
+of that feeling of restraint which gives the earlier work such exquisite
+charm. In such a work as the Louvre "Concert," Giorgio has become
+Giorgione; he is riper in experience and richer in feeling, and his art
+assumes a corresponding exuberance of style, his forms become larger,
+his execution grows freer. Nay, more, that strain of carelessness is not
+wanting which so commonly accompanies such evolutions of character. And
+so this "Pastoral Symphony" becomes a characteristic production--that
+is, one which a man of Giorgione's temperament would naturally produce
+in the course of his developing. Peculiar, however, to an artist of
+genius is the subtlety of composition, which is held together by
+invisible threads, for nowhere else, perhaps, has Giorgione shown a
+greater mastery of line. The diagonal line running from behind the nude
+figure on the left down to the foot so cunningly extended of the seated
+youth, is beautifully balanced by the line which is formed by the seated
+figure of the woman. The artist has deliberately emphasised this line by
+the curious posture of the legs. The figure, indeed, does not sit at
+all, but the balance of the composition is the better assured. What
+exquisite curves the standing woman presents! how cleverly the drapery
+continues the beautiful line, which Giorgione takes care not to break by
+placing the left leg and foot out of sight. How marvellously expressive,
+nay, how _inevitable_ is the hand of the youth who is playing. Surely
+neither Campagnola nor any other second-rate artist was capable of such
+things!
+
+[Illustration: _Alinari photo. Pitti Gallery, Florence_
+
+THE THREE AGES OF MAN]
+
+The eighth picture cited by Morelli as, in his opinion, a genuine
+Giorgione, is the so-called "Three Ages of Man," in the Pitti at
+Florence--a damaged picture, but parts of which, as he says, "are still
+so splendid and so thoroughly Giorgionesque that I venture to ascribe it
+without hesitation to Giorgione."[51] The three figures are grouped
+naturally, and are probably portraits from life. The youth in the centre
+we have already met in the Kingston Lacy "Judgment of Solomon"; the man
+on the right recurs in the "Family Concert" at Hampton Court, and is
+strangely like the S. Maurice in the signed altar-piece at Berlin by
+Luzzi da Feltre.[52] But like though they be in type, in quality the
+heads in the "Three Ages" are immensely superior to those in the Berlin
+picture. The same models may well have served Giorgione and his friend
+and pupil Luzzi, or, as he is generally called, Morto da Feltre. A
+recent study of the few authenticated works by this feeble artist still
+at Feltre, his native place, forces me to dissent from the opinion that
+the Pitti "Three Ages" is the work of his hand.[53] Still less do I
+hold with the view that Lotto is the author.[54] Here, again, I believe
+Morelli saw further than other critics, and that his attribution is the
+right one. The simplicity, the apparently unstudied grouping, the
+refinement of type, the powerful expression, are worthy of the master;
+the play of light on the faces, especially on that of the youth, is most
+characteristic, and the peculiar chord of colour reveals a sense of
+originality such as no imitator would command. Unless I am mistaken, the
+man on the right is none other than the Aeneas in the Vienna picture,
+and his hand with the pointing forefinger is such as we see two or three
+times over in the "Judgment of Solomon" and elsewhere. Certainly here it
+is awkwardly introduced, obviously to bring the figure into direct
+relation with the others; but Giorgione is by no means always supreme
+master of natural expression, as the hands in the "Adrastus and
+Hypsipyle" and Vienna pictures clearly show.
+
+Here, for the first time, we meet Giorgione in those studies of human
+nature which are commonly called "conversation pieces," or
+"concerts"--natural groups of generally three people knit together by
+some common bond, which is usually music in one form or another. It is
+not the idyll of the "Pastoral Symphony," but akin to it as an
+expression of some exquisite moment of thought or feeling, an ideal
+instant "in which, arrested thus, we seem to be spectators of all the
+fulness of existence, and which is like some consummate extract or
+quintessence of life."[55] No one before Giorgione's time had painted
+such ideas, such poems without articulated story; and to have reached
+this stage of development presupposes a familiarity with set subjects
+such as a classic myth or mediaeval romance would offer for treatment.
+And so this "Three Ages" dates from his later years.
+
+[Illustration: _Anderson photo. Pitti Gallery, Florence_
+
+NYMPH AND SATYR]
+
+Another picture in the Pitti was also recognised by Morelli as
+Giorgione's work--"The Nymph pursued by a Satyr." Modern criticism seems
+undecided on the justice of this view, some writers inclining to the
+belief that this is a Giorgionesque production of Dosso Dossi, others
+preserving a discreet silence, or making frank avowal of their inability
+to decide. Nevertheless, I venture to agree with Morelli that "we have
+all the characteristics of an early (?) work of Giorgione--the type of
+the nymph with the low forehead, the charming arrangement of the hair
+upon the temples, the eyes placed near together, and the hand with
+tapering fingers."[56] The oval of the face recalls the "Knight of
+Malta," the high cranium and treatment of the hair such as we find in
+the Dresden "Venus" and elsewhere. The delicacy of modelling, the beauty
+of the features are far beyond Dosso's powers, who, brilliant artist as
+he sometimes was, was of much coarser fibre than the painter of these
+figures. The difference of calibre between the two is well illustrated
+by comparing Giorgione's "Satyr" with Dosso's frankly vulgar "Buffone"
+in the Modena Gallery, or with those uncouth productions, also in the
+Pitti, the "S. John Baptist" and the "Bambocciate."[57] Were the
+repaints removed, I think all doubts as to the authorship would be set
+at rest, and the "Nymph and Satyr" would take its place among the
+slighter and more summary productions of Giorgione's brush.
+
+[Illustration: _Laurent_ photo. Prado Gallery, Madrid
+
+MADONNA AND SAINTS]
+
+Only one sacred subject figures in the additions made by Morelli to the
+list of genuine Giorgiones. This is the small altar-piece at Madrid,
+with Madonna seated between S. Francis and S. Roch. Traditionally
+accredited to Pordenone, it has now received official recognition as a
+masterpiece of Giorgione, an attribution that, so far as I am aware, no
+one has seriously contested.[58] And, indeed, it is hard to conceive
+wherein any objection could possibly lie, for it is a typical creation
+of the master, _usque ad unguem_. Not only in types, colour, light and
+shade, and particularly in feeling, is the picture characteristic, but
+it again shows the artist leaving work unfinished, and again reveals the
+fact that the work grew in conception as it was actually being painted.
+I mean that the whole figure of S. Roch has been painted in over the
+rest, and that the S. Francis has also probably been introduced
+afterwards. I have little doubt that originally Giorgione intended to
+paint a simple Madonna and Child, and afterwards extended the scheme.
+The composition of three figures, practically in a row, is moreover most
+unusual, and contrary to that triangular scheme particularly favoured by
+the master, whereas the lovely sweep of Madonna's dress by itself
+creates a perfect design on a triangular basis. A great artist is here
+revealed, one whose feeling for line is so intense that he wilfully
+casts the drapery in unnatural folds in order to secure an artistic
+triumph. The working out of the dress within this line has yet to be
+done, the folds being merely suggested, and this task has been left
+whilst forwarding other parts. The freedom of touch and thinness of
+paint indicates how rapidly the artist worked. There is little
+deliberation apparent: indeed, the effect is that of hasty
+improvisation. Velasquez could not have painted the stone on which S.
+Roch rests his foot with greater precision or more consummate mastery;
+the delicacy of flesh tints is amazing. The bit of landscape behind S.
+Roch (invisible in the reproduction), with its stately tree trunk rising
+solitary beside the hanging curtain, strikes a note of romance, fit
+accompaniment to the bizarre figure of the saint in his orange jerkin
+and blue leggings. How mysterious, too, is S. Francis!--rapt in his own
+thoughts, yet strangely human.
+
+[Illustration: _Buda-Pesth Gallery_
+
+COPY OF A PORTION OF GIORGIONE'S "BIRTH OF PARIS"]
+
+We have now examined ten of the twelve pictures added, on Morelli's
+initiative, to the list of genuine works, and we have found very little,
+if any, serious opposition on the part of later writers to his views.
+Not so, however, with regard to the remaining two pictures. The first of
+these is a fragment in the gallery of Buda-Pesth, representing two
+figures in a landscape. All modern critics are agreed that Morelli has
+here mistaken an old copy after Giorgione for an original, a mistake we
+may readily pardon in consideration of the successful identification he
+has made of these figures with the Shepherds, in the composition seen
+and described by the Anonimo in 1525 as the "Birth of Paris," by
+Giorgione. This identification is fully confirmed by the engraving made
+by Th. von Kessel for the _Theatrum Pictorium_, which shows how these
+two figures are placed in the composition. Where, as in the present
+case, the original is missing, even a partial copy is of great value,
+for in it we can see the mind, if not the hand, of the great master. The
+Anonimo tells us this "Birth of Paris" was one of Giorgione's early
+works, a statement worthy of credence from the still Bellinesque stamp
+and general likeness of one of the Shepherds to the "Adrastus" in the
+Giovanelli picture. In pose, type, arrangement of hair, and in landscape
+this fragment is thoroughly Giorgionesque, and we have, moreover, those
+most characteristic traits, the pointing forefinger, and the unbroken
+curve of outline. The execution is, however, raw and crude, and entirely
+wanting in the magic quality of the master's own touch.[59]
+
+[Illustration: _Dixon photo. Hampton Court Palace Gallery_
+
+THE SHEPHERD BOY.]
+
+Finally, on Morelli's list figures the "Shepherd" at Hampton Court, for
+the genuineness of which the critic would not absolutely vouch, as he
+had only seen it in a bad light. Perhaps no picture has been so strongly
+championed by an enthusiastic writer as has been this "Shepherd" by Mr.
+Berenson, who strenuously advocates its title to genuineness.[60]
+Nevertheless, several modern authorities remain unconvinced in presence
+of the work itself. The conception is unquestionably Giorgione's own,
+as we may see from a picture now in the Vienna Gallery, where this head
+is repeated in a representation of the young David holding the head of
+Goliath. The Vienna picture is, however, but a copy of a lost original
+by Giorgione, the existence of which is independently attested by
+Vasari.[61] Now, the question naturally arises, What relation does the
+Hampton Court "Shepherd" bear to this "David," Giorgione's lost
+original? It is possible, of course, that the master repeated himself,
+merely transforming the David into a Shepherd, or _vice versa_, and it
+is equally possible that some other and later artist adapted Giorgione's
+"David" to his own end, utilising the conception that is, and carrying
+it out in his own way. Arguing purely _a priori_, the latter possibility
+is the more likely, inasmuch as we know Giorgione hardly ever repeats a
+figure or a composition, whereas Titian, Cariani, and other later
+Venetian artists freely adopted Giorgione's ideas, his types, and his
+compositions for their own purposes. Internal evidence appears to me,
+moreover, to confirm this view, for the general style of painting seems
+to indicate a later period than 1510, the year of Giorgione's death. The
+flimsy folds, in particular, are not readily recognisable as the
+master's own. A comparison with a portrait in the Gallery of Padua
+reveals, particularly in this respect, striking resemblances. This fine
+portrait was identified by both Crowe and Cavalcaselle and by Morelli as
+the work of Torbido, and I venture to place the reproduction of it
+beside that of the "Shepherd" for comparison. It is not easy to
+pronounce on the technical qualities of either work, for both have
+suffered from re-touching and discolouring varnish, and the hand of the
+"Shepherd" is certainly damaged. Yet, whilst admitting that the evidence
+is inconclusive, I cannot refrain from suggesting Torbido's name as
+possible author of the "Shepherd," the more so as we know he carefully
+studied and formed his style upon Giorgione's work.[62] It is at least
+conceivable that he took Giorgione's "David with the Head of Goliath,"
+and by a simple, and in this case peculiarly appropriate,
+transformation, changed him into a shepherd boy holding a flute.
+
+We have now taken all the pictures which either Crowe and Cavalcaselle
+or Morelli, or both, assign to Giorgione himself. There still remain,
+however, three or four works to be mentioned where these authorities
+hold opposite views which require some examination.
+
+First and foremost comes the "Concert" in the Pitti Gallery, a work
+which was regarded by Crowe and Cavalcaselle not only as a genuine
+example of Giorgione's art, but as "not having its equal in any period
+of Giorgione's practice. It gives," they go on, "a just measure of his
+skill, and explains his celebrity."[63] Morelli, on the contrary, holds:
+"It has unfortunately been so much damaged by a restorer that little
+enough remains of the original, yet from the form of the hands and of
+the ear, and from the gestures of the figures, we are led to infer that
+it is not a work of Giorgione, but belongs to a somewhat later period.
+If the repaint covering the surface were removed we should, I think,
+find that it is an early work by Titian."[64] Where Morelli hesitated
+his followers have decided, and accordingly, in Mr. Berenson's list, in
+Mr. Claude Phillips' "Life of Titian," and in the latest biography on
+that master, published by Dr. Gronau, we find the "Concert" put down to
+Titian. On the other hand, Dr. Bode, Signor Conti in his monograph on
+Giorgione, M. Muentz, and the authorities in Florence support the
+traditional view that the "Concert" is a masterpiece of Giorgione.
+
+[Illustration: _Alinari photo. Pitti Gallery, Florence_
+
+THE CONCERT]
+
+Which view is the right one? To many this may appear an academic
+discussion of little value, for, _ipso facto_, the quality of the work
+is admitted by all. The picture is a fine thing, in spite of its
+imperfect condition, and what matter whether Titian or Giorgione be the
+author? But to this sort of argument it may be said that until we do
+know what is Giorgione's work and what is not, it is impossible to gauge
+accurately the nature and scope of his art, or to reach through that
+channel the character of the artist behind his work. In the case of
+Giorgione and Titian, the task of drawing the dividing line is one of
+unusual difficulty, and a long and careful study of the question has
+convinced me that this will have to be done in a way that modern
+criticism has not yet attempted. From the very earliest days the two
+have been so inextricably confused that it will require a very
+exhaustive re-examination of all the evidence in the light of modern
+discoveries, documentary and pictorial, coupled, I am afraid, with the
+recognition of the fact that much modern criticism on this point has
+been curiously at fault. This is neither the time nor the place to
+discuss the question of Titian's early work, but I feel sure that this
+chapter of art history has yet to be correctly written.[65] One of the
+determining factors in the discussion will be the authorship of the
+Pitti "Concert," for our estimate of Giorgione or Titian must be
+coloured appreciably by the recognition of such an epoch-making picture
+as the work of one or the other.
+
+It is, therefore, peculiarly unfortunate that the two side figures in
+this wonderful group are so rubbed and repainted as almost to defy
+certainty of judgment. In conception and spirit they are typically
+Giorgionesque, and Morelli, I imagine, would scarcely have made the bold
+suggestion of Titian's authorship but for the central figure of the
+young monk playing the harpsichord. This head stands out in grand
+relief, being in a far purer state of preservation than the rest, and we
+are able to appreciate to some extent the extraordinarily subtle
+modelling of the features, the clear-cut contours, the intensity of
+expression. The fine portrait in the Louvre, known as "L'homme au gant,"
+an undoubted early work of Titian, is singularly close in character and
+style, as was first pointed out by Mr. Claude Phillips,[66] and it was
+this general reminiscence, more than points of detail in an admittedly
+imperfect work that seemingly induced Morelli to suggest Titian's name
+as possible author of the "Concert." Nevertheless, I cannot allow this
+plausible comparison to outweigh other and more vital considerations.
+The subtlety of the composition, the bold sweep of diagonal lines, the
+way the figure of the young monk is "built up" on a triangular design,
+the contrasts of black and white, are essentially Giorgione's own. So,
+too, is the spirit of the scene, so telling in its movement, gesture,
+and expression. Surely it is needless to translate all that is most
+characteristic of Giorgione in his most personal expression into a
+"Giorgionesque" mood of Titian. No, let us admit that Titian owed much
+to his friend and master (more perhaps than we yet know), but let us not
+needlessly deprive Giorgione of what is, in my opinion at least, the
+great creation of his maturer years, the Pitti "Concert." I am inclined
+to place it about 1506-7, and to regard it as the earliest and finest
+expression in Venetian art of that kind of genre painting of which we
+have already studied another, though later example, "The Three Ages" (in
+the Pitti). The second work where Crowe and Cavalcaselle hold a
+different view from Morelli is a "Portrait of a Man" in the Gallery of
+Rovigo (No. 11). The former writers declare that it, "perhaps more than
+any other, approximates to the true style of Giorgione."[67] With such
+praise sounding in one's ears it is somewhat of a shock to discover that
+this "grave and powerfully wrought creation" is a miniature 7 by 6
+inches in size. Such an insignificant fragment requires no serious
+consideration; at most it would seem only to be a reduced copy after
+some lost original. Morelli alludes to it as a copy after Palma, but one
+may well doubt whether he is not referring to another portrait in the
+same gallery (No. 123). Be that as it may, this "Giorgione" miniature
+is sadly out of place among genuine pieces of the master.[68]
+
+[Illustration: _Hanfstaengl photo. National Gallery, London_
+
+THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI]
+
+One other picture, of special interest to English people, is in dispute.
+By Crowe and Cavalcaselle "The Adoration of the Magi," now in the
+National Gallery (No. 1160), is attributed to the master himself; by
+Morelli it was assigned to Catena.[69] This brilliant little panel is
+admittedly by the same hand that painted the Beaumont "Adoration of the
+Shepherds," and yet another picture presently to be mentioned. We have
+already agreed to the propriety of attribution in the former case; it
+follows, therefore, that here also Giorgione's name is the correct one,
+and his name, we are glad to see, has recently been placed on the label
+by the Director of the Gallery.
+
+This beautiful little panel, which came from the Leigh Court Collection,
+under Bellini's name, has much of the depth, richness, and glow which
+characterises the Beaumont picture, although the latter is naturally
+more attractive, owing to the wonderful landscape and the more elaborate
+chiaroscuro. The figures are Bellinesque, yet with that added touch of
+delicacy and refinement which Giorgione always knows how to impart. The
+richness of colouring, the depth of tone, the glamour of the whole is
+far superior to anything that we can point to with certainty as Catena's
+work; and no finer example of his "Giorgionesque" phase is to be found
+than the sumptuous "Warrior adoring the Infant Christ," which hangs
+close by, whilst his delicate little "S. Jerome in his Study," also in
+the same room, challenges comparison. Catena's work seems cold and
+studied beside the warmth and spontaneity of Giorgione's little panel,
+which is, indeed, as Crowe and Cavalcaselle assert, "of the most
+picturesque beauty in distribution, colour, and costume."[70] It must
+date from before 1500, probably just before the Beaumont "Nativity," and
+proves how, even at that early time, Giorgione's art was rapidly
+maturing into full splendour.
+
+The total list of genuine works so far amounts to but twenty-three. Let
+us see if we can accept a few others which later writers incline to
+attribute to the master. I propose to limit the survey strictly to those
+pictures which have found recognised champions among modern critics of
+repute, for to challenge every "Giorgione" in public and private
+collections would be a Herculean task, well calculated to provoke an
+incredulous smile!
+
+[Illustration: _Dixon photo. Duke of Devonshire's Collection,
+Chatsworth_
+
+PAGE OF VANDYCK'S SKETCH-BOOK, WITH GIORGIONE'S "CHRIST BEARING THE
+CROSS," IN THE CHURCH OF S. ROCCO, VENICE]
+
+Mr. Berenson, in his _Venetian Painters_, includes two other pictures in
+an extremely exclusive list of seventeen genuine Giorgiones. These are
+both in Venice, "The Christ bearing the Cross" (in S. Rocco), and "The
+Storm calmed by S. Mark" (in the Academy). The question whether or no we
+are to accept the former of these pictures has its origin in a curious
+contradiction of Vasari, who, in the first edition of his Lives (1550),
+names Giorgione as the painter, whilst in the second (1565), he assigns
+the authorship to Titian. Later writers follow the latter statement, and
+to this day the local guides adhere to this tradition. That the
+attribution to Giorgione, however, was still alive in 1620-5, is proved
+by the sketch of the picture made by the young Van Dyck during his visit
+to Italy, for he has affixed Giorgione's name to it, and not that of
+Titian.[71] I am satisfied that this tradition is correct. Giorgione,
+and not Titian, painted the still lovely head of Christ, and Giorgione,
+not Titian, drew the arm and hand of the Jew who is dragging at the
+rope. Characteristic touches are to be seen in the turn of the head, the
+sloping axis of the eyes, and especially the fine oval of the face, and
+bushy hair. This is the type of Giorgione's Christ; "The Tribute Money"
+(at Dresden) shows Titian's. Unfortunately the panel has lost all its
+tone, all its glow, and most of its original colour, and we can scarcely
+any longer admire the picture which, in Vasari's graphic language, "is
+held in the highest veneration by many of the faithful, and even
+performs miracles, as is frequently seen"; and again (in his _Life of
+Titian_), "it has received more crowns as offerings than have been
+earned by Titian and Giorgione both, through the whole course of their
+lives."
+
+The other picture included by Mr. Berenson in his list is the large
+canvas in the Venice Academy, with "The Storm calmed by S. Mark."
+According to this critic it is a late work, finished, in small part, by
+Paris Bordone. In my opinion, it would be far wiser to withhold
+definite judgment in a case where a picture has been so entirely
+repainted. Certainly, in its present state, it is impossible to
+recognise Giorgione's touch, whilst the glaring red tones of the flesh
+and the general smeariness of the whole render all enjoyment out of
+question. I am willing to admit that the conception may have been
+Giorgione's, although even then it would stand alone as evidence of an
+imagination almost Michelangelesque in its _terribilita._ Zanetti (1760)
+was the first to connect Giorgione's name with this canvas, Vasari
+bestowing inordinate praise upon it as the work of Palma Vecchio! It
+only remains to add that this is the companion piece to the well-known
+"Fisherman presenting the Ring to the Doge," by Paris Bordone, which
+also hangs in the Venice Academy. Both illustrate the same legend, and
+both originally hung in the Scuola di S. Marco.
+
+[Illustration: _Anderson photo. Padua Gallery_
+
+FRONTS OF TWO CASSONES, WITH MYTHOLOGICAL SCENES]
+
+Finally, two _cassone_ panels in the gallery at Padua have been
+acclaimed by Signor Venturi as the master's own,[72] and with that view
+I am entirely agreed. The stories represented are not easily
+determinable (as is so often the case with Giorgione), but probably
+refer to the legends of Adonis.[73] The splendour of colour, the lurid
+light, the richness of effect, are in the highest degree impressive.
+What artist but Giorgione would have so revelled in the glories of the
+evening sunset, the orange horizon, the distant blue hills? The same
+gallery affords several instances of similar decorative pieces by
+other Venetian artists which serve admirably to show the great gulf
+fixed in quality between Giorgione's work and that of the Schiavones,
+the Capriolis, and others who imitated him.[74]
+
+NOTES:
+
+[11] Oxford Lecture, reported in the _Pall Mall Gazette_, Nov. 10, 1884.
+
+[12] See _postea_, p. 63.
+
+[13] Bellini adopted it later in his S. Giov. Crisostomo altar-piece of
+1513.
+
+[14] All the more surprising is it that it receives no mention from
+Vasari, who merely states that the master worked at Castelfranco.
+
+[15] I unhesitatingly adopt the titles recently given to these pictures
+by Herr Franz Wickhoff (_Jahrbuch der Preussischen Kunstsammlungen_,
+Heft. i. 1895), who has at last succeeded in satisfactorily explaining
+what has puzzled all the writers since the days of the Anonimo.
+
+[16] Statius: _Theb_. iv. 730 _ff_. See p. 135.
+
+[17] _Aen._ viii. 306-348.
+
+[18] Fry: _Giovanni Bellini_, p. 39.
+
+[19] ii. 214.
+
+[20] Ridolfi mentions the following as having been painted by
+Giorgione:--"The Age of Gold," "Deucalion and Pyrrha," "Jove hurling
+Thunderbolts at the Giants," "The Python," "Apollo and Daphne," "Io
+changed into a Cow," "Phaeton, Diana, and Calisto," "Mercury stealing
+Apollo's Arms," "Jupiter and Pasiphae," "Cadmus sowing the Dragon's
+Teeth," "Dejanira raped by Nessus," and various episodes in the life of
+Adonis.
+
+[21] In the Venice Academy.
+
+[22] _Archivio, Anno VI_., where reproductions of the two are given side
+by side, _fasc_. vi. p. 412.
+
+[23] The Berlin example (by the Pseudo-Basaiti) is reproduced in the
+Illustrated Catalogue of the recent exhibition of Renaissance Art at
+Berlin; the Rovigo version (under Leonardo's name!) is possibly by
+Bissolo.
+
+Two other repetitions exist, one at Stuttgart, the other in the
+collection of Sir William Farrer. (Venetian Exhibition, New Gallery,
+1894, No. 76.)
+
+[24] Gentile Bellini's three portraits in the National Gallery (Nos.
+808, 1213, 1440) illustrate this growing tendency in Venetian art; all
+three probably date from the first years of the sixteenth century.
+Gentile died in 1507.
+
+[25] Berenson: _Venetian Painters_, 3rd edition.
+
+[26] _Daily Telegraph_, December 29th, 1899.
+
+[27] Even the so-called Pseudo-Basaiti has been separated and
+successfully diagnosed.
+
+[28] 1895 Catalogue.
+
+[29] See Appendix, where the letters are printed in full.
+
+[30] Crowe and Cavalcaselle, ii. 142, and note.
+
+[31] Giorgione painted in fresco in the portico of this palace. Zanetti
+has preserved the record of a figure said to be "Diligence," in his
+print published in 1760.
+
+[32] See Byron's _Life and Letters_, by Thomas Moore, p. 705.
+
+[33] See Berenson's _Venetian Painters_, illustrated edition.
+
+[34] Morelli, ii. 219.
+
+[35] See p. 32 for a possible explanation of these letters.
+
+[36] ii. 218
+
+[37] It has been suggested to me by Dr. Williamson that the letters may
+possibly be intended for ZZ (=Zorzon). In old MSS. the capital Z is
+sometimes made thus _[closed V]_ or _V._
+
+[38] i. 248.
+
+[39] The methods by which he arrived at his conclusion are strangely at
+variance with those he so strenuously advocates, and to which the name
+of Morellian has come to be attached.
+
+[40] Reproduced in _Venetian Art at the New Gallery_, under Giorgione's
+name, but unanimously recognised as a work of Licinio.
+
+[41] i. 249.
+
+[42] Dr. Bode and Signor Venturi both recognise it as Giorgione's work.
+
+[43] To what depths of vulgarity the Venetian School could sink in later
+times, Palma Giovane's "Venus" at Cassel testifies.
+
+[44] _Repertorium fuer Kunstwissenschaft_. 1896. xix. Band. 6 Heft.
+
+[45] _North American Review_, October 1899.
+
+[46] It was photographed by Braun with this attribution.
+
+[47] Catena has adopted this Giorgionesque conception in his "Judith" in
+the Querini-Stampalia Gallery in Venice.
+
+[48] See _Gazette des Beaux Arts_, 1897, tom, xviii. p. 279.
+
+[49] See _Gazette des Beaux Arts_, 1893, tom. ix. p. 135 (Prof.
+Wickhoff); 1894, tom. xii. p. 332 (Dr. Gronau); and _Repertorium fuer
+Kunstwissenschaft_, tom. xiv. p. 316 (Herr von Seidlitz).
+
+[50] Crowe and Cavalcaselle, ii. 147.
+
+[51] ii. 217.
+
+[52] Dr. Gronau points this out in _Rep_. xviii. 4, p. 284.
+
+[53] See _Guide to the Italian Pictures_ at Hampton Court, by Mary
+Logan, 1894.
+
+[54] Official Catalogue, and Crowe and Cavalcaselle, ii. 502.
+
+[55] Pater: _The Renaissance_, p. 158.
+
+[56] ii. 219.
+
+[57] The execution of this grotesque picture is probably due to Girolamo
+da Carpi, or some other assistant of Dosso.
+
+[58] Crowe and Cavalcaselle, ii. 292, unaccountably suggested Francesco
+Vecellio (!) as the author.
+
+[59] The subject is derived from a passage in the _De Divinitate_ of
+Cicero, as Herr Wickhoff has pointed out.
+
+[60] See _Venetian Painting at the New Gallery_. 1895.
+
+[61] Unless we are to suppose that Vasari mistook a copy for an
+original.
+
+[62] Francesco Torbido, called "il Moro," born about 1490, and still
+living in 1545. Vasari states that he actually worked under Giorgione.
+Signed portraits by him are in the Brera, at Munich, and Naples. Palma
+Vecchio also deserves serious consideration as possible author of the
+"Shepherd Boy."
+
+[63] Crowe and Cavalcaselle, ii. 144.
+
+[64] Morelli, ii. 212.
+
+[65] See Appendix, p. 123.
+
+[66] Quoted by Morelli, ii. 212, note.
+
+[67] Crowe and Cavalcaselle, ii. 155.
+
+[68] Crowe and Cavalcaselle also cite a portrait in the Casa Ajata at
+Crespano; as I have never seen this piece I cannot discuss it. It was
+apparently unknown to Morelli, nor is it mentioned by other critics.
+
+[69] Morelli, ii. 205.
+
+[70] Crowe and Cavalcaselle, ii. 128. Mr. Claude Phillips, in the
+_Gazette des Beaux Arts_, 1884, p. 286, rightly admits Giorgione's
+authorship.
+
+[71] This sketch is to be found in Van Dyck's note-book, now in
+possession of the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth. It is here
+reproduced, failing an illustration of the original picture, which the
+authorities in Venice decline to have made. (A good reproduction has now
+(1903) been made by Anderson of Rome.)
+
+[72] _Archivio Storico_, vi. 409.
+
+[73] Ridolfi tells us Giorgione painted, among a long list of decorative
+pieces, "The Birth of Adonis," "Venus and Adonis embracing," and "Adonis
+killed by the Boar." It is possible he was alluding to these very
+_cassone_ panels.
+
+[74] The other important additions made by Signor Venturi in his recent
+volume, _La Galleria Crespi_, are alluded to _in loco_, further on. I am
+delighted to find some of my own views anticipated in a wholly
+independent fashion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+INTERMEDIATE SUMMARY
+
+It is necessary for anyone who seeks to recover the missing or
+unidentified works of an artist like Giorgione, first to define his
+conception of the artist based upon a study of acknowledged materials.
+The preceding chapter has been devoted to a survey of the best
+authenticated pictures, the evidence for the genuineness of which is, as
+we have seen, largely a matter of personal opinion. Nevertheless there
+is, on the whole, a unanimity of judgment sufficient to warrant our
+drawing several inferences as to the general character of Giorgione's
+work, and to attempt a chronological arrangement of the twenty-six
+pictures here accepted as genuine.
+
+The first and most obvious fact then to be noted is the amazing variety
+of subjects handled by the master. Religious paintings, whether
+altar-pieces or easel pictures of a devotional character, are
+interspersed with mediaeval allegories, genre subjects, decorative
+_cassone_ panels, portraiture, and purely lyrical "Fantasiestuecke,"
+corresponding somewhat with the modern "Landscape with Figures." Truly
+an astonishing range! Giorgione, as we have seen, could not have been
+more than eighteen years in active practice, yet in that short time he
+gained successes in all these various fields. His many-sidedness shows
+him to have been a man of wide sympathies, whilst the astonishing
+rapidity of his development testifies to the precocity of his talent.
+His versatility and his precocity are, in fact, the two most prominent
+characteristics to be borne in mind in judging his art, for much that
+appears at first sight incongruous, if not utterly irreconcilable, can
+be explained on this basis. For versatility and precocity in an artist
+are qualities invariably attended by unevenness of workmanship, as we
+see in the cases of Keats and Schubert, who were gifted with the lyrical
+temperament and powers of expression in poetry and music in
+corresponding measure to Giorgione in painting. It would show want of
+critical acumen to expect from Keats the consistency of Milton, or that
+Schubert should keep the unvarying high level of Beethoven, and it is
+equally unreasonable to exact from Giorgione the uniform excellence
+which characterises Titian. I do not propose at this point to work out
+the comparison between the painter, the musician, and the poet; this
+must be reserved until the final summing-up of Giorgione as artist, when
+we have examined all his work. But this point I do insist on, that from
+the very nature of things Giorgione's art is, and must be, uneven, that
+whilst at times it reaches sublime heights, at other times it attains to
+a level of only average excellence.
+
+And so the criticism which condemns a picture claiming to be Giorgione's
+because "it is not _good_ enough for him," does not recognise the truth
+that for all that it may be _characteristic_, and, consequently,
+perfectly authentic. Modern criticism has been apt to condemn because
+it has expected too much; let us not blind our eyes to the weaknesses,
+even to the failures of great men, who, if they lose somewhat of the
+hero in our eyes, win our sympathy and our love the more for being
+human.
+
+I have spoken of Giorgione's versatility, his precocity, and the natural
+inequality of his work. There is another characteristic which commonly
+exists when these qualities are found united, and that is
+Productiveness. Giorgione, according to all analogy, must have produced
+a mass of work. It is idle to assert, as some modern writers have done,
+that at the utmost his easel pictures could have been but few, because
+most of his short life was devoted to painting frescoes, which have
+perished. It is true that Giorgione spent time and energy over fresco
+painting, and from the very publicity of such work as the frescoes on
+the Fondaco de' Tedeschi, he came to be widely known in this direction,
+but it is infinitely probable that his output in other branches was
+enormous. The twenty-six pictures we have already accepted, plus the
+lost frescoes, cannot possibly represent the sum-total of his artistic
+activities, and to say that everything else has disappeared is, as I
+shall try to show, not correct. We know, moreover, from the Anonimo (who
+was almost Giorgione's contemporary) that many pictures existed in his
+day which cannot now be traced,[75] and if we add these and some of the
+others cited by Vasari and Ridolfi (without assuming that every one was
+a genuine example), it goes to prove that Giorgione did paint a good
+number of easel pictures. But the evidence of the twenty-six themselves
+is conclusive. They illustrate so many different phases, they stand
+sometimes so widely apart, that intermediate links are necessarily
+implied. Moreover, as Giorgione's influence on succeeding artists is
+allowed by all writers, a considerable number of his easel pictures must
+have been in circulation, from which these imitators drew inspiration,
+for he certainly never kept, as Bellini did, a body of assistants and
+pupils to hand on his teaching, and disseminate his style.
+
+Productiveness must then have been a feature of his art, and as so few
+pictures have as yet come to be accepted as genuine, the majority must
+have perished or been lost to sight for the time. That much yet remains
+hidden away in private possession I am fully persuaded, especially in
+England and in Italy, and one day we may yet find the originals of the
+several old copies after Giorgione which I enumerate elsewhere.[76] In
+some cases I believe I have been fortunate enough to detect actually
+missing originals, and occasionally restore to Giorgione pieces that
+parade under Titian's name. Much, however, yet remains to be done, and
+the research work now being systematically conducted in the Venetian
+archives by Dr. Gustav Ludwig and Signor Pietro Paoletti may yield rich
+results in the discovery of documents relating to the master himself,
+which may help us to identify his productions, and possibly confirm some
+of the conjectures I venture to make in the following chapters.[77]
+
+But before proceeding to examine other pictures which I am persuaded
+really emanate from Giorgione himself, let us attempt to place in
+approximate chronological order the twenty-six works already accepted as
+genuine, for, once their sequence is established, we shall the more
+readily detect the lacunae in the artist's evolution, and so the more
+easily recognise any missing transitional pieces which may yet exist.
+
+The earliest stage in Giorgione's career is naturally marked by
+adherence to the teaching and example of his immediate predecessors.
+However precocious he may have been, however free from academic
+training, however independent of the tradition of the schools, he
+nevertheless clearly betrays an artistic dependence, above all, on
+Giovanni Bellini. The "Christ bearing the Cross" and the two little
+pictures in the Uffizi are direct evidence of this, and these,
+therefore, must be placed quite early in his career. We should not be
+far wrong in dating them 1493-5. Carpaccio's influence is also apparent,
+as we have already noticed, and through this channel Giorgione's art
+connects with the more archaic style of Gentile Bellini, Giovanni's
+elder brother. Thus in him are united the quattrocentist tradition and
+the fresher ideals of the cinquecento, which found earliest expression
+in Giambellini's Allegories of about 1486-90. The poetic element in
+these works strongly appealed to Giorgione's sensitive nature, and we
+find him developing this side of his art in the Beaumont "Adoration,"
+and the National Gallery "Epiphany," both of which are clearly early
+productions. But there is a gap of a few years between the Uffizi
+pictures and the London ones, for the latter are maturer in every way,
+and it is clear that the interval must have been spent in constant
+practice. Yet we cannot point with certainty to any of the other
+pictures in our list as standing midway in development, and here it is
+that a lacuna exists in the artist's career. Two or three years,
+possibly more, remain unaccounted for, just at a period, too, when the
+young artist would be most impressionable. I am inclined to think that
+he may have painted the "Birth of Paris" during these years, but we have
+only the copy of a part of the composition to go by, and the statement
+of the Anonimo that the picture was one of Giorgione's early works.
+
+The "Adrastus and Hypsipyle" must also be a youthful production prior to
+1500, and in the direction of portraiture we have the Berlin "Young
+Man," which, for reasons already given, must be placed quite early. It
+is not possible to assign exact dates to any of these works, all that
+can be said with any certainty is that they fall within the last decade
+of the fifteenth century, and illustrate the rapid development of
+Giorgione's art up to his twenty-fourth year.
+
+A further stage in his evolution is reached in the Castelfranco
+"Madonna," the first important undertaking of which we have some record.
+Tradition connects the painting of this altar-piece with an event of the
+year 1504, the death of the young Matteo Costanzo, whose family, so it
+is said, commissioned Giorgione to paint a memorial altar-piece, and
+decorate the family chapel at Castelfranco with frescoes. Certain it is
+that the arms of the Costanzi appear in the picture, but the evidence
+which connects the commission with the death of Matteo seems to rest
+mainly on his alleged likeness to the S. Liberale in the picture, a
+theory, we may remark, which is quite consistent with Matteo being still
+alive. Considering the extraordinary rapidity of the artist's
+development, it would be more natural to place the execution of this
+work a year or two earlier than 1504, but, in any case, we may accept it
+as typical of Giorgione's style in the first years of the century. The
+"Judith" (at St. Petersburg), as we have already seen, probably
+immediately precedes it, so that we get two masterpieces approximately
+dated.
+
+In the field of portraiture Giorgione must have made rapid strides from
+the very first. Vasari states that he painted the portraits of the great
+Consalvo Ferrante, and of one of his captains, on the occasion of their
+visit to the Doge Agostino Barberigo. Now this event presumably took
+place in 1500,[78] so that, at that early date, he seems already to have
+been a portrait painter of repute. Confirmatory evidence of this is
+furnished by the statement of Ridolfi, that Giorgione took the portrait
+of Agostino Barberigo himself.[79] Now the Doge died in 1500, so that if
+Giorgione really painted him, he could not have been more than
+twenty-three years of age at the time, an extraordinarily early age to
+have been honoured with so important a commission; this fact certainly
+presupposes successes with other patrons, whose portraits Giorgione must
+have taken during the years 1495-1500. I hope to be able to identify two
+or three of these, but for the moment we may note that by 1500
+Giorgione was a recognised master of portraiture. The only picture on
+our list likely to date from the period 1500-1504 is the "Knight of
+Malta," the "Young Man" (at Buda-Pesth) being later in execution.[80]
+
+From 1504 on, the rapid rate of progress is more than fully maintained.
+Only six years remain of the artist's short life, yet in that time he
+rose to full power, and anticipated the splendid achievements of
+Titian's maturity some forty years later. First in order, probably, come
+the "Venus" (Dresden) and the "Concert" (Pitti), both showing
+originality of conception and mastery of handling. The date of the
+frescoes on the Fondaco de' Tedeschi is known to be 1507-8,[81] but, as
+nothing remains but a few patches of colour in one spot high up over the
+Grand Canal, we have no visible clue to guide us in our estimate of
+their artistic worth. Vasari's description, and Zanetti's engraving of a
+few fragments (done in 1760, when the frescoes were already in decay),
+go to prove that Giorgione at this period studied the antique,
+"commingling statuesque classicism and the flesh and blood of real
+life."[82]
+
+At this period it is most probable we must place the "Judgment of
+Solomon" (at Kingston Lacy), possibly, as I have already pointed out,
+the very work commissioned by the State for the audience chamber of the
+Council, on which, as we know from documents, Giorgione was engaged in
+1507 and 1508. It was never finished, and the altogether exceptional
+character of the work places it outside the regular course of the
+artist's development. It was an ambitious venture in an unwonted
+direction, and is naturally marked and marred by unsatisfactory
+features. Giorgione's real powers are shown by the "Pastoral Symphony"
+(in the Louvre), and the "Portrait of the Young Man" (at Buda-Pesth),
+productions dating from the later years 1508-10. The "Three Ages" (in
+the Pitti) may also be included, and if Giorgione conceived and even
+partly executed the "Storm calmed by S. Mark" (Venice Academy), this
+also must be numbered among his last works.
+
+Morelli states: "It was only in the last six years of his short life
+(from about 1505-11) that Giorgione's power and greatness became fully
+developed."[83] I think this is true in the sense that Giorgione was
+ever steadily advancing towards a fuller and riper understanding of the
+world, that his art was expanding into a magnificence which found
+expression in larger forms and richer colour, that he was acquiring
+greater freedom of touch, and more perfect command of the technical
+resources of his art. But sufficient stress is not laid, I think, upon
+the masterly achievement of the earlier times; the tendency is to refer
+too much to later years, and not recognise sufficiently the prodigious
+precocity before 1500. One is tempted at times to question the accuracy
+of Vasari's statement that Giorgione died in his thirty-fourth year,
+which throws his birth back only to 1477. Some modern writers disregard
+this statement altogether, and place his birth "before 1477."[84] Be
+this as it may, it does not alter the fact that by 1500 Giorgione had
+already attained in portraiture to the highest honours, and in this
+sphere, I believe, he won his earliest successes. My object in the
+following chapter will be to endeavour to point out some of the very
+portraits, as yet unidentified, which I am persuaded were produced by
+Giorgione chiefly in these earlier years, and thus partly to fill some
+of the lacunae we have found in tracing his artistic evolution.
+
+NOTES:
+
+[75] A list of these is given at p. 138.
+
+[76] _Vide_ List of Works, pp. 124-137.
+
+[77] The results of these archivistic researches are being published in
+the _Repertorium fuer Kunstwissenschaft_.
+
+[78] For the evidence, see _Magazine of Art_, April 1893.
+
+[79] Meravig, i. 126.
+
+[80] Vasari saw Giorgione's portrait of the succeeding Doge Leonardo
+Loredano (1501-1521).
+
+[81] See Crowe and Cavalcaselle, ii. 141.
+
+[82] Crowe and Cavalcaselle, _ibid_.
+
+[83] ii. 213. We now know that he died in 1510.
+
+[84] Crowe and Cavalcaselle, ii. 119. Bode: _Cicerone_.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+ADDITIONAL PICTURES--PORTRAITS
+
+Vasari, in his _Life of Titian_, in the course of a somewhat confused
+account of the artist's earliest years, tells us how Titian, "having
+seen the manner of Giorgione, early resolved to abandon that of Gian
+Bellino, although well grounded therein. He now, therefore, devoted
+himself to this purpose, and in a short time so closely imitated
+Giorgione that his pictures were sometimes taken for those of that
+master, as will be related below." And he goes on: "At the time when
+Titian began to adopt the manner of Giorgione, being then not more than
+eighteen, he took the portrait of a gentleman of the Barberigo family
+who was his friend, and this was considered very beautiful, the
+colouring being true and natural, and the hair so distinctly painted
+that each one could be counted, as might also the stitches[85] in a
+satin doublet, painted in the same work; in a word, it was so well and
+carefully done, that it would have been taken for a picture by
+Giorgione, if Titian had not written his name on the dark ground." Now
+the statement that Titian began to imitate Giorgione at the age of
+eighteen is inconsistent with Vasari's own words of a few paragraphs
+previously: "About the year 1507, Giorgione da Castel Franco, not being
+satisfied with that mode of proceeding (i.e. 'the dry, hard, laboured
+manner of Gian Bellino, which Titian also acquired'), began to give to
+his works an unwonted softness and relief, painting them in a very
+beautiful manner.... Having seen the manner of Giorgione, Titian now
+devoted himself to this purpose," etc. In 1507 Titian was thirty years
+old,[86] not eighteen, so that both statements cannot be correct. Now it
+is highly improbable that Titian had already discarded the manner of
+Bellini as early as 1495, at the age of eighteen, and had so identified
+himself with Giorgione that their work was indistinguishable.
+Everything, on the contrary, points to Titian's evolution being anything
+but rapid; in fact, so far as records go, there is no mention of his
+name until he painted the facade of the Fondaco de' Tedeschi in company
+with Giorgione in 1507. It is infinitely more probable that Vasari's
+first statement is the more reliable--viz. that Titian began to adopt
+Giorgione's manner about the year 1507, and it follows, therefore, that
+the portrait of the gentleman of the Barberigo family, if by Titian,
+dates from this time, and not 1495.
+
+[Illustration: _Dixon photo. Collection of the Earl of Darnley, Cobham
+Hall_
+
+PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN]
+
+Now there is a picture in the Earl of Darnley's Collection at Cobham
+Hall which answers pretty closely to Vasari's description. It is a
+supposed portrait of Ariosto by Titian, but it is as much unlike the
+court poet of Ferrara as the portrait in the National Gallery (No. 636)
+which, with equal absurdity, long passed for that of Ariosto, a name now
+wisely removed from the label. This magnificent portrait at Cobham was
+last exhibited at the Old Masters in 1895, and the suggestion was then
+made that it might be the very picture mentioned by Vasari in the
+passage quoted above.[87] I believe this ingenious suggestion is
+correct, and that we have in the Cobham "Ariosto" the portrait of one of
+the Barberigo family said to have been painted by Titian in the manner
+of Giorgione. "Thoroughly Giorgionesque," says Mr. Claude Phillips, in
+his _Life of Titian_, "is the soberly tinted yet sumptuous picture in
+its general arrangement, as in its general tone, and in this respect it
+is the fitting companion and the descendant of Giorgione's 'Antonio
+Broccardo' at Buda-Pesth, of his 'Knight of Malta' at the Uffizi. Its
+resemblance, moreover, is, as regards the general lines of the
+composition, a very striking one to the celebrated Sciarra
+'Violin-Player,' by Sebastiano del Piombo.... The handsome, manly head
+has lost both subtlety and character through some too severe process of
+cleaning, but Venetian art has hardly anything more magnificent to show
+than the costume, with the quilted sleeve of steely, blue-grey satin,
+which occupies so prominent a place in the picture." Its Giorgionesque
+character is therefore recognised by this writer, as also by Dr. Georg
+Gronau, in his recent _Life of Titian_ (p. 21), who significantly
+remarks, "Its relation to the 'Portrait of a Young Man' by Giorgione, at
+Berlin, is obvious."
+
+It is a pity that both these discerning writers of the modern school
+have not gone a little further and seen that the picture before them is
+not only Giorgionesque, but by Giorgione himself. The mistake of
+confusing Titian and Giorgione is as old as Vasari, who, _misled by the
+signature_, naively remarks, "It would have been taken for a picture by
+Giorgione if Titian had not written his name on the dark ground (in
+ombra)." _Hinc illae lacrimae!_ Let us look into this question of
+signatures, the ultimate and irrevocable proof in the minds of the
+innocent that a picture must be genuine. Titian's methods of signing his
+well-authenticated works varied at different stages of his career. The
+earliest signature is always "Ticianus," and this is found on works
+dating down to 1522 (the "S. Sebastian" at Brescia). The usual signature
+of the later time is "Titianus," probably the earliest picture with it
+being the Ancona altar-piece of 1520. "Tician" is found only twice. Now,
+without necessarily condemning every signature which does not accord
+with this practice, we must explain any apparent irregularity, such, for
+instance, as the "Titianus F." on the Cobham Hall picture. This form of
+signature points to the period after 1520, a date manifestly
+inconsistent with the style of painting. But there is more than this to
+arouse suspicion. The signature has been painted over another, or
+rather, the F. (= fecit)[88] is placed over an older V, which can still
+be traced. A second V appears further to the right. It looks as if
+originally the balustrade only bore the double V, and that "Titianus F."
+were added later. But it was there in Vasari's day (1544), so that we
+arrive at the interesting conclusion that Titian's signature must have
+been added between 1520 and 1544--that is, in his own lifetime. This
+singular fact opens up a new chapter in the history of Titian's
+relationship to Giorgione, and points to practices well calculated to
+confuse historians of a later time, and enhance the pupil's reputation
+at the expense of the deceased master. Not that Titian necessarily
+appropriated Giorgione's work, and passed it off as his own, but we know
+that on the latter's death Titian completed several of his unfinished
+pictures, and in one instance, we are told, added a Cupid to Giorgione's
+"Venus." It may be that this was the case with the "Ariosto," and that
+Titian felt justified in adding his signature on the plea of something
+he did to it in after years; but, explain this as we may, the important
+point to recognise is that in all essential particulars the "Ariosto" is
+the creation not of Titian, but of Giorgione. How is this to be proved?
+It will be remembered that when discussing whether Giorgione or Titian
+painted the Pitti "Concert," the "Giorgionesque" qualities of the work
+were so obvious that it seemed going out of the way to introduce
+Titian's name, as Morelli did, and ascribe the picture to him in a
+Giorgionesque phase. It is just the same here. The conception is
+typically Giorgione's own, the thoughtful, dreamy look, the turn of the
+head, the refinement and distinction of this wonderful figure alike
+proclaim him; whilst in the workmanship the quilted satin is exactly
+paralleled by the painting of the dress in the Berlin and Buda-Pesth
+portraits. Characteristic of Giorgione but not of Titian, is the oval of
+the face, the construction of the head, the arrangement of the hair.
+Titian, so far as I am aware, never introduces a parapet or ledge into
+his portraits, Giorgione nearly always does so; and finally we have the
+mysterious VV which is found on the Berlin portrait, and
+(half-obliterated) on the Buda-Pesth "Young Man." In short, no one would
+naturally think of Titian were it not for the misleading signature, and
+I venture to hope competent judges will agree with me that the proofs
+positive of Giorgione's authorship are of greater weight than a
+signature which--for reasons given--is not above suspicion.[89]
+
+Before I leave this wonderful portrait of a gentleman of the Barberigo
+family (so says Vasari), a word as to its date is necessary. The
+historian tells us it was painted by Titian at the age of eighteen.
+Clearly some tradition existed which told of the youthfulness of the
+painter, but may we assume that Giorgione was only eighteen at the time?
+That would throw the date back to 1495. Is it possible he can have
+painted this splendid head so early in his career? The freedom of
+handling, and the mastery of technique certainly suggests a rather later
+stage, but I am inclined to believe Giorgione was capable of this
+accomplishment before 1500. The portrait follows the Berlin "Young Man,"
+and may well take its place among the portraits which, as we have seen,
+Giorgione must have painted during the last decade of the century prior
+to receiving his commission to paint the Doge. And in this connection it
+is of special interest to find the Doge was himself a Barberigo. May we
+not conclude that the success of this very portrait was one of the
+immediate causes which led to Giorgione obtaining so flattering a
+commission from the head of the State?
+
+I mentioned incidentally that four repetitions of the "Ariosto" exist,
+all derived presumably from the Cobham original. We have a further
+striking proof of the popularity of this style of portraiture in a
+picture belonging to Mr. Benson, exhibited at the Venetian Exhibition,
+New Gallery, 1894-5, where the painter, whoever he may be, has
+apparently been inspired by Giorgione's original. The conception is
+wholly Giorgionesque, but the hardness of contour and the comparative
+lack of quality in the touch betrays another and an inferior hand.
+Nevertheless the portrait is of great interest, for could we but imagine
+it as fine in execution as in conception we should have an original
+Giorgione portrait before us. The features are curiously like those of
+the Barberigo gentleman.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In his recently published _Life of Titian_, Dr. Gronau passes from the
+consideration of the Cobham Hall picture immediately to that of the
+"Portrait of a Lady," known as "La Schiavona," in the collection of
+Signor Crespi in Milan. In his opinion these two works are intimately
+related to one another, and of them he significantly writes thus: "The
+influence of Giorgione upon Titian" (to whom he ascribes both portraits)
+"is evident. The connection can be traced even in the details of the
+treatment and technique. The separate touches of light on the
+gold-striped head-dress which fastens back the lady's beautiful dark
+hair, the variegated scarf thrown lightly round her waist, the folds of
+the sleeves, the hand with the finger-tips laid on the parapet: all
+these details might indicate the one master as well as the other."[90]
+
+The transition from the Cobham Hall portrait to the "Lady" in the Crespi
+Collection is, to my mind, also a natural and proper one. The painter of
+the one is the painter of the other. Tradition is herein also perfectly
+consistent, and tradition has in each case a plausible signature to
+support it. The TITIANVS F. of the former portrait is paralleled by the
+T.V.--i.e. Titianus Vecellio, or Titianus Veneziano of the latter.[91] I
+have already dealt at some length with the question of the former
+signature, which appears to have been added actually during Titian's
+lifetime; in the present instance the letters appear almost, if not
+quite, coeval with the rest of the painting, and were undoubtedly
+intended for Titian's signature. The cases, therefore, are so far
+parallel, and the question naturally arises, Did Titian really have any
+hand in the painting of this portrait? Signor Venturi[92] strongly
+denies it; to him the T.V. matters nothing, and he boldly proclaims
+Licinio the author.
+
+I confess the matter is not thus lightly to be disposed of; there is no
+valid reason to doubt the antiquity of the inscription, which, on the
+analogy of the Cobham Hall picture, may well have been added in
+Titian's own lifetime, and for the same reason that I there
+suggested--viz. that Titian had in some way or other a hand in the
+completion, or may be the alteration, of his deceased master's work.[93]
+For it is my certain conviction that the painter of the Crespi "Lady" is
+none other than Giorgione himself.
+
+Before, however, discussing the question of authorship, it is a matter
+of some moment to be able to identify the lady represented. An old
+tradition has it that this is Caterina Cornaro, and, in my judgment,
+this is perfectly correct.[94] Fortunately, we possess several
+well-authenticated likenesses of this celebrated daughter of the
+Republic. She had been married to the King of Cyprus, and after his
+death had relinquished her quasi-sovereign rights in favour of Venice.
+She then returned home (in 1489) and retired to Asolo, near
+Castelfranco, where she passed a quiet country life, enjoying the
+society of the poets and artists of the day, and reputed for her
+kindliness and geniality. Her likeness is to be seen in three
+contemporary paintings:--
+
+1. At Buda-Pesth, by Gentile Bellini, with inscription.
+
+2. In the Venice Academy, also by Gentile Bellini, who introduces her
+and her attendant ladies kneeling in the foreground, to the left, in his
+well-known "Miracle of the True Cross," dated 1500.
+
+3. In the Berlin Gallery, by Jacopo de' Barbari, where she appears
+kneeling in a composition of the "Madonna and Child and Saints."
+
+[Illustration: _From a print. Pourtales Collection, Berlin_
+
+MARBLE BUST OF CATERINA CORNARO]
+
+Finally we see Caterina Cornaro in a bust in the Pourtales Collection at
+Berlin, here reproduced,[95] seen full face, as in the Crespi portrait.
+I know not on what outside authority the identification rests in the
+case of the bust, but it certainly appears to represent the same lady as
+in the above-mentioned pictures, and is rightly accepted as such by
+modern German critics.[96]
+
+[Illustration: _Anderson photo. Crespi Collection, Milan_
+
+PORTRAIT OF CATERINA CORNARO]
+
+To my eyes, we have the same lady in the Crespi portrait. Mr. Berenson,
+unaware of the identity, thus describes her:[97] "Une grande dame
+italienne est devant nous, eclatante de sante et de magnificence,
+energique, debordante, pleine d'une chaude sympathie, source de vie et
+de joie pour tous ceux qui l'entourent, et cependant reflechie,
+penetrante, un peu ironique bien qu'indulgente."
+
+Could a better description be given to fit the character of Caterina
+Cornaro, as she is known to us in history? How little likely, moreover,
+that tradition should have dubbed this homely person the ex-Queen of
+Cyprus had it not been the truth!
+
+Now, if my contention is correct, chronology determines a further point.
+Caterina died in 1510, so that this likeness of her (which is clearly
+taken from life) must have been done in or before the first decade of
+the sixteenth century.[98] This excludes Licinio and Schiavone (both of
+whom have been suggested as the artist), for the latter was not even
+born, and the former--whose earliest known picture is dated 1520--must
+have been far too young in 1510 to have already achieved so splendid a
+result. Palma is likewise excluded, so that we are driven to choose
+between Titian and Giorgione, the only two Venetian artists capable of
+such a masterpiece before 1510.
+
+As to which of these two artists it is, opinions--so far as any have
+been published--are divided. Yet Dr. Gronau, who claims it for Titian,
+admits in the same breath that the hand is the same as that which
+painted the Cobham Hall picture and the Pitti "Concert," a judgment in
+which I fully concur. Dr. Bode[99] labels it "Art des Giorgione."
+Finally, Mr. Berenson, with rare insight proclaimed the conception and
+the spirit of the picture to be Giorgione's.[100] But he asserts that
+the execution is not fine enough to be the master's own, and would rank
+it--with the "Judith" at St. Petersburg--in the category of contemporary
+copies after lost originals. This view is apparently based on the
+dangerous maxim that where the execution of a picture is inferior to the
+conception, the work is presumably a copy. But two points must be borne
+in mind, the actual condition of the picture, and the character of the
+artist who painted it. Mr. Berenson has himself pointed out
+elsewhere[101] that Giorgione, "while always supreme in his conceptions,
+did not live long enough to acquire a perfection of draughtsmanship and
+chiaroscuro equally supreme, and that, consequently, there is not a
+single universally accepted work of his which is absolutely free from
+the reproaches of the academic pedant." Secondly, the surface of this
+portrait has lost its original glow through cleaning, and has suffered
+other damage, which actually debarred Crowe and Cavalcaselle (who saw
+the picture in 1877) from pronouncing definitely upon the authorship.
+The eyes and flesh, they say,[102] were daubed over, the hair was new,
+the colour modern. A good deal of this "restoration" has since been
+removed, but the present appearance of the panel bears witness to the
+harsh treatment suffered years ago. Nevertheless, the original work is
+before us, and not a copy of a lost original, and Mr. Berenson's
+enthusiastic praise ought to be lavished on the actual picture as it
+must have appeared in all its freshness and purity. "Je n'hesiterais
+pas," he declares,[103] "a le proclamer le plus important des portraits
+du maitre, un chef-d'oeuvre ne le cedant a aucun portrait d'aucun pays
+ou d'aucun temps."
+
+And certainly Giorgione has created a masterpiece. The opulence of
+Rubens and the dignity of Titian are most happily combined with a
+delicacy and refinement such as Giorgione alone can impart. The intense
+grasp of character here displayed, the exquisite _intimite_, places this
+wonderful creation of his on the highest level of portraiture. There is
+far less of that moody abstraction which awakens our interest in most of
+his portraits, but much greater objective truth, arising from that
+perfect sympathy between artist and sitter, which is of the first
+importance in portrait-painting. History tells us of the friendly
+encouragement the young Castelfrancan received at the hands of this
+gracious lady, and he doubtless painted this likeness of her in her
+country home at Asolo, near to Castelfranco, and we may well imagine
+with what eagerness he acquitted himself of so flattering a commission.
+Vasari tells us that he saw a portrait of Caterina, Queen of Cyprus,
+painted by Giorgione from the life, in the possession of Messer Giovanni
+Cornaro. I believe that picture to be the very one we are now
+discussing.[104] The documents quoted by Signor Venturi[105] do not go
+back beyond 1640, so that it is, of course, impossible to prove the
+identity, but the expression "from the life" (as opposed to Titian's
+posthumous portrait of her) applies admirably to our likeness. What a
+contrast to the formal presentation of the queenly lady, crown and
+jewels and all, that Gentile Bellini has left us in his portrait of her
+now at Buda-Pesth!--and in that other picture of his where she is seen
+kneeling in royal robes, with her train of court ladies, as though
+attending a state function! How Giorgione has penetrated through all
+outward show, and revealed the charm of manner, the delightful
+_bonhomie_ of his royal patroness!
+
+We are enabled, by a simple calculation of dates, to fix approximately
+the period when this portrait was painted. Gentile Bellini's picture of
+"The Miracle of the True Cross" is dated 1500--that is, when Caterina
+Cornaro was forty-six years old (she was born in 1454). In Signor
+Crespi's picture she appears, if anything, younger in appearance, so
+that, at latest, Giorgione painted her portrait in 1500. Thus, again, we
+arrive at the same conclusion, that the master distinguished himself
+very early in his career in the field of portraiture, and the similarity
+in style between this portrait and the Cobham Hall one is accounted for
+on chronological grounds. All things considered, it is very probable
+that this portrait was his earliest real success, and proved a passport
+to the favourable notice of the fashionable society of Venice, leading
+to the commission to paint the Doge, and the Gran Signori, who visited
+the capital in the year 1500. That Giorgione was capable of such an
+achievement before his twenty-fourth year constitutes, we may surely
+admit, his strongest right to the title of Genius.[106]
+
+The Barberigo gentleman and the Caterina Cornaro are comparatively
+unfamiliar, owing to their seclusion in private galleries. Not so the
+third portrait, which hangs in the National Gallery, and which, in my
+opinion, should be included among Giorgione's authentic productions.
+This is No. 636, "Portrait of a Poet," attributed to Palma Vecchio; and
+the catalogue continues: "This portrait of an unknown personage was
+formerly ascribed to Titian, and supposed to represent Ariosto; it has
+long since been recognised as a fine work by Palma." I certainly do not
+know by whom this portrait was first recognised as such, but as the
+transformation was suddenly effected one day under the late Sir Frederic
+Burton's _regime_, it is natural to suppose he initiated it. No one
+to-day would be found, I suppose, to support the older view, and the
+rechristening certainly received the approval of Morelli;[107] modern
+critics apparently acquiesce without demur, so that it requires no
+little courage to dissent from so unanimous an opinion. I confess,
+therefore, it was no small satisfaction to me to find the question had
+been raised by an independent inquirer, Mr. Dickes, who published in the
+_Magazine of Art_, 1893, the results of his investigations, the
+conclusion at which he arrived being that this is the portrait of
+Prospero Colonna, Liberator of Italy, painted by Giorgione in the year
+1500.
+
+Briefly stated, the argument is as follows:--
+
+I. (1) The person represented closely resembles
+       Prospero Colonna (1464-1523), whose authentic
+       likeness is to be seen--
+
+       (_a_) In an engraving in Pompilio Totti's
+            "Ritratti et Elogie di Capitani illustri.
+            Rome, 1635."
+
+       (_b_) In a bust in the Colonna Gallery, Rome.
+
+       (_c_) In an engraving in the "Columnensium
+            Procerum" of the Abbas Domenicus
+            de Santis. Rome, 1675.
+
+(All three are reproduced in the article in question.)
+
+[Illustration: _Hanfstaengl photo. National Gallery, London_.
+
+PORTRAIT OF A MAN]
+
+    (2) The description of Prospero Colonna, given
+        by Pompilio Totti (in the above book)
+        tallies with our portrait.
+
+    (3) The accessories in the picture confirm the
+        identity--e.g. the St Andrew's Cross, or
+        saltire, is on the Colonna family banner;
+        the bay, emblem of victory, is naturally
+        associated with a great captain; the rosary
+        may refer to the fact of Prospero's residence
+        as lay brother in the monastery of the
+        Olivetani, near Fondi, which was rebuilt
+        by him in 1500.
+
+II. Admitting the identity of person, chronology
+        determines the probable date of the execution
+        of this portrait, for Prospero visited
+        Venice presumably in the train of Consalvo
+        Ferrante in 1500. He was then thirty-six
+        years of age.
+
+III. Assuming this date to be correct, no other Venetian
+        artist but Giorgione was capable of producing
+        so fine and admittedly "Giorgionesque"
+        a portrait at so early a date.
+
+IV. Internal evidence points to Giorgione's authorship.
+
+It will be seen that the logic employed is identical with that by which
+I have tried to establish the identity of Signor Crespi's picture. In
+the present case, I should like to insist on the fourth consideration
+rather than on the other points, iconographical or chronological, and
+see how far our portrait bears on its face the impress of Giorgione's
+own spirit.
+
+The conception, to begin with, is characteristic of him--the pensive
+charm, the feeling of reserve, the touch of fanciful imagination in the
+decorative accessories, but, above all, the extreme refinement. All this
+very naturally fits the portrait of a poet, and at a time when it was
+customary to label every portrait with a celebrated name, what more
+appropriate than Ariosto, the court poet of Ferrara? But this dreamy
+reserve, this intensity of suppressed feeling is characteristic of all
+Giorgione's male portraits, and is nowhere more splendidly expressed
+than in this lovely figure. Where can the like be found in Palma, or
+even Titian? Titian is more virile in his conception, less lyrical, less
+fanciful, Palma infinitely less subtle in characterisation. Both are
+below the level of Giorgione in refinement; neither ever made of a
+portrait such a thing of sheer beauty as this. If this be Palma's work,
+it stands alone, not only far surpassing his usual productions in
+quality, but revealing him in a wholly new phase; it is a difference not
+of degree, but of kind.
+
+[Illustration: _Anderson photo. Querini-Stampalia Collection, Venice_
+
+PORTRAIT OF A MAN (Unfinished)]
+
+Positive proofs of Giorgione's hand are found in the way the hair is
+rendered--that lovely dark auburn hair so often seen in his work,--in
+the radiant oval of the face, contrasting so finely with the shadows,
+which are treated exactly as in the Cobham picture, only that here the
+chiaroscuro is more masterly, in the delicate modelling of the features,
+the pose of the head, and in the superb colour of the whole. In short,
+there is not a stroke that does not reveal the great master, and no
+other, and it is incredible that modern criticism has not long ago
+united in recognising Giorgione's handiwork.[10
+8]
+
+The date suggested--1500--is also consistent with our own deductions as
+to Giorgione's rapid development, and the distinguished character of his
+sitter--if it be Prospero Colonna--is quite in keeping with the vogue
+the artist was then enjoying, for it was in this very year, it will be
+remembered, that he painted the Doge Agostino Barberigo.
+
+I therefore consider that Mr. Dickes' brilliant conjectures have much to
+support them, and, so far as the authorship is concerned, I
+unhesitatingly accept the view, which he was the first to express, that
+Giorgione, and no other, is the painter. Our National Collection
+therefore boasts, in my opinion, a masterpiece of his portraiture.
+
+If it were not that Morelli, Mr. Berenson and others have recognised in
+the "Portrait of a Gentleman," in the Querini-Stampalia Gallery in
+Venice, the same hand as in the National Gallery picture, one might well
+hesitate to claim it for Giorgione, so repainted is its present
+condition. I make bold, however, to include it in my list, and the more
+readily as Signor Venturi definitely assigns it to Giorgione himself,
+whose name, moreover, it has always borne. This unfinished portrait is,
+despite its repaint, extraordinarily attractive, the rich browns and
+reds forming a colour-scheme of great beauty. It cannot compare,
+however, in quality with our National Gallery highly-finished example,
+to which it is also inferior in beauty of conception. These two
+portraits illustrate the variableness of the painter; both were probably
+done about the same time--the one seemingly _con amore_, the other left
+unfinished, as though the artist or his sitter were dissatisfied.
+Certainly the cause could not have been Giorgione's death, for the style
+is obviously early, probably prior to 1500.
+
+The view expressed by Morelli[109] that this may be a portrait of one of
+the Querini family, who were Palma's patrons, has nothing tangible to
+support it, once Palma's authorship is contested. But the unimaginative
+Palma was surely incapable of such things as this and the National
+Gallery portrait!
+
+[Illustration: Collection of the Honourable Mrs. Meynell-Ingram, Temple
+Newsam, Leeds
+
+PORTRAIT OF A MAN]
+
+England boasts, I believe, yet another magnificent original Giorgione
+portrait, and one that is probably totally unfamiliar to connoisseurs.
+This is the "Portrait of an Unknown Man," in the possession of the Hon.
+Mrs Meynell-Ingram at Temple Newsam in Yorkshire. A small and
+ill-executed print of it was published in the _Magazine of Art_, April
+1893, where it was attributed to Titian. Its Giorgionesque character is
+apparent at first glance, and I venture to hope that all those who may
+be fortunate enough to study the original, as I have done, will
+recognise the touch of the great master himself. Its intense expression,
+its pathos, the distant look tinged with melancholy, remind us at once
+of the Buda-Pesth, the Borghese, and the (late) Casa Loschi pictures;
+its modelling vividly recalls the central figure of the Pitti "Concert,"
+the painting of sleeve and gloves is like that in the National Gallery
+and Querini-Stampalia portraits just discussed. The general pose is most
+like that of the Borghese "Lady." The parapet, the wavy hair, the
+high cranium are all so many outward and visible signs of Giorgione's
+spirit, whilst none but he could have created such magnificent contrasts
+of colour, such effects of light and shade. This is indeed Giorgione,
+the great master, the magician who holds us all fascinated by his
+wondrous spell.
+
+[Illustration: _Hanfstaengl photo. Vienna Gallery_
+
+PORTRAIT OF A MAN]
+
+Last on the list of portraits which I am claiming as Giorgione's, and
+probably latest in date of execution, comes the splendid so-called
+"Physician Parma," in the Vienna Gallery. Crowe and Cavalcaselle thus
+describe it: "This masterly portrait is one of the noblest creations of
+its kind, finished with a delicacy quite surprising, and modelled with
+the finest insight into the modulations of the human flesh....
+Notwithstanding, the touch and the treatment are utterly unlike
+Titian's, having none of his well-known freedom and none of his
+technical peculiarities. Yet if asked to name the artist capable of
+painting such a likeness, one is still at a loss. It is considered to be
+identical with the portrait mentioned by Ridolfi as that of 'Parma' in
+the collection of B. della Nave (Merav., i. 220); but this is not
+proved, nor is there any direct testimony to show that it is by Titian
+at all."[110]
+
+Herr Wickhoff[111] goes a step further. He says: "Un autre portrait qui
+porte le nom de Titien est egalement l'une des oeuvres les plus
+remarquables du Musee. On pretend qu'il represente le 'Medecin du
+Titien, Parma'; mais c'est la une pure invention, imaginee par un ancien
+directeur du Musee, M. Rosa, et admise de confiance par ses successeurs.
+M. Rosa avait ete amene a la concevoir par la lecture d'un passage de
+Ridolfi. Le costume suffirait a lui seul, pourtant, pour la dementir:
+c'est le costume officiel d'un senateur venitien, et qui par suite ne
+saurait avoir ete porte par un medecin. Le tableau est incontestablement
+de la meme main que les deux 'Concerts' du Palais Pitti et du Louvre,
+qui portent tous deux le nom de Giorgione. Si l'on attribue ces deux
+tableaux au Giorgione, c'est a lui aussi qu'il faut attribuer le
+portrait de Vienne; si, comme feu Morelli, on attribue le tableau du
+Palais Pitti au Titien, il faut approuver l'attribution actuelle de
+notre portrait au meme maitre." I am glad that Herr Wickhoff recognises
+the same hand in all three works. I am sorry that in his opinion this
+should be Domenico Campagnola's. I have already referred to this opinion
+when discussing the Louvre "Concert," and must again emphatically
+dissent from this view. Campagnola, as I know him in his pictures and
+frescoes at Padua,--the only authenticated examples by which to judge
+him,[112]--was utterly inadequate to such tasks. The grandeur and
+dignity of the Vienna portrait is worthy of Titian, whose virility
+Giorgione more nearly approaches here than anywhere else. But I agree
+with the verdict of Crowe and Cavalcaselle that his is not the hand that
+painted it, and believe that the author of the Temple Newsam "Man" also
+produced this portrait, probably a few years later, at the close of his
+career.
+
+NOTES:
+
+[85] Or "points" (_punte_). The translation is that used by Blashfield
+and Hopkins, vol. iv. 260.
+
+[86] Assuming he was born in 1477, which is by no means certain.
+
+[87] Dr. Richter in the _Art Journal_, 1895, p. 90. Mr. Claude Phillips,
+in his _Earlier Work of Titian_, p. 58, note, objects that Vasari's
+"giubone di raso inargentato" is not the superbly luminous steel-grey
+sleeve of this "Ariosto," but surely a vest of satin embroidered with
+silver. I think we need not examine Vasari's casual descriptions quite
+so closely; "a doublet of silvered satin wherein the stitches could be
+counted" is fairly accurate. "Quilted sleeves" would no doubt be the
+tailor's term.
+
+[88] It is not quite clear whether the single letter is F or T.
+
+[89] A curious fact, which corroborates my view, is that the four old
+copies which exist are all ascribed to Giorgione (at Vicenza, Brescia,
+and two lately in English collections). See Crowe and Cavalcaselle, p.
+201.
+
+[90] Gronau: _Tizian_, p. 21.
+
+[91] See, however, note on p. 133.
+
+[92] _La Galleria Crespi_.
+
+[93] The documents quoted by Signor Venturi show the signature was there
+in 1640.
+
+[94] When in the Martinengo Gallery at Brescia (1640) it bore this name.
+See Venturi, _op. cit_., and Crowe and Cavalcaselle, _Titian_, ii. 58.
+
+[95] From _Das Museum_, No. 79. "_Unbekannter Meister um_ 1500. _Bildnis
+der Caterina Cornaro_." I am informed the original is now in the
+possession of the German Ambassador at The Hague, and that a plaster
+cast is at Berlin.
+
+[96] Dr. Bode _(Jahrbuch_, 1883, p. 144) says that Count Pourtales
+acquired this bust at Asolo.
+
+[97] _Gazette des Beaux Arts_, 1897, pp. 278-9. Since (1901)
+republished in his _Study and Criticism of Italian Art_, vol. i. p. 85.
+
+[98] Titian's posthumous portrait of Caterina is lost. The best known
+copy is in the Uffizi. Crowe and Cavalcaselle long ago pointed out the
+absurdity of regarding this fancy portrait as a true likeness of the
+long deceased queen. It bears no resemblance whatever to the Buda-Pesth
+portrait, which is the latest of the group.
+
+[99] _Cicerone_, sixth edition.
+
+[100] _Gazette des Beaux Arts_, 1897, pp. 278-9.
+
+[101] _Venetian Painting at the New Gallery_, 1895, p. 41.
+
+[102] _Titian_, ii. 58.
+
+[103] _Gazette des Beaux Arts, loc cit_.
+
+[104] _Life of Giorgione_. The letters T.V. either were added after
+1544, or Vasari did not interpret them as Titian's signature.
+
+[105] _La Galleria Crespi, op. cit_.
+
+[106] The importance of this portrait in the history of the Renaissance
+is discussed, _postea_, p. 113.
+
+[107] ii. 19.
+
+[108] This picture was transferred in 1857 from panel to canvas, but is
+otherwise in fine condition.
+
+[109] Morelli, ii. 19, note.
+
+[110] Crowe and Cavalcaselle: _Titian_, p. 425.
+
+[111] _Gazette des Beaux Arts_, 1893, p. 135.
+
+[112] It is customary to cite the Prague picture of 1525 as his work.
+The clumsy signature CAM was probably intended for Campi, the real
+author, and its genuineness is not above suspicion. It is a curious
+_quid pro quo_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+ADDITIONAL PICTURES OTHER THAN PORTRAITS
+
+I have now pointed out six portraits which, in my opinion, should be
+included in the roll of genuine Giorgiones. No doubt others will, in
+time, be identified, but I leave this fascinating quest to pass to the
+consideration of other paintings illustrating a different phase of the
+master's art.[113]
+
+We know that the romantic vein in Giorgione was particularly strong,
+that he naturally delighted in producing fanciful pictures where his
+poetic imagination could find full play; we have seen how the classic
+myth and the mediaeval romance afforded opportunities for him to indulge
+his fancy, and we have found him adapting themes derived from these
+sources to the decoration of _cassoni_, or marriage chests. Another
+typical example of this practice is afforded by his "Orpheus and
+Eurydice," in the gallery at Bergamo, a splendid little panel, probably,
+like the "Apollo and Daphne" in the Seminario at Venice, intended as a
+decorative piece of applied art. Although bearing Giorgione's name by
+tradition, modern critics have passed it by presumably on the ground
+that "it is not good enough,"--that fatal argument which has thrown dust
+in the eyes of the learned. As if the artist would naturally expend as
+much care on a trifle of this kind as on the Castelfranco altar-piece,
+or the Dresden "Venus"! Yet what greater beauty of conception, what more
+poetic fancy is there in the "Apollo and Daphne" (which is generally
+accepted as genuine) than in this little "Orpheus and Eurydice"? Nay,
+the execution, which is the point contested, appears to me every whit as
+brilliant, and in preservation the latter piece has the advantage. Not a
+touch but what can be paralleled in a dozen other works--the feathery
+trees against the luminous sky, the glow of the horizon, the splendid
+effects of light and shadow, the impressive grandeur of the wild
+scenery, the small figures in mid-distance, even the cast of drapery and
+shape of limbs are repeated elsewhere. Let anyone contrast the delicacy
+and the glow of this little panel with several similar productions of
+the Venetian school hanging in the same gallery, and the gulf that
+separates Giorgione from his imitators will, I think, be apparent.
+
+[Illustration: _Taramelli photo. Bergamo Gallery_ ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE]
+
+In the same category must be ranked two very small panels in the Gallery
+at Padua (Nos. 42 and 43), attributed with a query to Giorgione. These
+are apparently fragments of some decorative series, of which the other
+parts are missing. The one represents "Leda and the Swan," the other a
+mythological subject, where a woman is seated holding a child, and a
+man, also seated, holds flowers. The latter recalls one of the figures
+in the National Gallery "Epiphany." The charm of these fragments lies in
+the exquisite landscapes, which, in minuteness of finish and loving
+care, Giorgione has nowhere surpassed. The gallery at Padua is thus, in
+my opinion, the possessor of four genuine examples of Giorgione's skill
+as a decorator, for we have already mentioned the larger _cassone_
+pieces[114] (Nos. 416 and 417).
+
+Of greater importance is the "Unknown Subject," in the National Gallery
+(No. 1173), a picture which, like so many others, has recently been
+taken from Giorgione, its author, and vaguely put down to his "School."
+But it is time to protest against such needless depreciation!
+
+In spite of abrasion, in spite of the loss of glow, in spite of much
+that disfigures, nay disguises, the master's own touch, I feel confident
+that Giorgione and no other produced this beautiful picture.[115] Surely
+if this be only school work, we are vainly seeking a mythical master, an
+ideal who never could have existed. What more dainty figures, what more
+delicate hues, what more exquisite feeling could one look for than is
+here to be found? True, the landscape has been renovated, true, the
+Giorgionesque depth and richness is gone, the mellow glow of the
+"Epiphany," which hangs just below, is sadly wanting, but who can deny
+the charm of the picturesque scenery, which vividly recalls the
+landscape backgrounds elsewhere in the master's own work, who can fail
+to admire the natural and unstudied grouping of the figures, the
+artlessness of the whole, the loving simplicity with which the painter
+has done his work? All is spontaneous; the spirit is not that of a
+laborious imitator, painfully seeking "effects" from another's
+inspiration; sincerity and naivete are too apparent for this to be the
+work of any but a quite young artist, and one whose style is so
+thoroughly "Giorgionesque" as to be none other than the young Giorgione
+himself. In my opinion this is one of his earliest essays into the
+region of romance, painted probably before his twenty-first year,
+betraying, like the little legendary pictures in the Uffizi, a strong
+affinity with Carpaccio.[116]
+
+[Illustration: _Hanfstaengl photo. Na. nal Gallery, London_
+
+? THE GOLDEN AGE]
+
+As to the subject many conjectures have been made: Aristotle surrounded
+by emblems illustrating the objects with which his philosophy was
+concerned, an initiation into some mystic rite, the poet musing in
+sadness on the mysteries of life, the philosopher imparting wisdom to
+the young, etc. etc. I believe Giorgione is simply giving us a poetical
+rendering of "The Golden Age," where, like Plato's philosopher-king, the
+seer all-wise and all-powerful holds sway, before whom the arts and
+sciences do homage; in this earthly paradise even strange animals live
+in happy harmony, and all is peace. Such a theme would well have suited
+Giorgione's temperament, and Ridolfi actually tells us that this very
+subject was taken by Giorgione from the pages of Ovid, and adapted by
+him to his own ends.[117] But whether this represents "The Golden Age,"
+or some other allegory or classic story, the picture is completely
+characteristic of all that is most individual in Giorgione, and I
+earnestly hope the slur now cast upon its character by the misleading
+label will be speedily removed.[118] For the public believes more in the
+labels it reads, than the pictures it sees.
+
+Finally, in the "Venus disarming Cupid," of the Wallace collection, we
+have, in my opinion, the wreck of a once splendid Giorgione. In the
+recent re-arrangement of the Gallery, this picture, which used to hang
+in an upstairs room, and was practically unknown, has been hung
+prominently on the line, so that its beauties, and, alas! its defects,
+can be plainly seen. The outlines are often distorted and blurred, the
+Cupid has become monstrous, the delicacy of the whole effaced by
+ill-usage and neglect. Yet the splendour of colour, the cast of drapery,
+the flow of line, proclaims the great master himself. There is no room,
+moreover, for such a mythical compromise as that which is proposed by
+the catalogue, "It stands midway in style between Giorgione and Titian
+in his Giorgionesque phase." No better instance could be adduced of the
+fallacy of perfection implied in the minds of most critics at the
+mention of Giorgione's name; yet if we accept the Louvre "Concert," if
+we accept the Hermitage "Judith," why dispute Giorgione's claim on the
+ground of "weakness of construction"? This "Venus and Cupid" is vastly
+inferior in quality to the Dresden "Venus,"--let us frankly admit
+it,--but it is none the less characteristic of the artist, who must not
+be judged by the standard of his exceptional creations, but by that of
+his normal productions.[119]
+
+[Illustration: _Hanfstaengl photo. National Gallery, London_ VENUS AND
+ADONIS]
+
+Just such another instance of average merit is afforded by the "Venus
+and Adonis" of the National Gallery (No. 1123), from which, had not an
+artificial standard of excellence been falsely raised, Giorgione's name
+would never have been removed. I am happily not the first to call
+attention to the propriety of the old attribution, for Sir Edward
+Poynter claims that the same hand that produced the Louvre "Concert" is
+also responsible for the "Venus and Adonis."[120] I fully share this
+opinion. The figures, with their compactly built and rounded limbs, are
+such as Giorgione loved to model, the sweep of draperies and the
+splendid line indicate a consummate master, the idyllic landscape
+framing episodes from the life of Adonis is just such as we see in the
+Louvre picture and elsewhere, the glow and splendour of the whole reveal
+a master of tone and colouring. Some good judges would give the work to
+the young Titian, but it appears too intimately "Giorgionesque" to be
+his, although I admit the extreme difficulty in drawing the line of
+division. Passages in the "Sacred and Profane Love" of the Borghese
+Gallery are curiously recalled, but the National Gallery picture is
+clearly the work of a mature and experienced hand, and not of any young
+artist. In my opinion it dates from about 1508, and illustrates the
+later phase of Giorgione's art as admirably as do the "Epiphany" (No.
+1160) and the "Golden Age" (No. 1173) his earliest style. Between these
+extremes fall the "Portrait" (No. 636), and the "S. Liberale" (No. 269),
+the National Gallery thus affording unrivalled opportunity for studying
+the varying phases of the great Venetian master at different stages of
+his career.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We may now pass from the realm of "fancy" subjects to that of sacred
+art--that is, to the consideration of the "Madonnas," "Holy Families,"
+and "Santa Conversazione" pictures, other than those already described.
+The Beaumont "Adoration of the Shepherds," with its variant at Vienna,
+the National Gallery "Epiphany," the Madrid "Madonna with S. Anthony and
+S. Roch," and the Castelfranco altar-piece are the only instances so far
+of Giorgione's sacred art, yet Vasari tells us that the master "in his
+youth painted very many beautiful pictures of the Virgin."
+
+This statement is on the face of it likely enough, for although the
+young Castelfrancan early showed his independence of tradition and his
+preference for the more modern phases of Bellini's art, it is extremely
+probable he was also called upon to paint some smaller devotional
+pieces, such, for instance, as "The Christ bearing the Cross," lately in
+the Casa Loschi at Vicenza.[121] It is noteworthy, all the same, that
+scarcely any "Madonna" picture exists to which his name still attaches,
+and only one "Holy Family," so far as I am aware, is credibly reputed to
+be his work. This is Mr. Benson's little picture, in all respects a
+worthy companion to the Beaumont and National Gallery examples. There is
+even a purer ring about this lovely little "Holy Family," a child-like
+sincerity and a simplicity which is very touching, while for sheer
+beauty of colour it is more enjoyable than either of the others. It may
+not have the depth of tone and mastery of chiaroscuro which make the
+Beaumont "Adoration" so subtly attractive, but in tenderness of feeling
+and daintiness of treatment it is not surpassed by any other of
+Giorgione's works. In its obvious defects, too, it is as thoroughly
+characteristic; it is needless to repeat here what I said when
+discussing the Beaumont and Vienna "Adoration"; the reader who compares
+the reproductions will readily see the same features in both works. Mr.
+Benson's little picture has this additional interest, that more than
+either of its companion pieces it points forward to the Castelfranco
+"Madonna" in the bold sweep of the draperies, the play of light on
+horizontal surfaces, and the exquisite gaiety of its colour.
+
+
+[Illustration: _Hanfstaengl photo. Vienna Gallery_ THE "GIPSY" MADONNA]
+
+In claiming this picture for Giorgione I am claiming nothing new, for
+his name, in spite of modern critics, has here persistently survived.
+Not so with a group of three Madonnas, one of which has for at least two
+centuries borne Titian's name, another which passes also for a work of
+the same painter, whilst the third was claimed by Crowe and
+Cavalcaselle again for Titian, partly on the analogy of the
+first-mentioned one.[122] The first is the so-called "Gipsy Madonna" in
+the Vienna Gallery, the second is a "Madonna" in the Bergamo Gallery,
+and the third is a "Madonna" again in Mr. Benson's collection.
+
+I am happily not the first to identify the "Gipsy Madonna" as
+Giorgione's work, for it requires no little courage to tilt at what has
+been unquestioningly accepted as "the earliest known Madonna of Titian."
+I am indebted, therefore, to Signor Venturi for the lead,[123] although
+I have the satisfaction of feeling that independent study of my own had
+already brought me to the same conclusion.
+
+Of course, all modern writers have recognised the "Giorgionesque"
+elements in this supposed Titian. "In the depth, strength, and richness
+of the colour-chord, in the atmospheric spaciousness and charm of the
+landscape background, in the breadth of the draperies, it is already,"
+says Mr. Claude Phillips,[124] "Giorgionesque." Yet, he goes on, the
+Child is unlike Giorgione's type in the Castelfranco and Madrid
+pictures, and the Virgin has a less spiritualised nature than
+Giorgione's Madonnas in the same two pictures. On the other hand, Dr.
+Gronau, Titian's latest biographer, declares[125] that the thoughtful
+expression ("der tief empfundene Ausdruck") of the Madonna is
+essentially Giorgionesque. Morelli, with peculiar insight, protested
+against its being considered a very _early_ work of Titian, basing his
+protest on the advanced nature of the landscape, which, he says,[126]
+"must have been painted six or eight years later than the end of the
+fifteenth century." But even he fell into line with Crowe and
+Cavalcaselle in ascribing the picture to Titian, failing to see that all
+difficulties of chronology and discrepancies of judgment between himself
+and the older historians could be reconciled on the hypothesis of
+Giorgione's authorship. For Giorgione, as Morelli rightly saw, developed
+far more rapidly than Titian, so that a Titian landscape of, say, 1506-8
+(if any such exist!) would correspond with one by Giorgione of, say,
+1500. I agree with Crowe and Cavalcaselle and those writers who date
+back the "Gipsy Madonna" to the end of the fifteenth century, but I must
+emphatically support Signor Venturi in his claim that Giorgione is the
+author.
+
+Before, however, looking at internal evidence to prove this contention,
+we may note that another example of the same composition exists in the
+Gallery of Rovigo, identical save for a cartellino on which is inscribed
+TITIANVS. To Crowe and Cavalcaselle this was evidence to confirm
+Titian's claim to be the painter of what they considered the original
+work--viz. the Vienna picture, of which the Rovigo example was, in their
+opinion, a later copy. A careful examination, however, of the latter
+picture has convinced me that they were curiously right and curiously
+wrong. That the Rovigo work is posterior to the Vienna one is, I think,
+patent to anyone conversant with Venetian painting, but why should the
+one bear Titian's name on an apparently authentic cartellino, and not
+the other? The simple and straightforward explanation appears the
+best--viz. that the Rovigo picture is actually by Titian, who has taken
+the Vienna picture (which I attribute to Giorgione) as his model and
+directly repeated it. The qualities of the work are admirable, and
+worthy of Titian, and I venture to think this "Madonna" would long ago
+have taken its rightful place among the pictures of the master had it
+not hung in a remote provincial gallery little visited by travellers,
+and in such a dark corner as to escape detection. The form TITIANVS
+points to a period after 1520,[127] when Giorgione had been some years
+dead, so that it was not unnatural that in after times the credit of
+invention rested with the author of the signed picture, and that his
+name came gradually to be attached also to the earlier example. The
+engraving of Meyssen (_circa_ 1640) thus bears Titian's name, and both
+engraving and the repetition at Rovigo are now adduced as evidence of
+Titian's authorship of the Vienna "Gipsy Madonna."
+
+But is there any proof that Titian ever copied or repeated any other
+work of Giorgione? There is, fortunately, one great and acknowledged
+precedent, the "Venus" in the Tribune of the Uffizi, which is _directly_
+taken from Giorgione's Dresden "Venus," The accessories, it is true, are
+different, but the nude figures are line for line identical.[128] Other
+painters, Palma, Cariarli, and Titian, elsewhere, derived inspiration
+from Giorgione's prototype, but Titian actually repeats the very figure
+in this "Venus"; so that there is nothing improbable in my contention
+that Titian also repeated Giorgione's "Gipsy Madonna," adding his
+signature thereto, to the confusion and confounding of later
+generations.
+
+[Illustration: _Dixon photo. Collection of Mr. R.H. Benson, London_
+
+MADONNA AND CHILD]
+
+It is worthy of note that not a single "Madonna and Child" by Titian
+exists, except the little picture in Mr. Mond's collection, painted
+quite in the artist's old age. Titian invariably paints "Madonna and
+Saints," or a "Holy Family," so that the three Madonna pictures I am
+claiming for Giorgione are marked off by this peculiarity from the bulk
+of Titian's work. This in itself is not enough to disqualify Titian, but
+it is a factor in that cumulative proof by which I hope Giorgione's
+claim may be sustained. The marble parapet again is a feature in
+Giorgione's work, but not in Titian's. But the most convincing evidence
+to those who know the master lies in the composition, which forms an
+almost equilateral triangle, revealing Giorgione's supreme sense of
+beauty in line. The splendid curves made by the drapery, the pose of the
+Child, so as to obtain the same unbroken sweep of line, reveals the
+painter of the Dresden "Venus." The painting of the Child's hand over
+the Madonna's is precisely as in the Madrid picture, where, moreover,
+the pose of the Child is singularly alike. The folds of drapery on the
+sleeve recur in the same picture, the landscape with the small figure
+seated beneath the tree is such as can be found in any Giorgione
+background. The oval of the face and the delicacy of the features are
+thoroughly characteristic, as is the spirit of calm reverie and tender
+simplicity which Giorgione has breathed into his figures.
+
+The second and third Madonna pictures--viz. the one at Bergamo, and its
+counterpart in Mr. Benson's collection--appear to be somewhat later in
+date of execution, but reveal many points in common with the "Gipsy
+Madonna." The beauty of line is here equally conspicuous; the way the
+drapery is carried out beyond the elbow so as to form one long unbroken
+curve, the triangular composition, the marble parapet, are so many
+proofs of Giorgione's hand. Moreover, we find in Mr. Benson's picture
+the characteristic tree-trunks, so suggestive of solemn grandeur,[129]
+and the striped scarf,[130] so cunningly disposed to give more flowing
+line and break the stiffness of contour.
+
+The Bergamo picture closely resembles Mr. Benson's "Madonna," from
+which, indeed, it varies chiefly in the pose of the Child (whose left
+leg here sticks straight out), whilst the landscape is seen on the left
+side, and there are no tree-trunks. I cannot find that any writer has
+made allusion to this little gem, which hangs high up on the end wall of
+the Lochis section of the gallery (No. 232); I hope others will examine
+this new-found work at a less inconvenient height, as I have done, and
+that their opinion will coincide with mine that the same hand painted
+the Benson "Madonna," and that that hand is Giorgione's.
+
+Before quitting the subject of the "Madonna and Child," another example
+may be alluded to, about which it would be unwise to express any decided
+opinion founded only on a study of the photograph. This is a picture at
+St. Petersburg, to which Mr. Claude Phillips first directed
+attention,[131] stating his then belief that it might be a genuine
+Giorgione. After a recent visit to St. Petersburg, however, he has seen
+fit to register it as a probable copy after a lost original by the
+master, on the ground that "it is not fine enough in execution."[132]
+This, as I have often pointed out, is a dangerous test to apply in
+Giorgione's case, and so the authenticity of this "Madonna" may still be
+left an open question.
+
+Finally, in the category of Sacred Art come two well-known pictures,
+both in public galleries, and both accredited to Giorgione. The first is
+the "Christ and the Adulteress" of the Glasgow Gallery, the second the
+"Madonna and Saints" of the Louvre. Many diverse opinions are held about
+the Glasgow picture; some ascribe it to Cariani, others to Campagnola.
+It is asserted by some that the same hand painted the Kingston Lacy
+"Judgment of Solomon," but that it is not the hand of Giorgione, and
+finally--to come to the view which I believe is the correct one--Dr.
+Bode and Sir Walter Armstrong[133] both believe that Giorgione is the
+painter.
+
+[Illustration: _Hanfstaengl photo. Glasgow Gallery_ THE ADULTERESS
+BEFORE CHRIST]
+
+The whole difficulty, as it seems to me, arises from the deep-rooted
+misapprehension in the minds of most critics of the character of
+Giorgione's art. In their eyes, he is something so perfect as to be
+incapable of producing anything short of the ideal. He could never have
+drawn so badly, he never could have composed so awkwardly, he never
+could have been so inexpressive!--such is the usual criticism. I have
+elsewhere insisted upon the unevenness which invariably characterises
+the productions of men who are gifted with a strong artistic
+temperament, and in Giorgione's case, as I believe, this is particularly
+true. The Glasgow picture is but one instance of many where, if
+correctness of drawing, perfection of composition, and inevitableness of
+expression are taken as final tests, the verdict must go against the
+painter. He either failed in these cases to come up to the standard
+reached elsewhere, or he is not the painter. Modern negative criticism
+generally adopts the latter solution, with the result that not a score
+of pictures pass muster, and the virtues of these chosen few are so
+extolled as to make it all but impossible to see the reverse of the
+medal. But those who accept the "Judith" at St. Petersburg, the Louvre
+"Concert," the Beaumont "Adoration of the Shepherds" (to name only three
+examples where the drawing is strange), cannot consistently object to
+admit the Glasgow "Christ and the Adulteress" into the fold. Nay, if
+gorgeousness of colour, splendour of glow, mastery of chiaroscuro, and
+brilliancy of technique are qualities which go to make up great
+painting, then the Glasgow picture must take high rank, even in a school
+where such qualities found their grandest expression.
+
+[Illustration: _The Louvre, Paris_
+
+MADONNA AND SAINTS]
+
+Comparisons of detail may be noted, such as the resemblance in posture
+and type of the Accuser with the S. Roch of the Madrid picture, the
+figure of the Adulteress with that of the False Mother in the Kingston
+Lacy picture, the pointing forefingers, the typical landscape, the cast
+of the draperies, details which the reader can find often repeated
+elsewhere. But it is in the treatment of the subject that the most
+characteristic features are revealed. The artist was required--we know
+not why--to paint this dramatic scene; he had to produce a "set piece,"
+where action and graphic representation was urgently needed. How little
+to his taste! How uncongenial the task! The case is exactly paralleled
+by the "Judgment of Solomon," the only other dramatic episode Giorgione
+appears to have attempted, and the result in each case is the same--no
+real dramatic unity, but an accidental arrangement of the figures, with
+rhetorical action. The want of repose in the Christ offends, the
+stageyness of the whole repels. How different when Giorgione worked _con
+amore_! For it seems this composition gave him much trouble. Of this we
+have a most interesting proof in an almost contemporary Venetian version
+of the same subject, where the scheme has been recast. This picture
+belongs to Sir Charles Turner, in London, and, so far as
+intelligibleness of composition goes, may be said to be an improvement
+on the Glasgow version. It is highly probable that this painting derives
+from some alternative drawing for the original picture. That the Glasgow
+version acquired some celebrity we have further proof in an almost exact
+copy (with one more figure added on the right), which hangs in the
+Bergamo Gallery under Cariani's name, a painting which, in all respects,
+is utterly inferior to the original.[134]
+
+The "Christ and the Adulteress," then, becomes for us a revelation of
+the painter's nature, of his methods and aims; but, with all its
+technical excellences, shall we not also frankly recognise the
+limitations of his art?[135]
+
+The "Madonna and Saints" of the Louvre, which persistently bears
+Giorgione's name, in spite of modern negative criticism, is marked by a
+lurid splendour of colour and a certain rough grandeur of expression,
+well calculated to jar with any preconceived notion of Giorgionesque
+sobriety or reserve. Yet here, if anywhere, we get that _fuoco
+Giorgionesco_ of which Vasari speaks, that intensity of feeling,
+rendered with a vivacity and power to which the artist could only have
+attained in his latest days. In this splendid group there is a masculine
+energy, a fulness of life, and a grandeur of representation which
+carries _le grand style_ to its furthest limits, and if Giorgione
+actually completed the picture before his death, he anticipated the full
+splendour of the riper Renaissance. To him is certainly due the general
+composition, with its superb lines, its beautiful curves, its majestic
+and dignified postures, its charming sunset background, to him is
+certainly due the splendid chiaroscuro and magic colour-chord; but it
+becomes a question whether some of the detail was not actually finished
+by Giorgione's pupil, Sebastiano del Piombo.[136] The drawing, for
+instance, of the hands vividly suggests his help, the type of S. Joseph
+in the background reminds us of the figure of S. Chrysostom in
+Sebastiano's Venice altar-piece, while the S. Catherine recalls the
+Angel in Sebastiano's "Holy Family" at Naples. If this be the case, we
+here have another instance of the pupil finishing his master's work, and
+this time probably after his death, for, as already pointed out, the
+"Evander and Aeneas" (at Vienna) must have been left by Giorgione
+well-nigh complete at an earlier stage than the year of his death.
+
+That Sebastiano stood in close relation to his master, Giorgione, is
+evidenced not only by Vasari's statement, but by the obvious dependence
+of the S. Giovanni Crisostomo altar-piece at Venice on Giorgionesque
+models. Moreover, the "Violin Player," formerly in the Sciarra Palace,
+at once reminds us of the "Barberigo" portrait at Cobham, while the
+"Herodias with the Head of John Baptist," dated 1510, now in the
+collection of Mr. George Salting, shows conclusively how closely related
+were the two painters in the last year of Giorgione's life. Sebastiano
+was twenty-five years of age in 1510, and appears to have worked under
+Giorgione for some time before removing to Rome, which he did on, or
+shortly before, his master's death. His departure left Titian, his
+associate under Giorgione, master of the field; he, too, had a hand in
+finishing some of the work left incomplete in the atelier, and his
+privilege it became to continue the Giorgionesque tradition, and to
+realise in utmost perfection in after years the aspirations and ideals
+so brilliantly anticipated by the young genius of Castelfranco.[137]
+
+NOTES:
+
+[113] The Doges Agostino Barberigo, and Leonardo Loredano, Consalvo of
+Cordova, Giovanni Borgherini and his tutor, Luigi Crasso, and others,
+are mentioned as having sat to Giorgione for their portraits. Modern
+criticism has recently distributed several "Giorgionesque" portraits in
+English collections among Licinio, Lotto, and even Polidoro! But this
+disintegrating process may be, and has been, carried too far.
+
+[114] Two more small works may be mentioned which may tentatively be
+ascribed to Giorgione. "The Two Musicians," in the Glasgow Gallery
+(recently transferred to Campagnola), and a "Sta. Justina" (known to me
+only from a photograph), which has passed lately into the collection of
+Herr von Kauffmann at Berlin.
+
+Signor Venturi (_L'Arte_, 1900) has just acquired for the National
+Gallery in Rome a "St. George slaying the Dragon." Judging only from the
+photograph, I should say he is correct in his identification of this as
+Giorgione's work. It seems to be akin to the "Apollo and Daphne," and
+"Orpheus and Eurydice."
+
+[115] I am pleased to find Signor Venturi has anticipated my own
+conclusion in his recently published _La Galleria Crespi_.
+
+[116] Mr. Cosmo Monkhouse (_In the National Gallery_, p. 223) has
+already rightly recognised the same hand in this picture and in the
+"Epiphany" hanging just below.
+
+[117] Meravig, i. 124.
+
+[118] By a happy accident the new "Giorgione" label, intended for the
+"Epiphany," No. 1160, was for some time affixed to No. 1173.
+
+[119] When in the Orleans Gallery the picture was engraved under
+Giorgione's name by de Longueil and Halbon.
+
+[120] New illustrated edition of the National Gallery Catalogue, 1900.
+
+[121] Now in America, in Mrs. Gardner's Collection.
+
+[122] Crowe and Cavalcaselle: _Titian_, i. p. III. This picture was then
+at Burleigh House.
+
+[123] See _La Galleria Crespi_, 1900.
+
+[124] _The Earlier Work of Titian_ p. 24. _Portfolio_, October 1897.
+
+[125] _Tizian_, p. 16.
+
+[126] Morelli, ii. 57, note.
+
+[127] See _antea_, p. 71.
+
+[128] With the exception of the right arm, which Titian has let fall,
+instead placing it behind the head of the sleeping goddess. The effect
+of the beautiful curve is thereby lost, and Titian shows himself
+Giorgione's inferior in quality of line.
+
+[129] As in the "Aeneas and Evander" (Vienna), the "Judith" (St.
+Petersburg), the Madrid "Madonna and Saints," etc.
+
+[130] As in the "Caterina Cornare" of the Crespi collection at Milan.
+
+[131] _Magazine of Art_. July 1895.
+
+[132] _North American Review_. October 1899.
+
+[133] _Magazine of Art_, 1890, pp. 91 and 138.
+
+[134] The small divergencies of detail in the dress of the "Adulteress,"
+etc., are just such as an imitator might have ventured to make. The hand
+and arm of the Christ have, however, been altered for the better.
+
+[135] This is the first time in Venetian art that the subject appears.
+It is frequently found later.
+
+[136] Cariani is by some made responsible for the whole picture. A
+comparison with an authentic example hanging (in the new arrangement of
+the Long Gallery), close by, ought surely to convince the advocates of
+Cariani of their mistake.
+
+[137] Morto da Feltre is mentioned by Vasari as having assisted
+Giorgione in the decoration of the Fondaco de' Tedeschi. This was in
+1508. Otherwise, we know of no pupils or assistants employed by the
+master, a fact which goes to show that his influence was felt, not so
+much through any personal teaching, as through his work.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+GIORGIONE'S ART, AND PLACE IN HISTORY
+
+
+The examination in detail of all those pictures best entitled, on
+internal evidence, to rank as genuine productions of Giorgione has
+incidentally revealed to us much that is characteristic of the man
+himself. We started with the axiom that a man's work is his best
+autobiography, and where, as in Giorgione's case, so little historical
+or documentary record exists, such indications of character as may be
+gleaned from a study of his life's work become of the utmost value. _Le
+style c'est l'homme_ is a saying eminently applicable in cases where, as
+with Giorgione, the personal element is strongly marked. The subject, as
+we have seen over and over again, is so highly charged with the artist's
+mood, with his individual feelings and emotions, that it becomes
+unrecognisable as mere illustration, and the work passes by virtue of
+sheer inspiration into the higher realms of creative art. Such fusion of
+personality and subject is the characteristic of lyrical art, and in
+this domain Giorgione is a supreme master. His genius, as Morelli
+rightly pointed out, is essentially lyrical in contradistinction to
+Titian's, which is essentially dramatic. Take the epithets that we have
+constantly applied to his pictures in the course of our survey, and see
+how they bear out this statement--epithets such as romantic, fantastic,
+picturesque, gay, or again, delicate, refined, sensitive, serene, and
+the like; these bear witness to qualities of mind where the keynote is
+invariably exquisite feeling. Giorgione was, in fact, what is commonly
+called a poet-painter, gifted with the artistic temperament to an
+extraordinary degree, essentially impulsive, a man of moods. It is
+inevitable that such a man produces work of varying merit; inequality
+must be a characteristic feature of his art. In less fortunate
+circumstances than those in which Giorgione was placed, such
+temperaments as his become peevish, morose, morbid; but his lines were
+cast in pleasant places, and his moods were healthy, joyous, and serene.
+He does not concern himself with the tragedy of life, with its pathos or
+its disappointments. In his two renderings of "Christ bearing the
+Cross"[138]--the only instances we have of his portrayal of the Man of
+Sorrows--he appeals more to our sense of the dignity of humanity, and to
+the nobility of the Christ, than to our tenderer sympathies. How
+different from the pathetic Pietas of his master, Giambellini! This
+shrinking from pain and sorrow, this dislike to the representation of
+suffering is, however, as much due to the natural gaiety and elasticity
+of youth as to the happy accident of his surroundings. We must never
+forget that Giorgione's whole achievement was over at an age when some
+men's life-work has hardly begun. The eighteen years of his activity
+were what we sometimes call the years of promise, and he must not be
+judged as we judge a Titian or a Michel Angelo. He is the wonderful
+youth, full of joyous aspirations, gilding all he touches with the
+radiance of his spirit. His pictures, suffused with a golden glow, are
+the reflection of his sunny life; the vividness and intensity of his
+passion are expressed in the gorgeousness of his colours.
+
+I have elsewhere dwelt upon the precocity of Giorgione's talent, with
+its accompanying qualities of versatility, inequality, and
+productiveness, and I have pointed out the analogous phenomena in music
+and poetry. Giorgione, Schubert, and Keats are alike in temperament and
+quality of expression. They are curiously alike in the shortness of
+their lives,[139] and the fever-heat of their production. But they are
+strangely distinct in the manner of their lives. The disparity of
+outward circumstances accounts for the healthy tone of Giorgione's art,
+when contrasted with the morbid utterances of Keats. Schubert suffered
+privations and poverty, and his song was wrung from him alike at moments
+of inspiration and of necessity. But Giorgione is all aglow with natural
+energy; he suffered no restraints, nor is his art forced or morbid.
+Confine his spirit, check the play of his fancy, set him a task
+prescribed by convention or hampered by conditions, and you get proof of
+the fretfulness, the impatience of restraint which the artist felt. The
+"Judgment of Solomon" and "The Adulteress before Christ," the only two
+"set" pieces he ever attempted, eloquently show how he fell short when
+struggling athwart his genius. For to register a fact was utterly
+foreign to his nature; he records an impression, frankly surrendering
+his spirit to the sense of joy and beauty. He is not seldom incoherent,
+and may even grow careless, but in power of imagination and exuberance
+of fancy he is always supreme.
+
+In one respect, however, Giorgione shows himself a greater than Schubert
+or Keats. He has a profounder insight into human nature in its varying
+aspects than either the musician or the poet. He is less a visionary,
+because his experience of men and things is greater than theirs; his
+outlook is wider, he is less self-centred. This power of grasping
+objective truth naturally shows itself most readily in the portraits he
+painted, and it was due to the force of circumstances, as I believe,
+that this faculty was trained and developed. Had Giorgione lived aloof
+from the world, had not his natural reticence and sensitiveness been
+dominated by outside influences, he might have remained all his life
+dreaming dreams, and seeing visions, a lyric poet indeed, but not a
+great and living, influence in his generation. Yet such undoubtedly he
+was, for he effected nothing short of a revolution in the contemporary
+art of Venice. Can the same be said of Schubert or Keats? The truth is
+that Giorgione had opportunities of studying human nature such as the
+others never enjoyed; fortune smiled upon him in his earliest years, and
+he found himself thrust into the society of the great, who were eager to
+sit to him for their portraits. How the young Castelfrancan first
+achieved such distinction is not told us by the historians, but I have
+ventured to connect his start in life with the presence of the ex-Queen
+of Cyprus, Caterina Cornaro, at Asolo, near Castelfranco; I think it
+more than probable that her patronage and recommendation launched the
+young painter on his successful career in Venice. Certain it is that he
+painted her portrait in his earlier days, and if, as I have sought to
+prove, Signor Crespi's picture is the long-lost portrait of the great
+lady, we may well understand the instant success such an achievement
+won.
+
+Here, if anywhere, we get Giorgione's great interpretative qualities,
+his penetration into human nature, his reading of character. It is an
+astonishing thing for one so young to have done, explicable
+psychologically on the existence of a lively sympathy between the great
+lady and the poet-painter. Had we other portraits of the fair sex by
+Giorgione, I venture to think we should find in them his reading of the
+human soul even more plainly evidenced than in the male portraits we
+actually possess.[140] For it is clear that the artist was
+"impressionable," and he would have given us more sympathetic
+interpretations of the fair sex than those which Titian has left us. The
+so-called "Portrait of the Physician Parma" (at Vienna) is another
+instance of Giorgione's grasp of character, the virility and suppressed
+energy being admirably seized, the conception approaching more nearly to
+Titian's in its essential dignity than is usually the case with
+Giorgione's portraits. It is a matter of more regret, therefore, that
+the likenesses of the Doges Agostino Barberigo and Leonardo Loredano are
+missing, for in them we might have had specimens of work comparable to
+the Caterina Cornaro, which, in my opinion at all events, is Giorgione's
+masterpiece of portraiture.
+
+I have given reasons elsewhere for dating this portrait at latest 1500.
+It is probably anterior by a few years to the close of the century. This
+deduction, if correct, has far-reaching consequences: it becomes
+actually the first _modern_ portrait ever painted, for it is the
+earliest instance of a portrait instinct with the newer life of the
+Renaissance. And this brings us to the question: What was Giorgione's
+relation to that great awakening of the human spirit which we call the
+Renaissance? Mr. Berenson answers the question thus: "His pictures are
+the perfect reflex of the Renaissance at its height."[141] If this be
+taken to mean that Giorgione _anticipated_ the aspirations and ideals of
+the riper Renaissance, I think we may acquiesce in the phrase; but that
+the onward movement of this great revival coincided only with the
+artist's years, and culminated at his death, is not historically
+correct. The wave had not reached its highest point by the year 1510,
+and Titian was yet to rise to a fuller and grander expression of the
+human soul. But Giorgione may rightly be called the Herald of the
+Renaissance, not only by virtue of the position he holds in Venetian
+painting, but by priority of appearance on the wider horizon of Italian
+Art.
+
+Let us take the four great representative exponents of Italian Art at
+its best, Raphael, Correggio, Leonardo, and Michel Angelo.
+Chronologically, Giorgione precedes Raphael and Correggio, though
+Leonardo and Michel Angelo were born before him.[142] But had either of
+the latter proclaimed a new order of things as early as 1495? Michel
+Angelo was just twenty years old, and he had not yet carved his "Pieta"
+for S. Peter's. Leonardo, a man of forty-three, had not completed his
+"Cenacolo," and the "Mona Lisa" would not be created for another five or
+six years. Giorgione's "Caterina Cornaro," therefore, becomes the first
+masterpiece of the earlier Renaissance, and proclaims a revolution in
+the history of portraiture. In Venice itself we have only to look at the
+contemporary portraits by Alvise Vivarini and Gentile Bellini, and at
+the slightly earlier busts by Antonello da Messina, to see what a world
+of difference in feeling and interpretation there is between them and
+Giorgione's portraits. What a splendid array of artistic triumphs must
+have sprung up around this masterpiece! The Cobham portrait and the
+National Gallery "Poet" are alone left us in much of their pristine
+splendour, but what of the lost portraits of the great Consalvo and of
+the Doge Agostino Barberigo, both of which must date from the year 1500?
+
+Giorgione is then the Herald of the Renaissance, and never did genius
+arise in more fitting season. It was the right psychological moment for
+such a man, and Giorgione "painted pictures so perfectly in touch with
+the ripened spirit of the Renaissance that they met with the success
+which those things only find that at the same moment wake us to the
+full sense of a need and satisfy it."[143] This is the secret of his
+overwhelming influence on succeeding painters in Venice,--not, indeed,
+on his direct pupil Sebastiano del Piombo, and on his friend and
+associate Titian (who may fairly be called his pupil), but on such
+different natures as Lotto, Palma, Bonifazio, Bordone, Pordenone,
+Cariani, Romanino, Dosso Dossi, and a host of smaller men. The School of
+Giorgione numbers far more adherents than even the School of Leonardo,
+or the School of Raphael, not because of any direct teaching of the
+master, but because the "Giorgionesque" spirit was abroad, and the taste
+of the day required paintings like Giorgione's to satisfy it. But as no
+revolution can be effected without a struggle, and as there are
+invariably people opposed to any reform, whether in art or in anything
+else, we need not be surprised to find the academic faction, represented
+by the aged Giambellini and his pupils, resisting the progress of the
+Newer Art. In Giorgione's own lifetime, the exact measure of the
+opposition is not easy to gauge, but it bore fruit a few years later in
+the machinations of the official Bellinesque party to keep Titian out of
+the Ducal Palace when he was seeking State recognition,[144]
+Nevertheless, Giambellini, even at his age, found it advisable to
+modulate into the newer key, as may be seen in his "S. Giovanni
+Crisostomo enthroned," where not only is the conception lyrical and the
+treatment romantic, but the actual composition is on the lines of the
+essentially Giorgionesque equilateral triangle. This great altar-piece
+was painted three years after Giorgione's death, and no more splendid
+testimonial to the young painter's genius could be found than in the
+forced homage thus paid to his memory by the octogenarian
+Giambellini.[145]
+
+We have already, in the course of our survey of Giorgione's pictures,
+noted the points wherein he was an initiator. "Genre subjects," and
+"Landscape with figures," as we should say nowadays, found in him their
+earliest exponent. Before him artists had, indeed, painted figures with
+a landscape background, but the perfect blend of Nature and human nature
+was his achievement. This was accomplished by artistic means of the
+simplest, yet irresistibly subtle in their appeal. The quality of line
+and the sensuousness of colour nowhere cast their spells over us more
+strangely than in Giorgione's pictures, and by these means he wrought
+"effects" such as no artist has surpassed. In these purely pictorial
+qualities he is supreme, and claims place with the few quintessential
+artists of the world; to him may be applied by analogy the phrase that
+Liszt applied to Schubert, "Le musicien le plus poete que jamais."
+
+As an instrument of expression, then, colour is used by Giorgione more
+naturally and effectively than it is by any of the Venetian painters. It
+appeals directly to our senses, like rare old stained glass, and seems
+to be of the very essence of the object itself. An engraving or
+photograph after such a picture as the Louvre "Pastoral Symphony" fails
+utterly to convey the sense of exhilaration one feels in presence of
+the actual painting, simply because the tonic effect of the colour is
+wholly wanting. The golden shimmer of light, the vibration of the air,
+the saturation of atmosphere with pure colour are not only ingredients
+in, but are of the very essence of the creation. It has been well said
+that almost literally the chief colour on Giorgione's palette was
+sunlight.[146] His masterly treatment of light and shadow, in which he
+was scarcely Leonardo's inferior, enabled him to make use of rich and
+full-bodied colours, which are never gaudy, as sometimes with Bonifazio,
+or pretty, as with Catena and lesser artists. Nor is he decorative in
+the way that Veronese excels, or lurid like Tintoretto. Compared with
+Titian it is as though his colour-chord sounded in seven sharps, whilst
+the former strikes the key of C natural. A full rich green frequently
+occurs, as in the Castelfranco "Madonna" and the Louvre picture, and a
+deep crimson, contrasting with pure white drapery, or with golden
+flesh-tints, is also characteristic. In the painting of the nude he
+gives us real flesh and blood; his "Venus" has not the supernatural
+radiance that Correggio can give his ethereal beings (Giorgione, by the
+way, never painted an angel, so far as we know), but she glows with
+actual life, the blood is pulsing through the veins, she is very real.
+And in this connection we may notice the extraordinary skill with which
+Giorgione conveys a sense of texture; his painting of rich brocades, and
+more especially quilted stuffs and satiny folds, cannot be surpassed
+even by a Terburg.
+
+The quality of line in his work makes itself felt in many ways. Beauty
+of contour and unbroken continuity of curve is obtained sometimes by
+sacrificing literal accuracy; a structurally impossible position--as the
+seated nude figure in the Louvre picture--is deliberately adopted to
+heighten the effect of line or the balance of composition. The Dresden
+"Venus," if she arose, would appear of strange proportions; but
+expressiveness is enhanced by the long flowing contours of the body, so
+suggestive of repose. We may notice also the emphasis obtained by
+parallelism; for example, the line of the left arm of the "Venus"
+follows the curve of the body, a trick which may be often seen in folds
+of drapery. This picture also illustrates a device to retain continuity
+of line; the right foot is hidden away so as not to interfere with the
+contour. Exactly the same thing may be seen in the standing figure in
+the Louvre "Pastoral Symphony." The trick of making a grand sweep from
+the top of the head downwards is usually found in the Madonna pictures,
+where a cunningly placed veil carries the line usually to the sloping
+shoulders, or else outwards to the point of the elbow, thus introducing
+the triangular scheme to which Giorgione was particularly partial.
+
+But the question remains, What is Giorgione's position among the world's
+great men? Is he intellectually to be ranked with the Great Thinkers of
+all time? Can he aspire to the position which Titian occupies? I fear
+not Beethoven is infinitely greater than Schubert, Shakespeare than
+Keats, and so, though in lesser degree, is Titian than Giorgione. I say
+in lesser degree, because the young poet-painter had something of that
+profound insight into human nature, something of that wide outlook on
+life, something of that universal sympathy, and something of that vast
+influence which distinguishes the greatest intellects of all, and this
+it is which lessens the distance between him and Titian. Yet Titian is
+the greater man, for he is "the highest and completest expression of his
+own age."[147]
+
+Nevertheless, in that narrower sphere of the great painters, who
+proclaimed the glad tidings of Liberty when the Spirit of Man awoke from
+Mediaevalism, may we not add yet a fifth voice to the four-part harmony
+of Raphael, Correggio, Leonardo, and Michel Angelo, the voice of
+Giorgione, the wondrous youth, "the George of Georges," who heralded the
+Renaissance of which we are the heirs?
+
+NOTES:
+
+[138] In the Church of San Rocco, Venice, and in Mrs. Gardner's
+Collection in America.
+
+[139] Keats died at the age of twenty-five; Schubert was thirty-one;
+Giorgione thirty-three.
+
+[140] The ruined condition of the Borghese "Lady" prevents any just
+appreciation of the interpretative qualities.
+
+[141] _Venetian Painters_, p. 30.
+
+[142] Leonardo, 1452-1519; Michel Angelo, 1475-1564; Giorgione,
+1477-1510; Raphael, 1483-1520; Correggio, 1494-1534. Correggio, Raphael,
+and Giorgione died at the ages of forty, thirty-seven, and thirty-three
+years respectively. Those whom the gods love die young!
+
+[143] Berenson: _Venetian Painters_, p. 29. I should prefer to
+substitute "ripening" for "ripened."
+
+[144] Fry: _Giovanni Bellini_, p. 44.
+
+[145] In S. Giovanni Crisostomo, Venice. It dates from 1513.
+
+[146] Mary Logan: _Guide to the Italian Pictures at Hampton Court_, p.
+13.
+
+[147] Berenson: _Venetian Painters_, p. 48.
+
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX I
+
+
+DOCUMENTS
+
+The following correspondence between Isabella d'Este, Marchioness of
+Mantua, and her agent Albano in Venice, is reprinted from the _Archivio
+Storico dell' Arte_, 1888, p. 47 (article by Sig. Alessandro Luzio):--
+
+     "Sp. Amice noster charissime; Intendemo che in le cose et heredita
+     de Zorzo da Castelfrancho pictore se ritrova una pictura de una
+     nocte, molto bella et singulare; quando cossi fusse,
+     desideraressimo haverla, pero vi pregamo che voliati essere cum
+     Lorenzo da Pavia et qualche altro che habbi judicio et designo, et
+     vedere se l'e cosa excellente, et trovando de si operiati il megio
+     del m'co m. Carlo Valerio, nostro compatre charissimo, et de chi
+     altro vi parera per apostar questa pictura per noi, intendendo il
+     precio et dandone aviso. Et quando vi paresse de concludere il
+     mercato, essendo cosa bona, per dubio non fusse levata da altri,
+     fati quel che ve parera: che ne rendemo certe fareti cum ogni
+     avantagio e fede et cum bona consulta. Ofteremone a vostri piaceri
+     ecc.
+
+     "Mantua xxv. oct MDX."
+
+The agent replies a few days later--
+
+     "Ill'ma et Exc'ma M'a mia obser'ma
+
+     "Ho inteso quanto mi scrive la Ex. V. per una sua de xxv. del
+     passatto, facendome intender haver inteso ritrovarsi in le cosse et
+     eredita del q. Zorzo de Castelfrancho una pictura de una notte,
+     molto bella et singulare; che essendo cossi si deba veder de
+     haverla.
+
+     "A che rispondo a V. Ex. che ditto Zorzo mori piu di fanno da
+     peste, et per voler servir quella ho parlato cum alcuni mei amizi,
+     che havevano grandissime praticha cum lui, quali me affirmano non
+     esser in ditta heredita tal pictura. Ben e vero che ditto Zorzo ne
+     feze una a m. Thadeo Contarini, qual per la informatione ho autta
+     non e molto perfecta sichondo vorebe quela. Un'altra pictura de la
+     nocte feze ditto Zorzo a uno Victorio Becharo, qual per quanto
+     intendo e de meglior desegnio et meglio finitta che non e quella
+     del Contarini. Ma esso Becharo, al presente non si atrova in questa
+     terra, et sichondo m'e stato afirmatto ne l'una ne l'altra non sono
+     da vendere per pretio nesuno; pero che li hanno fatte fare per
+     volerle godere per loro; siche mi doglio non poter satisfar al
+     dexiderio de quella ecc.
+
+     "Venetijs viii Novembris 1510.
+
+     "Servitor
+
+     "THADEUS ALBANUS."
+
+From this letter we learn definitely (1) that Giorgione died in
+October-November 1510; (2) that he died of the plague.
+
+I have pointed out in the text that the above description of the two
+pictures "de una notte" corresponds with the actual Beaumont and Vienna
+"Nativities," or "Adoration of the Shepherds," in which I recognise the
+hand of Giorgione.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The following is the only existing document in Giorgione's own
+handwriting. It was published by Molmenti in the _Bollettino delle
+Arti_, anno ii. No. 2, and reprinted by Conti, p. 50:--
+
+     "El se dichiara per el presente come el clarissimo Messer Aluixe di
+     Sesti die a fare a mi Zorzon de Castelfrancho quatro quadri in
+     quadrato con le geste di Daniele in bona pictura su telle, et li
+     telleri sarano soministrati per dito m. Aluixe, il quale doveva
+     stabilir la spexa di detti quadri quando serano compidi et di sua
+     satisfatione entro il presente anno 1508.
+
+     "Io Zorzon de Castelfrancho di mia man scrissi la presente in
+     Venetia li 13 febrar 1508."
+
+Whether or no Giorgione ever completed these four square canvases with
+the story of Daniel is unknown. There is no trace of any such pictures
+in modern times.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX II
+
+DID TITIAN LIVE TO BE NINETY-NINE YEARS OLD?
+
+_Reprinted from the "Nineteenth Century" Jan_. 1902
+
+
+There is something fascinating in the popular belief that Titian, the
+greatest of all Venetian painters, reached the patriarchal age of
+ninety-nine years, and was actively at work up to the day of his death.
+The text-books love to tell us the story of the great unfinished "Pieta"
+with its pathetic inscription:
+
+    Quod Titianus inchoatum reliquit
+    Palma reverenter absolvit
+    Deoq. dicavit opus;
+
+and traveller, guide-book in hand, and moralist, philosophy in head,
+alike muse upon a phenomenon so startlingly at variance with common
+experience.[148]
+
+But, sentiment aside, is there any historical evidence that Titian ever
+worked at his art in his hundredth year? that he even attained such a
+venerable age? The answer is of wider consequence than the mere question
+implies, for on the correct determination of Titian's own chronology
+depends the history of the development of the entire Venetian school of
+painting in the early years of the sixteenth century. I say _early_,
+because it is the date of Titian's birth, and not that of his death,
+which I shall endeavour to fix; the latter event is known beyond
+possibility of doubt to have occurred in August 1576. The question,
+therefore, to consider is, what justification, if any, is there for the
+universal belief that Titian was born in 1476-7, just a hundred years
+previously?
+
+Anyone, I think, who has ever looked into the history of Titian's career
+must have been struck by the fact that for the first thirty-five years
+of his life (according to the usual chronology) there is absolutely no
+documentary record relating to him, whether in the Venetian archives or
+elsewhere. Not a single letter, not a single contract, not a single
+mention of his name occurs from which we can so much as affirm his
+existence before the year 1511.
+
+On the 2nd of December in that year "Io tician di Cador Dpntore" gives a
+receipt for money paid him on completion of some frescoes at Padua, and
+from this date on there are frequent letters and documents in existence
+right down to 1576, the year of his death. Is it not somewhat strange
+that the first thirty-five years of his life (as is commonly believed)
+should be a total blank so far as records go? The fact becomes the more
+inexplicable when we find that during these early years some of his
+finest work is alleged to have been executed, and he must--if we accept
+the chronology of his biographers--have been well known to and highly
+esteemed by his contemporaries.[149] Moreover, it is not for want of
+diligent search amongst the archives that nothing has been found, for
+Italian and German students have alike sought, but in vain, to discover
+any documentary evidence relating to his career before 1511.
+
+The absence of any such trustworthy record has had its natural result.
+Conjecture has run riot, and no two writers are agreed on the subject of
+the nature and development of Titian's earlier art. This is the second
+disquieting fact which any careful student has to face. Messrs. Crowe
+and Cavalcaselle, Titian's most exhaustive biographers,[150] have filled
+up the first thirty-five years of his career in their own way, but their
+chronology has found no favour with later writers, such as Mr. Claude
+Phillips in England[151] or Dr. Georg Gronau in Germany,[152] both of
+whom have arrived at independent conclusions. Morelli again had his
+theories on the subject, and M. Lafenestre[153] has his, and the
+ordinary gallery catalogue is usually content to state inaccurate facts
+without further ado.
+
+Now, if all these conscientious writers arrive at results so widely
+divergent, either their logic or their data must be wrong! One and all
+assume that Titian lived into his hundredth year, and, therefore, was
+born in 1476-7; and starting with this theory as a fact, they have tried
+to fit in Vasari's account as best they can, and each has found a
+different solution of the problem. There is only one way out of this
+chaos of conjectures--we must see what is the evidence for the
+"centenarian" tradition, and if it can be shown that Titian was really
+born later than 1476-7, then the silence of all records about him during
+an alleged period of thirty-five years will become at once more
+intelligible, and we may be able to explain some of the other anomalies
+which at present confront Titian's biographers.
+
+I propose to take the evidence in strictly chronological order.
+
+The oldest contemporary account of Titian's career is furnished by
+Lodovico Dolce in his _L'Aretino, o dialogo della pittura_, which was
+published at Venice in 1557. Dolce knew Titian personally, and wrote his
+treatise just at the time when the painter was at the zenith of his
+fame. He is our sole authority for certain incidents of Titian's early
+career: it will be well, therefore, to quote in full the opening
+paragraphs of his narrative:
+
+"Being born at Cadore of honourable parents, he was sent when a child of
+nine years old by his father to Venice to the house of his father's
+brother ... in order that he might be put under some proper master to
+study painting; his father having perceived in him even at that tender
+age strong marks of genius towards the art.... His uncle directly
+carried the child to the house of Sebastiano, father of the
+_gentilissimo_ Valerio and of Francesco Zuccati (distinguished masters
+of the art of mosaic, by them brought to that perfection in which we now
+see the best pictures) to learn the principles of the art. From them he
+was removed to Gentile Bellini, brother of Giovanni, but much inferior
+to him, who at that time was at work with his brother in the Grand
+Council-Chamber. But Titian, impelled by Nature to greater excellence
+and perfection in his art, could not endure following the dry and
+laboured manner of Gentile, but designed with boldness and expedition.
+Whereupon Gentile told him he would make no progress in painting,
+because he diverged so much from the old style. Thereupon Titian left
+the stupid _(goffo)_ Gentile, and found means to attach himself to
+Giovanni Bellini; but not perfectly pleased with his manner, he chose
+Giorgio da Castel Franco. Titian then drawing and painting with
+Giorgione, as he was called, became in a short time so accomplished in
+art, that when Giorgione was painting the facade of the Fondaco de'
+Tedeschi, or Exchange of the German Merchants, which looks towards the
+Grand Canal, Titian was allotted the other side which faces the
+market-place, being at the time scarcely twenty years old. Here he
+represented a Judith of wonderful design and colour, so remarkable,
+indeed, that when the work came to be uncovered, it was commonly thought
+to be the work of Giorgione, and all the latter's friends congratulated
+him as being by far the best thing he had produced. Whereupon Giorgione,
+in great displeasure, replied that the work was from the hand of his
+pupil, who showed already how he could surpass his master, and, what was
+more, Giorgione shut himself up for some days at home, as if in despair,
+seeing that a young man knew more that he did."
+
+Fortunately, the exact date can be fixed when the frescoes on the
+Fondaco de' Tedeschi were painted, for we have original records
+preserved from which we learn the work was begun in 1507 and completed
+towards the close of 1508.[154] If Titian, then, was "scarcely twenty
+years old" in 1507-8, he must have been born in 1488-9. Dolce
+particularly emphasises his youthfulness at the time, calling him _un
+giovanetto_, a phrase he twice applies to him in the next paragraph,
+when he is describing the famous altar-piece of the 'Assunta,' the
+commission for which, as we know from other sources, was given in 1516.
+
+"Not long afterwards he was commissioned to paint a large picture for
+the High Altar of the Church of the Frati Minori, where Titian, quite a
+young man _(pur giovanetto)_, painted in oil the Virgin ascending to
+Heaven.... This was the first public work which he painted in oil, and
+he did it in a very short time, and while still a young man _(e
+giovanetto)_."
+
+This phrase could hardly be applied to a man over thirty, so that
+Titian's birth cannot reasonably be dated before 1486 or so, and is much
+more likely to fall later. The previous deduction that it was 1488-9 is
+thus further strengthened.
+
+The evidence, then, of Dolce, writing in 1557, is clear and consistent:
+Titian was born in 1488-9. Now let us see what is stated by Vasari, who
+is the next oldest authority.
+
+The first edition of the _Lives_ appeared in 1550--that is, just prior
+to Dolce's _Dialogue_--but a revised and enlarged edition appeared in
+1568, in which important evidence occurs as to Titian's age. After
+enumerating certain pictures by the great Venetian, Vasari adds:
+
+"(_a_) All these works, with many others which I omit, to avoid
+prolixity, have been executed up to the present age of our artist, which
+is above seventy-six years.... In the year 1566, when Vasari, the writer
+of the present history, was at Venice, he went to visit Titian, as one
+who was his friend, and found him, although then very old, still with
+the pencil in his hand, and painting busily."[155]
+
+According to Vasari, then, Titian was "above seventy-six years" when the
+second edition of the _Lives_ was written, and as from the explicit
+nature of the evidence this must have been between 1566, when he visited
+Venice, and January 1568, when his book was published, it follows that
+Titian was "above seventy-six years" in 1566-7--in other words, that he
+was born 1489-90.
+
+Still confining ourselves to Vasari, we find two other passages bearing
+on the question:
+
+"(_b_) Titian was born in the year 1480 at Cadore.[156]
+
+"(_c_) About the year 1507 Giorgione da Castel Franco began to give to
+his works unwonted softness and relief, painting them in a very
+beautiful manner.... Having seen the manner of Giorgione, Titian early
+resolved to abandon that of Gian Bellino, although well grounded
+therein. He now, therefore, devoted himself to this purpose, and in a
+short time so closely imitated Giorgione that his pictures were
+sometimes taken for those of that master.... At the time when Titian
+began to adopt the manner of Giorgione, being then not more than
+eighteen, he took the portrait," etc.[157]
+
+This passage (_c_) makes Titian "not more than eighteen about the year
+1507," and fixes the date of his birth as 1489-90, therein agreeing with
+the previous deduction at which we arrived when examining the passage in
+Vasari's second edition. Thus in two places out of three Vasari is
+consistent in fixing 1489-90 as the date. How, then, explain (_b_),
+which explicitly gives 1480?
+
+Anyone conversant with Vasari's inaccuracies will hardly be surprised to
+find that this statement is dismissed by all Titian's biographers as
+manifestly a mistake. Moreover, it is inconsistent with the two passages
+just quoted, and either they are wrong or 1480 is a misprint for 1489.
+Now, from the nature of the evidence recorded by Vasari, it cannot be a
+matter for any doubt which is the more trustworthy statement. On the one
+hand, he speaks as an eye-witness of Titian's old age, and is careful to
+record the exact year he visited Venice and the age of the painter; on
+the other hand, he makes a bald statement which he certainly cannot have
+verified, and which is inconsistent with his own experience! In any
+case, in Vasari's text the evidence is two to one in favour of 1489-90
+as the right date, and thus we come to the agreeable conclusion that our
+two oldest authorities, Dolce and Vasari, are at one in fixing Titian's
+birth between 1488 and 1490--in other words, about 1489.
+
+So far, then, all is clear, and as we know from later and indisputable
+evidence that Titian died in 1576, it follows that he only attained the
+age of eighty-seven and not ninety-nine. Whence, then, comes the story
+of the ninety-nine years? From none other than Titian himself, and to
+this piece of evidence we must next turn, following out a strict
+chronological order.
+
+In 1571--that is, three years after Vasari's second edition was
+published--Titian addresses a letter to Philip the Second of Spain in
+these terms:[158]
+
+     "Most potent and invincible King,--I think your Majesty will have
+     received by this the picture of 'Lucretia and Tarquin' which was to
+     have been presented by the Venetian Ambassador. I now come with
+     these lines to ask your Majesty to deign to command that I should
+     be informed as to what pleasure it has given. The calamities of the
+     present times, in which every one is suffering from the continuance
+     of war, force me to this step, and oblige me at the same time to
+     ask to be favoured with some kind proof of your Majesty's grace, as
+     well as with some assistance from Spain or elsewhere, since I have
+     not been able for years past to obtain any payment either from the
+     Naples grant, or from my ordinary pension. The state of my affairs
+     is indeed such that I do not know how to live in this my old age,
+     devoted as it entirely is to the service of your Catholic Majesty,
+     and to no other. Not having for eighteen years past received a
+     _quattrino_ for the paintings which I delivered from time to time,
+     and of which I forward a list by this opportunity to the secretary
+     Perez, I feel assured that your Majesty's infinite clemency will
+     cause a careful consideration to be made of the services of an old
+     servant of the age of ninety-five, by extending to him some
+     evidence of munificence and liberality. Sending two prints of the
+     design of the Beato Lorenzo, and most humbly recommending myself,
+
+     "I am Your Catholic Majesty's
+
+     "most devoted, humble servant,
+
+     "TITIANO VECELLIO.
+
+     "From Venice, the 1st of August, 1571."
+
+Here, then, is Titian himself, in the year 1571, declaring that he is
+ninety-five years of age--in other words, dating his birth back to
+1476--that is, some thirteen years earlier than Dolce and Vasari imply
+was the case. A flagrant discrepancy of evidence! In similar strain he
+thus addresses the king again five years later:[159]
+
+     "Your Catholic and Royal Majesty,--The infinite benignity with
+     which your Catholic Majesty--by natural habit--is accustomed to
+     gratify all such as have served and still serve your Majesty
+     faithfully, enboldens me to appear with the present (letter) to
+     recall myself to your royal memory, in which I believe that my old
+     and devoted service will have kept me unaltered. My prayer is this:
+     twenty years have elapsed and I have never had any recompense for
+     the many pictures sent on divers occasions to your Majesty; but
+     having received intelligence from the Secretary Antonio Perez of
+     your Majesty's wish to gratify me, and having reached a great old
+     age not without privations, I now humbly beg that your Majesty will
+     deign, with accustomed benevolence, to give such directions to
+     ministers as will relieve my want. The glorious memory of Charles
+     the Fifth, your Majesty's father, having numbered me amongst his
+     familiar, nay, most faithful servants, by honouring me beyond my
+     deserts with the title of _cavaliere_, I wish to be able, with the
+     favour and protection of your Majesty--true portrait of that
+     immortal emperor--to support as it deserves the name of a
+     cavaliere, which is so honoured and esteemed in the world; and that
+     it may be known that the services done by me during many years to
+     the most serene house of Austria have met with grateful return, to
+     spend what remains of my days in the service of your Majesty. For
+     this I should feel the more obliged, as I should thus be consoled
+     in my old age, whilst praying to God to concede to your Majesty a
+     long and happy life with increase of his divine grace and
+     exaltation of your Majesty's Kingdom. In the meanwhile I expect
+     from the royal benevolence of your Majesty the fruits of the favour
+     I desire, with due reverence and humility, and kissing your sacred
+     hands,
+
+     "I am Your Catholic Majesty's
+
+     "most humble and devoted servant,
+
+     "TITIANO VECELLIO.
+
+     "From Venice, the 27th of February, 1576."
+
+This is the last letter we have of Titian, who died in August of this
+year, according to his own showing, in his hundredth year.
+
+Now what reliance can be placed on this statement? On the one hand, we
+have the evidence of two independent writers, Dolce and Vasari, both
+personally acquainted with Titian, and both agreeing by inference that
+the date of his birth was about 1489. Both had ample opportunity to get
+at the truth, and Vasari is particularly explicit in recording the exact
+date when he visited Titian in Venice and the age the painter had then
+reached. Yet five years later Titian is found stating that he is
+ninety-five, and not eighty-two as we should expect! Perhaps the best
+comment is made by Crowe and Cavalcaselle, who significantly remark
+immediately after the last letter: "Titian's appeal to the benevolence
+of the King of Spain looks like that of a garrulous old gentleman proud
+of his longevity, but hoping still to live for many years."[160]
+Exactly! The occasion could well be improved by a little timely
+exaggeration well calculated to appeal to the sympathies and "infinite
+benignity" of the monarch, and if, when the writer had actually reached
+the respectable age of eighty-two, he wrote himself down as ninety-five,
+who would gainsay him? It added point to his appeal--that was the chief
+thing--and as to accuracy, well, Titian was not the man to be
+over-scrupulous when his own interests were involved. But even though
+the statement were not deliberately made to heighten the effect of an
+appeal, we must in any case make allowances for the natural proneness to
+exaggerate their age which usually characterises men of advanced years,
+so that any _ex parte_ statement of this kind must be received with due
+caution. Where, moreover, as in the present case, we have evidence of a
+directly contradictory kind furnished by independent witnesses, whose
+declarations in this respect are presumably disinterested, such _ex
+parte_ statements are on the face of them unreliable. The balance of
+evidence in this case appears to rest on the side of the older
+historians, Dolce and Vasari, whose statements, as I hold, are in the
+circumstances more reliable than the picturesque exaggeration of a man
+of advanced years.
+
+I claim, therefore, that any account of Titian's life based solely on
+such flimsy evidence as to his age as is found in this letter to Philip
+the Second is, to say the least, open to grave doubt. The whole
+superstructure raised by modern writers on this uncertain foundation is
+full of flaws and incongruities, and I am fully persuaded the future
+historian will have to begin _de novo_ in any attempt at a chronological
+reconstruction of Titian's career. The gap of thirty-five years down to
+1511 may prove after all less by twelve or thirteen years than people
+think, so that the young Titian naturally enough first emerges into view
+at the age of twenty-two and not thirty-five.
+
+But we must not anticipate results, for there is still the evidence of
+the later writers of the seventeenth century to consider. Two of these
+declare that Titian was born in 1477. The first of these, Tizianello, a
+collateral descendant of the great painter, published his little
+_Compendio_ in 1622, wherein he gives a sketchy and imperfect biography;
+the other, Ridolfi, repeats the date in his _Meraviglie dell' Arte_,
+published in 1648. The latter writer is notoriously unreliable in other
+respects, and it is quite likely this is merely an instance of copying
+from Tizianello, whose unsupported statement is chiefly of value as
+showing that the "centenarian" theory had started within fifty years of
+Titian's death. But again we ask: Why should the evidence of a
+seventeenth-century writer be preferred to the personal testimony of
+those who actually knew Titian himself, especially when Vasari gives us
+precise information with which Dolce's independent account is in perfect
+agreement? No doubt the great age to which Titian certainly attained was
+exaggerated in the next generation after his death, but it is a
+remarkable fact that the contemporary eulogies, mostly in poetic form,
+which appeared on the occasion of his decease, do not allude to any such
+phenomenal longevity.[161]
+
+Nevertheless, Ridolfi's statement that Titian was born in 1477 is
+commonly quoted as if there were no better and earlier evidence in
+existence, and, indeed, it is a matter of surprise that conscientious
+modern biographers have not looked more carefully at the original
+authorities instead of being content to follow tradition, and I must
+earnestly plead for a reconsideration of the question of Titian's age by
+the future historians of Venetian painting.[162]
+
+If, as I believe, Titian was born in or about 1489 instead of 1476-7,
+it follows that he must have been Giorgione's junior by at least twelve
+years--a most important deduction--and it also follows that he cannot
+have produced any work of consequence before, say, 1505, at the age of
+sixteen, and he will have died at eighty-seven and not in his hundredth
+year. The alteration in date would help to explain the silence of all
+records about him before 1511, when he would have been only twenty-two
+and not thirty-five years old; it would fully account for his name not
+being mentioned by Duerer in his famous letter of 1506, wherein he refers
+to the painters of Venice, and it would equally account for the absence
+of his name from the commission to paint the Fondaco frescoes in 1507-8,
+for he would have been employed simply as Giorgione's young assistant.
+The fact that in 1511 he signs himself simply "Io tician di Cador
+Dpntore" and not _Maestro_ would be more intelligible in a young man of
+twenty-two than in an accomplished master of thirty-five, and the
+character of his letter addressed to the Senate in 1513 would be more
+natural to an ambitious aspirant of twenty-four than to a man in his
+maturity of thirty-seven.[163]
+
+Such are some of the obvious results of a change of date, but the larger
+question as to the development of Titian's art must be left to the
+future historian, for the importance of fixing a date lies in the
+application thereof.[164] HERBERT COOK.
+
+
+THE DATE OF TITIAN'S BIRTH
+
+_Reply by Dr. Georg Gronau. Translated from the "Repertorium fuer
+Kunstwissenschaft," vol. xxiv., 6th part_
+
+
+In the January number of the _Nineteenth Century_ appears an article by
+Herbert Cook under the title, "Did Titian live to be Ninety-Nine Years
+Old?" The interrogation already suggests that the author comes to a
+negative conclusion. It is, perhaps, not without interest to set forth
+the reasons advanced by the English connoisseur and to submit them to
+adverse criticism.
+
+(Here follows an abstract of the article.)
+
+The reasoning, as will have been seen, is not altogether free from
+doubt. It has been usual hitherto in historical investigations to call
+in question the assertions of a man about his own life only when
+thoroughly weighty reasons justified such a course. Is the evidence of a
+Dolce and of a Vasari so free from all objection that it outweighs
+Titian's personal statement? Before answering this question it should be
+pointed out that we possess two further statements of contemporary
+writers on the subject of Titian's age, statements which have escaped
+the notice of Mr. Cook. One is to be found in a letter from the Spanish
+Consul in Venice, Thomas de Cornoga, to Philip II., dated 8th December
+1567 (published in the very important work by Zarco del Valle[165]).
+After informing the king of Titian's usual requests on the subject of
+his pension, and so on, he continues: "y con los 85 annos de su edad
+servira a V.M. hasta la muerte."
+
+Somewhere, then, in the very year in which Titian, according to Vasari,
+was "above seventy-six years of age," he seems to have been
+eighty-five, according to the report of another and quite independent
+witness, and if so, he would have been born about 1482.
+
+We have then three definite statements:
+
+Vasari (1566 or 1567) says "over 76"
+The Consul (1567)      "      "85"
+Titian himself (1571)  "      "95"
+
+This new information, instead of helping us, only serves to make still
+greater confusion.
+
+The other piece of evidence not mentioned by Mr. Cook was written only a
+few years after Titian's death. Borghini says in his _Riposo_, 1584:
+"Mori ultimamente di vecchiezza (!not, then, of the plague?), essendo
+d'eta d'anni 98 o 99, l'anno 1576." ... This is the first time that the
+traditional statement as to the master's age appears in literature. In
+this state of things it is worth while to look closer into the evidence
+of Dolce and Vasari to see if they are not after all the most
+trustworthy witnesses.
+
+It is always held to be a mistake to take rather vague statements quite
+literally, as Mr. Cook has done, and to build thereon further
+conclusions. When Dolce says that Titian painted with Giorgione at the
+Fondaco, "non avendo egli allora appena venti anni," he is only trying
+to make out that his hero, here as everywhere, was a most unusual person
+(the whole dialogue is a glorification of the master). For the same
+reason he makes the following remark, which we can absolutely prove to
+be false:--the Assumption (he says) "fu la prima opera pubblica, che a
+olio facesse." Now at least one work of Titian's was, then, already to
+be seen in a public place--viz. the "St. Mark Enthroned, with Four
+Saints," in Santo Spirito, afterwards removed to the sacristy of the
+Salute. In other points, too, Dolce can be convicted of small errors and
+misrepresentations, partly on literary grounds, partly due to his desire
+to enhance the praise of Titian.
+
+Vasari, again, should only be cited as witness when he speaks of works
+of art which he has actually seen. In such a case, apart from slips, he
+is always a trustworthy guide. Directly, however, he goes into
+biographical details or questions of chronology accuracy becomes nearly
+always a secondary matter. Titian's biography offers an excellent and
+most instructive example of this. Vasari mentions first the birth and
+upbringing of the boy, then he speaks of Giorgione and the Fondaco
+frescoes, and goes on: "dopo la quale opera fece un quadro grande che
+oggi e nella salla di messer Andrea Loredano.... Dopo in casa di messer
+Giovanni D'Anna ... fece il suo ritratto ...; ed un quadro di Ecce Homo,
+..." and he goes on, "L'anno poi 1507...." If it had not been that one
+of these pictures, once in the possession of Giovanni D'Anna, had been
+preserved (now in the Vienna Gallery), and that it bears in a
+conspicuous place the date 1543, it would be recorded in all biographies
+of Titian that he painted in 1507 an "Ecce Homo" for this Giovanni
+D'Anna.
+
+If one goes further into Vasari's account we read that Titian published
+his "Triumph of Faith" in 1508. "Dopo condottosi Tiziano a Vicenza,
+dipinse a fresco sotto la loggetta ... il giudizio di Salamone. Appresso
+tomato a Venezia, dipinse la facciata de' Grimani; e in Padoa nella
+chiesa di Sant' Antonio alcune storie ... de fatti di quel santo: e in
+quella di Santo Spirito fece ... un San Marco a sedere in mezzo a certi
+Santi." We now know on documentary evidence that the Vicenza fresco
+(which was destroyed later) dated from 1521, and similarly that the
+frescoes at Padua were painted in 1511, whilst the date of the S. Mark
+picture may be fixed with probability at 1504.
+
+These examples prove how inexact Vasari is here once more. But it may be
+objected, supposing that he is inaccurate in statements which refer
+back, can he not be in the right in a case where he comes back, so to
+speak, straight from visiting Titian and writes down his observation
+about the master's actual age? To be sure; but when we find that so many
+other similar notices of Vasari are wrong, even those that refer to
+people whom he personally knew, we lose faith altogether. In turning
+over the leaves of the sixth volume of the Sansoni edition of Vasari, in
+which only his contemporaries, some of them closely connected, too, with
+him, are spoken of, we find the following incorrect statements:--
+
+P.  99. Tribolo was 65 years old (in reality only 50).
+P. 209. Bugiardini died at 75 (really 79).
+P. 288. Pontormo at 65 (he died actually in his 63rd year).
+P. 564. Giovanni da Udine at 70 (really 77).
+
+A still more glaring instance is to be found when Vasari not only makes
+misstatements about his own life but is actually out by several years in
+giving his own age. One and the same event--viz. his journey with
+Cardinal Passerini to Florence--is given in his own autobiography to the
+year 1524, in the "Life of Salviati," to the year 1523, and in the "Life
+of Michael Angelo" to 1525. When he speaks of himself in the same
+passage in the "Life of Salviati" as the "putto, che allora non aveva
+piu di nove anni," he is making a mistake of at least three years in his
+own age. And not less delightful is it to read in the "Life of Giovanni
+da Udine": "Giorgio Vasari, giovinetto di diciotto anni, quando serviva
+il duca Alessandro de' Medici suo primo signore l'anno 1535." We are
+obviously not dealing with Messer Giorgio's strongest point, for, as a
+matter of fact, he was at that time twenty-four years of age! The same
+false statement of age is found again in his own biography (vii. p. 656,
+with the variation, "poco piu di diciotto anni").
+
+But I think these instances suffice to prove how little one dare build
+on such assertions of Vasari. Who dare say if Titian was really only
+seventy-six in 1566 when the Aretine visited him?
+
+And now a few remarks on the other points raised by Mr. Cook. As a
+fact, it is an astonishing thing that we have no documentary evidence
+about Titian before 1511; but does he not share this fate with very many
+of his great countrymen, with Bellini, Giorgione, Sebastiano, and
+others? An unfriendly chance has left us entirely in the dark as to the
+early years of nearly all the great Venetian painters. That Duerer makes
+no mention of Titian's name in his letters gives no cause for surprise,
+for even the most celebrated of the younger artists, Giorgione, is not
+alluded to, and of all those with Bellini, whose fame outshone even then
+that of all others, only Barbari is mentioned. That Titian's name does
+not occur in the documents about the Fondaco frescoes may be due to the
+fact that Giorgione alone was commissioned to undertake the frescoes for
+the magistrates, and that the latter painter in his turn brought his
+associate Titian into the work.
+
+Mr. Cook says that Titian still signed himself in 1511 "Dipintore"
+instead of "Maestro." I am not aware whether in this respect definite
+regulations or customs were usual in Venice.[166] At any rate, the
+painter is still described in official documents as late as 1518 as "ser
+Tizian depentor" (Lorenzi, "Monumenti," No. 366), when, even according
+to Mr. Cook's theory, he must have been thirty years old; and he is
+actually so called in 1528 (_ibid_. No. 403), after appearing in several
+intermediate documents as "maestro" (Nos. 373, 377). If this argument,
+however, proves unsound, the last point--viz. that the well-known
+petition to the senate in 1513 reads more like that of a man of
+twenty-four than one of thirty-seven--must be left to the hypothesis of
+individual conjecture.
+
+Must we really close these very long inquiries by confessing they are
+beyond our ken? It almost seems so. For, with regard to the testimony
+afforded by family documents, Dr. Jacobi (whose labours were utilised by
+Crowe and Cavalcaselle) so conscientiously examined all that is left,
+that a discovery in this direction is not to be looked for. Is the
+statement of Tizianello that Titian's year of birth was 1477 to be
+rejected without further question when we remember that, as a relative
+of the painter, he could have had in 1622 access to documents possibly
+since lost?
+
+Under these circumstances the only thing left to do is to question the
+works of Titian. Of these, two can be dated, not indeed with certainty,
+but with some degree of probability: the dedicatory painting of the
+Bishop of Pesaro with the portrait of Alexander VI. of 1502-03, and the
+picture of St. Mark, already mentioned, of the year 1504. Both are, to
+judge by the style, clearly early works, and both can be connected with
+definite historical events of the years just mentioned. That these
+paintings, however, could be the work of a fourteen- to fifteen-year-old
+artist Mr. Cook will also admit to be impossible.
+
+Much, far too much, in the story of Venetian painting must, for want of
+definite information, be left to conjecture; and however unsatisfactory
+it is, we must make the confession that we know as little about the date
+of the birth of the greatest of the Venetians as we know of Giorgione's,
+Sebastiano's, Palma's, and the rest. But supposing all of a sudden
+information turned up giving us the exact date of Titian's birth, would
+the picture of the development of Venetian painting be any the different
+for it? In no wise. The relation to one another of the individual
+artists of the younger generation is so clearly to be read in each man's
+work, that no external particulars, however interesting they might be on
+other grounds, could make the smallest difference. Titian's relations
+with Giorgione especially could not be otherwise represented than has
+been long determined, and that whether Titian was born in 1476, 1477,
+1480, or even two or three years later.[167] GEORG GRONAU.
+
+
+WHEN WAS TITIAN BORN?
+
+_Reply to Dr. Gronau. Reprinted from "Repertorium fuer
+Kunstwissenschaft," vol. xxv., parts 1 and 2_
+
+
+I must thank Dr. Georg Gronau for his very fair reply, published in
+these pages[168] (to my article in the _Nineteenth Century_ on the
+subject of Titian's age[169]). He has also most kindly pointed out two
+pieces of contemporary evidence which had escaped my notice, and
+although neither of these passages is conclusive proof one way or the
+other, they deserve to be reckoned with in arriving at a decision.
+
+Dr. Gronau formulates the evidence shortly thus:
+
+Vasari in 1566 or 1567 says Titian is over 76
+The Spanish Consul in 1567 "       "       85
+Titian himself in 1571     " he is "       95
+
+and he adds that this new piece of evidence--viz. the letter of the
+Spanish Consul to King Philip--instead of helping us, only makes the
+confusion worse.
+
+What then are we to think when yet another--a fourth--contemporary
+statement turns up, differing from any of the three just quoted? Yet
+such a letter exists, and I am happy in my turn to point out this fresh
+piece of evidence, in the hope that instead of making the confusion
+worse, it will help us to arrive at some decision.
+
+On October the 15th, 1564, Garcia Hernandez, Envoy in Venice from King
+Philip II., writes to the King his master that Titian begged that His
+Majesty would condescend to order that he should be paid what was due to
+him from the court and from Milan.... For the rest the painter was in
+fine condition, and quite capable of work, and this was the time, if
+ever, to get "other things" from him, as according to some people who
+knew him, Titian was about ninety years old, though he did not show it,
+and for money everything was to be had of him.[170]
+
+In 1564 then the Spanish Envoy writes that Titian was said to be about
+ninety. Let us then enlarge Dr. Gronau's table by this additional
+statement, and further complete it by including the earliest piece of
+evidence, the statement of Dolce in 1557 that Titian was scarcely twenty
+when he worked at the Fondaco de' Tedeschi frescoes (1507-8). The year
+of Titian's birth thus works out:
+
+Writing in 1557,     Dolce makes out Titian was born about 1489
+  "      " 1566-7,   Vasari      "        "         "      1489
+  "      " 1564,     Spanish Envoy        "         "      1474
+  "      " 1567,     Spanish Consul       "         "      1482
+  "      " 1571,     Titian himself       "         "      1476
+
+Now it is curious to notice that the last three statements are all made
+in letters to King Philip, either by Titian himself, or at his request
+by the Spanish agents.
+
+It is curious to notice these statements as to Titian's great age occur
+in begging letters.[171]
+
+It is curious to notice they are mutually contradictory.
+
+What are we to conclude?
+
+Surely that the Spanish Envoy, the Spanish Consul, and Titian himself,
+out of their own mouths stand convicted of inconsistency of statement,
+and further that they betray an identical motive underlying each
+representation--viz. an appeal _ad misericordiam._
+
+Before, however, contrasting the value of the evidence as found in these
+Spanish letters with the evidence as found in Dolce and Vasari, let us
+note two points in these letters.
+
+Garcia Hernandez, the Spanish Envoy, writes: "According to some people
+who knew him, Titian was about ninety years old, though he did not show
+it." Now, if Titian was really about ninety in the year 1564, he will
+have lived to the age of one hundred and two, a feat of longevity of
+which no one has ever accused him! Apart, therefore, from the healthy
+scepticism which Hernandez betrays in this letter, we may certainly
+conclude that "some people who knew him" were exaggerating Titian's age.
+
+Secondly, Titian's letter of 1571 says he is ninety-five years old.
+Titian's similar letter of 1576, the year of his death, omits to say he
+is one hundred. Surely a strange omission, considering that he refers to
+his old age three times in this one letter.[172] Does not the second
+letter correct the inexactness of the first? and so Titian's statement
+goes for nothing?
+
+The collective evidence, then, of these Spanish letters amounts to this,
+that, in the words of the Envoy, "for money everything was to be had of
+Titian," and accordingly any statement as to his great age when thus
+made for effect must be treated with the greatest suspicion.
+
+But is the evidence of Dolce and Vasari any more trustworthy? Dr. Gronau
+is at pains to show that both these writers often made mistakes in
+their dates, a fact which no one can dispute. Their very incorrectness
+is the more reason however for trusting them in this instance, for they
+happen to agree about the date of Titian's birth; and, although neither
+of them expressly gives the year 1489, they indicate separate and
+independent events in his life, the one, Dolce, at the beginning, the
+other, Vasari, at the end, which when looked into give the same result.
+
+Moreover, be Dolce ever so anxious to cry up his hero Titian, and make
+him out to have been precocious, and be Vasari ever so inexact in his
+chronology, we must remember that, when both of them wrote, the
+presumption of unusual longevity had not arisen, and that their evidence
+therefore is less likely to be prejudiced in this respect than the
+evidence given in obituary notices, such as occurs in Borghini's
+_Riposo_ of 1584, and in the later writers like Tizianello and Ridolfi.
+
+That Borghini therefore says Titian was ninety-eight or ninety-nine when
+he died, and that Tizianello and Ridolfi, thirty-eight and sixty-four
+years later respectively, put him down at ninety-nine, is by no means
+proof that such was the case. It would seem that there had been some
+speculation before and after Titian's death as to his exact age; that no
+one quite knew for certain; and that Titian with the credulousness of
+old age had come to regard himself as well-nigh a centenarian. Be this
+as it may, I still hold that the evidence of Dolce and Vasari that
+Titian's birth occurred in 1489 is more trustworthy than either the
+evidence found in the three Spanish letters, or the evidence as given in
+the obituary notices of Borghini and others.
+
+One word more. If Titian was born in 1489, instead of 1476-7, it does
+make a great difference in the story of his own career; and, what is
+more, the history of Venetian art in the early sixteenth century, as it
+centres round Giorgione, Palma, and Titian, will have to be carefully
+reconsidered.
+
+HERBERT COOK.
+
+NOTES:
+
+[148] The picture now hangs in the Academia at Venice.
+
+[149] e.g. the "Sacred and Profane Love" (so-called) in the Borghese
+Gallery; the "S. Mark" of the Salute; the "Concert" in the Pitti; the
+"Tribute Money" at Dresden; the "Madonna of the Cherries" at Vienna,
+etc., which one or other of his biographers assign to the years
+1500-1510.
+
+[150] _The Life and Times of Titian_, 2 vols., 1881.
+
+[151] _The Earlier and Later Work of Titian. Portfolio_, October 1897
+and July 1898.
+
+[152] _Tizian_. Berlin, 1901.
+
+[153] _La Vie et l'Oeuvre de Titien_: Paris, 1886.
+
+[154] See Crowe and Cavalcaselle: _Titian_, i. 85. The fact that
+Titian's name does not occur in these records is curious and suggestive.
+
+[155] Ed. _Sansoni_, p. 459. The translation is that of Blashfield and
+Hopkins. Bell, 1897.
+
+[156] _Ibid_. p. 425.
+
+[157] _Ibid_. p. 428.
+
+[158] The translation is that of Crowe and Cavalcaselle. _Titian_, ii.
+391. The original is given by them at p. 538.
+
+[159] Quoted from Crowe and Cavalcaselle.
+
+[160] Crowe and Cavalcaselle. _Titian_, ii. 409.
+
+[161] There is a collection of these in a volume in the British Museum.
+
+[162] Before the discovery of the letter to Philip, Messrs. Crowe and
+Cavalcaselle were quite prepared to admit that Titian was born "after
+1480" (vide _N. Italian Painting_, ii. 119, 120). Unfortunately, they
+took the evidence of the letter as final, but finding themselves
+chronologically in difficulties, they shrewdly remark in their _Titian_,
+i. 38, note: "The writers of these lines thought, and _still think_,
+Titian younger than either Giorgione or Palma. They were, however,
+inclined to transpose Titian's birthday to a later date than 1477,
+rather than put back those of Palma and Giorgione to an earlier period,
+and in this they made a mistake." Perhaps they were not so far wrong
+after all!
+
+[163] For this most amusing letter see Crowe and Cavalcaselle. _Titian_,
+i. p. 153.
+
+[164] The evidence afforded by Titian's own portraits of himself (at
+Berlin and in the Uffizi) is inconclusive, as we do not know the exact
+years they were painted. The portrait at Madrid, painted 1562, might
+represent a man of seventy-three or eighty-six, it is hard to say which.
+But there is a woodcut of 1550 (_vide_ Gronau, p. 164) which surely
+shows Titian at the age of sixty-one rather than seventy-four; and,
+finally, Paul Veronese's great "Marriage at Cana" (in the Louvre), which
+was painted between June 1562 and September 1563, distinctly points to
+Titian being then a man of seventy-four and not eighty-seven. He is
+represented, as is well known, seated in the group of musicians in the
+centre, and playing the contrabasso.
+
+[165] _Jahrbuch der Sammlungen des A.H. Kaiserhauses_, vii. p. 221 _ff_
+1888.
+
+[166] Dr. Ludwig had the kindness to write to me on this subject: "Among
+the thousands of signatures of painters which I have seen I have never
+come across the signature _Maestro_. Of course, someone else can
+describe a painter as Master; he himself always subscribes himself
+_pittor, pictor_, or _depentor_."
+
+[167] Dr. Gronau further points out (in a letter recently sent to the
+writer) that Titian, writing to the emperor in 1545, says: "I should
+have liked to take them (i.e. the paintings) to your Majesty in person,
+but that my age and the length of the journey forbade such a course" (C.
+and C. ii. 103). Writing also in 1548 to Granvella he refers to his
+"vechia vita." Would not such expressions (asks Dr. Gronau) be more
+applicable to a man of sixty-eight and seventy-one respectively than to
+one of only fifty-six and fifty-nine?
+
+[168] XXIV. Band. 6 Heft, p. 457.
+
+[169] January 1902, pp. 123-130.
+
+[170] Quoted from Crowe and Cavalcaselle. II. 344. The Spanish original
+is given at p. 535.
+
+[171] I have quoted Titian's letter in full in the _Nineteenth Century_.
+That of the Spanish Consul is given in the _Jahrbuch der Sammlungen des
+A.H. Kaiserhauses_, vii. p. 221, from which I extract the passage: "El
+dicho Ticiano besa pies y manos de V.M., y suplica umilmente a V.M.
+mande le sea pagado lo que le ha corrido de las pensiones de que V.M. le
+tiene echo merced en Milan y en esa corte, y la trata de Napoles, y con
+los 85 anos de su edad servira a V.M. hasta la muerte."
+
+[172] I have quoted this letter also in full in the _Nineteenth
+Century._ I am indebted to M. Salomon Reinach for making this point
+(_Chronique des Arts_, Feb. 15, 1902, p. 53, where he expresses himself
+a convert to my views).
+
+
+
+
+CATALOGUE OF THE WORKS OF GIORGIONE
+
+ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THE GALLERIES IN WHICH THEY ARE CONTAINED
+
+AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
+
+
+
+BUDA-PESTH GALLERY.
+
+
+PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MAN. [No. 94.]
+
+_Esterhazy Collection_. (See p. 31.)
+
+
+TWO FIGURES STANDING. [No. 95.]
+
+Copy of a portion of Giorgione's lost picture of the "Birth of Paris."
+These are the two shepherds. (See p. 46.)
+
+The whole composition was engraved by Th. von Kessel for the _Theatrum
+pictorium_ under Giorgione's name. The original picture was seen and
+described by the Anonimo in 1525.
+
+
+
+VIENNA GALLERY.
+
+
+EVANDER AND HIS SON PALLAS SHOWING TO AENEAS THE FUTURE SITE OF ROME.
+Canvas, 4 ft. x 4 ft. 8 in. [No. 16.]
+
+Seen by the Anonimo in 1525, in Venice, and said by him to have been
+finished by Sebastiano del Piombo. (See p. 12.)
+
+_Collection of the Archduke Leopold William, and registered in the
+inventory of_ 1659.
+
+
+ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS, or NATIVITY. Wood, 3 ft. x 3 ft. 10 in. [No.
+23.]
+
+Inferior replica by Giorgione of the Beaumont picture in London.
+
+I have sought to identify this piece with the picture "da una Nocte,"
+painted by Giorgione for Taddeo Contarini. (See p. 24 and Appendix,
+where the original document is quoted.)
+
+_From the Collection of the Archduke Leopold William, and registered in
+the inventory of 1659 as a Giorgione._
+
+
+VIRGIN AND CHILD. Wood, 2 ft. 2 in. x 2 ft. 9 in. [No. 176.]
+
+Known as the "Gipsy Madonna," and ascribed to Titian. _Collection of the
+Archduke Leopold William._ (See p. 97.)
+
+
+PORTRAIT OF A MAN. Canvas, 3 ft. 5 in. x 2 ft. 9 in. [No. 167.]
+
+Commonly, though erroneously, called "The Physician Parma," and ascribed
+to Titian.
+
+_Collection of the Archduke Leopold William._ (See p. 87.)
+
+
+DAVID WITH THE HEAD OF GOLIATH. Wood, 2 ft. 2 in. x 2 ft. 6 in. [No.
+21.]
+
+Copy after a lost original, which is thus described by Vasari: "A David
+(which, according to common report, is a portrait of the master himself)
+with long locks, reaching to the shoulders, as was the custom of that
+time, and the colouring is so fresh and animating that the face appears
+to be rather real than painted; the breast is covered with armour, as is
+the arm with which he holds the head of Goliath."
+
+_This picture was at that day in the house of the Patriarch of Aquileia;
+the copy can be traced back to the Collection of the Archduke Leopold
+William at Brussels._ (See p. 48.)
+
+Herr Wickhoff, however, seems to think that, were the repaints removed,
+the Vienna picture might prove to be Giorgione's original painting. See
+Berenson's _Study and Criticism of Italian Art_, vol. i. p. 74, note.
+
+
+
+BRITISH ISLES
+
+
+
+LONDON, NATIONAL GALLERY.
+
+
+ADORATION OF THE MAGI, or THE EPIPHANY. Panel. 12 in. x 2 ft. 8 in. [No.
+1160.]
+
+_From the Leigh Court sale, 1884._ (See p. 53.)
+
+
+UNKNOWN SUBJECT, possibly THE GOLDEN AGE. Panel. 1 ft. 11 in. x 1 ft. 7
+in. [No. 1173.]
+
+Now catalogued as "School of Barbarelli." (See p. 91.) _Purchased in
+1885 at the sale of the Bohn Collection as a Giorgione.
+
+Formerly in the Aldobrandini Palace, Rome, where it was bought by Mr.
+Day for the Marquis of Bristol, but afterwards sold at Christie's to Mr.
+White, and by him for L73.10s. to Bohn._
+
+PORTRAIT OF A MAN, possibly PROSPERO COLONNA. Transposed in 1857 from
+wood to canvas, 2 ft. 8 in. x 2 ft. [No. 636.]
+
+Catalogued as "Portrait of a Poet," by Palma Vecchio.
+
+_Formerly in possession of Mr. Tomline, and purchased in 1860 from M.
+Edmond Beaucousin at Paris._
+
+It was then called the portrait of Ariosto by Titian. (See p. 81.)
+
+A KNIGHT IN ARMOUR, probably S. LIBERALE. Wood, 1 ft. 3 in. x 10 in.
+[No. 269.]
+
+_Formerly in the Collection of Benjamin West, P.R.A., and bequeathed to
+the National Gallery by Mr. Samuel Rogers in 1855._ (See p. 20.)
+
+VENUS AND ADONIS. Canvas, 2 ft. 6 in. x 4 ft. 4 in. [No. 1123.]
+
+Catalogued as "Venetian School," and more recently as "School of
+Giorgione."
+
+_Purchased in 1882 as a Giorgione at the Hamilton Palace sale._ (See p.
+94.)
+
+GLASGOW GALLERY.
+
+THE ADULTERESS BEFORE CHRIST. Canvas, 4 ft. 6 in. x 5 ft. 11 in. [No.
+142.]
+
+_Ex M'Lellan Collection._ (See p. 102.)
+
+TWO MUSICIANS. Panel. 1 ft. 9 in. x 1 ft. 4 in. [No. 143.]
+
+Recently attributed to Campagnola. Said to be Titian and Giorgione,
+playing violin and violoncello. The former attribution to Giorgione is
+probably correct.
+
+_Graham-Gilbert Collection._
+
+New Gallery, Venetian Exhibition, 1895. [No. 99.]
+
+HAMPTON COURT.
+
+SHEPHERD BOY. Canvas, 1 ft. 11 in. x 1 ft. 8 in. [No. 101.]
+
+_From Charles I. Collection_, where it was called a Giorgione. (See p.
+49 for a suggestion as to its possible authorship.)
+
+BUCKINGHAM PALACE.
+
+THREE FIGURES. Half-length; two men, and a woman fainting. Canvas, 2 ft.
+5 in. x 2 ft. 1 in.
+
+Ascribed to Titian, but probably derived from a Giorgione original.
+Other versions are said (C. and C. ii. 149) to have been at the Hague
+and in the Buonarroti Collection at Florence. The London picture is so
+damaged and repainted, although still of splendid colouring, as to
+preclude all certainty of judgment.
+
+_Formerly in Charles I. Collection._
+
+MR. WENTWORTH BEAUMONT'S COLLECTION.
+
+ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS, or NATIVITY. Wood, 3 ft. 6 in. x 2 ft.
+(about).
+
+_From the Gallery of Cardinal Fesch_, and presumably the same as the
+picture in the Collection of James II. I have sought to identify this
+piece with the picture "da una Nocte," painted by Giorgione for Vittorio
+Beccare (See p. 20, and Appendix quoting the original document.)
+
+MR. R.H. BENSON'S COLLECTION.
+
+HOLY FAMILY. Wood, 14 in. x 17 in.
+
+New Gallery, 1895. [No. 148.] (See p. 96.)
+
+MADONNA AND CHILD. Wood, 1 ft. 6 in. x 1 ft. 10 in.
+
+New Gallery, 1895. [No. 1, under Titian's name.] (See p. 101.)
+
+_From the Burghley House Collection._
+
+PORTRAIT OF A MAN. Canvas, 38 in. x 32 in.
+
+Copy of a lost original. Three-quarter length; life-size; standing
+towards right; head facing; hands resting on a column, glove in left;
+black dress, cut square at throat.
+
+New Gallery, 1895. [No. 52, as "Unknown."] (See p. 74.)
+
+COBHAM HALL, THE EARL OF DARNLEY'S COLLECTION.
+
+PORTRAIT OF A MAN. Canvas, 2 ft. 1 in. x 2 ft. 9 in.
+
+Erroneously called Ariosto, and ascribed to Titian.
+
+I have sought to identify this with the "Portrait of a Gentleman" of the
+Barberigo family, said by Vasari to have been painted by Titian at the
+age of eighteen. (See p. 69.)
+
+HERON COURT, THE EARL OF MALMESBURY.
+
+THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS. Canvas, 22 in. x 28 in.
+
+Copy of an unidentified original, of which other versions are to be
+found at Dresden, Venice (Pal. Albuzio), and Christiania. This one is
+probably a Bolognese repetition of the seventeenth century.
+
+Ridolfi mentions this subject in his list of Giorgione's works.
+
+New Gallery, 1895. [No. 29.]
+
+HERTFORD HOUSE, WALLACE COLLECTION.
+
+VENUS DISARMING CUPID. 3 ft. 7 in. x 3 ft. [No. 19.]
+
+The picture was engraved as a Giorgione when in the Orleans Gallery.
+(See p. 93.)
+
+KENT HOUSE, THE LATE LOUISA LADY ASHBURTON.
+
+TWO FIGURES IN A LANDSCAPE. Panel. 18 in. x 17 in.
+
+The damaged state precludes any certainty of judgment. The composition
+is that of the Adrastus and Hypsipyle picture; the colouring recalls
+the National Gallery "Golden Age(?)." If an original, it is quite an
+early work. New Gallery, 1895. [No. 147.]
+
+TWO FIGURES (half-lengths), A WOMAN AND A MAN.
+
+Copy after a missing original, and in the style of the figures at
+Oldenburg. (See Venturi, _La Gall. Crespi_.) This or the original was
+engraved as a Giorgione in 1773 by Dom. Cunego ex tabula Romae in
+aedibus Burghesianis asservata.
+
+KINGSTON LACY, COLLECTION OF MR. RALPH BANKES.
+
+THE JUDGMENT OF SOLOMON. Canvas, 6 ft. 10 in. x 10 ft. 5 in.
+
+Mentioned by Dr. Waagen, Suppl. Ridolfi (1646) mentions: "In casa
+Grimani da Santo Ermagora la Sentenza di Salomone, di bella macchia,
+colla figura del ministro non finita." Afterwards in the Marescalchi
+Gallery at Bologna, where (1820) it was seen by Lord Byron, who
+especially praised it (vide _Life and Letters_, ed. by Moore, p. 705),
+and at whose suggestion it was purchased by his friend Mr. Bankes. (See
+p. 25.)
+
+Exhibited Royal Academy, 1869.
+
+A PAINTED CEILING.
+
+With four putti climbing over a circular balcony, seen in steep
+perspective, and covered with beautiful vine leaves and flowers. This is
+said to have been painted by Giorgione in the last year of his life
+(1510) for the Palace of Grimani, Patriarch of Aquileia. Admirably
+preserved, and most likely a genuine work.
+
+TEMPLE NEWSAM, COLLECTION OF THE HON. MRS MEYNELL-INGRAM.
+
+PORTRAIT OF A MAN.
+
+Traditionally ascribed to Titian. Just under life-size; he holds a black
+hat. Blue-black silk dress with sleeve of pinky red and golden brown
+gloves. Dark auburn hair. Dark grey marble wall behind. In excellent
+preservation. (See p. 86.)
+
+COLLECTION OF SIR CHARLES TURNER.
+
+THE ADULTERESS BEFORE CHRIST.
+
+A free Venetian repetition, perhaps based on an alternative design for
+the Glasgow picture. (See p. 104.)
+
+
+FRANCE.
+
+LOUVRE.
+
+FETE CHAMPETRE, or PASTORAL SYMPHONY. Canvas, 3 ft. 8 in. x 4 ft. 9 in.
+
+_Said to have been in Charles I. Collection, and sold to Louis XIV. by
+Jabuch._ (See p. 39.)
+
+HOLY FAMILY AND SAINTS CATHERINE AND SEBASTIAN, WITH DONOR. Wood, 3 ft.
+4 in. x 4 ft. 6 in.
+
+Perhaps left incomplete by Giorgione at his death, and finished by
+Sebastiano del Piombo. (See p. 105.)
+
+_From Charles I. Collection._
+
+
+GERMANY.
+
+BERLIN GALLERY.
+
+PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MAN.
+
+_Acquired from Dr. Richten_ (See p. 30.)
+
+BERLIN, COLLECTION OF HERR VON KAUFFMANN.
+
+STA. GIUSTINA.
+
+A small seated figure with the unicorn. Recently acquired at Cologne,
+and known to the writer only by photograph and description, but
+tentatively accepted as genuine.
+
+DRESDEN GALLERY.
+
+VENUS. Canvas, 3 ft. 7 in. x 5 ft. 10 in. [No. 185.]
+
+Formerly catalogued as a copy by Sassoferrato after Titian. Restored by
+Morelli to Giorgione, and universally accepted as such. Mentioned by the
+Anonimo and Ridolfi, and said to have been completed by Titian. (See p.
+35.)
+
+THE HOROSCOPE. Canvas, 4 ft. 5 in. x 6 ft. 2 in.
+
+Copy after a lost original. C. and C. suggest Girolamo Pennacchi as
+possible author. It bears the Este arms.
+
+_From the Manfrini and Barker Collections._
+
+(See _Gazette des Beaux Arts_, 1884, tom. xxx. p. 223.)
+
+JUDGMENT OF PARIS. Canvas, 1 ft. 9 in. x 2 ft. 3 in.
+
+One of several copies of a lost original. [See under British
+Isles--Heron Court.]
+
+ITALY
+
+BERGAMO, GALLERY.
+
+ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE. Wood, 1 ft. 3 in, x 1 ft. 9 in. [No. 179, Lochis
+section.]
+
+(See p. 89.)
+
+MADONNA AND CHILD. Wood, 1 ft. 3 in. x 1 ft. 6 in. [No. 232, Lochis
+section, as "Titian."]
+
+The composition is very similar to Mr. Benson's "Madonna and Child"
+(_q.v._). (See p. 101.)
+
+THE ADULTERESS BEFORE CHRIST. 4 ft. 11 in. x 7 ft. 3 in. [No. 26,
+Carrara section.]
+
+Later copy, with slight variations, of the Glasgow picture, Ascribed to
+Cariani, and in a dirty state. (See p. 104.)
+
+CASTELFRANCO, DUOMO.
+
+MADONNA AND CHILD ENTHRONED, SS. LIBERALE AND FRANCIS BELOW. Wood, 7 ft.
+6 in. x 4 ft. 10 in.
+
+(See p. 7.)
+
+FLORENCE, PITTI GALLERY.
+
+THE CONCERT. Canvas, 3 ft. 10 in. x 7 ft. 4 in. [No. 185.]
+
+Described by Ridolfi and Boschini.
+
+An old copy is at Hyde Park House, another in the Palazzo Doria, Rome.
+(See p. 49.)
+
+THE THREE AGES. Wood, 3 ft. 8 in. x 5 ft. 4 in. [No. 157.]
+
+By C. and C. ascribed to Lotto, by Morelli to Giorgione.
+
+(See p. 42.)
+
+NYMPH AND SATYR. Canvas. [No. 147.]
+
+(See p. 44.)
+
+FLORENCE, UFFIZI GALLERY.
+
+TRIAL OF MOSES, or ORDEAL BY FIRE. Canvas. Figures one-eighth life-size.
+[No. 621.]
+
+_From Poggio Imperiale._(See p. 15.)
+
+JUDGMENT OF SOLOMON. Companion piece to last. Wood. [No. 630.]
+
+(See p. 15.)
+
+KNIGHT OF MALTA. Canvas. Bust, life-size. [No. 622.]
+
+The letters XXXV probably refer to the man's age. Mr. Dickes (_Magazine
+of Art_, April 1893) thinks he is Stefano Colonna, who died 1548. (See
+p. 19.)
+
+MILAN, CRESPI COLLECTION.
+
+PORTRAIT OF CATERINA CORNARO. Canvas, 3 ft. 11 in. x 3 ft. 2 in.
+
+_From the Alessandro Martinengo Gallery, Brescia (1640), thence to
+Collection Francesco Riccardi, Bergamo, where C. and C. saw it in 1877._
+They state it was engraved in the line series of Sala. It has been known
+traditionally both as Caterina Cornaro and "La Schiavona." (See p. 74.)
+
+In the signature T.V. it is clear that the V represents the last letter
+but one in TITIANVS. The first three letters can just be made out. There
+are many _pentimenti_ on the marble parapet, which seems to have been
+painted over the dress.
+
+PADUA, GALLERY.
+
+Two _cassone_ panels with mythological scenes. Wood, about 4 ft. x 1 ft.
+each. [Nos. 416, 417.]
+
+(See p. 56.)
+
+Two very small panels with mythological scenes, one representing LEDA
+AND THE SWAN. Wood, about 5 in. x 3 in. each. [Nos. 42, 43.]
+
+(See p. 90.)
+
+ROME, BORGHESE GALLERY.
+
+PORTRAIT OF A LADY. Canvas, 3 ft. 2 in. x 2 ft. 6 in.
+
+(See p. 33.)
+
+NATIONAL GALLERY, PAL. CORSINI.
+
+S. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON.
+
+_Recently acquired._
+
+(Tentatively accepted from the photograph. See p. 91.)
+
+ROVIGO, GALLERY.
+
+MADONNA AND CHILD. [NO. 2.]
+
+Repetition by Titian of Giorgione's original at Vienna
+
+(See p. 98.)
+
+A SMALL SEATED FIGURE. DANAE? [No. 156.]
+
+Copy of a missing original.
+
+VENICE, ACADEMY.
+
+STORM AT SEA CALMED BY S. MARK. Wood, 11 ft. 8 in. x 13 ft. 6 in. [No.
+516.]
+
+_From the Scuola di S. Marco_, where it was companion piece to Paris
+Bordone's "Fisherman and Doge." Ascribed by Vasari to Palma Vecchio, by
+Zanetti to Giorgione.
+
+Too damaged to admit of definite judgment. (See p. 55.)
+
+THREE FIGURES. Half-lengths; a woman fainting, supported by a man;
+another behind.
+
+Modern copy by Fabris of apparently a missing original. Can this be the
+picture mentioned by C. and C. as in the possession of the King of
+Holland? (C. and C. ii. 149, note.) _Cf_. also, Notes to Sansoni's
+_Vasari_, iv. p. 104. Another version is at Buckingham Palace (_q.v_.),
+but it differs in detail from this copy.
+
+SEMINARIO.
+
+APOLLO AND DAPHNE. _Cassone_ panel. Wood. Small figures, much defaced.
+(See p. 34.)
+
+CHURCH OF SAN ROCCO. CHRIST BEARING THE CROSS. Panel. Busts large as
+life. About 3 ft. x 2 ft.
+
+Christ clad in pale grey, head turned three-quarters looking out of the
+picture, auburn hair and beard, bears cross. He is dragged forward by an
+elderly man nude to waist. Another man in profile to left. An old man
+with white beard just visible behind Christ. (See p. 54.)
+
+PAL. ALBUZIO. JUDGMENT OF PARIS.
+
+Another version of this subject, of which copies exist at Christiania,
+Lord Malmesbury's, and Dresden.
+
+PAL. GIOVANELLI. ADRASTUS AND HYPSIPYLE. Canvas, 2 ft. 9 in. x 2 ft. 5
+in.
+
+Described by the Anonimo in the house of Gabriel Vendramin (1530). (See
+p. 11.)
+
+Statius (lib. iv. 730 _ff_.) describes how King Adrastus, wandering
+through the woods in search of a spring to quench the thirst of his
+troops, encounters by chance Queen Hypsipyle, who had been driven out of
+Lemnos by the wicked women, who had resolved to slay their husbands, and
+she had taken refuge in the service of the King of Nemea, in capacity
+of nurse.
+
+Ex _Manfrini Palace._
+
+PAL. QUERINI-STAMPALIA. PORTRAIT OF A MAN. Unfinished. Wood, 2 ft. 6 in.
+square. (See p. 85.)
+
+
+NORWAY.
+
+CHRISTIANIA.
+
+JUDGMENT OF PARIS.
+
+Another version of this subject, of which copies exist at Lord
+Malmesbury's, Dresden, and Venice.
+
+
+RUSSIA.
+
+ST. PETERSBURG, HERMITAGE GALLERY.
+
+JUDITH. 4 ft. 9 in. x 2 ft. 2 in. [No. 112.]
+
+Once ascribed to Raphael, and engraved as such (in 1620), by H.H.
+Quitter, and afterwards by several other artists. Dr. Waagen pronounced
+it to be Moretto's work, and accordingly the name was changed; as such
+Braun has photographed it. It is now officially recognised rightly as a
+Giorgione (_vide_ Catalogue of 1891).
+
+_Brought from Italy to France, and eventually in Crozat's possession_.
+(See p. 37.)
+
+VIRGIN AND CHILD. 2 ft. 10 in. x 2 ft. 6. [No. 93.]
+
+_Acquired at Paris in 1819 by Prince Troubetzkoy as a Titian_, under
+which name it is still registered. (See p. 102, where Mr. Claude
+Phillips's suggestion that it may be a Giorgione is discussed.)
+
+
+SPAIN.
+
+MADRID, PRADO GALLERY.
+
+MADONNA AND CHILD AND SAINTS FRANCIS AND ROCH. Canvas, 3 ft. x 4 ft. 5
+in. [No. 341.]
+
+_From the Escurial_; restored to Giorgione by Morelli, and now
+officially recognised as his work. (See p. 45.)
+
+
+UNITED STATES.
+
+BOSTON, COLLECTION OF MRS. GARDNER.
+
+CHRIST BEARING THE CROSS. Wood, 1 ft. 8 in. x 1 ft. 4 in.
+
+Several variations and repetitions exist. (See p. 18.)
+
+_Till lately in the Casa Loschi at Vicenza._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A few drawings by Giorgione meet with general recognition, but, like his
+paintings, they appear to have been unnecessarily restricted by an
+over-anxiety on the part of critics to leave him only the best. E.g. the
+drawing at Windsor for a part of an "Adoration of the Shepherds," is, no
+doubt, a preliminary design for the Beaumont or Vienna pictures. The
+limits of the present book will not allow a discussion on the subject,
+but we may remark that, like all Venetian artists, Giorgione made few
+preliminary sketches, concerning himself less with design and
+composition than with harmony of colour, light and shade, and "effect."
+The engraving by Marcantonio commonly called "The Dream of Raphael," is
+now known to be derived from Giorgione, to whom the subject was
+suggested by a passage in Servius' _Commentary on Virgil_ (lib. iii. v.
+12). (See Wickhoff, loc. cit.)
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF GIORGIONE'S PICTURES CITED BY "THE ANONIMO," AS BEING IN HIS
+DAY (1525-75) IN PRIVATE POSSESSION AT VENICE.[173]
+
+
+CASA TADDEO CONTARINI (1525).
+
+(i) The Three Philosophers (since identified as Aeneas, Evander, and
+Pallas, in the Vienna Gallery),
+
+(ii) Aeneas and Anchises in Hades.
+
+(in) The Birth of Paris. (Since identified by the engraving of Th. von
+Kessel. A copy of the part representing the two shepherds is at
+Buda-Pesth.)
+
+
+CASA JERONIMO MARCELLO (1525).
+
+(i) Portrait of M. Jeronimo armed, showing his back and turning his
+head.
+
+(ii) A nude Venus in a landscape with Cupid. Finished by Titian. (Since
+identified as the Dresden Venus.)
+
+(in) S. Jerome reading.
+
+
+CASA M. ANTON. VENIER (1528).
+
+A soldier armed to the waist.
+
+
+CASA G. VENDRAMIN (1530).
+
+(i) Landscape with soldier and gipsy. (Since identified as the Adrastus
+and Hypsipyle of the Pal. Giovanelli, Venice.)
+
+(ii) The dead Christ on the Tomb, supported by one Angel. Retouched by
+Titian. (This can hardly be the celebrated Pieta in the Monte di Pieta
+at Treviso, as there are here three angels. M. Lafenestre, in his _Life
+of Titian_, reproduces an engraving answering to the above description,
+but it is hard to believe this mannered composition is to be traced back
+to Giorgione.)
+
+CASA ZUANE RAM (1531).
+
+(i) A youth, half-length, holding an arrow.
+
+(ii) Head of a shepherd boy, who holds a fruit.
+
+
+CASA A. PASQUALINO.
+
+(i) Copy of No. (i) just mentioned.
+
+(ii) Head of S. James, with pilgrim staff (or, may be, a copy).
+
+
+CASA ANDREA ODONI (1532).
+
+S. Jerome, nude, seated in a desert by moonlight. Copy after Giorgione.
+
+
+CASA MICHIEL CONTARINI (1543).
+
+A pen drawing of a nude figure in a landscape. The painting of the same
+subject belonged to the Anonimo.
+
+
+CASA PIERO SERVIO (1575).
+
+Portrait of his father.
+
+It is noteworthy that two of the above pieces are cited as copies, from
+which we may infer that Giorgione's productions were already, at this
+early date, enjoying such a vogue as to call for their multiplication at
+the hands of others, and we can readily understand how, in course of
+time, the fabrication of "Giorgiones" became a profitable business.
+
+NOTES:
+
+[173] _Notizie d'opere di disegno_. Ed. Frizzoni. Bologna, 1884.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Giorgione, by Herbert Cook
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