3J4 





SCULPT I 





Miiio da FifMole, are among those whoM worlu claim attention among 

 the best production* of the Iftth century. 



Andrea Verrochio i chiefly celebrated a* having been the muter of 

 Li-.iur.lo da Vinci, and ,.i Pii-tr,. I Vrugino, the uuutor of Kaffaelle. It 

 U said that Verrochio W.IH at first a painter, but having deaired Lio- 

 nardo da Vinci, than a mere lad, to point an angel in an altar-piece on 

 which he was engaged, Verroohio found the performance of the scholar 

 ao superior to his own portion of the work, that in a fit of jealn -v he 

 resolved to paint no more, and be soon after devoted hiiiim-lf to the 

 aUter art. A bronw equestrian statue of (Vlli-oni, by Andrea Verro- 

 chio, may be seen at Venice in the Piazza , I i S. S. c ; iovanni Paolo ; it U 

 inUruetiug as a specimen of art of the time, but it is heavy in form, and 

 the action of the hone is not true to nature. Verrochio provided the 

 design and model for this group. It was cast in bronze by Alnmnmdro 

 Leopardo. Several of the works of Andrea are preserved at Florence. 



It is a reproach to the artiste of the 14th and 15th centuries, that, 

 not satisfied with carrying out their own original ideas, and endeavour- 

 ing to advance the practice of art within the limits of consistent 

 design, they suddenly had recourse to the incongruous mixture of 

 ancient mythology with the existing religion, an unfortunate innovation 

 which tended to check the steady progress of sculpture by engrafting a 

 totally foreign class of design or ideas upon their own original senti- 

 ment ; they only misused or abased the one, and at the same time 

 materially injured the effect of the other. 



Michel Angelo Buonarotti was born in 1474. At an early age he 

 became the scholar of Domenico Cihirlandajo, the most celebrated 

 painter of his time, and afterwards studied under Bertoldo, the director 

 of the academy established by Lorenzo de' Medici at Florence. Tin- 

 genius of M. Angelo was remarked by Lorenzo, who received him into 

 his house, giving him apartments in the palace, and otherwise honouring 

 him with marks of peculiar favour. As he increased in years, his won- 

 derful powers as an artist were developed; and his powerful and 

 vigorous genius placed him at once in the distinguished station which 

 he still occupies. Till the time of Michel Angelo, the works of art 

 since the revival were all more or less meagre and dry in style, although 

 considerable feeling and talent were occasionally displayed in their con- 

 ception (or invention) and composition. Extraordinary efforts were 

 sometimes made, as by Ohiberti and Donatello, to infuse into them a 

 better and more elegant quality of form ; but it was left to Michel 

 Angelo to effect that total revolution in style which has stamped not 

 only his own productions, but the art of his axe, with a character pecu- 

 liarly its own. The most striking quality in the works of Michel 

 Angelo is an (indefinable vastness and grandeur of effect that takes 

 entire possession of the mind. This power is strongly felt in the 

 presence of his colossal statue of Moses, in the monument of Pope 

 Julius II., and of his statues of Lorenzo de' Medici (not "il Magnified") 

 and Giuliano de' Medici, in their monuments in the family chapel at 

 Florence. The Moses is a grand effort of genius. It is as original in 

 conception as it is masterly in execution. The characteristic feature 

 of this statue is its vast energy ; but it is sufficiently tempered to pre- 

 serve the repose which is essential to true dignity. This work requires 

 to be studied with attention : iU merits will then be found to com- 

 pensate for those minor faults which at first sight offend the fastidious 

 spectator, and which, it must be admitted, the manner of Michel 

 Augelo threw more or less into most of the productions of his chisel 

 and iwnciL As a whole, it illustrates the forcible expression applied to 

 the general character of this artist's works, " Di Michel AgnvF la. 

 rut. The statue of Lorenzo is also seated. He is represented absorbed 

 in thought. He rests his face upon his hand, which partially covers 

 the chin and mouth. The general action U one of perfect repose, and 

 the expression that of deep meditation. It is impossible to look at 

 this figure without being forcibly struck with the mi ml that pervades 

 it. For deep and intense feeling it is one of the finest works in exist- 

 ence. It has been well observed of this statue, that it has no resem- 

 blance to the antique, but it rivals the best excellences of the ancients 

 in expression combined with repose and dignity. 



In the lower part of the two monuments of Oiuliano and Lorenzo, in 

 the chapel of the Medici, are allegorical figures of Day and Night, and 

 the Dawn, or Morning and Evening. They bear the impress of the 

 master-mind and hand; but the violence of action and forced expression 

 of these statues are not in character, in the first place, with the repose 

 which is appropriate to monumental sculpture, and they do not harmo- 

 nise with the figures above them. The Ultimate knowledge of anatomy 

 possessed by Michel Angelo, and the evident mastery he had over all 

 difficulties of execution, appear sometimes to have tempted him, as in 

 thaw statues, to indulge in then- display at the expense of propriety of 

 .1- -..-, 



In the Minerva Church'at Rome is a much admired statue of Christ by 

 M. Angelo. It has less of violence of action than usually characterises his 

 works ; but though it has qualities of a high order, and displays great 

 knowledge of form and skill in execution, it is by no means one of 

 his most successful efforts. The figure want* that calm dignity and 

 refinement which should pervade the representation of the divine 

 nature under a human form. Another work of Michel Angelo, which 

 is often referred to as a specimen of this master, is the statue of David, 

 in the Piazza del Gran Duca at Florence. The powerful hand of the 

 great sculptor is visible in it, and the grand air that is given to the 

 figure by the turn and expression of the head and throat justly claim 



our admiration ; but it is not one <>i' Michel Angelo's finest work*. 

 U was executed under very uni.i\..'ii .'!< circumstances, Buonarotti 

 having been called it|>oii t.i tinUh it wlu-n the bWk had already been 

 worked upon by an inferior artist, and con -i.li-ivd (> In- x|ioi!c<l. In the 

 gallery of Florence is a half-dun. . ,;i > the v.-.ik 



sculptor. An ancient subject, it still haw tin- im i it ..i \*-i\\% tilK-d with 

 Midn 1 Amri-loV own feeling for character and r\i>i.'--i..n. l>nt 

 short of the manner in which the Greeks would have treated it. It 

 want* purity of taste, and the beautiful form, free from attectai 

 display, which the ancients knew so well how to apply in all tin n- .-..n 

 cc|ition. Mieln-1 Angelo in this work attempted to represent what he 

 could not feel as a Greek sculptor would, and to this only i 

 attributed its inferiority. Among the best known groups by. Mi* In I 

 Angelo are the Madonna and Child, in the chapel of the Medici at 

 Florence unfinished; a Pieta, in a small chapel at Si. 

 Uome ; and a group of Nicodemus supporting the dead body of Christ, 

 with the Madonna and Mary Magdalen. These, as compositions, are 

 of the highest merit. They also abound in pathos, and are in many 

 respects finely executed. The Dead Christ, in the Pieta, is particularly 

 worthy of attention. The tranquillity and perfect repose of death arc 

 most successfully shown throughout this figure, and with HOUH 

 exception (in the face and in the articulations of the joints, in which 

 the usual exaggeration of Michel Angelo is perceptible), it must bo 

 considered one of his finest productions. HU works in relief arc not 

 very numerous. We possess in this country one in marble, of very 

 great merit, consisting of three figures, representing the Virgin, the. 

 infant Christ, and St. John. It is unfinished, but the master is 

 declared in the composition of the group, in the grand style of the 

 forms, and in the bold and vigorous character of the execution. It is 

 In the Royal Academy of Arts, having been bequeathed to that institu- 

 tion by the late Sir George Beaumont, who purchased it in Italy. 

 There is another work very similar to this, and like this also unfinished, 

 in the Gallery of Sculpture at Florence. In the Vatican U another of 

 a different class. It is an allegorical subject, and is a monument of the 

 perfect knowledge of the human figure possessed by Michel Augelo ; 

 but it is more remarkable for this than, for other qualities requisite in 

 sculpture, namely, simplicity and unity of design. The compos: ' 

 both crowded and complicated. In taking this rapid survey of some 

 of the principal works of this master, the object has been to bring 

 before the reader the most celebrated of his productions, in order that 

 the accompanying observations might be immediately applied to well- 

 known examples, and the characteristics of his school be more easily 

 understood. Notwithstanding our admiration of the originality of 

 invention, the vigour and mental energy, the knowledge of anatomy, 

 and mastery of execution that appear in his productions in this art, it 

 is generally admitted that the sculpture of Michel Angelo does not 

 give that high satisfaction which is felt in the contemplation of the 

 best works of ancient and some even of modern times. [BuoKAHOTir, 

 M;ELO, in Biou. Div.] 



Michel Angelo has had many imitators who have had neither genius 

 nor originality to compensate for the imperfections which are over- 

 looked or forgotten in the mighty inventions of the master-mind, and 

 who for the most part have only been able to copy and increase the 

 faults of his style. Michel Angelo died in 1564, and was buried in the 

 church of Santa Croce in Florence, and a monument is over his grave 

 in which there is a basso-rih'evo, by himself, of a Madonna and Child. 

 The design of this " deposito " consists of a bust of Michel Augelo over 

 a sarcophagus, in front, and on each of which are statues supposed to 

 represent Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture. The bust and the 

 statue of Sculpture are the work of Lorenzo, one of his scholars ; those 

 of Painting and Architecture are by Valerio Cioli and Giovanni dell' 

 Opera. 



There is a group, in marble, in the Chigi Chapel, in the church of 

 Santa Maria del Popolo at Rome, representing Jonas with the sea- 

 monster, which is remarkable for the grand style of its conip- ' 

 as well as for the breadth and beauty of its forms. It is attrilr 

 a sculptor who lived in the Ib'th century, called Lorenzetto, but there 

 is a tradition that the design was furnished by Kaffaelle, and that he 

 even made the model from which the sculptor executed the marble 

 figure. Michel Angelo had a very high opinion of the works of Beg- 

 garelli, a sculptor of Modeua, and is said to have exclaimed, on being 

 shown some of his models, "If this clay could but become marble, woo 

 (ytuti) to the antique." 



Jacopo Tatti, better known as Sansovino, is more deserving of 

 celebrity as an architect than as a sculptor. [SANSOVINO, in BIOI;. IMV. j 

 His chief productions, in both arts, are at Venice. Some statues on 

 the Scala dei Giganti (the Staircase of the Giants), at the Palace of the. 

 Doge at Venice, and some bassi-rihevi in other places, especially a 

 bronze gate at St. Mark's, are examples of his ignorance of or inditler- 

 ence to the true principles of design in sculpture, though it would bo 

 unjust to refuse them the merit of much elaborate execution. Many 

 of his scholars became distinguished artists. Among them may bo 

 mentioned Nicolo Tribolo, Danese Cattaneo, some of whose works are 

 in the church of S. Antony in Padua, Bartolomeo Ammanati, Ales- 

 sandro Vittoria, a sculptor of great merit, and probably Tommaso 

 Lombardo. About this time a profusion of ornament began to he, 

 associated with works in sen '1 led artists to neglect the 



simpler qualities of design for high finish and minutiae of mouldings, 



